Six research programs were in progress in 2024
Three programs focused on capacity building, two focused on reviews of policies to address gaps, and the final one lent a Southern perspective to a global consortium led research project.
Learning and Knowledge Management Project (LKMP)
funded by Global Affairs Canada (2022-26)
The objective of the Learning and Knowledge Management Project (LKMP) is to design and use a global strategy to both evaluate and increase the effectiveness of projects and organizations supported by Global Affairs Canada under their Small and Medium Organizations (SMO) for Impact and Innovation initiative. The SMO initiative seeks to improve the living conditions, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in countries receiving official development assistance. As part of this initiative, PEP will use feminist and human rights-based approaches to assess the impact of up to seven SMO initiative projects.
Alongside the impact evaluations, LKMP aims to develop and strengthen the capacity of Canadian SMOs and their local partner organisations. The capacity development aspect includes providing online training and mentorship in operational knowledge, specifically focusing on the technical aspects of rigorous monitoring and evaluation methodologies. As part of this ongoing program, PEP published a brief on the results of a baseline survey to shed light on aspects including the use of research-based evidence, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) practices, and the dynamics of stakeholder engagement.
Additionally, it produced three literature reviews on the following topics:
In addition to producing these literature reviews, local researchers are close to finalizing the reports for three of the program countries, including Senegal, Bolivia and Colombia. Program experts also delivered training sessions in experimental and non-experimental evaluation to the participants.
Within the LKMP framework, a 9-month trilingual MEL course (English, French, and Spanish) was delivered in 2024, with 66 international development practitioners—representing diverse regions and sectors—successfully graduating from the course. Notably, 55% of graduates were women, reflecting strong gender balance among participants.
Baseline Survey Dissemination Brief (also in French)
What works for youth employment in Africa
in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation (2021-2024)
By 2030, the number of young working-age people in Africa will reach 375 million. While this represents a significant opportunity for economic growth and development on the continent, many young Africans struggle to find dignified and fulfilling work. With youth job-seekers already outpacing available career opportunities, tackling the shortage of quality work for young people is critical.
Yet, in many countries, youth work strategies have been characterized by fragmentation and inconsistency, with the repetition of certain policies while leaving other high-potential areas under-resourced. In 2021, PEP and the Mastercard Foundation launched a three-year initiative to provide evidence that can drive policy reform to increase youth employment in 10 African countries. The initiative aligns with the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy that seeks to enable 30 million young Africans, and particularly women as well as the marginalized, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
Under this initiative, teams of local researchers and policy stakeholders are conducting gender-aware policy and impact reviews while engaging and consulting with hundreds of in-country stakeholders. In 2023, the projects in Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda published their research papers. A common theme that emerges from these findings is that youth employment policies and programs (YEPs) as they stand are often uncoordinated in their implementation, leading to duplication in some areas and gaps in others. Most countries also need to improve the inclusivity of their YEPs to ensure that young women and other vulnerable populations are not disadvantaged. Other themes that emerge include encouraging diversified funding partnerships, including private sector and philanthropic investments, to ensure long-term program sustainability, as well as scaling financial and technical support to empower youth-led enterprises.
In 2023, teams in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda and South Africa conducted similar reviews. A second round of reviews for 7 out of the 10 countries was conducted in 2024 and the research findings for all countries were concluded. These include Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and South Africa. The outputs, currently under review, will be finalized in 2025, and a PEP-hosted repository that has been developed as an open access database hosting all research and policy recommendations will be made public soon after. A cross-country analysis of the findings from the countries studied in 2023 was also published.
In 2024, the annual PEP policy conference focused on the ‘Future of Work in the Global South’, which explored the theme ‘Identifying specific actions to improve the lives of young women and men through youth employment policies and programs in 10 African countries’ drawing on the findings of the ongoing initiative. Read a blog on the key takeaways from the conference, watch a video summarizing the findings, and read the Executive Director’s newsletter on the initiative.
Publications
Policy Briefs:
Working papers:
Policy papers:
Addressing the Challenge of Equitable Access to Quality Health Care in Ethiopia
in partnership with the Fund for Innovations in Development (FID) (2023-2026)
PEP launched a new program in 2023 supporting a team of local researchers to assess the effectiveness of a new “contribution system”, tailored to the economic capacity of households, to increase access to equitable access to health care services in Ethiopia.
Launched in 2010, in order to promote equitable access to health care services and thereby improve the health sector for the entire population, the Ethiopian government introduced Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI), which was designed to end excessive out-of-pocket health care expenses for more than 80% of Ethiopians working in the informal sector. However, the premium, which was the same for everyone regardless of their financial capacity, resulted in the distortion of the distributional effect and has affected people’s take-up of the CBHI leading to inequity in the system and disinterest in the scheme. The introduction of a new flexible contribution system, based on the socioeconomic status of households, has the potential to encourage vulnerable populations to seek health care, and achieve equitable, quality, efficient, and sustainable services for the entire population.
With support from the PEP experimental research group, the research team is conducting an impact evaluation via a randomized controlled trial to analyze the cost-effectiveness of the new “sliding scale system”. Over the course of 2024, local researchers completed an information campaign and enrolled participants, conducted field visits, collected baseline data and presented findings from the baseline survey at PEP’s Annual General meeting.
Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) Online Training
Developed by PEP, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada
PEP launched the Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) Online Course in November, 2024, which is, a free, bilingual, self-paced training program aimed at equipping researchers with the tools to integrate gender equality and inclusion principles into their work.
The course emphasizes the African experience, drawing on the expertise of primarily Southern-based experts, and focuses on GEI-related concepts, analytical frameworks, methodologies, data gaps, and strategies for inclusion.
Many researchers lack the knowledge and skills to incorporate GEI into their work, leading to gender-blind research and the exclusion of vulnerable groups. The course addresses this gap by providing training in a gender and inclusivity perspective, emphasizing intersectional approaches, and focusing on various forms of inequality and discrimination.
The course comprises 17 modules divided into two parts: a Core GEI Program with seven mandatory modules and ten additional modules tailored to specific research interests. Participants must complete the Core Program to unlock the additional modules and receive certification.
PEP also invited institutions and networks globally to promote the course within their communities. The course has 1056 learners enrolled currently of which 152 have successfully completed it.
Read the news story about the launch of the course, here.
Sustainability Performances, Evidence and Scenarios (SPES)
(2023-2026) as part of a consortium led by the University of Florence, funded by the by European Union Horizon Europe Programme
PEP joined a consortium of distinguished research and educational institutions from across Europe for the Sustainability Performances, Evidence, and Scenarios (SPES) project. This three-year initiative aims to improve policymakers’ understanding of economic growth, human well-being, and sustainability.
PEP contributes to specific analyses of Global South issues related to sustainability that leverage the utilization of Computed General Equilibrium modelling, microsimulation, macroeconometrics, desk reviews, and qualitative analysis. PEP’s role in SPES is key to ensuring that the insights developed are globally applicable. PEP is also engaging and consulting with the government institutions in Southern countries that have been selected as case studies.
In 2024, PEP supported and supervised country-based collaborators in organizing high-level policy discussions on energy transition challenges and their policy implications with strategic stakeholders in Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan. The reports from these discussions will inform other SPES partners based in the European Union in designing their stakeholder engagement strategies. PEP also participated in a qualitative analysis that will be implemented in Pakistan, Kenya and Sri Lanka in 2025, and designed two studies aimed at identifying the effects of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Europe) in the Global South.
Africa Fellows in Education Program (AFEP)
In partnership and with the Global Education Analytics Institute (GEAI) and with funding from the Yidan Prize
The Africa Fellows in Education Program (AFEP) is a two-year initiative to address the local capacity gap and enhance education decision-making processes across Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, the program supported four fellows—from Cameroon, Gambia, South Africa, and Tanzania—to undertake in-country education policy analysis projects. While conducting their research, the fellows benefitted from networking opportunities as well as capacity building in evaluating educational research, developing performance data, and engaging local stakeholder to integrate evidence into decision-making.
In 2024, the Fellows, Heleen Hofmeyr (South Africa), Jaah Mkupete (Tanzania), Amadou Jallow (Gambia), and Yselle Flora Malah Kuete (Cameroon) shared their research at the PEP annual general meeting and received valuable feedback. Watch the video, here, to listen to them talk about their research and learnings. Also, read this blog, where they share their thoughts about their journey with the Program. Building on the success of the first cohort, the second cohort expanded to include 10 new Fellows from four regions and eight countries of Africa, who started their journey in June, 2024. In this second blog, the new cohort shares their experiences. On similar lines, the third round of Fellows will be selected in 2025 as the earlier ones go on to use the learning from the Program to strengthen Africa’s education landscape.
