IFPRI/PIM team receives World Bank Group, SVRI Award for Innovations to Prevent Gender-Based Violence

IFPRI/PIM TEAM RECEIVES WORLD BANK GROUP, SVRI AWARD FOR INNOVATIONS TO PREVENT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

by Evgeniya Anisimova | April 14, 2016

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World Bank Group Senior Director Caren Grown congratulates the winning teams. Photo: Rayna Zhang.

Adapted from the original World Bank post

PIM is excited to congratulate our current and former IFPRI colleagues Akhter Ahmed, Melissa Hidrobo, John Hoddinott, and Shalini Roy with the reception of the Award for Innovations to Prevent Gender-Based Violence from the World Bank Group and nonprofit Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). They were among nine teams from across the world who received a total of US$1.2 million in recognition of their innovations in prevention of violence against women and girls. The award ceremony took place on April 12 at the World Bank. 

An expert panel reviewed more than 300 submissions following an open call in October for innovations to prevent violence in low- and middle-income countries. The winners—representing research institutions, NGOs, and aid and other organizations—were evaluated on criteria including overall merit, significance, and ethical considerations. They are from Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Lebanon, Moldova, Peru, Thailand, Turkey, and Uganda.

The IFPRI research group received this award for the proposal “The Effects of Transfers and Behavior Change Communication on Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Rural Bangladesh (Bangladesh, South Asia Region)”. This work will build on the recently completed impact evaluation of the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) in rural Bangladesh, a randomized intervention implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) that provided cash or food transfers, with or without intensive nutrition behavior change communication. The evaluation of TMRI was undertaken as part of PIM’s research on Improved Social Protection for Vulnerable Populations and supported by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the PIM Data Collection Innovations fund, and the IFPRI’s Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual partner violence or non-partner sexual violence, or roughly 938 million women. Beyond its devastating personal costs, gender-based violence inflicts a steep economic toll: Estimates of resulting lost productivity run as high as 3.7 percent in some economies.

“With these awards, we hope to spark further innovation to prevent gender-based violence," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. "Gender-based violence exists in every region, every sector, and every socioeconomic stratum, but we now have a growing body of evidence that it can be prevented.”

“By pooling resources and working together on the Awards, the SVRI and Bank Group have identified a global portfolio of superb innovators,” SVRI Senior Research Manager Elizabeth Dartnall said. “This process and award ceremony open the door for award winners to access policy-makers, paving the way for durable solutions for the field—helping us to build a world in which children and women live free from violence.”

Further reading:

Ana Maria Buller; Melissa Hidrobo; Amber Peterman; Lori Heise. 2016. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach?: A mixed methods study on causal mechanisms through which cash and in-kind food transfers decreased intimate partner violence. BMC Public Health (forthcoming).

Hidrobo, Melissa, Amber Peterman, and Lori Heise. 2016. The Effect of Cash, Vouchers, and Food Transfers on Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Northern Ecuador. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (forthcoming).

Shalini Roy, Jinnat Ara, Narayan Das, Agnes R. Quisumbing, “Flypaper effects” in transfers targeted to women: Evidence from BRAC's “Targeting the Ultra Poor” program in Bangladesh. Journal of Development Economics, Volume 117, November 2015, Pages 1-19.

Ahmed, Akhter U., Esha Sraboni, Fiona K. Shaba. 2014. Safety nets in Bangladesh: Which form of transfer is most beneficial? Operational Performance of the Transfer Modality Research Initiative. International Food Policy Research, Washington, DC

Related blog: Can cash transfers prevent intimate partner violence? by Melissa Hidrobo, Amber Peterman, and Shalini Roy