Malawi Gender Research Brief

This research brief presents the key findings of Concern Worldwide's Graduation programme in Malawi's most impoverished districts, Nsange and Mangochi. The programme combined deliberate targeting with couple’s empowerment training to uncover how the integration of economic inclusion and gender-transformative approaches can bolster women's empowerment within households and overall household economic outcomes. Simultaneously addressing resource access and gender norms constraints is expected to lead to improved welfare and empowerment outcomes for treated households.

Although global evidence confirms that the graduation approach delivers robust, positive, and sustained results even long after programme interventions have ended, severa questions remain about the role that gender plays in the graduation model.

Partnering with The University of Dublin (Trinity College) and the Trinity Impact Evaluation Unit (TIME), the researchers designed a methodology to answer two main questions:

1) What is the effect of gender targeting on the Graduation programme?

2)What is the additive benefit of gender transformative training (Umodzi)?