December 14, 2023 | Malawi
A team of local PEP researchers held an online national policy conference to share their findings on how the most vulnerable populations need enhanced climate resilience programmes, particularly during droughts.
The speakers at the team's National Dissemination Conference
December 14, 2022 – A team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference to share their findings on how to increase women’s economic resilience in the face of drought.
The project team brought together more than 20 policymakers and stakeholders to discuss their findings and policy recommendations.
Key policy stakeholders in attendance included representatives from the Ministries of Economic Planning and Development, of Finance and Economic Affairs, of Information, and of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, as well as the Parliament of Malawi. The event also attracted international policy advisors working at the World Bank, COOPI, ID Insight and the Overseas Development Institute.
Team members Leaticia Pemba and Edith Chinyumba presented the findings and recommendations, respectively, from the team’s PEP project Considering social gender norms under income shocks: Evidence to support women’s economic resilience and empowerment in Malawi.
Leaticia explained how women, and especially those in areas with patrilineal inheritance practices, are the least economically empowered. She shared the team’s findings that current climate resilience programmes are ineffective during periods of drought
Based on the project team’s analysis, Edith explained how policies enforcing land titling, strengthening business education and adult literacy, and providing cash transfers alongside productive knowledge can increase women’s economic resilience during climate shocks.
The participants demonstrated keen interest in the team’s recommendations. A social protection specialist at the World Bank underlined the need for such recommendations and said they would be incorporated with evaluation studies to improve World Bank programming.
The Principal Economist at the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development agreed that aspects such as social norms need to be monitored to understand how they influence resilience programs. He stated that the Ministry will include these in evaluations.
The research team organized the event with financial and advisory support from PEP.
