Innovations for Poverty Action

Request for Proposals | IPA Soft Skills Research Fund IPA's Entrepreneurship and Private Sector Development Program has launched a call for research proposals at the intersection of soft skills and economic empowerment in low and middle-income countries.

📢 Funding opportunity!

IPA is accepting Expressions of Interest for research on how Soft Skills drive entrepreneurship & employment outcomes in low and middle-income countries.

Key dates:
🗓️RFP & EOIs open now
📍EOI due Nov 14, 2025
📝Full proposals due Jan 30, 2026

Details here: bit.ly/46vRpxE

In Aug, IPA Founder Dean Karlan, researcher Natalia Seimei, IPA Uganda & partners visited Kyaka II & Rwamwanja refugee settlements in Uganda to see impacts of their graduation research.

Findings:
Assets +40-88%
Income +32-45%
Food security improved.

Read more: bit.ly/4mH5fCb

Soft Skills Research Agenda: poverty-action.org/sites/defaul...

Soft Skills and Economic outcomes - Living Evidence: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Implementation Guide: poverty-action.org/implementati...

Soft Skills for Entrepreneurship and Workforce Development | IPA Recent and promising research on incorporating psychological and social attitudes and abilities into labor markets and workforce development programs

Coming up: A new call for proposals to generate evidence on how soft skills drive business growth & workforce development.

🗓️RFP & EOIs open early Oct
📍EOI due mid-Nov
📍Full proposals due late Jan
Stay tuned: bit.ly/4pH7YxZ

Check comments for more.

#RequestForProposals #SoftSkills #ResearchFund

IPA Presents at the 2025 Nextier Development Festival | IPA

According to the World Bank, global poverty fell to 9%, but in sub-Saharan Africa it’s still 37%.

At #NextierDevFest2025, IPA Nigeria including Funmilayo Ayeni, Brian Mwesigwa & Olushola Afolayan share insights on housing, jobs & safety nets to tackle poverty.
More: bit.ly/41PHRLh

Climate & Environment Solutions Need Better Evidence: IPA's New Research and Learning Agenda How can we fight climate change and improve the welfare of the poor? IPA’s new Research & Learning Agenda lays out 5 priorities for climate action.

How can we fight climate change & improve the welfare of the poor? IPA’s new Research & Learning Agenda lays out 5 priorities for climate action. Join us co-create solutions that work for people & planet.

More: bit.ly/4gCcaLw
Partner: cep@poverty-action.org
#ClimateWeekNYC

Peacebuilding is complex—but it doesn’t have to be guesswork. IPA-supported researchers adapt rigorous methods to create ethical, grounded evidence in fragile contexts. #PeaceDay

From Access to Agency: Why Digital Tools Alone Aren’t Enough for Women’s Empowerment - BRAC Institute of Governance and Development From July 2-3, 2025, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners gathered in Accra, Ghana, for the Access to Agency: Empowering Women through Digital Inclusion conference, hosted by the BRAC Institut...

Access ≠ agency.

At the #AccessToAgency conference, stakeholders agreed: digital tools alone don’t empower women. True impact comes with skills, supportive networks, safe spaces & user-centered design.

Read more: bit.ly/46LMpUD

HAPPENING TODAY!

Partnerships are key to turning evidence into action. At #UKFIET2025, IPA + panelists from South Africa, Tanzania, India & Jacobs Foundation will share lessons from Ed Labs worldwide.

Embedded Labs: poverty-action.org/embedded-evi...
Conference: www.ukfiet.org/conference/u...

Strengthening #EvidenceUse means thinking in systems.
Join IPA + BE2, GEEAP, UNICEF Innocenti & Dubai Cares at #UKFIET2025 (Sept 17, Oxford) to explore how Ed Labs drive change.

More on Embedded Labs: poverty-action.org/embedded-evi...
Explore the conference: www.ukfiet.org/conference/u...

Reminder: Help shape global research priorities to combat #HumanTrafficking & #ForcedLabor.

Take the ILO & IPA survey by Sept 15, 2025 to share the questions that should guide future evidence and action.

Take the survey: accessiblesurveys.com/survey/-OSsW...

From data to decisions—how can Embedded Evidence Labs shape education policy?

Hear from IPA’s Juan Manuel Hernández-Agramonte at #UKFIET2025.

📅 Sept 16 | 4–5:30PM | Oxford

Learn more about Embedded Labs: poverty-action.org/embedded-evi...
Explore the Conference: www.ukfiet.org/conference/u...

From partnerships to systems change, Embedded Labs are reshaping how evidence drives education policy.

Hear IPA’s Juan Manuel Hernández-Agramonte at #UKFIET2025, Sept 16–18 in Oxford.

More on Embedded Labs: poverty-action.org/embedded-evi...
Explore the Conference: www.ukfiet.org/conference/u...

Play can boost learning—but making it part of early childhood education takes more than good intentions. With VVOB, Plan International, VSO, IPA & LEGO Foundation, we’ve distilled 4 years of lessons into practical guides, tools & recommendations.

📖 Explore resources here: bit.ly/45KygYm

Your voice matters.

Join the survey shaping global action on #HumanTrafficking & #ForcedLabour, led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA

Closes Sept 15 👉 accessiblesurveys.com/survey/-OSsW...

🚨 COOL JOB!!! 🚨

In Rwanda, @poverty-action.bsky.social and gui2de are hiring a Scale-Up Advisor to work within the MINEDUC to scale up a revised teacher performance pay contract ("imihigo"). We're looking for an excellent manager to help lead this initiative to take evidence into policy at scale.

Screenshot from the IPA Knowledge Hub home page. Headers are "Research Design", "Research Ethics", "Data Quality", "Data Collection", "Data Cleaning", and "Software Guides"

Really useful resource for RAs and others interested in doing field work in international settings, or any rigorous empirical work in social sciences
@poverty-action.bsky.social just launched the IPA Knowledge Hub
data.poverty-action.org

Building Sustainable Impact Evaluation Capacity Through University-Led Models | IPA

To strengthen LMIC-led research, IPA, CISP & Kenyatta University co-developed an Impact Evaluation course embedded in a Master’s program. Students now learn by working on real-world projects—building lasting skills to lead rigorous evaluations.

More: poverty-action.org/building-sus...

“Hablemos entre Patas” delivers 30 days of daily challenges for men:
☝️ Equal household participation
📞 Better communication skills
💰 Joint financial planning
❤️ Emotional regulation

📉 20% reduction in sexual violence.
#FieldTested #GenderEquality

🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/3Hyfyd4

Can performance pay improve education? In Rwanda, IPA and partners tested it—and it worked:
🎯 Teachers showed better attendance & pedagogy
📈 Students learned more
🧑‍🏫 No harm to motivation or retention
🔗 bit.ly/45cu9V3

Great teachers change lives. But how do we staff every classroom with them? IPA, Gui2de, and partners tested a pay-for-performance model in Rwanda:
📚 Higher student learning
💼 More consistent teacher presence
🎯 Better instruction
❤️ Motivation remained strong
#FieldTested🔗 bit.ly/45cu9V3

Where else could CBT drive change?

🔗 poverty-action.org/styl

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks cycles of crime—long-term.

In Liberia, young men worked with trained peers (not psychologists) to rethink harmful thoughts and build new habits.

📉 Crime dropped. Effects lasted 10 years.

#FieldTested by IPA.

Where else could CBT drive change?

🔗 poverty-action.org/styl

In Liberia, CBT + cash transfers helped young men break cycles of violence and crime.
📉 200 fewer crimes committed per participant
💰 Cost? USD $2.50 per crime avoided.
🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/3S0uPFf

#FieldTested #DevelopmentResearch

In a world where punishment is the default response to crime, evidence points to another path: therapy.
💡 CBT—even delivered by non-experts—has reduced crime in different settings.
🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/bestbetsipa #FieldTested

Savings groups are a #FieldTested way to boost women’s access to credit and decision-making power. But key questions remain. 🔗bit.ly/3HRdAnW

Soft skills shape how people set goals, take initiative, and overcome challenges—key to economic success
IPA is growing the #FieldTested evidence base:
🛠️ Co-developed ESTEEM to measure soft skills
📊 Funding research to close key gaps
Better data = better programs.
🔗 bit.ly/4kYDxQR

CIES 2025: A/B testing in education has arrived! - What Works Hub for Global Education A/B testing is becoming increasingly prominent in global education. This blog highlights key A/B testing work from What Works Hub for Global Education partner organisations, featured in the CIES 2025 ...

A/B testing is taking off in the education sector w/ 7 panels at the Comparative and International Education Society this year. A summary from @youthimpactorg.bsky.social @poverty-action.bsky.social Rocket Learning @wwhglobaled.bsky.social @gatesfoundation.bsky.social
www.wwhge.org/resources/ci...