Current Projects
Project 1
Power Contributors:
Data in their Hands: Piloting Ask-A-Metric (AAM) for Decision Makers
Through a collaboration between IDinsight (lead partner), AidData, and AFIDEP, the POWER consortium will pilot and deploy Ask-a-Metric (AAM), a tool that utilizes Large Language Model-powered text-to-SQL capabilities to make data analytics more accessible. AAM allows decision-makers to query summary statistics using natural language through messaging platforms like WhatsApp. By offering a simple, mobile-friendly interface that meets decision-makers where they are and that provides information when information is actually needed, AAM reduces critical barriers to using data in decision-making. In the first phase of this project, the POWER team will leverage existing POWER activities and collaborations with policy partners in Malawi to test the efficacy of AAM to increase data use among decision-makers tackling women empowerment. The team will use existing administrative data from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Gender, and other sources to construct a set of indicators based on themes prioritized by stakeholders. POWER partners and the relevant Ministries will collaborate on the pilot and gauge the interest and demand for the tool.
Project 2
Power Contributors:
Evaluation of Afriwork’s Support Program on Women’s Labor Market Outcomes
Afriwork is a private company, headquartered in Ethiopia, that operates an online job platform to
connect employers and job seekers. The platform, which is available through Telegram and a web app, provides a forum for employers to post job advertisements and for job seekers to apply for posted positions by submitting a curriculum vitae (CV) and cover letter. AidData is collaborating with Afriwork and the Policy Studies Institute to conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of low-cost job seeker support on women’s job match rates. AidData, EconInsight, and AFIDEP will supplement this work with activities designed to elucidate the policy landscape surrounding female youth unemployment. These activities include a policy landscape review, key informant interviews with policy stakeholders, qualitative interviews with job-seekers, and case studies of micro-level evidence being transformed into macro-level policies targeting female youth unemployment in Ethiopia.
Project 3
Gendered Mobility and the Demand for Transport in Urban Ethiopia
Power Contributors:
In a recent impact evaluation, EconInsight (lead partner), AidData, and the BU GDP Center, with
support from the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, and Addis Ababa
Transport Bureau, assessed the extent to which mobility and latent travel demand vary by gender with the introduction of improved access to high quality, private transport. The team prepared a policy brief and blog post that described the findings from the impact evaluation, which were disseminated to the MOT and policy partners. In the next phase, the evaluation will be expanded to: 1) assess the impacts of subsidized public transport on women’s mobility, job search and labor market outcomes, and overall well-being; and 2) combine administrative data on transit routes with experimental data on consumer travel behavior to inform policymakers and practitioners on how public transport services can be more effectively targeted and expanded to improve women’s well-being.