The recognized that expanding women's agency is critical for improving the lives of women, their households and their communities. It is a central component of gender equality, alongside increasing human and physical endowments and expanding economic opportunities.
Voice is having a say in the processes that affect one’s life and environment.
Agency is the ability to make choices to achieve desired outcomes.
Expanding women’s voice and agency in many life domains is critical to ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Learn more about the World Bank’s new report on Women’s Voice, Agency and Participation and see examples of work in promoting collective action through Community-Driven Development.
Relevant outcomes: decision-making over family formation, participation or having a voice in community or societal activities, women’s representation in political institutions, aspirations, motivation, psychological agency, gender norms
enGENDER IMPACT: Boosting Voice and Agency
IE Title & Author(s) |
Country |
Gender Outcome(s) |
Intervention Category |
|
Burkina Faso |
Use of healthcare services, Intrahousehold Bargaining |
Cash Transfer |
|
Ecuador |
Nutrition, intrahousehold bargaining, consumption |
Cash Transfer |
|
Malawi |
Gender disaggregated participation or voice in community |
Infrastructure |
|
Kenya |
Intrahousehold bargaining, reproductive health, women's access to healthcare |
Antiretroviral Treatment |
|
Uganda |
Gender disaggregated earnings, savings, consumption, psychological agency, domestic violence |
Cash Transfer |
|
Malawi |
Female school attainment, cognitive skills, decision making over family formation |
Cash Transfer |
|
Nicaragua |
Children's Nutrition, access to healthcare, cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, Women's labor force participation, psychological agency |
Cash Transfer |
|
Nicaragua |
Boys and girls health, nutrition, non-cognitive skills |
Cash Transfer, Training |
|
Indonesia |
Gender disaggregated nutrition, psychological agency, labor force participation, productivity |
Iron Supplements |
|
Nicaragua |
Women's Aspirations, motivation, school attendance, income, property |
Cash Transfer |
|
China |
Gender disaggregated income, aspirations |
Collective Action |
|
Indonesia |
Income, participation and voice in the community |
Community Driven Development |
|
Liberia |
Participation and voice in community, income |
Community Driven Development |
|
Colombia |
Female participation or voice in community |
Cash Transfer |
|
Democratic Republic of Congo |
Mental or physical consequences of GBV, psychological agency |
Psychological Treatment |
|
Uganda |
Vocational knowledge or skills, labor force participation, productivity, participation or voice in community |
Cash Transfer |
|
Indonesia |
Participation or voice in community, women's representation in politics |
Community Driven Development |
|
Afghanistan |
Women's participation or voice in community, psychological agency |
Political Participation |
|
Pakistan |
Gender disaggregated access to credit, psychological agency |
Microfinance, information intervention |
|
Pakistan |
Girls school attainment, labor force participation, child labor, decision making over family formation |
Cash Transfer |
|
Senegal |
Health of women, nutrition, consumption, participation or having a voice in the community |
Community Driven Development |
|
India |
Women's participation or voice in the community |
Information Intervention, school management |
|
Ecuador |
Gender disaggregated cognitive skills, non-cognitive skill, psychological agency |
Cash Transfer |
|
India |
Female nutrition, consumption, psychological agency, participation or voice in community |
Community Driven Development |
|
Uganda |
Gender disaggregated income, consumption, labor force participation, participation or voice in community, psychological agency |
Cash Transfer |
|
Uganda |
Girls vocational knowledge or skills, labor force participation, psychological agency, reproductive health, sexual abuse or harassment |
Training, Cash Transfer |
|
Afghanistan |
Female participation or voice in community, decision making over family formation |
Community Driven Development |
|
Tunisia |
Gender disaggregated outcomes: entrepreneurship, labor force participation, vocational knowledge or skills, access to credit, aspirations, non-cognitive skills |
Training |
|
Peru |
Decision making over family formation |
Land Titling |
|
Nigeria |
Property, productivity, participation or voice in community |
Agricultural Development |
|
Brazil |
Consumption, intrahousehold decision-making |
Cash Transfer |
|
India |
Savings, access to credit, intrahousehold decision making |
Community Development |
|
Liberia |
Participation or voice in community |
Conflict Resolution |
|
Nepal |
Participation or voice in the community, consumption |
Community Driven Development |
|
Kenya |
School performance, motivation |
Cash Transfer |
|
Malawi |
Psychological agency |
Conditional Cash Transfers |
|
Madagascar |
School Achievement, School Attendance, Aspirations |
Information Intervention |
|
India |
Female labor force participation, intrahousehold bargaining, participation or voice in community |
Community Development |
|
Tonga |
Psychological agency |
Migration |
|
Sri Lanka |
Productivity, intrahousehold decision making |
Cash Transferl |
|
Kenya |
Women's participation or voice in community |
Community Driven Development |
|
India |
Gender disaggregated school performance |
Information Intervention |
|
Uganda |
Health of women and girls, sexual, maternal and reproductive health, participation or having a voice in community or societal activities, motivation |
Community Driven Development |
|
Liberia |
Labor force participation, participation or voice in the community |
Training |
|
Sierra Leone |
Participation or voice in community, women's representation in politics, gender norms |
Community Driven Development |
|
Tanzania |
Reproductive health, STDs/STIs, decision making over family formation |
Reproductive Health |
|
Jordan |
Female labor force participation, non-cognitive skills, aspirations, psychological agency |
Training, Cash Transfer |
|
Philippines |
Gender Disaggregated: consumption, access to healthcare, property, savings, school performance, intrahousehold bargaining |
Migration Permits |
|
Indonesia |
Participation or voice in community |
Cash Transfer |
|
Chile |
Gender disaggregated labor force participation, psychological agency |
Social Support |
|
Mozambique |
Gender disaggregated nutrition, Educational enrolment, attainment, performance, literacy and numeracy, non-cognitive skills, women's labor force participation, aspirations |
Early Childhood Development |
|
Malawi |
School enrollment, decision making over family formation, fertility |
Cash Transfer |
|
Pakistan |
Gender norms, labor force participation |
Cash Transfer |
|
Pakistan |
Participation or voice in community, women's representation in politics |
Political Participation |
|
Vietnam |
Gender disaggregated income, investment, labor force participation, intrahousehold bargaining |
Land Titling |
|
Cote d'Ivoire |
Domestic violence, norms or attitudes towards GBV, intrahousehold decision making |
Support Groups, Training |
|
Kenya |
Gender disaggregated vocational training, gender norms |
Training |
