What does real impact actually look like in policy research? Ouleye Tooli Fall puts it beautifully.

Explore the work behind the shifts at
www.policyresearchsolutions.com

What will it take to build social protection systems that truly work for women in developing countries? Our researcher Stephen Okiya has thoughts.

Explore our work at www.policyresearchsolutions.com

In Tanzania, we evaluated a “cash plus” programme combining cash, training, mentorship, and service linkages across 130 villages.

But here is the catch: it was not designed with disability inclusion in mind.

We explore this in our latest study.

🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2026.01.023

Impacts of the “Ujana Salama” Cash Plus Program Across Multiple Domains of Well-Being for Adolescents With and Without Disability: Results of a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Tanzania Youth with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty, have poorer health, be out of school and work, and face other forms of exclusion. Cash plu…

Read the full article in the link below: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Reaching people with disabilities isn't the same as including them. Youth with disabilities face higher poverty, violence, and exclusion from work and school, yet are rarely the focus of evaluations.

Our latest study from Tanzania starts to change that. More findings coming.

Social assistance on adolescents: www.unicef.org/documents/so...
Do cash plus impacts last after programming ends? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The commentary also spotlights social protection as a key lever. Some of our recent work on this:
Cash transfers and adolescent well-being: transfer.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

Systematic review of cash plus or bundled interventions targeting adolescents in Africa to reduce HIV risk - BMC Public Health Background HIV remains a leading cause of death for adolescents and young people aged 10–24 years. HIV prevention requires multisectoral approaches that target adolescents and young people, addressing HIV risk pathways (e.g., transactional sex, gender-based violence, and school attendance) through bundled interventions that combine economic strengthening, health capabilities, and gender equality education. However, best practices are unknown because evidence on multisectoral programming targeted to adolescents and combining these components has not been systematically reviewed. Methods We conducted a systematic review to summarize the evidence on bundled interventions combining health and economic strengthening components for adolescents and young people and their effects on HIV/STI incidence and risk factors. We included studies from Africa published between 2005 and 2023, combining at least one economic strengthening and one health component, directed toward adolescents and young people aged 10–24 years. Included studies measured programmatic impacts on primary outcomes: HIV and STI incidence/prevalence; and mediators as secondary outcomes: sexual behaviours, sexual and reproductive health, school attendance, health-seeking behaviours, and violence. We conducted key word searches in PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science, imported titles/abstracts from the initial search, and reviewed them using the inclusion criteria. Full texts of selected articles were reviewed and information was extracted for analysis. Findings from the full texts identified were summarized. Results We reviewed 58 studies, including 43 quantitative studies and 15 qualitative studies, evaluating 26 unique interventions. A majority of studies reviewed were conducted in Eastern and Southern Africa. Interventions reviewed showed a greater number of significant results in improving economic outcomes; mental health and psychosocial outcomes; sexual and reproductive health knowledge and services utilization; and HIV prevention knowledge and testing. They showed fewer significant results in improving outcomes related to HIV incidence/prevalence; sexual risk behaviours; gender-based violence; gender attitudes; education; STI incidence, prevalence and testing; and sexual debut. Conclusions Our review demonstrated the potential for bundled, multisectoral interventions for preventing HIV and facilitating safe transitions to adulthood. Findings have implications for designing HIV sensitive programmes on a larger scale, including how interventions may need to address multiple strata of the social ecological model to achieve success in the prevention of HIV and related pathways.

At PRESTO, together with colleagues from UNICEF, we recently published a systematic review on bundled interventions for adolescent girls. Read more here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A new commentary in Lancet Regional Health – Africa highlights what the evidence keeps showing: single-sector programming isn't enough. Adolescent girls need bundled interventions that pair safe spaces with social protection and other complementary supports.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Have you checked out our evidence brief on the impact of cash transfers on poverty, productivity, and resilience in Africa?

Read the evidence brief:

transfer.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

"Social protection just creates dependency." Does it though?

Tia Palermo joined the socialprotection.org podcast to push back on the biggest myths in the sector, with evidence, not just opinion. Worth a listen if you care about getting policy right.

🎧 socialprotection.org/learn/podcas...

New research: A cash plus program in Tanzania increased farm work participation and reduced sexual violence among adolescents with disabilities.

Work by PRESTO, LSHTM, and University at Buffalo.

Here's the link to the full article: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Context matters.

Cash transfers can improve health outcomes, but their impact depends on the strength and quality of health services.

What does the evidence from Africa tell us?

Curious about the findings?
Visit our website to read more.

#GlobalHealth #CashTransfers #Africa #PublicHealth

From Feb 17 to 19, we took part in the Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Social Protection Symposium.

Key takeaway: advancing women’s economic empowerment requires intentional design, clear frameworks, and integrated approaches.

Visit our website to read more about what we do.

How do cash transfers influence education outcomes across Africa?

Our latest evidence summary explores what the research tells us about their impact on school enrolment, attendance, and learning.
Visit our website to read more about the work we have done.
#CashTransfers #Education #Africa #Evidence

Continuous learning matters in research. The PRESTO team recently completed a training on Dedoose, strengthening our skills in qualitative and mixed methods data analysis to support stronger evidence for social protection policy.

Have you checked out our evidence brief on the impact of cash transfers on poverty, productivity, and resilience in Africa?

Read the evidence brief: transfer.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

@unicef.org

This International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting evidence on advancing gender equality. Cash transfers can help improve women’s and girls’ outcomes, reducing poverty and violence while strengthening mental health, agency, and economic opportunity.

Read more:
transfer.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

Learn more about what we do and how we do it on our website. Visit
www.policyresearchsolutions.com.

PRESTO researcher Tia Palermo co-authored this new study showing that decades after redlining, a racist policy related to housing and mortgages, ended, it continues to negatively affect women's breast cancer survival.

This month, PRESTO’s Maja Gavrilovic spoke at the first Gender-Responsive & Inclusive Social Protection Global Symposium in Bangkok (hosted by UNICEF, with DFAT & FCDO support). She led a skills lab on women’s economic empowerment and presented on inclusive, gender-responsive SP training.

Learn more about what we do and how we do it on our website. Visit
www.policyresearchsolutions.com.

We’ll be at the Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Social Protection Symposium in Bangkok!

Our Senior Social Protection Specialist, Maja Gavrilovic, is presenting on Women’s Economic Empowerment. If you’re attending, come say hello 👋

#SocialProtection #GenderResponsivePolicy

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Global Impact Evaluation Forum 2025. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Global Impact Evaluation Forum 2025. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

🗓 Wednesday, December 10
⏰ 2 PM CET / 8 AM EST
💬 Panel: “Investing in child outcomes: what works to keep children resilient, healthy, protected and in learning?”

🔗 Register: wfp-org-conference.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

We’re proud to be participating in the 3rd @wfp.org Global Impact Evaluation Forum 2025! Join the live stream tomorrow for a panel session featuring a presentation from our President, @tiapalermo.bsky.social: wfp-org-conference.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

In recognition of @unwomen.bsky.social’s ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’, we highlight the role of cash transfers on gender equality and GBV in Africa. #NoExcuse Read the evidence brief: transfer.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

All evidence summaries: transfer.cpc.unc.edu/evidence-sum...

Evidence brief: transfer.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

Have you checked out our new evidence brief on the impact of cash transfers on poverty, productivity, and resilience in Africa?

See the full summary here (link below to read the shorter brief): transfer.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

@unicef.org

Overwhelmed by the evidence on the impact of #cashtransfers in Africa? We’ve got you covered! 🆕Transfer Project evidence summaries & briefs, produced by PRESTO w/ @unicef.org, were just released. 🔗 Check out the full list below & click here to find all the PDFs: transfer.cpc.unc.edu/evidence-sum...