Awards

Mary Mbithi of the University of Nairobi in Kenya will test a childcare model in Kenya's Machakos County to increase women's economic participation, reduce and redistribute the burden of unpaid care, and shift gender norms related to childcare. This test will build on results from one tested by the University of Nairobi Women's Economic Empowerment Hub in a different Kenyan county and will inform the model's deployment more broadly across the country. In collaboration with the county government and the local community, they will establish childcare facilities in three sub-counties, including recruiting staff and participating children aged 0-4 years. They will measure impact on child growth, development, and school readiness, as well as measuring impact on women's economic empowerment, including video interviews as qualitative assessment of women's experiences. The county government will take over the running of the childcare centers at the end of the project.

Gautam Bhan of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in India will provide technical support to Indian state governments to design, pilot, and test models for expanding the Integrated Child Development Services program to offer community-based childcare suitable for working women, particularly those in the informal economy. This will build on services already provided in the well-established community childcare centers known as Aganwadis. They will make the hours of operation suitable for informal women workers and extend services to include the needs of children from ages 0-6 years, including increased support for health checkups for mothers and their children, as well as additional support for supplementary nutrition and pre-school education. They will also develop processes to empower women's active participation in the program and increase the demand for the new services. The piloted models will be assessed for their impact on women and children's health and on women's economic participation and productivity.

Gaurav Mehta of the Dharma life Foundation gGmbH in Germany  will establish Dharma Life Community Learning Centers in India that combine vocational training for mothers with early childhood care and education for their children to improve women's workforce participation, children's educational outcomes, and social acceptance of professional childcare. Training will include vocational courses based on demand in the local job market, and entrepreneurial opportunities will be provided, including linking to women who are starting businesses. They will compare outcomes for women and children in low-income populations in rural and semi-urban India in randomly selected villages with and without the Learning Centers. This comparison will be informed by three centers already operating as a pilot trial. Integrating vocational training with childcare in the Learning Center will accustom women to effective childcare while working, increasing their economic empowerment while broadening social norms around division of labor.

Blessing Adesiyan of the MH Institute for WorkLife Care and Policy Research Africa in Nigeria will establish 300 high-quality, cost-efficient childcare hubs across three states in Nigeria to increase women's economic potential. They will pilot three childcare models: direct care to families via a certified care worker, enrolling employees into an employer- or government-sponsored program, and community-based childcare. Partnering with government agencies to ensure meeting local and national care standards, they will identify suitable neighborhoods and workplaces as sites, screen and recruit care workers, and enroll children. They will build a technology platform, named Caring Blocks, where employees can access childcare hubs for on-demand, back-up, or long-term childcare. They will use this platform to get feedback and monitor outcomes, while exploring sustainable funding models for the childcare hubs.