The National Solidarity Programme: Assessing the Effects of Community-Driven Development in Afghanistan

Over the past two decades, community-based approaches to project delivery have become a popular means for governments and development agencies to improve the alignment of projects with the needs of rural communities and to increase the participation of villagers in project design and implementation. This article briefly summarizes the results of an impact evaluation of the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), a community-driven development programme in Afghanistan that created democratically-elected community development councils and funded small-scale development projects. Using a randomized controlled trial across 500 villages, the evaluation finds that NSP had a positive effect on access to drinking water and electricity, acceptance of democratic processes, perceptions of economic well-being and attitudes towards women. Effects on perceptions of local and national government performance and material economic outcomes were, however, more limited or short-lived

The National Solidarity Programme: Assessing the effects of community-driven development in Afghanistan

This paper describes the results of an impact evaluation of the National Solidarity Programme, a community-driven development programme in Afghanistan that created democratic village councils and funded small-scale development projects. Using a randomized controlled trial across 500 villages, we find that the programme had a positive effect on access to drinking water and electricity, acceptance of democratic processes, perceptions of economic wellbeing, and participation of and attitudes towards women. Effects on perceptions of local and national government performance and material economic outcomes were, however, more limited or short-lived. We also find that the programme negatively impacted the quality of local governance as perceived by male villagers

Can media campaigns empower women facing gender-based violence amid COVID-19?

Women’s exposure to gender-based and intimate partner violence (GBV and IPV) is particularly acute due to COVID-19, especially in the Global South. We test whether edutainment interventions that have been shown to success-fully combat GBV and IPV when delivered in person can be effectively de-livered using social (WhatsApp and Facebook) and traditional (TV) media. To do so, we randomized the mode of implementation of an intervention con-ducted by an Egyptian women’s rights non-governmental organization seeking to support women while accommodating social distancing amid COVID-19. We found WhatsApp to be a more effective way to deliver the intervention than Facebook, but no differences across outcomes between WhatsApp and TV dis-semination. Our findings show that these media campaigns had no impact on women’s attitudes toward gender or marital equality, or the justifiability of vi-olence. However, the campaign did increase women’s knowledge, hypothetical, and reported use of resources available to those exposed to GBV and IPV

Can media campaigns empower women facing gender-based violence amid COVID-19?

Women’s exposure to gender-based and intimate partner violence (GBV and IPV) is particularly acute due to COVID-19, especially in the Global South. We test whether edutainment interventions that have been shown to success-fully combat GBV and IPV when delivered in person can be effectively de-livered using social (WhatsApp and Facebook) and traditional (TV) media. To do so, we randomized the mode of implementation of an intervention con-ducted by an Egyptian women’s rights non-governmental organization seeking to support women while accommodating social distancing amid COVID-19. We found WhatsApp to be a more effective way to deliver the intervention than Facebook, but no differences across outcomes between WhatsApp and TV dis-semination. Our findings show that these media campaigns had no impact on women’s attitudes toward gender or marital equality, or the justifiability of vi-olence. However, the campaign did increase women’s knowledge, hypothetical, and reported use of resources available to those exposed to GBV and IPV

Direct democracy and resource allocation: Experimental evidence from Afghanistan

Direct democracy is designed to better align policy outcomes with citizen preferences. To test this proposition, we randomized whether 250 villages across Afghanistan selected projects by secret-ballot referenda or by consultation meetings. We find that referenda reduce the influence of local elites over both project type and location. Consistent with previous experimental results, we also find that referenda improve villagers' perceptions of the local economy and of the quality of local governance. However, we find no systematic evidence that selecting projects via referenda increases the average impact of such projects.Army Research Office (Award W911NF-12-1-0509

EGAP Community Policing Metaketa

Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) Metaketa IV: Community Policing coordinated research project that evaluates community policing interventions in six countries with randomized-control trial