Category: News

Are Husbands the Problem?

Since India passed the 1993 Constitutional Amendment mandating quotas for women in government, a critical mass of women have entered local politics. The law was rightly celebrated, but also gave rise to a belief that while women are de jure elected to local office, their husbands de facto run the state. This belief has had […]

Returning to Field Research in South Africa: Q&A with Jacob Bor

By Emanne Khan Over two years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, people across professions have found new ways of conducting their work while adapting to the challenges of the virus. With many countries lifting restrictions on international travel, scholars engaged in research projects abroad have welcomed the opportunity to return […]

Supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work at CSW66

By Vidhu Priya Mukundan From March 14-25, the Commission on the Status of Women is conducting its 66th session (CSW66), where member states, civil society organizations and United Nations entities discuss the most pressing matters of gender inequality in the context of the climate crisis. Established by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in […]

Access to Family Planning Services Improves Child Growth Patterns and Cognitive Development: Findings from the Malawi Family Planning Study

Each year, 14 million unplanned pregnancies occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Given the costs involved in raising a child, the high rate of unplanned pregnancy may influence how limited household resources are allocated among children, with potentially detrimental effects on children’s growth and development. While family planning and reproductive health services allow couples to plan births, […]

Around the Halls: The State of Human Capital Development After Two Years of COVID-19

March 11, 2022 marks two years since the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. While the past two years have seen remarkable innovations in response to the pandemic’s disruptions, including new technologies and novel vaccines, the virus has also presented challenges for human capital development. In early 2021, Human Capital Initiative (HCI) […]

Chart of the Week: Tracking Female Political and Economic Exclusion Across the World

By Emanne Khan The global COVID-19 pandemic, now entering its second year, has upended nearly every aspect of daily life. Large sectors of the labor force transitioned to partially or fully remote work, and other sectors have been hollowed out by layoffs. Women were differentially affected by the economic dynamics and new social demands which […]

One Pill, Once a Day: Simplified Treatment Regimens and Retention in HIV Care

For individuals diagnosed with HIV, the prospect of starting treatment can be daunting. Antiretroviral therapy (ART), the main method of treating HIV in order to reduce patients’ viral loads and alleviate symptoms, typically involves a combination of three or more medications taken on a daily basis. However, new evidence suggests HIV treatment need not be […]

GDP Center Round-Up: Human Capital Initiative Fall 2021 Research

By Emanne Khan The mission of the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) is to advance interdisciplinary research on the role of human capital in human development to inform policy solutions to global challenges including poverty, women’s empowerment and sustainable economic growth through investments in education and health. In Fall 2021, HCI’s Core Faculty Members published a suite of […]

Returning to Field Research in Malawi: Q&A with Mahesh Karra

By Emanne Khan For scholars engaged in long-term research, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has complicated everything from data collection to travel. As the pandemic has stretched on for nearly two years, it has become part of daily life and researchers are learning to work within the constraints of the pandemic and when able, cautiously resume […]

Perceived Efficacy of HIV Treatment-as-Prevention Among University Students in Johannesburg, South Africa

Ten years ago, the medical community received conclusive results demonstrating that antiretroviral therapy (ART) is effective at preventing the sexual transmission of HIV. ART has traditionally been used to manage HIV symptoms in people living with the virus, but the strategy of treating HIV-positive individuals with ART to prevent transmission—a strategy known as treatment-as-prevention (TasP)—has […]