Since the COVID-19 pandemic global income inequality has again started to rise—a trend exacerbated by the food and fertiliser crisis caused by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine (The Economist 2022).

There is growing evidence that administrative burdens in social programs matter to access, and that we should do something about it.

When we began working with the government of Tanzania to evaluate a pilot conditional cash transfer program, we heard similar concerns from policymakers: would cash transfers provided by the state erode informal safety nets?

India has the world’s highest number of undernourished children and the largest school-feeding programme – the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme – but limited evidence is available on the intergenerational impact of the programme.

Introduced in 2013, the National Food Security Act (NFSA) brought about fundamental reforms in the public distribution system (PDS) and most importantly, declared a legal ‘right to food’.

Public food transfer programmes act as a lifeline for many poor households that might otherwise live with constant food insecurity and the threat of hunger.

With increased focus on the shortfall in learning outcomes around the world (the “learning crisis”!), one might assume that just about every child is in school, or at least that every young child is in primary school.

COVID-19 and the measures governments have put in place to prevent its aggravation have triggered an economic recession that will increase poverty rates and hunger.

Dealing with nation-wide disruptions is nothing new to Bangladesh. Political unrest, military coups, and natural disasters in the country have time and again made global news headlines, often with sad imageries.

While rural India is poorer than its urban counterpart, in the COVID-19 crisis, it is the urban poor who are far more vulnerable with less social and government support.

The evolving situation around Covid-19 is becoming critical. Governments have already announced guidelines for citizens to keep themselves safe. Packages have also been declared to safeguard interests of various sectors.

In a rush to provide for the emergency, maintaining quality is needed. Hence, the effect could be counterproductive.

Despite high-level commitments made by global stakeholders to advancing gender equity and equality through social protection, and the important role of this shared objective, there remains significant evidence gaps in understanding what this means

Given our collective failure to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the world will have to adapt to a certain level of climate change.

Research from Bangladesh shows development programs often have a bigger impact than we intend — or even measure.

The build-up to the 2019 elections inter alia has been characterised by competitive claims of formulae and formula to address poverty with rallying cries of surgical strikes, final assaults and “it is achievable”.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread globally, with estimates showing that nearly 1 in 3 adult women worldwide have experienced some form of IPV.