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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

Ahmed Akhter

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Akhter Ahmed

Akhter Ahmed is a Senior Research Fellow in the IFPRI’s Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit and Country Representative for IFPRI Bangladesh. He has worked on strategies for agricultural and rural development, social protection, and women’s empowerment to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and undernutrition in developing countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malawi, the Philippines, and Turkey.

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A Decade of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI): Lessons from Using Empowerment Metrics

Co-Organized by IFPRI, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)

February 16, 2022

  • 9:30 – 11:00 am (America/New_York)
  • 3:30 – 5:00 pm (Europe/Amsterdam)
  • 8:00 – 9:30 pm (Asia/Kolkata)
Podcast
Blog

The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is the first-ever direct measure of women’s empowerment and inclusion in the agriculture sector, and has been named one of CGIAR’s top innovations. Since its launch in 2012, WEAI-based metrics have been used by over 230 organizations across 58 countries to track progress toward women’s empowerment and gender equality. This includes the project-level WEAI (pro-WEAI), which measures empowerment in various types of agricultural development projects. The pro-WEAI has guided programming that reached 10 million people across 30 projects, leveraging $2.4 billion. 

This Special Event will reflect on what has been accomplished and learned by applying WEAI and pro-WEAI in diverse contexts. The developers of WEAI will discuss the evolution of the tool and share findings from studies using pro-WEAI. Diverse users of the instrument will comment on their experiences and key lessons. The event will close with presentation of next steps for WEAI, including the announcement of new resources available to meet the growing demand for this tool. 

Opening Remarks

  • Johan Swinnen, Global Director, CGIAR Systems Transformation Science Group & Director General, IFPRI

Why USAID commissioned WEAI

  • Jim Barnhart, Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Evolution of WEAI and Evidence Generated

Video Collage: Experiences of WEAI Users

Panel Discussion, “What have we learned from WEAI”

  • Sabina Alkire, Director, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)
  • Avijit Choudhury, Integrator (Resource Mobilisation, Partnerships & Communications),  Professional Assistance For Development Action (PRADAN) 
  • Caren Grown, Senior Technical Adviser, Fiscal Policy, and former Global Director, Gender, World Bank Group
  • Chiara Kovarik, Program Officer, Women’s Empowerment, Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
  • Farzana Ramzan, Senior Gender Advisor, Inclusive Development Division, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)  

Closing Remarks

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Special Event : A Decade of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI): Lessons from Using Empowerment Metrics