PROTOCOL: The effect of interventions for women's empowerment on children's health and education: A systematic review of evidence from low‐ and middle‐income countries

• Published in: Campbell systematic review 2017, Vol.13 (1), p.1-61
• Main Authors: Vollmer, Sebastian, Khan, Sarah, Tu, Le Thi Ngoc, Pasha, Atika, Sahoo, Soham
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Child Development; Child Health; Children & youth; Childrens health; Decision making; Developing Nations; Discrimination; Economic growth; Economic summit conferences; Education; Educational Attainment; Empowerment; Equality; Females; Foreign Countries; Gender Bias; Gender Discrimination; Gender equity; Gender inequality; Hypotheses; Intervention; Literature Reviews; Low income groups; Males; Mothers; Political behavior; Program Effectiveness; Society; Standard of living; Systematic review; Women
• ISSN: 1891-1803; 1891-1803
• DOI: 10.1002/CL2.172

While numerous facts and figures point towards the increasing opportunities for women and their growing participation in economic, political and public decision-making processes, women remain in disadvantaged positions compared to men in many places of the world (World Economic Forum, 2015). Gender bias is deeply embedded in cultures, economies, and political and social institutions around the world, denying women an equal part in society and decision-making. Gender based discrimination in access to economic opportunities, lack of representation and participation in economic and social spheres, and limited opportunities to accumulate resources could perpetuate vulnerability to poverty among women, limit human capital accumulation and restrict economic growth. The goal of this review is to systematically assess the evidence that investigates the effect of interventions that empower women on child development outcomes. Therefore, given the prerequisite of women's empowerment, the review will assess exactly how child development outcomes are thus affected. The primary objective of this review is to answer the following three research questions: (1) What is the quantitative impact of interventions aimed at mothers on child development outcomes? Given our outcome variable of child health and education, the intergenerational impact of all interventions, which were specifically targeted at mothers, will be studied; (2) What exact channels are relevant to translate women's empowerment into improved outcomes for child's health and education? This intervention might have been intending to empower women, via changes in women's bargaining power, household decision making, labour force participation, time use, income, education and health status, level of domestic violence incurred etc. Alternatively, it might lead to a lower amount of time spent on child rearing activities, or decreased bargaining power, thereby leading to increasing domestic violence. Therefore, it is important to establish the link between these interventions and women's empowerment, before determining their role on child development outcomes; and (3) What are the institutional barriers and facilitators that might prevent or enable a transformation of these increasing opportunities for women into greater improvements for child outcomes? These institutions refer to those which are national, community level and household level. For instance, any legal reforms that affect the polito-economic structure