MSC and the Center for Global Development (CGD) assessed Bangladesh’s Primary Education Stipends Program (PESP), a gender-centric cash transfer program to improve primary school attendance rates. Over the years, benefit delivery of PESP evolved from cash disbursement to digital stipend transfers. Key evidence from our assessment shows women prefer digital transfers to cash-in-hand. Our blog shares evidence from the study using the “Design, Direct, and Digitize” (D3) framework to make a case for women beneficiaries as better contenders for G2P programs. Our blog looks beyond the impact of PESP on program outcomes—and highlights the socioeconomic implications of mobile money on women and the role PESP plays in gender equity and inclusion.

In 2001, Bangladesh launched a Primary Education Stipend Program (PESP) that provides a conditional cash transfer (CCT) to beneficiary mothers. The cash transfer depends on the student maintaining a specific attendance rate and grades at the school. MSC conducted a mixed-method research to ascertain the PESP program’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives. We examined if CCTs can help attain better educational outcomes in terms of increased attendance and grades with lower dropout rates. It simultaneously examines similar studies undertaken elsewhere to support the hypothesis.

Inefficient food grain procurement policies, politically driven high cross-subsidy burden, and unregulated power supply for agriculture are harrowing implications of the food-water-energy nexus in India. This policy brief assesses the readiness of Indian states and deep dives into several state-level policies and last-mile infrastructural considerations to adopt DBTE.

Outcomes-based financing instruments like impact bonds can help India bridge some of the gaps in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) financing.

Despite the Indian government’s gender-focused relief measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, women beneficiaries faced issues as they tried to access and utilize such measures. Issues with access and capability around digital communication and inherent social norms persist as two important factors that intensify the challenges that #women face in using formal financial services.