Abstract
Background
Women’s economic empowerment is a key development goal; yet, significant gender inequalities in employment, income, and economic decision-making persist in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Even with economic growth, women are often stuck in informal and precarious jobs, facing structural barriers related to labor markets, access to finance, asset ownership, and restrictive legal frameworks. Most existing research on Women’s economic empowerment has focused on micro-level interventions, such as financial support, training, and mentorship, providing limited insights into the impact of macro-level and structural policies. New research suggests that macroeconomic, fiscal, and labor market policies are not gender-neutral; they can shape employment opportunities and income security differently, particularly in contexts with unequal unpaid care responsibilities. However, evidence on macro-level, gender-responsive policies and their effects on women’s economic empowerment remains scattered across various policy areas and outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. This Evidence and Gap Map systematically identifies, categorizes, and maps the existing evidence to facilitate informed policy-making, prioritize research, and guide future synthesis.
Objectives
To map evidence on gender-responsive macro-level policies and their impact on women’s economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa.
Search Methods
From January to September 2024, we searched the following databases, limiting our results to English language publications: CAB Abstracts, Web of Science, Dimensions, and Scopus. We also utilized gray literature sources, including organizational databases, Google Scholar, and registries.
Selection Criteria
Two reviewers independently screened the titles, abstracts, and full texts of potentially eligible articles to determine their inclusion based on the specified eligibility criteria. Studies were included if they focused on populations in sub-Saharan Africa, examined macro-level gender-responsive policies, reported outcomes related to women’s economic empowerment, and utilized either primary or systematic or scoping review study designs.
Data Collection and Analysis
We developed and pilot-tested a data extraction code set in EPPI-Reviewer, where data were extracted and coded in duplicate. To evaluate the quality of the reviews, we employed the AMSTAR2 tool; however, we did not assess the quality of the primary studies.
Main Results
This Evidence and Gap Map includes a total of 245 articles made up of 224 primary studies and 21 systematic and scoping reviews that evaluate the impact of gender-responsive macro-level policies on women’s economic empowerment. The majority of the studies focused on social protection and informal economy policy interventions, with women’s economic opportunities and well-being being the most frequently examined outcomes. Most of the research was conducted in South Africa (about 17% of the included studies) Significant gaps were identified in advocacy interventions for women’s economic empowerment, as well as in the exploration of women’s agency as an outcome related to their economic empowerment. Additionally, most of the evidence is based on non-experimental and qualitative study designs, indicating a substantial gap for future research. The systematic reviews incorporated in this EGM are predominantly of moderate quality, with less than 30% categorized as high quality.
Authors’ Conclusions
The Evidence and Gap Map reveals a substantial yet uneven body of evidence regarding women’s economic empowerment interventions in sub-Saharan African countries. The evidence is most concentrated around social protection policies and interventions in the informal economy, with strong coverage of outcomes related to women’s economic opportunities and well-being. These areas are comparatively well-researched and provide opportunities for further evidence synthesis to guide policy and program design. In contrast, there is limited evidence on agency-related outcomes and implementation processes, which hampers understanding of how and why interventions foster empowerment. Additionally, macroeconomic policies and women’s economic empowerment advocacy interventions are underrepresented, despite their importance in addressing structural barriers to women’s economic participation. Methodologically, the evidence base is primarily composed of non-experimental and summative evaluations, with fewer studies using rigorous designs that can identify causal effects or track long-term empowerment trajectories. Overall, the map highlights both well-established evidence clusters and significant gaps, especially concerning structural interventions, empowerment processes, and methodological diversity.
Plain Language Summary
The Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) on gender-responsive macro-level policies and women’s economic empowerment revealed studies that were disproportionately concentrated in sub-Saharan African countries. Additionally, the existing reviews were generally of moderate quality.
Most of the evidence is drawn from Southern African countries, including South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The systematic reviews included in this EGM are primarily of moderate quality, with fewer than 30% classified as high quality.
Over 45% of the studies reported outcomes related to well-being. Furthermore, there were 29 studies evaluating policy interventions on women’s employment opportunities and 48 studies focusing on income-related interventions.
While all regions of sub-Saharan Africa were represented, the majority of studies originated from Southern Africa (37%), with only a small percentage coming from Central Africa (2.7%). Most interventions in Eastern and Western Africa concentrated on social protection policies, with fewer studies addressing advocacy initiatives for women’s economic empowerment.
Keywords
Background
Women’s economic empowerment is a central objective of development policy, yet gender inequalities persist in access to employment, income, and economic decision-making in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Evidence synthesized in the World Development Report 2012 shows that women remain disproportionately concentrated in informal and vulnerable employment and continue to face structural barriers in labour markets, finance, and asset ownership, despite overall economic growth (World Bank, 2012). Institutional reviews further indicate that legal and regulatory constraints embedded within macro-level policy environments continue to limit women’s economic participation (World Bank Group, 2018). These findings suggest that economic growth alone is insufficient to produce gender-equitable economic outcomes.
The existing empirical literature on Women’s economic empowerment has predominantly focused on micro-level interventions, including financial assistance (such as microcredit and capital transfers), mentorship, and training or capacity-building programmes (World Economic Forum, 2020). Influential studies by Duflo (2020) and Dunsch (2022), for example, primarily examine individual- or household-level interventions rather than economy-wide policy instruments. Similarly, country-level interventions such as vocational and life-skills training programmes for adolescent girls in Uganda have been widely evaluated, with evidence demonstrating improvements in selected livelihood and well-being outcomes (Bandiera et al., 2020). While this body of evidence is substantial, it provides limited insight into the role of macro-level policies in shaping the structural conditions for women’s economic participation.
Emerging research highlights the importance of macroeconomic and structural policies in influencing gendered economic outcomes. Longitudinal and macroeconomic analyses indicate that gender inequality is both a determinant and an outcome of growth processes, with persistent gaps in education, employment, and access to productive resources associated with lower growth quality and sustainability (Seguino, 2010). From a macroeconomic perspective, fiscal policy choices, sectoral investment patterns, and labour market regulations are not gender-neutral and can have differential effects on employment creation and income distribution for women and men (Elson & Çagatay, 2000). In contexts where growth is driven by capital-intensive sectors or constrained fiscal regimes, women’s employment opportunities tend to be more limited.
These dynamics are further shaped by the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work. Global assessments show that women’s disproportionate care responsibilities increase their sensitivity to changes in public expenditure, labour market flexibility, and reductions in social services (UN Women, 2015). Policy reviews suggest that, in the absence of macro-level investments in care infrastructure and social protection, increases in women’s labour force participation may occur alongside insecure and low-quality employment (OECD, 2019a, 2019b). This underscores the relevance of examining macro-level policy interventions through a gender-responsive lens.
At the outcome level, evidence synthesis indicates that women’s economic empowerment is associated with improvements in human development outcomes, including education, health, and welfare (Duflo, 2012). However, these outcomes are contingent on broader macroeconomic and institutional conditions, such as employment stability, access to public services, and inclusive policy frameworks (World Bank, 2012). Despite increasing recognition of these linkages, the evidence remains dispersed across policy domains and outcome areas, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This Evidence and Gap Map responds to this gap by systematically identifying, categorizing, and mapping the available evidence on macro-level, gender-responsive policies and their effects on women’s economic empowerment and related outcomes in the region.
The Intervention
Intervention Categories, Sub-categories and Definitions
The interventions mapped in this EGM are theorized to affect women’s economic empowerment through intermediate pathways including improved income security, increased labour market participation, reduced economic vulnerability, enhanced access to productive resources, and redistribution of unpaid care responsibilities. Together, these pathways contribute to sustained improvements in women’s economic agency, well-being, and control over economic outcomes.
The first intervention category includes macroeconomic policies, which are designed to regulate national economies and achieve objectives such as economic growth, employment generation, price stability, and social equity. Within this category, the EGM captures fiscal, monetary, and trade policies. Gender-responsive fiscal policies include public spending on education, health, care services, and infrastructure, as well as gender budgeting initiatives and expenditure tracking. Monetary policy interventions such as interest rate adjustments and credit regulation can affect women’s economic participation, particularly in informal and small-scale enterprises. Trade policies, including tariffs, subsidies, and trade liberalization measures, influence women’s employment opportunities and access to markets.
A second major category comprises social protection policies, which are designed to support individuals and households facing social and economic risks. This category includes social housing policies, health insurance policies, and childcare policies. Social housing interventions aim to improve access to safe and affordable housing, reduce housing insecurity, and mitigate homelessness among women and their families. Health insurance policies, including universal health coverage and subsidized insurance schemes, seek to reduce financial barriers to healthcare and protect women from catastrophic health expenditures. Childcare policies focus on improving the availability, affordability, and quality of childcare services, including early childhood development support, childcare subsidies, and maternity and paternity leave, thereby enabling women’s labour force participation.
The EGM also includes informal economy policies, which target workers and enterprises operating outside formal regulatory frameworks. These interventions address constraints faced by women in the informal sector through measures such as improved access to finance, land titling and certification, pension schemes, and the adoption of minimum social protection floors. Such policies aim to enhance income security, productivity, and social protection for women engaged in informal economic activities.
Another important intervention category concerns unpaid care work policies, which seek to recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care responsibilities that disproportionately fall on women and girls. These interventions include public investment in childcare services, infrastructure improvements in energy, water, transport, and sanitation, child benefits, and policies that support the rebalancing of care work within households and communities. By reducing time burdens and care-related constraints, these interventions create enabling conditions for women’s economic participation.
Closely related are domestic work support policies, which encompass labour regulations and protections for domestic workers. These interventions include minimum wage laws, limits on working hours, occupational safety provisions, and legislation aligned with international labour standards, such as the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 189. Such policies aim to ensure fair and dignified working conditions for a predominantly female workforce.
The EGM further captures decent work policies, which promote fair employment opportunities, labour rights, and social protection across sectors. These include labour rights and protection policies, minimum wage regulations, social security and benefits, occupational safety and health measures, and policies aimed at reducing gender gaps in education and skills. Decent work interventions are critical for improving job quality and economic security for women.
Finally, the EGM includes women’s economic empowerment advocacy interventions, which operate at the macro level to promote gender-responsive policy reform. These interventions are typically led by women’s rights organizations, advocates, and feminist movements and include training and capacity building for policymakers and advocates, policy advocacy, public awareness campaigns, and coalition building among civil society actors, international financial institutions, and bilateral and multilateral partners. These strategies aim to influence policy agendas, strengthen institutional commitment to gender equality, and sustain reforms that advance women’s economic empowerment.
Why it Is Important to Develop the EGM
Developing an Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) on gender-responsive macro-level policies is important because macroeconomic frameworks such as fiscal, monetary, and public expenditure policies are often designed and implemented as gender-neutral despite clear evidence that they affect women and men differently due to structural gender inequalities in labor markets and unpaid care work. Research and policy analyses show that macro-level policy choices can either reinforce or reduce gender gaps in employment, income, and economic security, with particularly pronounced implications in low- and middle-income countries, including sub-Saharan Africa (Kolovich et al., 2024; UN Women, 2015). However, existing evidence on these gendered macroeconomic effects remains fragmented across disciplines and policy domains, limiting its accessibility and usefulness for policymakers. An EGM is therefore needed to systematically organize and synthesize this evidence, identify concentrations and gaps, and support more coherent, evidence-informed macroeconomic policymaking aimed at advancing women’s economic empowerment.
Existing EGMs and Relevant Systematic Reviews
There is currently no Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) that systematically examines how gender-responsive macro-level policies influence women’s economic empowerment, particularly within the context of sub-Saharan Africa. While some EGMs address women’s economic empowerment outcomes, they do so from different analytical angles. For example, Singh et al. (2022) focus primarily on programmatic interventions such as skills development and economic support mechanisms. Although that map includes policy and institutional dimensions, its scope does not extend to macro-level policy frameworks.
Other EGMs that incorporate women’s empowerment outcomes are similarly limited by their thematic focus. These include maps centered on infrastructure and gender equality (Odei Obeng-Amoako et al., 2023), food systems and nutrition (Moore et al., 2021), health and social care interventions for older populations (Welch et al., 2021), and group-based livelihood interventions (Barooah et al., 2019). This EGM responds to these gaps by offering a focused and up-to-date synthesis of evidence on gender-responsive macro-level policies and their links to women’s economic empowerment outcomes.
Objectives
The purpose of this Evidence Gap Map (EGM) is to identify, map, and provide an overview of the existing evidence and gaps related to gender-responsive macro-level policies and women’s economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa.
The EGM will specifically. 1. Identify evidence clusters that present opportunities for synthesis. 2. Highlight evidence gaps that necessitate further studies, research, and evaluations.
Methods
This Evidence and Gap Map was created in accordance with the Campbell Collaboration guidelines (White et al., 2020), as detailed in our published protocol (Ameyaw et al., 2025).
Evidence and Gap Map: Definition and Purpose
Evidence Gap Maps (EGMs) are systematic, visual tools designed to catalog and describe the volume, characteristics, and distribution of existing evidence on the effects of policies, programs, or interventions across a defined sector. They are structured around an explicit framework that cross-classifies types of interventions against outcomes of interest, with each cell populated by rigorous impact evaluations and, in many cases, systematic reviews. Unlike narrative overviews, EGMs follow transparent and replicable methods for searching, screening, coding, and presenting evidence, thereby enabling users to quickly identify areas of evidence concentration (“clusters”) and areas where evidence is weak or absent (“gaps”). EGMs are particularly valuable for supporting priority setting, commissioning new research, and informing evidence-informed decision-making, especially for funders, policymakers, and researchers working in development, social policy, health, education, and environmental sectors (Snilstveit et al., 2016; White, 2019).
Methodologically, EGMs draw heavily on systematic review standards while adapting them for mapping rather than synthesis. Core methods are articulated in foundational guidance from the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and the Campbell Collaboration, which emphasize the development of a theory-based framework, comprehensive and systematic searches, transparent inclusion criteria, and standardized coding of study designs, populations, and contextual features. Recent methodological papers also highlight advances such as the inclusion of confidence ratings, evidence quality indicators, and interactive online platforms that allow dynamic filtering and updating of maps over time (Miake-Lye et al., 2016; Snilstveit et al., 2016; White et al., 2020). Collectively, these methods position EGMs as complementary to systematic reviews: while reviews answer “what works,” EGMs answer “what evidence exists, where, and how strong is it,” thereby strengthening strategic use of evidence in research and policy ecosystems.
Framework Development and Scope
This EGM’s scope followed a sequence of steps. These steps included training for team members on the EGM development process to evidence mapping. A training session was organized for all team members on the various steps of the EGM development process and the EPPI-Reviewer software, which is the software used to produce the EGM. Next, the team made up of experts in screening, coding, data analysis, and information retrieval identified the elements of the study (Population Intervention Outcome Study design) to help in identifying studies and then completed and registered the title of the EGM to the Campbell Collaboration Review using the Title Registration Form (TRF).
As part of the Campbell Collaboration’s requirements for EGM production, the team had to submit the standard protocol for the EGM after the acceptance of the TRF. The team developed the screening tool (Figure 1), which focused on including studies in SSA, with a focus on women and girls from vulnerable spaces based on the interventions and outcomes of interest. Then, relevant academic databases and organizational websites to help get studies based on the developed screening tool were identified.
Prof. Howard White, Prof. Takyiwa Manuh, the Campbell Collaboration, and the Hewlett Foundation were the key stakeholders during the EGM development processes. Results of the EGM were presented at the 2025 Evidence to Action (E2A) conference organized by the International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED) and made accessible on the Organization’s website.
Stakeholder Engagement
In order to establish the scope and structure of the map, we held initial discussions with a variety of stakeholders between June and July, 2023. This included three members of the Hewlett Foundation’s Gender Equity and Governance team and four representatives from their grantees and partners. We also collaborated with Afrobarometer (2 senior researchers), the Center for Democratic Development in Ghana, an expert from the African Population Health Research Council, researchers from the University of Ghana (3 faculty members), the STAR Ghana Foundation (2 officers), Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) (2 representatives),, and representatives (3) from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection. Engagement methods included one multi-stakeholder scoping workshop (in-person and virtual), three bilateral consultations (virtual), and structured written reviews of draft framework documents. These meetings brought together academics, researchers, and decision-makers. Stakeholder inputs significantly shaped the development of the intervention-outcome framework by clarifying governance domains, refining outcome categories, and aligning the framework with policy-relevant questions. Their feedback also prioritized specific intervention types that are particularly pertinent to underserved populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and led to the addition and refinement of selected governance outcomes.
As the Evidence and Gap Map was developed, we consulted these individuals again for feedback on the updated framework, preliminary findings, and draft map. Their comments led to adjustments in the categorization of interventions, interpretation of evidence clusters and gaps, and the presentation of findings, all aimed at enhancing usability for decision-makers. To encourage broader participation, we shared the draft map and preliminary results with a wider network of stakeholders focused on women’s empowerment. This additional feedback further improved the clarity, policy relevance, and dissemination strategy of the final EGM.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework provides a general overview of the path of the interventions to the desired long-term outcomes. The study examines macroeconomic interventions to foster stability and reduce poverty. These interventions include macroeconomic policies which target fiscal, monetary and policies to influence the economic level of the country; social protection policies to provide direct financial assistance to improve the well-being of individuals and households such as cash transfer support, social housing programs, health insurance and childcare support. Other interventions to address challenges and improve the conditions of informal workers are tackled in this study. These interventions to improve the informal economy include domestic work support, interventions aimed at promoting and ensuring decent work and fair employment opportunities, unpaid care work, even during hard days; and advocacy related interventions for women’s economic empowerment.
It is assumed that, in an environment with political will and commitment, macroeconomic policies such as fiscal policies would lead to a short-term outcome of access to financial services. This, in turn, would help women and young girls to own businesses and other entrepreneurial avenues and increase their income in the long run (Ajide, 2021; Akudugu, 2011; Dinkelman, 2011; Escalante et al., 2021). Escalante et al. (2021) argue that monetary policies that target tax credits for low-income women would improve the financial stability of women, which would enhance their savings and asset accumulation and empower them by increasing their income in the long run. Likewise, macroeconomic interventions in the form of trade policies also help to empower women and girls. Trade policies are believed to increase access to markets and create employment opportunities for women and younger girls.
Informal economic interventions seek to help reduce poverty. These interventions are seen in policies such as unpaid care work, decent work, and domestic work support. According to Agénor and Canuto (2012), increased economic independence of women in the form of access to finance increases their income as an intermediate outcome, which improves their economic status. This intervention goes a long way to develop the capacity of women to make their own decisions and choices, exercise control over their lives, increase representation in leadership roles, and participate in socio-economic activities. Interventions that also target equal employment opportunities provide fair and dignified working conditions as a short-term outcome for women. These interventions lead to long-term outcomes of agency (Case, 2004).
Social protection interventions to support vulnerable women and girls also serve as a means to achieving women’s economic empowerment. The access to affordable and safe housing for women and young girls improves their safety and security. This intervention produces a long-term effect of agency where women and girls are in a safer environment to make their own decisions and control their lives and productive resources (Gebru & Lentiro, 2018). Abdullah et al. (2018) assert that health insurance interventions, including universal health coverage, subsidized premiums, public health insurance, and rural health insurance, reduce the health-related financial burden of women and girls thereby improving healthcare access in the short period for them. As maternal and child health is enhanced, and maternal mortality is reduced, the well-being of women is achieved as a long-term outcome (Adato & Bassett, 2009).
Advocacy related activities to achieve women’s economic empowerment is a crucial intervention. This intervention involves activities such as training and capacity building for policy makers and advocates, public awareness campaigns, and coalition building. When the skills of women are developed, and gender disparities are recognized in national development, amidst collaborative stakeholder engagements, gender responsive policies to empower women are developed in the short run. As a result, affirmative actions and gender-responsive budgets are implemented to increase women’s control over productive resources and representation in leadership (<u>Björkdahl & Mannergren Selimovic, 2015</u>; Goldman et al., 2016).
Figure 2 illustrates the evidence-based conceptual framework of this EGM. Screening tool for assessing eligible studies
Dimensions
The key dimensions of this EGM are interventions, outcomes, evaluation types, and study designs. Interventions and outcomes are organized in a matrix format, with intervention categories presented in rows and outcome categories presented in columns. Each cell in the matrix displays the number of studies corresponding to a specific intervention–outcome combination. Evaluation types are represented as segments within the study counts in each cell.
The outcome dimension captures core areas of women’s economic empowerment, including women’s economic opportunities, agency, well-being, and process insights, with further sub-domains under each outcome category. These outcomes reflect both economic and empowerment-related changes affecting women, as well as intermediate processes that influence women’s economic participation and autonomy. The intervention dimension comprises four broad categories: macroeconomic policies, social protection policies, informal economy policies, and women’s economic empowerment advocacy, each with defined sub-categories. These intervention types reflect policy, programmatic, and advocacy approaches aimed at addressing structural and institutional constraints to women’s economic empowerment. Conceptual framework 
This EGM allows for multiple coding of studies that report evidence across more than one intervention, outcome, evaluation type, or study design. The map includes studies employing a range of evaluation types, including impact, process, formative, and summative evaluations, as well as systematic and scoping reviews, capturing the breadth of evidence relevant to women’s economic empowerment.
Types of Study Design
This Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) includes a broad range of rigorous study designs to comprehensively capture the evidence on gender-responsive macro-level policies and women’s economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa. Eligible primary study designs comprise experimental studies (including randomized controlled trials), quasi-experimental and other non-experimental quantitative designs (such as difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, instrumental variable approaches, and propensity score matching), as well as modelling and simulation studies where these are used to estimate policy impacts at macro or sectoral levels. In addition, systematic reviews and scoping reviews were included to provide synthesized evidence across intervention domains. No restrictions were placed on study report status: peer-reviewed journal articles, working papers, discussion papers, reports, dissertations, book chapters, protocols, and preprints were all eligible, alongside unpublished and grey literature, to reduce publication bias and reflect the policy-relevant nature of macro-level interventions. Consistent with EGM methodological guidance, ongoing studies were also included and coded separately, recognizing their importance for identifying emerging evidence and future research trajectories (Snilstveit et al., 2016; White et al., 2020).
The inclusion of diverse quantitative designs was justified by the complexity of macro-level interventions, which are often not amenable to randomized evaluation and instead rely on natural experiments, policy reforms, or observational data for causal inference (Vaessen, 2011; White, 2019). Studies focusing on adverse effects and economic outcomes were captured through the same comprehensive search strategy applied across bibliographic databases and gray literature sources, ensuring identification of evaluations reporting unintended consequences, distributional effects, and macroeconomic trade-offs. Qualitative research evidence was eligible where it employed clearly defined qualitative study designs such as case studies, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, ethnographic studies, or participatory research, and where it generated process insights relevant to policy design, implementation, and contextual mechanisms. These studies were primarily intended to inform the “process insight” outcome domain rather than causal effectiveness. Where qualitative evidence was included, targeted search terms related to qualitative methods and process evaluation were incorporated alongside hand-searching of institutional reports and consultation with experts. This inclusive yet transparent approach aligns with established EGM standards and ensures that the map reflects both the breadth of existing evidence and the methodological realities of evaluating gender-responsive macro-level policies (Snilstveit et al., 2016; White et al., 2020).
Types of Intervention/Problem
To guide evidence identification and coding, this Evidence and Gap Map organizes interventions into clearly defined categories representing the main macro-level policy domains through which governments and institutions influence economic structures, labour markets, and social outcomes. These intervention categories capture gender-responsive macroeconomic, social protection, labour, and advocacy-related policy instruments that shape the enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment. The classification provides a systematic framework for mapping existing evidence across policy areas and identifying where evidence is concentrated or lacking.
Description of Broad Intervention Categories (see Table 1)
Macroeconomic Policies
These interventions encompass economy-wide policy instruments used to manage growth, stability, and structural transformation. They include fiscal, monetary, and trade policies that shape labor markets, prices, investment patterns, and access to economic opportunities. When designed with a gender lens, macroeconomic policies can influence women’s employment intensity, income security, and participation in both formal and informal economic activities.
Fiscal Policies
Fiscal policies refer to government decisions on public expenditure, taxation, revenue mobilization, and borrowing. Gender-responsive fiscal measures include public investments in education, health, care infrastructure, and gender budgeting initiatives that explicitly allocate resources to reduce gender inequalities and support women’s economic participation.
Monetary Policies
Monetary policies involve actions by central banks or monetary authorities to regulate money supply, interest rates, credit availability, and exchange rates. These interventions can have differential effects on women, particularly those operating in informal markets or small-scale enterprises, by influencing access to finance, business costs, and economic stability.
Trade Policies
Trade policies include measures that regulate imports and exports, such as tariffs, subsidies, trade remedies, and trade liberalization. These policies shape sectoral growth and employment patterns, which can affect women’s participation in export-oriented sectors, agriculture, and informal cross-border trade.
Social Protection Policies
Social protection interventions aim to reduce vulnerability and economic risk through mechanisms such as housing, health insurance, childcare support, and income security. Governmental policies including school feeding programs and livelihood support programs like cash transfers also have implications on women’s economic empowerment. Gender-responsive social protection policies can enhance women’s ability to engage in paid work by reducing financial insecurity and unpaid care burdens.
Informal Economy Policies
These interventions address the conditions of workers and enterprises operating outside formal regulatory frameworks. Policies in this category include access to finance, land titling, pension schemes, and the adoption of minimum social protection floors, all of which are critical for improving the security and productivity of women-dominated informal employment.
Unpaid Care Work Policies
These are designed to recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care responsibilities, which disproportionately fall on women. Interventions include public investments in childcare services, infrastructure that reduces time burdens, child benefits, and measures introduced in response to shocks such as pandemics.
Domestic Work Support Policies
This category includes legal and regulatory frameworks that protect domestic workers through labour rights, minimum wage laws, and occupational safety standards. Ratification and implementation of international labour standards, such as ILO Convention 189, are central to improving working conditions in this highly feminized sector.
Decent Work Policies
Decent work policies promote fair employment conditions, labour rights, social security, and safe working environments. These interventions aim to improve job quality and reduce gender gaps in wages, employment security, education, and occupational safety.
Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Advocacy
Women’s Economic Empowerment advocacy interventions operate at the macro level by influencing policy design and implementation. They include policy advocacy, coalition building, capacity building for policymakers and advocates, and public awareness campaigns led by women’s rights organizations, feminist movements, and allied stakeholders.
Types of Population (as Data Applicable)
The population of interest for this Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) comprises women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. Country eligibility followed the World Bank income classification, including low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries based on gross national income (GNI) per capita thresholds. Studies were eligible if they focused on women and girls within these populations, either as direct beneficiaries or as primary units of analysis, reflecting the EGM’s focus on women’s economic empowerment. No restrictions were applied based on age, marital status, or rural–urban location, provided the study population fell within the defined geographic and income categories and addressed relevant macro-level interventions affecting women’s economic outcomes.
Equity considerations were central to the population eligibility criteria, given the structural and intersecting disadvantages faced by women in low-income settings. The EGM explicitly sought evidence relevant to women engaged in informal employment, unpaid care work, domestic work, and other vulnerable economic positions, recognizing that macro-level policies often have differentiated effects across socioeconomic groups (Heintz, 2015; Vaessen, 2011). Studies examining population sub-groups such as female informal workers, low-income households, or women with caregiving responsibilities were included. Conversely, studies focusing exclusively on middle- or high-income populations, or conducted outside sub-Saharan Africa, were excluded to maintain contextual relevance and policy applicability. This population framing aligns with equity-oriented evidence synthesis approaches, ensuring that the mapped evidence is relevant to populations most affected by gender-responsive macro-level policies and most likely to benefit from inclusive economic reforms (O’Neill et al., 2014; White et al., 2020).
Types of Outcome Measures (as Applicable)
Outcome Domain, Sub-categories, and Examples
In addition to outcome-level effects, the EGM included process insight measures to capture evidence on how and why macro-level interventions work. These measures comprised implementation processes, intervention characteristics, costs, and articulated theories of change, reflecting growing recognition that understanding mechanisms and contextual factors is essential for policy learning and scalability (Barooah et al., 2019; White, 2019). Outcome measures were eligible regardless of whether they captured intended or unintended effects, including adverse or distributional impacts of macroeconomic and social policies, provided they were relevant to women’s economic empowerment. Equity considerations were embedded across outcome domains, with particular attention to outcomes affecting women in low-income households, informal employment, unpaid care roles, and other structurally disadvantaged positions, where macro-level policies may generate heterogeneous effects (Heintz, 2015; OECD, 2019a, 2019b). This inclusive outcome framework ensures that the EGM captures both effectiveness and equity-relevant dimensions of gender-responsive macro-level policies in sub-Saharan Africa, in line with established guidance for evidence and gap map development (Snilstveit et al., 2016; White et al., 2020).
Other Eligibility Criteria
The EGM established additional eligibility criteria primarily focused on geographical setting, location, and implementation context. This restricted inclusion to studies conducted exclusively in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, in accordance with the protocol and methods sections. As a result, 99 studies were excluded during full-text screening due to ineligible geographical locations. Eligible settings encompassed all specified interventions and outcomes aimed at women and girls, with no restrictions on urban versus rural contexts. This allowed for the inclusion of diverse environments, such as rural communities, urban informal settlements, and mixed administrative jurisdictions, as long as the interventions targeted women and girls. Conversely, studies conducted in settings unrelated to macro-level gender-responsive policies were excluded if they did not contribute to the EGM outcomes or target populations.
Search Methods and Sources
The protocol guiding the development of this EGM was published in the Campbell Systematic Review database (Ameyaw et al., 2025). It outlined the databases to be searched and other sources for retrieving relevant papers. Additionally, the protocol included a list of journals that would be hand-searched to identify any studies eligible for inclusion in the EGM.
Search Strategy
The Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) employed a systematic way of conducting searches to support the development and implementation of a comprehensive search strategy aimed at identifying all relevant evidence, including both published and unpublished studies. Academic databases and grey literature databases were systematically searched. Academic journals were identified based on their use in similar previous reviews and their relevance to the topic, and were subsequently hand-searched. Searches were conducted in English.
• CAB Abstracts • Scopus • Web of Science • Dimensions
In addition, OpenAlex was searched via the EPPI-Reviewer software to identify any additional eligible studies that may not have been captured through traditional bibliographic databases.
• EPPI Knowledge Library • Social Science Research Network (SSRN) • Centre for Strategic and International Studies • Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) • Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) • UN Women • International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) • Engender Impact • EconLit • National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) • USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) • World Bank Economic Review • World Bank Documents and Reports • World Bank Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) • African Development Bank Evaluation Reports • Asian Development Bank Evaluation Resources • The Campbell Library • The Cochrane Library • Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) • IDEAS RePEc • Google Scholar • Gender at Work
Journal Hand Searches
• Targeted hand searches were conducted in key peer-reviewed journals to capture relevant studies that may not be fully indexed in electronic databases: • Journal of Development Economics • Journal of International Development • European Journal of Development Research • Asian Journal of Women’s Studies • International Journal of Women’s Empowerment • Journal of Women’s Empowerment and Strategy • Social Indicators Research • World Development • Development and Change • Gender and Development • Feminist Economics • IDS Bulletin • Sabinet African Journals • Policy Commons
Additional Search Methods
Backward citation tracking was undertaken for all included studies and relevant reviews to identify additional primary studies not retrieved through database searches. Priority was given to highly cited authors and frequently referenced studies within the subject area. Ten authors with relevant papers were contacted to ask if they had conducted any additional studies or were aware of other studies that might be pertinent to the current EGM.
We also searched registries and repositories for completed and ongoing trials, systematic reviews, and EGMs. Evaluation reports, university theses, and other forms of grey literature were reviewed to supplement the evidence base. Previously completed EGMs produced by institutions such as the Campbell Collaboration and 3ie were examined as an additional source for identifying relevant studies.
Data Management and Documentation
All eligible records were uploaded into EPPI-Reviewer and converted into Research Information System (RIS) format for systematic management and screening (Thomas & Brunton, 2010). A detailed log of all search activities, including databases searched, search dates, and search strategies, was maintained to ensure transparency and reproducibility in line with EGM reporting standards.
Search strings were systematically developed for each database using a combination of synonyms and related terms covering the population, interventions, outcomes, and target groups of interest. No restrictions were applied based on study design. Boolean operators (AND, OR) were used to logically combine search terms, while truncation symbols and wildcards were applied to capture variations in terminology and improve retrieval sensitivity. Additional limiters were used to exclude studies outside the scope of the EGM, including language restrictions, with only English publications considered. The publication period was limited to studies published between 1990 and 2023, reflecting the timeframe most relevant to policy and research discussions on inclusive governance.
In addition, machine-learning–enabled search functions within OpenAlex, accessed through the EPPI-Reviewer software, were used to strengthen the search process. These tools automatically analysed and classified large volumes of scholarly literature, enabling the identification of potentially relevant studies that may not have been captured through the initial database searches. The integration of machine learning enhanced both the efficiency and comprehensiveness of evidence identification, supporting the development of a robust and inclusive EGM.
Analysis and Presentation
Report Structure
Report Structure
Filters for Presentation
Filter Dimensions and Descriptions
Dependency
In this Evidence and Gap Map, the study constituted the unit of analysis, such that each entry in the map corresponded to a single study. A study was understood as an investigation based on a distinct sample, including cases where the same sample was observed across multiple time periods (White et al., 2018). Consistent with established EGM practice, when a study was disseminated through more than one publication, the most recent version that was publicly accessible was selected for inclusion (Malhotra et al., 2021). Where studies examined more than one intervention, outcome, or study design, each eligible component was coded separately under the relevant categories. However, each study was recorded only once in the EGM, regardless of the number of codes assigned. In instances where studies reported both eligible and ineligible interventions and outcomes, only those meeting the EGM inclusion criteria were coded. Consequently, due to this multiple-coding approach, the frequency of intervention, outcome, or study design codes may exceed the total number of studies included in the map.
Data Collection and Analysis
Screening and Study Selection
Inclusion decisions for this Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) were made through a structured, transparent, and sequential screening process, consistent with Campbell Collaboration and 3ie guidance for EGMs (Snilstveit et al., 2016; White et al., 2020). All records identified through database and grey literature searches were first imported into reference management software, where duplicates were removed. Screening then proceeded in two stages: title and abstract screening, and full-text screening. At each stage, eligibility was assessed against predefined inclusion criteria relating to population, intervention, outcomes, study design, geographic scope, and publication status, as set out in the protocol (Ameyaw et al., 2025). Inclusion decisions were documented systematically to ensure auditability and consistency, and reasons for exclusion at the full-text stage were recorded to support transparency and reproducibility of the mapping process.
Titles and abstracts were screened independently by two reviewers to determine potential relevance, with disagreements resolved through discussion and, where necessary, consultation with a third senior reviewer. Full-text screening was also conducted independently by two reviewers using a standardized screening tool aligned with the EGM framework, ensuring consistent interpretation of eligibility criteria (White et al., 2020). No automation, machine learning, or text-mining tools were used in the screening process; this decision reflected the heterogeneity of macro-level policy interventions and outcome measures, which can be challenging to classify reliably using automated approaches without extensive validation (O’Mara-Eves et al., 2015). The use of dual independent screening throughout minimized selection bias and enhanced the reliability of inclusion decisions, in line with best practice recommendations for evidence synthesis and mapping exercises (Miake-Lye et al., 2016; Snilstveit et al., 2016).
Data Extraction and Management
Eligible studies included in the EGM at the full-text screening stage were coded using a pre-defined and pre-tested data extraction form developed and administered within EPPI-Reviewer (see Appendix H for the coding form). Data extraction was undertaken by two reviewers working independently to ensure reliability and reduce bias. The extraction process was guided by clearly defined code definitions and supported with examples covering interventions, outcomes, types of evaluations, study designs, geographic coverage (SSA as classified by the World Bank), population characteristics, and contextual information.
Automation and machine learning tools embedded within EPPI-Reviewer were used only to support earlier stages of the review process (e.g., citation management, deduplication) and were not applied to data extraction. All coding decisions at the data extraction stage were made by human reviewers. Following independent coding, the reviewers compared their extracted data, discussed any discrepancies, and resolved disagreements through consensus. Where consensus could not be reached, issues were resolved through discussion with a senior member of the review team. Final reconciled coding was completed directly within EPPI-Reviewer to ensure consistency and accuracy.
Tools for Assessing Risk of Bias/Study Quality of Included Reviews
We assessed the methodological quality of identified systematic reviews using the AMSTAR 2 tool (Shea et al., 2017), with independent assessments conducted by pairs of reviewers and disagreements resolved through discussion. In line with guidance for evidence maps (Snilstveit et al., 2016; White et al., 2020), we did not assess the risk of bias or methodological quality of primary studies included within these reviews.
Methods for Mapping
We used the EPPI mapping tool to develop our evidence gap map (EGM). EPPI-Mapper, created by the EPPI-Centre, is designed specifically for visualizing coded data from EPPI-Reviewer. The two tools are typically used in tandem: after studies are coded in EPPI-Reviewer, the data is exported and uploaded into EPPI-Mapper to produce an interactive, web-based EGM. These maps help stakeholders identify areas of high-quality evidence, as well as regions where evidence is limited or absent, and reveal how findings differ across various populations or contexts (EPPI-Centre, 2023).
Results
Results of the Search
A total of 49,592 studies were identified through academic databases, gray literature, and machine learning sources, including OpenAlex in EPPI-Reviewer. After removing 26,799 duplicates, 19,813 studies were screened by their titles and abstracts, resulting in 2,072 studies selected for full-text review. Of these, 245 studies met the eligibility criteria and were coded for inclusion in the evidence map (see Figures 3 and 4). Prisma flowchart A Snapshot of EGM. The EGM can be Found on https://products.iced-eval.org/egm-womens-economic-empowerment.html
Excluded Studies
Reason for excluding Studies
Reasons for Exclusion of Studies at Full Text Screening
Studies Awaiting Classification
Examples of Excluded Studies
Synthesis of Included Studies
Characteristics of the EGM
Figures 5 and 6 present trends in the volume of publications included in the EGM between 1990 and 2023, disaggregated by intervention types and outcome domains, respectively. Overall, the evidence base remains sparse prior to the early 2000s, with a marked increase in publications observed from around 2008 onward. As shown in Figure 5, studies examining social protection policies constitute the largest share of intervention-focused evidence over time, with a steady rise from 2009 and notable peaks after 2015. Publications related to macroeconomic policies also increase gradually over the same period, while evidence on informal economy policies remains comparatively limited, despite a modest upward trend after 2012. WEE advocacy interventions are minimally represented throughout the period, indicating a persistent evidence gap. The total number of intervention-related publications increases steadily over time, reaching its highest levels in the most recent years. Trends of publications by interventions from 1990 to 2023 Trends of publications by outcomes from 1990 to 2023
Outcome-focused trends displayed in Figure 6 show that women’s economic opportunities dominate the evidence base across the time period, particularly from 2010 onwards. Studies addressing agency and well-being outcomes also increase gradually, with well-being-related publications becoming more prominent after 2013. In contrast, process and institutional insight outcomes are the least frequently examined, suggesting limited attention to mechanisms, implementation processes, and institutional dynamics within the literature. Across all outcome domains, the overall volume of publications peaks in the period from 2019 to 2023, reflecting growing research attention to women’s economic empowerment and related gender outcomes.
Frequency of Publications Type of Included Studies in the EGM (n = 245)
Type of Evidence
The Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) shows a diverse body of evidence, with a clear dominance of non-experimental and summative forms of research.
As shown in Figure 7, the majority of included studies employed non-experimental designs (133 studies), accounting for nearly half of all included evidence. These studies typically relied on observational, descriptive, or analytical approaches without manipulation or control groups. Qualitative studies including case studies and other qualitative designs also formed a substantial proportion of the evidence base (79 studies), highlighting the importance of contextual and experiential insights in the literature. Frequency of types of study designs of included studies (n = 271)
In contrast, experimental studies were relatively limited (30 studies), indicating fewer rigorous causal evaluations within the mapped evidence. Reviews, including systematic and scoping reviews, accounted for 21 studies, suggesting a modest level of evidence synthesis in the field. Modelling studies were the least represented, with only eight studies, pointing to limited use of simulation or predictive analytical approaches.
Frequency of Evaluation Types of Included Studies
Frequency of Categories and Sub-categories of Interventions of Included Studies
Other evaluation types were much less common. Process evaluations accounted for 14 studies (5.7%), while formative evaluations were rare (3 studies; 1.2%), suggesting limited attention to implementation processes and learning during intervention design and rollout. Reviews represented 21 studies (8.6%), complementing the primary evidence by synthesizing existing findings.
Evidence by Population
The Southern Africa region showed the highest concentration of evidence on gender-responsive macro-level interventions and women’s economic empowerment, driven largely by a substantial number of studies conducted in South Africa (n = 87) (Figure 8). This was followed by the Eastern Africa region, which also demonstrated a relatively high density of evidence, with notable contributions from Ethiopia (n = 34), Kenya (n = 32), Tanzania (n = 21), and Uganda (n = 21). Frequency of geographic regions in the included studies (n = 300)
The Western Africa region exhibited a moderate level of evidence coverage, with Ghana (n = 51) accounting for the largest share of studies in the region, followed by Nigeria (n = 21) and Burkina Faso (n = 14). Other West African countries had comparatively fewer studies, indicating uneven evidence distribution across the region.
Evidence from the Central Africa region was comparatively sparse. While Rwanda (n = 16) showed relatively stronger representation within the region, several countries including Equatorial Guinea (n = 1), Central African Republic (n = 2), and São Tomé and Príncipe (n = 2) had very limited evidence coverage.
Across the EGM, studies were identified from multiple countries spanning all four sub-regions, though evidence of density varied considerably by country. South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya emerged as the most frequently studied contexts, while countries such as Equatorial Guinea, Comoros, Eritrea, Seychelles, and South Sudan had only a small number of studies represented. A heat map illustrating the geographical distribution of included studies is presented in Figure 9, highlighting both evidence clusters and gaps across sub-Saharan Africa. Geographic heat Map of included studies
Intervention Categories
As illustrated in Figure 10, social protection policies dominate the evidence base, with 162 studies, representing the largest share of included interventions. This is followed by informal economy policies (55 studies) and macroeconomic policies (43 studies). Women’s Economic Empowerment advocacy interventions are comparatively underrepresented, with only 14 studies. Frequency of types of intervention of included studies
Within macroeconomic interventions (43 studies), the evidence is largely focused on fiscal policies (34 studies), reflecting interest in taxation, public spending, and budgetary measures and their implications. Monetary policies (6 studies) and trade policies (5 studies) received substantially less attention, indicating limited empirical engagement with these macro-level instruments in the literature.
Social protection constitutes the most extensively studied category (162 studies). Within this category, childcare policies are the most prominent sub-category, with 101 studies, underscoring their perceived importance for labour market participation and welfare outcomes.
Health insurance policies are also well represented (57 studies), while social housing policies appear far less frequently (8 studies). This distribution suggests a strong research emphasis on care-related and health-related interventions within the broader social protection domain. A total of 55 studies examined interventions targeting the informal economy. These are primarily focused on decent work policies (35 studies), followed by unpaid care work policies (20 studies) and domestic work support (10 studies). The evidence reflects growing attention to labour conditions and recognition of unpaid and informal work, though coverage remains uneven across sub-categories.
Women’s economic empowerment advocacy is the least represented intervention category, with 14 studies overall. These interventions include training and capacity building (5 studies), policy advocacy (5 studies), coalition building (3 studies), and public awareness campaigns (2 studies). The relatively small number of studies in this category points to a notable evidence gap around advocacy-oriented and systems-level approaches to women’s economic empowerment.
Outcome Categories
The outcomes of interest in this EGM were organized into four broad categories: women’s economic opportunities, agency, well-being, and process insight (Figure 11; Table 10). Among these, well-being outcomes (n = 139) were the most frequently examined across the included studies, followed by women’s economic opportunities (n = 106), process insight outcomes (n = 32), and agency-related outcomes (n = 23). Percentage of types of outcome of included studies Frequency of Categories and Sub-categories of Outcomes of Included Studies
Within the women’s economic opportunities category, income and earnings (n = 48) and employment outcomes (n = 29) were the most commonly studied sub-categories. Education and skills attainment, including digital technology literacy and inclusiveness, also featured prominently (n = 30), alongside women’s work productivity (n = 21). In contrast, comparatively limited evidence was identified for access to credit and financial services (n = 11) and business ownership and entrepreneurship (n = 4), indicating notable gaps in these areas.
Agency-related outcomes were less frequently examined overall. Evidence within this category focused primarily on women’s participation in decision-making (n = 13) and control over productive resources (n = 13). Very few studies assessed women’s leadership outcomes (n = 3), highlighting a substantial gap in evidence related to women’s representation and influence in leadership and governance roles.
Well-being outcomes dominated the evidence base, with physical well-being (n = 122) being the most extensively studied sub-category. Mental well-being outcomes were also represented (n = 40), while social well-being outcomes appeared far less frequently (n = 12). This pattern suggests a strong emphasis on health-related dimensions of well-being, with relatively limited attention to broader social well-being outcomes.
Finally, evidence on process insight outcomes (n = 32) focused mainly on implementation processes (n = 14) and intervention characteristics (n = 13), providing insights into how interventions were designed and delivered. Very limited evidence examined theories of change (n = 1) or intervention costs (n = 9), underscoring gaps in understanding the mechanisms and cost-effectiveness of gender-responsive macro-level policies.
Overall, the distribution of outcomes highlights a concentration of evidence on well-being and economic opportunity outcomes, alongside substantial gaps in agency, leadership, and process-related evidence. These patterns underscore important priorities for future research aimed at strengthening the evidence base on women’s economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa.
Aggregate Map of Evidence: Outcome Versus Intervention Categories
Aggregate Map of Intervention by Outcome Categories of the Included Studies
Distribution of Intervention and Outcome Categories Against Types of Study Designs of Included Studies
Distribution of Evidence on Outcome and Intervention Categories by Study Designs of Included Studies
Most of the studies included in the EGM employed summative and impact evaluation designs (Figure 12). Across both intervention and outcome categories, summative evaluations constituted the largest share of the evidence, indicating a strong focus on assessing intervention results rather than implementation processes or formative learning. Distribution of studies on categories of outcome and intervention by types of evaluation of included studies
By intervention category, social protection policies accounted for the highest number of studies across all evaluation types, with a substantial concentration of summative evaluations (n = 80), followed by impact evaluations (n = 50) and reviews (n = 18). Macroeconomic policy interventions were also predominantly evaluated using summative designs (n = 33), with fewer impact evaluations (n = 8), and very limited process (n = 1) or formative evaluations (n = 0). Similarly, studies examining informal economy policies relied mainly on summative evaluations (n = 38), with relatively fewer impact evaluations (n = 12) and limited use of review-based synthesis (n = 5). Evidence related to WEE advocacy interventions was comparatively sparse and consisted primarily of summative evaluations (n = 8), with only a small number of impact (n= 3) and process evaluations (n = 2).
When examined by outcome category, women’s economic opportunities and well-being outcomes were most frequently assessed using summative evaluation designs, with 70 and 74 studies respectively. Impact evaluations were also common for these outcomes, particularly for well-being (n = 46) and economic opportunities (n = 27). In contrast, evidence on agency-related outcomes was limited across all evaluation types, with relatively few summative (n = 13) and impact evaluations (n = 7). Process insight outcomes differed from other outcome categories, with a greater emphasis on process evaluations (n = 12) compared to impact (n = 4) or summative evaluations (n = 13), reflecting an interest in understanding implementation dynamics rather than outcomes alone.
Across both intervention and outcome categories, formative evaluations were rare, and relatively few studies adopted review-based approaches, particularly for macroeconomic and informal economy interventions. Overall, the distribution of evaluation types highlights a concentration of evidence on summative and impact evaluations, with comparatively limited attention to formative learning and process-focused assessments. These patterns point to important gaps in the evidence base, particularly regarding implementation processes, learning-oriented evaluations, and synthesis of findings across studies.
Distribution of Evidence on Intervention and Outcome Categories by Geographical Regions
Distribution of Evidence on Intervention and Outcome Types Against Geographical Regions
A detailed analysis revealed that most studies in Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana focused on childcare and health insurance policies. Studies related to macro-economic policies were found in Ghana (n = 11), South Africa (n = 8), and Ethiopia (n = 7) (see Supporting Information S5: Result 5).
South Africa also had the highest number of studies on decent work policies (n = 26), followed by Kenya (n = 5) and Ethiopia (n = 5) among the studies included in the EGM (see Supporting Information S5: Result 5). Furthermore, studies conducted in South Africa (n = 20) and Ethiopia (n = 7) examined the outcomes of employment under women’s economic opportunities (see Supporting Information S6: Result 6).
Discussion
Summary of Main Results
Main Findings: The current Evidence Gap Map (EGM) outlines the existing evidence and gaps regarding the connections between gender-responsive macro-level policy interventions and women’s economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over the past two decades, the body of evidence in this area has grown steadily. We identified 245 studies, including six ongoing ones, across 48 countries in SSA. Notably, Southern Africa has the largest body of literature on the relationship between interventions and outcomes, surpassing Western, Eastern, and Central Africa.
Among the various categories of intervention, social protection policy was the most extensively researched, while well-being emerged as the most studied outcome category. Overall, the evidence linking gender-responsive macro-level policy interventions to outcomes remains limited. However, significant clusters of evidence were found regarding the relationship between health insurance and childcare policies and physical well-being, as well as between decent work policies and income outcomes, indicating potential areas for future synthesis. The studies identified in the EGM were predominantly summative evaluations, including 21 reviews.
Areas of Major Gaps in the Evidence
The distribution of evidence across gender-responsive macro-level interventions for women’s economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa reveals uneven research attention across regions, intervention types, and outcomes, with some areas receiving substantial focus while others remain notably underexplored. Such imbalances are characteristic of evidence landscapes mapped through EGMs and reflect broader challenges in where policy-relevant evidence is generated and accumulated (Singh et al., 2022).
Southern and Eastern Africa accounted for the largest share of the evidence base. This concentration was driven largely by a small number of countries most notably South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya, which together contributed a disproportionate share of the available studies. These contexts have been frequent sites for research on macroeconomic reforms, social protection systems, labour market policies, and unpaid care interventions, reflecting sustained policy experimentation and stronger evaluation and data infrastructures. Previous research highlights that countries with more established policy frameworks and research capacity tend to attract greater empirical attention, reinforcing uneven patterns in evidence generation (Duflo, 2012; Singh et al., 2022).
In contrast, Central Africa remained comparatively underrepresented, with limited evidence across most intervention and outcome domains. Although a few countries showed moderate coverage, many others had very few studies available. This pattern mirrors findings from other evidence mapping exercises, which consistently identify fragile and lower-capacity settings as underrepresented due to data constraints and limited evaluation investment (Odei Obeng-Amoako et al., 2023; Snilstveit et al., 2016).
Western Africa exhibited moderate but uneven evidence coverage, with stronger representation in countries such as Ghana and Nigeria and considerably less evidence from several other countries. Similarly, while Southern Africa showed high overall study density, this was largely driven by a single research-intensive context, masking limited coverage in smaller economies. These trends underscore how regional evidence density is often shaped by a small number of contexts rather than broad geographic representation.
Across intervention categories, social protection policies and macroeconomic policies dominated the evidence base. This reflects their central role in national development strategies and gender equality agendas, particularly through fiscal policy, labour market reforms, health insurance, childcare, and unpaid care interventions (Heintz, 2015; International Labour Organization, 2021; OECD, 2019a, 2019b). In contrast, informal economy policies and Women’s economic empowerment advocacy interventions were less frequently studied, despite their importance for supporting women’s livelihoods and addressing structural constraints faced by women working outside the formal economy (Dunsch, 2022).
Outcome coverage also showed clear imbalance. Women’s economic opportunities and well-being outcomes including income, employment, and physical well-being were the most frequently examined. By comparison, agency-related outcomes, such as leadership, voice, and control over productive resources, received considerably less attention. Evidence on process-related outcomes, including implementation dynamics, intervention costs, and theories of change, was similarly limited, constraining learning about how and why macro-level interventions generate impact (Barooah et al., 2019; Moore et al., 2021).
Methodologically, the evidence base was dominated by summative and impact evaluations, with relatively few formative or process evaluations. While outcome-focused evaluations strengthen understanding of effectiveness, the limited attention to implementation and learning-oriented designs restricts insight into policy design, adaptation, and scalability (Duflo, 2020; Snilstveit et al., 2016). This methodological imbalance is consistent with patterns observed in other EGMs covering gender equality and economic empowerment interventions (Malhotra et al., 2021; Odei Obeng-Amoako et al., 2023).
Overall, the geographic and thematic gaps identified point to a clear future research agenda. Future research should be guided by the evidence gaps identified in this map. Priority areas are evident. First, more research is needed on under-explored policy domains, particularly structural and macro-level drivers of outcomes, which remain less studied compared to programmatic interventions. Strengthening evidence in these areas would enable a more balanced understanding of what works across diverse policy contexts.
Second, greater attention should be given to women’s agencies, including decision-making power, control over resources, and participation in economic and governance processes. Existing evidence focuses more on access and participation outcomes, while agency-related dimensions remain comparatively limited, despite their importance for sustainable empowerment.
Third, the field requires a stronger pipeline of rigorous impact evaluations. The limited number of high-quality experimental confidence in attributing observed effects to specific interventions. Future research should therefore prioritize stronger study designs, improved measurement, and longer-term follow-up to better assess sustained impacts. Overall, addressing these gaps will improve both the completeness and policy relevance of the evidence base for inclusive and equitable development outcomes.
Potential Biases in the Mapping Process
We implemented a comprehensive and transparent mapping process, following the procedures outlined in the protocol and established guidance for evidence and gap maps (Snilstveit et al., 2016). Eligible studies were identified through systematic searches and independently screened at the title, abstract, and full-text stages by pairs of reviewers, with disagreements resolved through discussion and consensus.
Although we planned to include and critically appraise systematic reviews using a protocol-based approach, only a limited number of reviews met the inclusion criteria. For those systematic reviews included in the EGM, we conducted a critical appraisal using the AMSTAR-2 tool (Shea et al., 2017) in line with the protocol, using an established appraisal framework. This tool evaluates 16 domains. The domains guide assessors through essential components of the review process, such as protocol development, literature search, risk of bias assessment, meta-analysis procedures, and evaluation of potential publication biases. Based on the presence of critical or non-critical weaknesses across these domains, an overall confidence rating was assigned, categorized as high, moderate, low, or critically low. However, no quality appraisal or risk-of-bias assessment was undertaken for primary studies, consistent with standard EGM methodology (see Figure 13 and Table 14). It is important to note that we conducted a duplicate quality appraisal of the included systematic reviews. Two reviewers independently assessed each review and reached a consensus, with a third reviewer consulted in cases of uncertainty or disagreement. Quality assessment of included reviews (n = 21) Individual Ratings of Included Review Studies
Despite these measures, several potential sources of bias remain. Publication bias may have influenced the evidence base, as studies reporting positive or well-documented outcomes are more likely to be published and indexed than studies with null or negative findings. There is also a risk of classification bias arising from the coding of interventions and outcomes. Many studies addressed multiple pathways to women’s economic empowerment, and although standardized coding frameworks were applied, some degree of interpretive judgment was required when assigning studies to intervention and outcome categories.
Limitations of the EGM
This EGM has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting the findings. First, the map presents the distribution of available evidence rather than evidence of intervention effectiveness. While the included systematic reviews were critically appraised in line with the protocol, the methodological quality of primary studies was not assessed, consistent with standard EGM practice.
Second, despite a comprehensive search strategy, some relevant studies may have been missed, particularly unpublished research and grey literature. The search primarily covered English-language databases, and reference lists of included studies were not systematically screened, which may have limited coverage.
Third, substantial heterogeneity in study designs, interventions, and outcome measures limits comparability across studies. Also, this review was limited to English language publications, which may have excluded relevant studies published in other languages and introduced language bias, potentially affecting the generalizability of the findings. Finally, the uneven geographic distribution of evidence reflects disparities in research capacity and documentation across sub-Saharan Africa rather than the absence of women’s economic empowerment interventions.
Interest Holder Engagement Throughout the EGM Process
Stakeholder engagement was an integral component of the EGM process and was embedded across all key stages to enhance relevance, credibility, and usability of the findings. Relevant stakeholders including subject-matter experts, policymakers, practitioners, and research partners were engaged during the scoping phase to refine the review questions, define the intervention and outcome frameworks, and ensure alignment with policy and practice priorities. This early engagement helped ground the EGM in real-world decision-making needs.
Initial discussions with the Hewlett Foundation’s Gender Equity and Governance team, grantees, and partners helped us identify priority intervention categories and outcome domains that were operationally relevant but often underrepresented in academic literature. For example:
WIEGO emphasized informal economic activities as a critical but under-mapped setting. Consequently, we added “informal economy” as a distinct population filter.
Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Gender representatives flagged budgetary processes (e.g., gender-responsive budgeting) as a policy lever of high interest. This led to the inclusion of a dedicated intervention node on “fiscal and public financial management reforms.”
STAR Ghana Foundation highlighted the importance of women’s participation in local governance structures (e.g., unit committees, district assemblies), which expanded our outcome framework to include “voice and collective action” beyond standard electoral indicators.
Engagement continued throughout the screening, coding, and validation stages. Stakeholders provided technical inputs on inclusion and exclusion criteria, interpretation of intervention categories, and outcome classifications, and supported the validation of the final map.
Authors’ Conclusions
This Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) brings together and strengthens the visibility of the existing body of evidence on women’s economic empowerment interventions, offering a single, user-friendly resource for policymakers, researchers, funders, and other stakeholders. The EGM synthesizes evidence generated over more than two decades, drawing primarily on impact and summative evaluations, alongside a smaller number of process, formative, and review studies conducted across low- and middle-income country contexts.
The findings indicate that the evidence base is most heavily concentrated around social protection policies and informal economy interventions, with substantial coverage of outcomes related to women’s economic opportunities and well-being. These domains are comparatively well explored and provide scope for further synthesis to inform policy dialogue and programme design. By contrast, evidence relating to agency-focused outcomes and process-level insights is relatively sparse, pointing to significant gaps in understanding the mechanisms through which interventions generate change and the conditions under which they are most effective. It will be of great use for funders to push resources into these less studied areas, particularly in Central and West Africa, which are the least studied geographical locations. Researchers are also recommended to contribute to these research gap areas.
Across intervention categories, macroeconomic policies and Women’s economic empowerment advocacy initiatives are less frequently examined than other approaches, despite their potential to address deeper, structural barriers to women’s economic participation. This calls for more government agencies, policymakers, and advocacy actors such as community groups, NGOs, and activists to influence awareness, policy, and behavior on macroeconomic policies that enhance women’s economic empowerment. From a methodological perspective, the dominance of non-experimental and summative designs underscores the need for a broader mix of rigorous approaches, particularly those capable of identifying causal effects and capturing longer-term empowerment dynamics. Consequently, researchers are recommended to explore such rigorous causal approaches to bridge the gap. Overall, the EGM highlights both areas of dense evidence, which are well-suited for policy-relevant synthesis, and substantial evidence gaps that warrant targeted future research. By clarifying where evidence is robust, emerging, or limited, this map supports more informed decision-making and strategic planning for research, evaluation, and investment. Addressing the identified gaps especially in under-studied intervention areas and outcome domains will be critical for advancing more effective, inclusive, and sustainable women’s economic empowerment strategies.
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material - Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map
Supplemental material for Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map by Clarice Panyin Nyan, Takyiwaa Manuh, Sheila Agyemang Oppong, Miriam Oppong, Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, Isaac Letsa, Nana Esi Badu-Ansah, David Sarfo Ameyaw in Campbell Systematic Reviews
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Supplemental material - Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map
Supplemental material for Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map by Clarice Panyin Nyan, Takyiwaa Manuh, Sheila Agyemang Oppong, Miriam Oppong, Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, Isaac Letsa, Nana Esi Badu-Ansah, David Sarfo Ameyaw in Campbell Systematic Reviews
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Supplemental material - Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map
Supplemental material for Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map by Clarice Panyin Nyan, Takyiwaa Manuh, Sheila Agyemang Oppong, Miriam Oppong, Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, Isaac Letsa, Nana Esi Badu-Ansah, David Sarfo Ameyaw in Campbell Systematic Reviews
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material - Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map
Supplemental material for Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map by Clarice Panyin Nyan, Takyiwaa Manuh, Sheila Agyemang Oppong, Miriam Oppong, Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, Isaac Letsa, Nana Esi Badu-Ansah, David Sarfo Ameyaw in Campbell Systematic Reviews
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material - Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map
Supplemental material for Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map by Clarice Panyin Nyan, Takyiwaa Manuh, Sheila Agyemang Oppong, Miriam Oppong, Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, Isaac Letsa, Nana Esi Badu-Ansah, David Sarfo Ameyaw in Campbell Systematic Reviews
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material - Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map
Supplemental material for Gender-Responsive Macro-Level Policies and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence and Gap Map by Clarice Panyin Nyan, Takyiwaa Manuh, Sheila Agyemang Oppong, Miriam Oppong, Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, Isaac Letsa, Nana Esi Badu-Ansah, David Sarfo Ameyaw in Campbell Systematic Reviews
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
We sincerely thank Prof. Howard White for his invaluable guidance and constructive criticism throughout the development of this Evidence and Gap Map (EGM). His expertise greatly influenced the quality and direction of our work. We also want to acknowledge the unwavering dedication and support of our colleagues, whose contributions were crucial at every stage of the EGM creation process. Our heartfelt appreciation goes to Dr. Joseph Clottey, Desmond Kaledzi, Selorm Sorkpor, Dr. Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, and Rodney Malesi for their valuable input and active involvement in establishing the EGM. Additionally, we extend our gratitude to the Campbell Collaboration for their exceptional technical support, which was vital in ensuring methodological rigor. We are particularly thankful to Ouseyynou Ngom and his team, as well as the grantees of the Hewlett Foundation, for their comprehensive review and insightful comments on the scope and structure of the EGM. Lastly, we express our deep appreciation to the Hewlett Foundation for its generous financial support, without which the realization of this EGM would not have been possible.
Author Contributions
Funding
Authors received funding from William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (#2023-02326-GRA).
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Plans for Updating the EGM
This Evidence and Gap Map will be updated on a bi-annual basis to incorporate newly published, ongoing, and emerging evidence on gender-responsive macro-level policies and women’s economic empowerment, subject to the availability of resources and funding. Updates will follow the original protocol and methodological standards, ensuring consistency in search strategies, screening, coding, and presentation so that the EGM remains current and policy-relevant over time.
Differences Between Protocol and Full Report
After submitting the standardized protocol to the Campbell Systematic Review Journal, we made minor modifications to the search strategy, including the removal of the requirement for French language sources.
Sources of Support
-William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
Appendix
References
Supplementary Material
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