African Programme on Women’s Empowerment Research Consortium

The Program on Women’s Empowerment Research (POWER) aims to advance women’s empowerment in order to improve human well-being in low- and middle-income settings through collaborative research, policy engagement, and strategic communications.

Founded through the Human Capital Initiative at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, POWER focuses on the core domains of health and human capital, mobility and access, and sustainable social and economic empowerment. The African POWER Consortium is an extension of this initiative, supporting new and existing partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa to further women’s empowerment, gender equity and human well-being.

The consortium will support the establishment of new partnerships and consolidate existing partnerships with institutions that operate at the frontier of research, policy, and advocacy in the countries and contexts where we work. 

The consortium’s interventions focus on the following three main activities: 

1. Conducting Needs Assessments and Developing Strategic Plans
   The consortium will hold two retreats to assess needs, map partnerships, and draft strategic plans. These retreats will serve as a platform for member institutions to share expertise, develop concept notes, and create detailed work plans for joint research and policy activities. Institutions will co-design projects and advance research in women’s empowerment.
2. Establishing a Policy Advisory Committee
   A Policy Advisory Committee will be established to guide the consortium’s strategic direction, offer feedback on projects, and act as ambassadors to the consortium. This committee will be composed of practitioners and policy actors from government organisations, NGOs, and civil society institutions.

3. Developing a Strategy to Expand the Network
   The consortium will develop a strategy to expand its network by engaging affiliated members—institutions working in women’s empowerment across sub-Saharan Africa. This expansion will foster stronger collaboration and broaden the consortium’s impact on policy and practice across the region.

The African POWER Consortium aims to: 

1. Formalise relationships between core academic, governmental, NGO, and for-profit institutions into local hubs in countries where POWER programme partners operate 
2. Support relevant research and policy activities, priorities, and agendas that are led by local institutions (governments, civil society, communities) where we are engaged  
3. Create a convening space for partners to meet, discuss progress and opportunities, and identify lessons learned from the portfolio of activities that we have conducted within the women’s empowerment domain 
4. In collaboration with government and other users of evidence, identify challenges, needs, and opportunities within the broader research and policy discourse in women’s empowerment, gender, and well-being 
5. Identify opportunities and develop strategies to meaningfully engage with and support policy actors, governments, and civil society whose efforts are related to the mission of the consortium 
6. Provide technical assistance (data analysis, research support, impact evaluation, quality assurance, policy analysis, etc.) to our partners, practitioners, and stakeholders 
7. Create a structure to flexibly support research and policy areas of opportunity that need to be explored 
8. Foster risk-taking and creative thinking within the broader community  
9. Inculcate values of leadership and service to the community through inclusion and mentoring 

 The African POWER Consortium is composed of five core member institutions: 

1. African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) 
2. IDinsight 
3. EconInsight Center for Development Research 
4. AidData 
5. Human Capital Initiative (HCI) at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center  

Each partner brings diverse expertise in women’s empowerment and policy research, focusing on collaborative projects across sub-Saharan Africa.