Impact Evaluation of UNICEF Nigeria Girls’ Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3) Cash Transfer Programme (CTP) in Niger and Sokoto States

Abstract

Since May 2012, UNICEF has been implementing the multi-year Girls’ Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3), funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), which aims at contributing to improved social and economic opportunity for girls in northern Nigeria through increased enrolment, completion, and learning of girls in basic education. Through community based research, UNICEF identified poverty-related issues as the primary barriers that keep girls and boys out of school. To address these findings, a cash transfer component of GEP3 was designed and implemented in selected schools in Niger and Sokoto states aiming to increase girls’ enrolment and attendance; increase girls’ transition from primary school to junior secondary school; and reduce gender inequality through the provision of cash transfers to the female caregiver of girls, accompanied by a sensitization campaign educating caregivers about the importance of girls’ enrolment and attendance in school. These inputs contribute to a greater value being placed on girls’ education, an increase in household income, and to women controlling a greater share of this income. These, in turn, lead to increased expenditure on girls’ education, and increasing girls’ enrolment and retention rates in basic education. The cash transfer progamme was implemented through a significant and successful partnership between the State Governments of Niger and Sokoto, the Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI), and UNICEF.

In collaboration with its development partners and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), UNICEF Nigeria commissioned this impact evaluation study to determine the effectiveness and impact of the cash transfer programme and to identify lessons learnt that could be applied to future

Description

As the cash transfer programme for girls’ education in Niger and Sokoto has entered the second year of implementation, there is a need to better understand how the program me has been implemented as well as what impact it has had thus far.

This evaluation would also provide lessons not just for the government in terms of how to carry out such programmes and how to expand it but also to UNICEF, DFID and other stakeholders in closing the knowledge gap in in terms of what works, where in Nigeria, how and why? Also to identify the specific enabling and risk factors associated with the Cash Transfer programme in Niger and Sokoto. As the Federal Government is thinking of providing cash transfer to promote education, some of the lessons learned from this evaluation will also inform into their programmes.

The evaluation will also provide an opportunity for UNICEF to provide information on its performance and thus serve an accountability purpose.

Visit the UNICEF Evaluation to access the report and management response.