A Note from CEO, Kanika Bahl
The last several months have been extremely busy across Evidence Action. Our biggest news is the expansion of Dispensers for Safe Water – with plans to double the size of the program and reach 5M additional people by 2023! Our teams in Uganda and Malawi are working around the clock to identify communities and obtain their active engagement on the chlorine dispensers, with installations slated to begin in September. By next year we’ll be providing safe water access to a total of 9 million people across Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi. This growth has tremendous impact on saving young children’s lives, particularly in light of the recent meta-analysis which showed safe water reduces all-cause child mortality by about 25%. If you’d like to learn more about our expansion plans, and the research that led to a new investment in this program, read this blog or sign up to attend GiveWell’s June 22 (virtual) donor event.
Just last week we celebrated an important milestone – 10 years of Kenya’s National School-Based Deworming Program. This program has enormous impact, with evidence from Kenya showing that for every dollar spent on deworming, each treated child will earn over $230 more over their lifetime. With over 6 million children reached annually, the program has resulted in significant decreases in worm infections. The Government of Kenya, with our support, continues to use impact data to advance and adapt the program as worm burdens fall due to the program’s success.
We’ve also recently obtained significant support for our Accelerator, our engine for new program development at Evidence Action. We are excited to expand our capacity to find and scale the next generation of evidence-based and cost-effective programs. Stay tuned for updates on our forthcoming growth!
Warmly,
Articles
This article summarizes highlights of the program’s 10th anniversary event, including remarks from Kenya’s ministries of health and education on the program’s important impacts.
The Government of India is committed to improving the health of millions of children and adolescents through a number of public health interventions, including its flagship nutrition program Anemia Mukt Bharat (Anemia-free India). Evidence Action’s robust government partnerships help both to ensure children receive iron and folic acid supplementation as well as deworming, and to reinforce important messages on healthy behaviors through school curriculum.
Newsworthy
National School Based Deworming Programme Marks 10 years (Kenya News)
This article summarizes highlights of the program’s 10th anniversary event, including remarks from Kenya’s ministries of health and education on the program’s important impacts.
Meet Nobel winner feted for helping our children (Kenya Star)
This article features Professor Michael Kremer’s trip to Kenya and cites the Dispensers for Safe Water program for its contributions to reducing child mortality.
Why Open Philanthropy’s backing this evidence-based solution to safe water (Inside Philanthropy – paywall)
This article features Professor Michael Kremer’s trip to Kenya and cites the Dispensers for Safe Water program for its contributions to reducing child mortality.
Action-able
On June 22, GiveWell is hosting a donor briefing on the topic of safe water. Brett Sedgewick, our Senior Director of Programs, will join Professor Michael Kremer of the Development Innovation Lab and Elie Hassenfeld and Catherine Hollander of GiveWell for an online panel diving into the evidence and cost-effectiveness of safe water interventions including our Dispensers for Safe Water program. More information and sign up here.
Watch! If you can’t make it to the donor briefing, you can view a similar panel “Dispensers for Safe Water Experiments” that recently took place at the Effective Altruism Global meeting in London. The discussion highlights the roles and need for researchers, practitioners, and donors to translate evidence into actual impact and the effect that can have on communities.
Work for Impact
- Global Director, Safe Water – Washington, DC
- Manager, Operations, Safe Water Expansion – Washington, DC
- Senior Associate, Analytics, Safe Water Expansion – Washington, DC
- Senior Manager, Team Lead & Partnerships, Safe Water Expansion – Washington, DC
- Deputy Director, Programs – Delhi, India
- Associate Director, Internal Audit – Nairobi, Kenya
- Chief of Staff, Head of Regional Planning & Coordination – Nairobi, Kenya
- Associate Director, Communications – Washington, DC
- Senior Manager, Operations, Africa Region – Nairobi, Kenya
- Senior Manager, Human Resources – Washington, DC
- Associate, Information Systems, DHIS2 Developer – Abuja, Nigeria
For all current openings, please visit our Careers page.