WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Learning What Works

Through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries have committed to achieve marked improvements in young children's nutrition and healthy development around the world. Research on early childhood has made the case powerfully that it is costly to do nothing but it hasn't provided enough feasible approaches to improvements at national scale in low and middle income countries. The WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD) is releasing a series of studies providing rigorous causal evidence of the impact of successful approaches taken in countries across Africa that can be replicated.

WORLD's new studies offer powerful new insights into what has worked to increase pregnancies that are healthy and planned, and children that have a chance to grow up well-nourished and nurtured, at the same time as improving national economies.

To learn more, please see the resources below:

Policy Briefs:

Nutrition:

Our studies assessed the impact on child nutrition of national laws and social policies that shape the lives of parents and children:

Association of Increased Duration of Legislated Paid Maternity Leave with Childhood Diarrhea Prevalence in Low-income and Middle-income Countries: Difference-in-differences Analysis
o Found that increasing the duration of paid maternity leave leads to decreased rate of childhood diarrhoea.
Does Extending the Duration of Legislated Paid Maternity Leave Improve Breastfeeding Practices? Evidence from 38 Low-income and Middle-income Countries
- Found that longer paid maternity leave leads to increased prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding as well as an increase in the duration of breastfeeding.
The Intergenerational Effect of Tuition-Free Lower-secondary Education on Children's Nutritional Outcomes in Africa
- Found that availability of tuition-free lower-secondary for mothers leads to reduced wasting for their children
Impact of Laws Prohibiting Domestic Violence on Wasting in Early Childhood
- Found that passing a domestic violence law leads to reduction in wasting among children under age 2.

Healthy, wanted pregnancies:

Our studies examined whether national laws and policies on child marriage, tuition-free education, and IPV had led to effective change in pregnancy-related outcomes:

Reducing Child Marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evaluating the Joint Potential of Protective Marriage and Education Policies
- Found that introducing both protective child marriage laws and tuition-free secondary education lowers the risk of early marriage and early childbirth.
Do Tuition-free Lower Secondary Education Policies Matter for Antenatal Care among Women in Sub-Saharan African Countries?
- Found that introducing tuition-free secondary education leads to increased number of ANC visits
Impact of Tuition-free Education Policy on Child Marriage and Early Childbearing
- Introducing tuition-free secondary education leads to larger reductions in child marriage than tuition-free primary education

Longitudinal Data:

Download the longitudinal policy datasets.

Media Contact

Nicholas Perry

Director of Partnerships

WORLD Policy Analysis Center

E-mail: nperry@ph.ucla.edu

Phone: (510) 289-7752