Focused on addressing the livelihood crisis exacerbated by COVID-19, REVIVE aims to provide a no-interest returnable grant (RG) to the bottom of the pyramid, targeting women whose lives and livelihoods were affected due to the pandemic, including loss of job and income. The loan’s primary recipients were women entrepreneurs, self-employed individuals, farmers, and kiosk owners.
We conducted an impact evaluation for REVIVE, driven by a theory-based approach, taking into account the Theory of Change (ToC), using a quasi-experimental matching technique. The evaluation also incorporated gender perspectives as a cross-cutting criterion. We captured all questions that evaluated the dynamics of gender exclusion at the micro-level (i.e. for end clients of RG services), the cohort level or meso-level power structures (e.g. representation of women within the cohort), and at the network level (whether network partner promotes women’s economic and social empowerment). We assesed the impact of RG on end recipients in terms of the revival of their incomes and livelihoods. In addition to attribution analysis, the programme’s cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness analysis is also being undertaken.
