An empowerment programme in Sierra Leone that supported girls through a simple life skills and livelihood training buffered adolescent girls from the adverse effects of the Ebola crisis.

Sierra Leone's civil war not only left a legacy of lost lives and damaged infrastructure, but changed the way trust is formed, showing how early-life trauma can shape long-term economic decision making.

The returns to early childhood interventions increase dramatically when accounting for the benefits experienced by siblings in the same household

While vocational training helps young job seekers find work, overconfidence in finding a job has important long-term effects on job-seeking behaviour

Bundling interventions that offer parents health information along with cash transfers might yield more sustainable changes in early-life health outcomes for children

Policy delivery agents perform better when working with members of their own social groups thereby affecting the efficiency of policy interventions

Pregnancy rates fell by almost 7% as a result of the public health information provided on the Zika epidemic by the Brazilian government

Information on raising children is more important in the first two years of a child’s life, whereas cash plays a bigger role from age 2 to 4

In the midst of the Ebola crisis an empowerment programme acts as a shield for adolescent girls