The Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood (GEWEL) Project commenced in January 2016, following a financing agreement (IDA Credit) between the World Bank and the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ). The project was initially designed to focus exclusively on girls’ and women’s empowerment in recognition of the significant gender disparities in the country, with additional systems strengthening efforts included to ensure smooth implementation.
Following the project's successful implementation, Additional Financing was secured in July 2020 through a Multi-Donor Trust Fund from the World Bank International Development Agency (IDA). To respond to the rising vulnerabilities resulting from COVID-19, GEWEL’s scope was broadened to institutionalize a ‘cash-plus’ approach (2020-2024), focusing on scaling up livelihood support and expanding the coverage of educational bursaries. The interlinked components are:
- Foundational Social Cash Transfer (SCT)
- Provision of nutrition-sensitive cash transfers and complementary counselling designed to boost maternal and child nutrition outcomes during the first 1,000 days.
- Keeping Girls in School (KGS)
- Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL)
- Institutional Strengthening and Systems Building (ISSB)
The Keeping Girls in School (KGS) component is aimed at increasing access to secondary education for disadvantaged adolescent girls (ages 14-21) from extremely poor households benefitting from the SCT and using the classification of the SCT targeting mechanism. This objective is achieved through the provision of an annual education grant that covers school and boarding fees, examination fees, and other associated costs as necessary, such as school uniforms, books, stationery, and transportation. KGS has not only improved access to secondary school by most disadvantaged girls but is also expected to have supported foundational skills and knowledge critical for enhanced climate resilience and adaptation.
In addition to the financial support, KGS introduced an innovative Case Management System (CMS). The CMS establishes a standardized school and community-based prevention and response framework to systematically identify KGS beneficiaries at risk of dropping out, as well as those who have already dropped out. The system then links these girls with essential support services that enable them to access, progress through, and ultimately, complete secondary education, such as measures that mitigate the risks and consequences of early marriage and pregnancy and a gender-sensitive grievance and redress mechanism to report sexual violence and harassment.
Building on GEWEL’s success, GEWEL 2 was launched in May 2025 to support 1.5 million vulnerable households, strengthening adaptive social protection systems with a special focus on human capital and productivity for marginalized girls and women. A key objective of GEWEL 2 is to scale up the KGS component nationally—expanding from 65 districts in GEWEL’s completion (2024) to all 116 districts—providing financial assistance for associated education costs to enable the enrolment and retention of eligible adolescent girls in upper primary and secondary school.
By the end of the project in 2024, the KGS initiative's total enrolment had reached 173,311 girls from extremely poor SCT households across 65 districts. The 2024 payment cycle demonstrated a 91 percent success rate, with 58,914 of the 65,010 conditional grants (tied to school attendance) successfully paid.
In parallel, the Case Management System (CMS) was rolled out to 1,658 schools (97% of the total) within the 65 KGS districts. This system provided extensive services, annually reaching over 20,000 girls with academic clinics and 13,000 with academic symposiums. Furthermore, the KGS programme served as a pathway to higher education, with approximately 2,000 beneficiaries supported to enrol at the tertiary level through a GRZ-funded university scholarship.
GEWEL 2 provides US$157 million in equivalent financing to support its key components, to be implemented over a four-year period. Of this total project financing, US$150 million is from the International Development Association (IDA) and US$7 million is from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF). From this amount, US$35 million is directed to the Keeping Girls in School and Beyond component.
The Keeping Girls in School (KGS) component is implemented by the Ministry of Education (MoE), with the Permanent Secretary (PS) for Administration acting as the controlling officer for funds and overall oversight. Day-to-day management is handled by a dedicated Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under the MoE's Department of Planning and Information. This national PIU is supported at the provincial level by a Provincial Education Officer and a Senior Planning Officer, who serves as the KGS focal point.
District-level activities are led by the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS), who holds a key coordination role. The DEBS serves as a member of the District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) and District Welfare Assistance Committee (DWAC), and works closely with District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs) to ensure the effective targeting of girls from Social Cash Transfer (SCT) households. At the school level, Head Teachers, supervised by the DEBS, manage the programme's activities, with the Guidance and Counselling teacher acting as the school's KGS focal point. High-level policy guidance is provided by the Human and Social Development Cluster Advisory Group under the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP).
A dedicated Management Information System (MIS) was developed for the KGS component to process all programmatic information, track beneficiary school attendance, and support evaluation surveys. A subsequent review of this MIS produced several recommendations for its technical enhancement. These upgrades, which are scheduled for implementation under the GEWEL 2 project, are focused on ensuring effective business continuity and disaster recovery. The KGS MIS portal is accessible at: https://kgsmis.edu.gov.zm.
Implementation Completion and Results Report for the Girls' Education and Women's Empowerment and Livelihood Project (The World Bank, 2025).
The KGS initiative's first phase (2016-2024) demonstrated high operational efficiency and strong educational outcomes for its beneficiaries. The programme's financial disbursement was highly effective: 100 per cent of transfers for boarding fees were made on time, exceeding the 75 percent target, and 91 per cent of eligible SCT beneficiaries received the education lumpsum grant. This support contributed to a 24 percent improvement in attendance for KGS girls between 2020 and 2024. Furthermore, the grade progression rate for KGS beneficiaries reached 61 percent, significantly outpacing the national average of 42 per cent during the same period.
A key component, the Case Management System (CMS), was successfully scaled across all 65 KGS districts. By the project's 2024 closure, the CMS was operational in 97 percent of the 1,658 participating schools, surpassing the 95 percent target. This system provided targeted interventions that proved effective in re-enrolling over 650 out-of-school girls and retaining more than 600 girls who were identified as at-risk of dropping out. This comprehensive support also established a clear pathway to higher education, enabling 1,233 KGS graduates to enrol in tertiary-level institutions through a separate, government-funded university scholarship programme.
Social Protection Budget Brief: Scaling Up Social Protection to Improve Lives and Livelihoods (UNICEF, 2023).
The KGS programme demonstrated significant operational scale-up, expanding from an initial 14,000 beneficiaries in 16 districts in 2017 to 43,520 beneficiaries in 29 districts by 2022. A critical piece of knowledge generated from the initial implementation phase (2017-2019) was the challenge of beneficiary uptake, which averaged 60 percent. This finding was attributed to two primary barriers: operational difficulties in identifying and reaching girls who were already out-of-school, and a high prevalence of adolescent pregnancy, which prevented enrolment.
Based on studies and reports:
- Align targets with the project's direct sphere of influence. A "cash-plus" model can successfully improve school access and retention, but it is dependent on external factors like national education quality.
- Evidence showed dropout risks due to pregnancy also exist in upper primary school, not just in secondary (main target group of GEWEL).
- Benefit values must be regularly reviewed and designed with adaptive mechanisms (e.g., indexing) to protect their purchasing power against economic shocks like high inflation, which can quickly erode programmatic impact.
- Prioritize low-cost, continuous refresher trainings over resource-intensive, full-scale workshops for sustainable capacity building.
- Case managers (like G&C teachers) require specialized training to handle sensitive cases, such as child marriage, especially when they conflict with community norms.
- Formally budget for peer-support networks (e.g., Communities of Practice) and their communication tools, as frontline staff rely heavily on informal, real-time help.
- Allocate specific resources for mental health and psychosocial services for case managers to mitigate burnout from high emotional labour.
- While digitalization (e.g., ZISPIS) is proven to boost efficiency, it requires continuous investment to evolve from a simple MIS into a dynamic social registry capable of supporting emergency responses and linking beneficiaries to services.
KGS Frequently Asked Questions page:
https://www.edu.gov.zm/?page_id=4893
Information on the “plus” components from GEWEL available at:
SDG 1 - No poverty
- Target 1.2 - By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.2 - Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 - Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 4 – Quality education
- Target 4.1 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
- Indicator 4.1.1 - Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
- Indicator 4.1.2 - Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
- Target 4.5 - By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
- Indicator 4.5.1 - Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
SDG 5 – Gender equality
- Target 5.c - Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels
- Indicator 5.c.1 - Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment
SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities
- Target 10.1 - By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 - Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 - By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 - Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
- Target 10.3 -Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard
- Indicator 10.3.1 - Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law
SDG 1 – No poverty
- Target 1.2 – By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.2 – Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 – Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 – Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 4 – Quality education
- Target 4.1 – By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
- Indicator 4.1.1 – Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
- Indicator 4.1.2 – Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
- Target 4.5 – By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
- Indicator 4.5.1 – Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
SDG 5 – Gender equality
- Target 5.c – Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels
- Indicator 5.c.1 – Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment
SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities
- Target 10.1 – By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 – Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 – By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 – Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
- Target 10.3 –Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard
- Indicator 10.3.1 – Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law
The Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood (GEWEL) Project commenced in January 2016, following a financing agreement (IDA Credit) between the World Bank and the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ). The project was initially designed to focus exclusively on girls’ and women’s empowerment in recognition of the significant gender disparities in the country, with additional systems strengthening efforts included to ensure smooth implementation.
Following the project’s successful implementation, Additional Financing was secured in July 2020 through a Multi-Donor Trust Fund from the World Bank International Development Agency (IDA). To respond to the rising vulnerabilities resulting from COVID-19, GEWEL’s scope was broadened to institutionalize a ‘cash-plus’ approach (2020-2024), focusing on scaling up livelihood support and expanding the coverage of educational bursaries. The interlinked components are:
- Foundational Social Cash Transfer (SCT)
- Provision of nutrition-sensitive cash transfers and complementary counselling designed to boost maternal and child nutrition outcomes during the first 1,000 days.
- Keeping Girls in School (KGS)
- Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL)
- Institutional Strengthening and Systems Building (ISSB)
The Keeping Girls in School (KGS) component is aimed at increasing access to secondary education for disadvantaged adolescent girls (ages 14-21) from extremely poor households benefitting from the SCT and using the classification of the SCT targeting mechanism. This objective is achieved through the provision of an annual education grant that covers school and boarding fees, examination fees, and other associated costs as necessary, such as school uniforms, books, stationery, and transportation. KGS has not only improved access to secondary school by most disadvantaged girls but is also expected to have supported foundational skills and knowledge critical for enhanced climate resilience and adaptation.
In addition to the financial support, KGS introduced an innovative Case Management System (CMS). The CMS establishes a standardized school and community-based prevention and response framework to systematically identify KGS beneficiaries at risk of dropping out, as well as those who have already dropped out. The system then links these girls with essential support services that enable them to access, progress through, and ultimately, complete secondary education, such as measures that mitigate the risks and consequences of early marriage and pregnancy and a gender-sensitive grievance and redress mechanism to report sexual violence and harassment.
Building on GEWEL’s success, GEWEL 2 was launched in May 2025 to support 1.5 million vulnerable households, strengthening adaptive social protection systems with a special focus on human capital and productivity for marginalized girls and women. A key objective of GEWEL 2 is to scale up the KGS component nationally—expanding from 65 districts in GEWEL’s completion (2024) to all 116 districts—providing financial assistance for associated education costs to enable the enrolment and retention of eligible adolescent girls in upper primary and secondary school.
Based on studies and reports:
- Align targets with the project’s direct sphere of influence. A “cash-plus” model can successfully improve school access and retention, but it is dependent on external factors like national education quality.
- Evidence showed dropout risks due to pregnancy also exist in upper primary school, not just in secondary (main target group of GEWEL).
- Benefit values must be regularly reviewed and designed with adaptive mechanisms (e.g., indexing) to protect their purchasing power against economic shocks like high inflation, which can quickly erode programmatic impact.
- Prioritize low-cost, continuous refresher trainings over resource-intensive, full-scale workshops for sustainable capacity building.
- Case managers (like G&C teachers) require specialized training to handle sensitive cases, such as child marriage, especially when they conflict with community norms.
- Formally budget for peer-support networks (e.g., Communities of Practice) and their communication tools, as frontline staff rely heavily on informal, real-time help.
- Allocate specific resources for mental health and psychosocial services for case managers to mitigate burnout from high emotional labour.
- While digitalization (e.g., ZISPIS) is proven to boost efficiency, it requires continuous investment to evolve from a simple MIS into a dynamic social registry capable of supporting emergency responses and linking beneficiaries to services.
Access to basic education; Integrated programmes for economic inclusion; Integrated programmes for human capital development, including health and education and early childhood development; Pro-poor access to agricultural inputs, technology and knowledge; Unconditional cash transfer
In Zambia:
- Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS)
- Ministry of Education (MoE)
- Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis & Research (ZIPAR)
International:
The Keeping Girls in School (KGS) component is implemented by the Ministry of Education (MoE), with the Permanent Secretary (PS) for Administration acting as the controlling officer for funds and overall oversight. Day-to-day management is handled by a dedicated Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under the MoE’s Department of Planning and Information. This national PIU is supported at the provincial level by a Provincial Education Officer and a Senior Planning Officer, who serves as the KGS focal point.
District-level activities are led by the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS), who holds a key coordination role. The DEBS serves as a member of the District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) and District Welfare Assistance Committee (DWAC), and works closely with District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs) to ensure the effective targeting of girls from Social Cash Transfer (SCT) households. At the school level, Head Teachers, supervised by the DEBS, manage the programme’s activities, with the Guidance and Counselling teacher acting as the school’s KGS focal point. High-level policy guidance is provided by the Human and Social Development Cluster Advisory Group under the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP).
By the end of the project in 2024, the KGS initiative’s total enrolment had reached 173,311 girls from extremely poor SCT households across 65 districts. The 2024 payment cycle demonstrated a 91 percent success rate, with 58,914 of the 65,010 conditional grants (tied to school attendance) successfully paid.
In parallel, the Case Management System (CMS) was rolled out to 1,658 schools (97% of the total) within the 65 KGS districts. This system provided extensive services, annually reaching over 20,000 girls with academic clinics and 13,000 with academic symposiums. Furthermore, the KGS programme served as a pathway to higher education, with approximately 2,000 beneficiaries supported to enrol at the tertiary level through a GRZ-funded university scholarship.
GEWEL 2 provides US$157 million in equivalent financing to support its key components, to be implemented over a four-year period. Of this total project financing, US$150 million is from the International Development Association (IDA) and US$7 million is from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF). From this amount, US$35 million is directed to the Keeping Girls in School and Beyond component.
A dedicated Management Information System (MIS) was developed for the KGS component to process all programmatic information, track beneficiary school attendance, and support evaluation surveys. A subsequent review of this MIS produced several recommendations for its technical enhancement. These upgrades, which are scheduled for implementation under the GEWEL 2 project, are focused on ensuring effective business continuity and disaster recovery. The KGS MIS portal is accessible at: https://kgsmis.edu.gov.zm.
KGS Frequently Asked Questions page:
https://www.edu.gov.zm/?page_id=4893
Information on the “plus” components from GEWEL available at: