Using the Evidence
Organization of the Website
This website provides strategies and evidence on a full range of gender-sensitive programming for women and girls. The website is organized by 11 broad strategies. Each strategy is divided into three sections: an overview, a summary of available evidence of successful interventions, and a list of gaps in research, programming, or evaluation.
The website also includes a selection of clinical manuals and resources for program design and a comprehensive reference list [link]. In some areas, the evidence is quite limited because few evaluations have been conducted. The gaps sections for strategies are important because they include a number of expert recommendations or recommended interventions based on studies measuring knowledge or attitudes that are expected to work but have not been formally evaluated.
It is very important to note that each of these strategies and interventions addresses topics that, themselves, could be the focus of multiple books. The researchers have endeavored to cover the major evidence in each of these areas about what works for women; however, more nuanced information about these topics can be found in the myriad references and websites devoted to them, some of which are referenced on this site.
This website is not designed to provide complete recommendations on program design for particular topics, but rather serves the unique function of bringing the evidence for all of these topics together to provide a fuller picture of the range of gender-sensitive programming for women and girls.
Scope of the Evidence
This website includes more than 2,000 references from programs and studies in 90 countries, from Argentina to Bangladesh to Uzbekistan. Thirty countries in Sub Saharan Africa are represented on this website, and the countries with the most evidence are Uganda and South Africa. Data from a number of additional countries are included in the extensive References list.
Format
You can search the evidence using the search toolbar on the top right corner of this website, or you can view a list of all strategies. The evidence is also available for download in PDF on the Download page.
Suggested citation:
Gay, J., Hardee, K., Croce-Galis, M., Kowalski, S., Gutari, C., Wingfield, C., Rovin, K., Berzins, K. 2010. What Works for Women and Girls: Evidence for HIV/AIDS Interventions. New York: Open Society Institute. www.whatworksforwomen.org