Publications & Resources
Athena Infonomics’ dedicated team of data scientists, social scientists, economists, and software engineers regularly share lessons learned from recent engagements and tools designed for use throughout the development sector.
Enabling Governments to Better Evaluate Early Childhood Development
In collaboration with FATE Consulting Ltd. and under the guidance of UNICEF Rwanda, we developed a number of early childhood development (ECD) resources, including an endline evaluation, a white paper, and a study on the Observation of Mother-Child Interaction (OMCI) tool. In addition, we published a new paper to share our experience in applying CART machine-learning models while exploring determinants of key ECD outcomes identified in this engagement.
Water Supply Services in Mumbai
A Co-Creation Partnership between BASF and Save the Children proposed to develop sustainable models for providing access to safe water to urban communities; and thus have a sustainable…
Final Report: Understanding Demand and Funding for Piped-Water Supply in Mandalay City
The Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC) is facing severe challenges in improving its water service coverage. It is also facing mounting financial losses. Athena and the International Growth…
Policy Brief: Understanding Demand and Funding for Piped-Water Supply in Mandalay City
It is also facing mounting financial losses. Athena and the International Growth Centre's assessment looked at the demand for water service across six townships and the expectations among…
Wainsue Town Chief Inspires Community to Use Quee Toilets
When communities lack basic latrine facilities, open defecation becomes prevalent. This is a challenge for the people of Wainsue, a community in Jorpolu, which is one of four…
Utilizing CART Machine-Learning Models in Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Utilizing CART Machine-Learning Models to Explore the Intersections of Determinants of Key Early Childhood Development (ECD) OutcomesEarly childhood is a critical period that affects the holistic development of…
Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Management in Karnataka
These Guidebooks are a part of a larger engagement with the British High Commission that seeks to explore the potential of Public Private Partnerships to fulfil the investment…
Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Management in Andhra Pradesh
Here a set of key pre-requisites that have the potential to contribute to improvements in PPP design and implementation were identified.In Phase II, the key findings derived from…
Urban Wash Addresses Sanitation Needs of Low-Income Communities
Mrs. Halima Sulman, 70, lives with her husband in Adama (Ethiopia, Africa). The clay-built toilet they use was a source of instability. She explained that “the toilet used…
Urban Sanitation Market Overview: Opportunity Mapping for Private-sector Investment in India and Kenya’s Urban Sanitation Markets
Athena Infonomics, and our Kenyan partners Open Capital Advisors (OCA), through the support of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Government of United Kingdom, under the aegis…
Transforming the Lives of Children in Rwanda (ECD&F), Phase II
Endline Evaluation of ProgrammeAthena Infonomics, in collaboration with FATE Consulting Ltd. and under the guidance of UNICEF Rwanda, has successfully conducted the end-line evaluation of Phase II of…
Tracking Social & Economic Change: Impact Reporting for Amicus Capital
About the PartnerAmicus India Capital Partners LLP is a leading private equity fund specializing in early-stage fintech and financial services enterprises.Project ScopeAthena was entrusted with the creation of…
The Weight of Water in Paikgacha, Khulna District
A photo essay that explores how climate change, salinity, and shifting livelihoods are reshaping access to safe water in coastal Bangladesh. Through images and field insights from Paikgacha…
The Nutritional Landscape in India: A Methodological Deep Dive
Maternal and child nutrition in Odisha and Jharkhand, two eastern states of India, has remained a pressing public health issue. Factors such as poverty, limited healthcare access, and…
Sustainable Farmer Producer Organizations for Improved Agricultural Productivity and Farmer Livelihoods
Indian small farm holders require equitable access to inputs and markets and support to join the remunerative value chain. Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), including cooperatives, are essential if…
Strengthening Her Enterprise
Female entrepreneurship represents a vast untapped source of innovation, job creation and economic growth in the developing world. In the Indian context, overall entrepreneurial activity rate stands at…
Stock Screening for Faith-based Investing
About the PartnerA leading financial institution sought to incorporate faith-based principles into their investment strategy through a unique screening framework. The organization aimed to integrate holistic values principles…
Small Is Not Necessarily Beautiful
Athena Infonomics Advisor Dr. Anantha Nageswaran is a macroeconomist and financial markets guru. He discusses the importance of scaling up cottage industries in India, while preserving culture.In this…
Post-Award Governance Framework for PPPs in Urban India
Recent initiatives of both Central and State Governments Government of India, such as the Smart Cities programme and Swacch Bharat Mission reinforce the importance of investing in urban…
Philippines: Building Climate-Resilient WSS Amid Frequent Disasters
of the Challenge In the Philippines, typhoons and flooding leave 74% of households disrupted, with water supply and sanitation systems often collapsing under strain. While 62% of households…
Using the Observation of Mother-Child Interaction Tool to Assess Caregiver-Child Interactions in Rwanda
"Responsive caregiving" refers to the ability to observe, understand, and respond to a child's signals in a timely and appropriate manner, and is linked to improved psycho-social, cognitive,…
Municipal Solid Waste Management in Tamil Nadu
The project was implemented in three phases.The first phase involved undertaking an analysis of various PPP experiences in the water supply and municipal solid waste sectors. Here a…
Liberia’s Sanitation Story: Together We Can Tailor Solutions
In the heart of Liberia, a country still recovering from civil conflict and public health crises, a silent battle rages against an invisible enemy: open defecation. With 35%…
Just Transition: Reimagining Livelihoods in a Changing Climate
Pressing challenges of climate change and transitioning to sustainable energy sources Just Transition is the concept that involves factors to equity and fairer outcomes. The focus of this…
Indonesia: Expanding Access Through Innovation and Finance
of the Challenge In Indonesia, where 57% of households reported climate-related disruptions, access to safely managed drinking water services remains critically low (30.5%). Private providers dominate the sector,…
Millennium Development Goal 2: Universalising Primary Education
Education is the cornerstone of human development and the foundation on which ideals of growth and development are realised. As the 2015 deadline for the achievement of Millennium…
Millennium Development Goal 5: Improving Maternal Health
The issue of maternal health cannot be viewed in isolation - the progress made on all the other aspects of women's health, literacy and security underpins the issue…
Millennium Development Goal 4: Reducing Child Mortality
The world over, child mortality rates have been steadily declining despite an overall increase in the global child population. Globally, the under 5 mortality rates (U5MR) have declined…
Millennium Development Goal 3: To Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
In many parts of the world, even today, women and girls are exposed to the perils of gender discrimination right from the time they are conceived and continue…
India and the Global Trade War
India has entered the global trade war by joining countries retaliating against unilateral United States (US) tariff hikes. While the immediate impact of the friction is insignificant for…
Inclusive Digital Design: Workbook
Introducing our Workbook Companion to the "Inclusive Digital Design Toolkit: Practical Guidance for Feed the Future Activities." This interactive workbook aims to assist donors, implementing staff and researchers…
Inclusive Digital Design Toolkit: Practical guidance for Feed the Future activities
The global COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role of digital solutions. Governments, aid agencies, and nonprofits scrambled to use digital means to extend support to the most vulnerable.…
Impact in Action: Smarter Investment Strategies for Greater Returns
Client Challenge The AFDB needed to expand urban sanitation infrastructure across 14 blocks, initially planning a US$ 22Mn capital investment. This required high capital investment with $0.7M in…
A Guide for Corporations Seeking to Engage with India’s Start-up Ecosystem
India is witnessing tremendous growth in entrepreneurial activity in the start-up and social venture sectors, both of which comprise small and growing businesses (SGBs). The need to remain…
Funds For Strengthening Her Enterprise
The micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector in India is credited with generating high rates of employment growth and accounting for a major share of industrial production…
From Useful Data to Useable Data
Improving the Performance of Sanitation Institutions using Available Data BackgroundKampala, the capital city of Uganda, faces significant sanitation challenges due to its rapidly growing population and infrastructure constraints.…
US-India FTA: Possibilities and Pitfalls
American President Donald Trump's repeated mention about the United States (US) and India looking at a bilateral trade deal has generated attention about its prospects. The US' intention…
Firming Sustainable Investments: Impact Reporting for Lok Capital
Lok Advisory Services is a leading VC/PE impact investor in India generating above market returnsProject Scope Athena was tasked with enhancing the effectiveness of Lok Capital's social impact…
Evaluating Fairtrade Certification’s Impact on Farmers’ Resilience
Around the world, small-scale farmers are increasingly being faced with the concurrent crises of COVID-19, climate change, and financial instability. It is therefore more vital than ever to…
Equitable AI in Education – Mitigating Gender Bias in Artificial Intelligence in Guanajuato, Mexico
Governments employ artificial intelligence (AI) for various purposes, from data analysis to public service optimization and education. However, a significant concern with AI is its potential to amplify…
Equitable AI in Education – Checklist for AI Deployment
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Deployment Checklist is designed for policymakers and technical teams gearing up for or currently using AI systems. It aims to guide policymakers on initiating…
Equitable AI in Education – AI Ethics Guide
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics Guide gives an overall view of AI, its ethical challenges, and ways to handle them at different levels of governance. It uses case…
Endline Evaluation of UNICEF India’s “Space for Kids to be Kids” Project in Maharashtra and Rajasthan
There is wide consensus that early childhood is a crucial time that impacts the maturation and potential of an individual, but the challenge is in structuring policy that…
Effective Data Sharing
Recent technological advancements have exponentially increased the availability of data and the ability to process and draw analytical insights from such data. Despite this, a lack of quality,…
Effective Data Sharing: Public Transport Exchange Data Trust
Hong Kong’s public transport comprises taxis, the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), buses, minibuses, and tramways. Although the MTR is government-owned, it is run like a commercial line, and…
Effective Data Sharing: Microsoft Open Data Campaign
How can we increase access to data and the capacity to harness new technologies, so that they are not concentrated within a limited number of organizations?Athena Infonomics conducted…
Effective Data Sharing: INSPIRE
How can data be extracted, transformed, and used to better inform health policy, especially in geographies with limited resources?Athena Infonomics conducted a case study on the Implementation Network…
Effective Data Sharing: Humanitarian Data Exchange
The humanitarian sector relies heavily on data to target relief work, but this data can be fragmented, located with different actors, challenging to find, and unreliable. How can…
Effective Data Sharing: Global Fishing Watch
One in five fish globally is caught illegally, causing certain fish stocks to plummet by up to 90 percent. How can we use data to enhance transparency of…
Effective Data Sharing: Development Data Partnership
The establishment of data-sharing partnerships between technology companies and international development organizations (IDOs) can lead to meaningful public good, but what’s the best way to facilitate such partnerships?Athena…
Effective Data Sharing: Data for Children Collaborative
How can we bring together data and expertise, and bridge data gaps to solve targeted problems relating to children? Athena Infonomics conducted a case study on the Data…
Effective Data Sharing: California Data Collaborative
How can we establish financially sustainable data collaboratives? The California Data Collaborative—an independent non-profit working as a coalition of agencies in California to facilitate data-centric water policy and…
What is Early Childhood Development (ECD)? Experiences from Rwanda
Early childhood development (ECD) refers to an integral stage for a child's growth and development, ranging from birth up to the age of eight. The brain's growth in…
Driving SDG Alignment: Impact Reporting for Ascent Capital
Ascent Capital Advisors India Pvt. Ltd is a Private Equity fund manager investing in multiple sectors such as Technology, Consumer, Healthcare, and Financial Services. Project Scope Ascent Capital…
Costs and Willingness to Pay for Pit Latrine Emptying Services in Kigali, Rwanda
Fecal sludge collection services in informal settlements of Kigali are largely unsafe, resulting in health risks for emptiers and unsafe, often nearby, disposal of untreated waste. Social enterprise…
Conundrum of Compound Toilets in GAMA (Ghana)
Mapping of various factors that either contribute to or hinder construction of compound toilets and offtake of toilet loans by households in the assemblies under the Greater Accra…
Cambodia: Bridging Finance and Resilience for WSS
of the Challenge Across Southeast Asia, the WSS sector grapples with aging infrastructure, fragmented service delivery, and low rates of safe desludging. Climate events regularly damage facilities, while…
Barriers to Women Adopting Decision-Making Roles in Sanitation-Related Public Bodies and Attitudinal Differences Between Male and Female Decision-Makers
Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) awarded Athena a grant to analyze barriers limiting women's participation in leadership roles in sanitation-related public bodies in Kenya. The…
An Assessment of Mali’s Digital Agriculture Ecosystem
Athena Infonomics, in collaboration with Development Gateway (DG), conducted an assessment of Mali's digital agricultural ecosystem. The assessment sought to enhance awareness of current digital solutions in Mali's…