From Promise to Scale: Zambia Turns Proven Solutions into Jobs for the Poor

As the world faces a deepening jobs crisis, the challenge is not only to create more jobs — but to ensure that the poorest can access employment opportunities now. Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people in emerging markets will reach working age, yet only about 420 million jobs are projected to be created. For millions — especially vulnerable women and youth in low-income communities — the opportunity gap is widening. 

As governments search for ways to bridge that divide, one message rings clear: targeted, well-designed investments can drive big, lasting change. 

Economic Inclusion: A Shared Vision Spotlighted at UNGA 

This message took center stage at the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) side event, Delivering Jobs for the Poor at Scale, hosted by the Government of the Republic of Zambia and the World Bank, where leaders and practitioners from governments, development agencies, and civil society underscored the transformative power of economic inclusion programs – proven approaches that combine income support with entrepreneurship training, coaching, and access to finance, markets, and savings mechanisms – giving  people the tools to build micro-enterprises.  

Zambia’s Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL) Project — now entering its second phase — illustrates this transformation. The second phase of GEWEL (Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods for Human Capital Project) expands the Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL) program nationwide across all 116 districts, aiming to reach 200,000 women with entrepreneurial support, with a focus on climate adaptation and resilience and access to finance, value-chains, and markets. The model is simple yet profound: equip women to move from vulnerability to opportunity by pairing income support with business and life skills training, mentorship, start-up grants, community savings groups, and market access, while making them resilient to climate shocks.  

Fitness Kalumbi, a participant of the SWL’s program, is just one of many stories whose determination turned a modest grant into a means to build stability and self-reliance. “With the grant, I was able to start my own brick-making business,” she said. “With the profits, I am able to build a house for myself.” 

WATCH THE VIDEO: PEI's Impact: Fitness Kalumbi and Supporting Women's Livelihoods in Zambia

Results from the first phase speak volumes. Close to 145,000 women launched or expanded small enterprises, doubling their average household income within three years — gains that new data confirm are being sustained. As the second phase of GEWEL scales nationally, it continues to create pathways to self-reliance and prosperity. 

“These numbers represent real families lifted out of destitution, children better nourished, and women gaining greater agency in their lives,” said Mainga Kabika, Permanent Secretary for Gender, Office of the President, Government of the Republic of Zambia. 

Jobs for the Poor Impact Program: Bringing Proven Solutions to Scale 

Zambia’s experience mirrors a growing global body of evidence: economic inclusion programs work — and they deliver lasting impacts. On average, such programs boost household income by US$27 per month. In Niger, women’s business revenues rose by over 100 percent; in India, income gains persisted even a decade later. Independent evaluations across six countries found benefit–cost ratios of 121–379 percent, and in Zambia, every US$1 invested generated up to  US$10 in benefits. 

Turning that evidence into action at scale is the goal of the Jobs for the Poor (J4P) Impact Program, launched by the World Bank Academy earlier this year. The initiative brings together a cohort of 11 countries, supported by partners such as BRAC International, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, and the Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI), to co-design and expand economic inclusion programs tailored to national contexts. The World Bank’s Development Impact Group generates evidence ensuring that it is used to improve outcomes at every step. Through coalitions of change, knowledge exchange, and tailored technical assistance, J4P is translating global knowledge into local action — fostering innovation, supporting reform, and helping governments deliver results at scale. 

Backed by US$30 billion in World Bank social protection financing and strong partner support, these efforts are helping accelerate progress toward the goal of reaching 500 million people with social protection and employment support by 2030 — half of them women.  

“Countries like Zambia are showing that when evidence, investment, and partnership come together, transformation follows,” said Iffath Sharif, Global Director for Social Protection and Labor. “We now need to take these solutions to scale.”