The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Exploring economic empowerment and gender in Lesotho’s Child Grants Program : A qualitative study . Elodie Besnier 1,2 *, MA, PhD; Thandie Hlabana 3,4 , MA; Virginia Kotzias 1 , MPP; Kathryn Beck 1,5 , MSc, BSN; Celine Sieu 6 , MSc, MA; Kimanzi Muthengi 6 , MA Affiliations: 1 Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN), Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) 2 Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU 3 National University of Lesotho 4 School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull 5 Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health 6 UNICEF Lesotho Country office *Corresponding author: Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN), Department of Sociology and Political Science, NTNU, PO box 8900, Torgarden, 7491 Trondheim; Norway; elodie.besnier@ntnu.no; ORCID: 0000-0003-2981-7455 Author’s contribution: • Conception or design of the work: EB; VK; CS; KM • Data collection: EB; TH; KB • Data analysis and interpretation: EB; VK; TH; • Drafting the article: EB • Critical revision of the article: VK; TH; KB; CS; KM • Final approval of the version to be submitted: EB; VK; TH; KB; CS; KM Reflexivity Statement To ensure the relevance of this research to policymakers in Lesotho, the collaboration behind this article included both national and international researchers and practitioners, selected because of their expertise on Lesotho, cash transfer and/or methodology. The authors’ group includes Europeans, American and African nationals, based in Norway and in Lesotho. This article was led by early-career researchers and practitioners, with support from more experienced professionals. The authors also ensured a review and validation of findings through an internal validation process involving civil servants in charge of the program of interest, international organizations present in Lesotho and academics with expertise in cash transfers. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/heapol/advance-article/doi/10.1093/heapol/czad009/7033724 by guest on 12 February 2023