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CARE Rapid Gender Analysis Ghana- Upper East, Ashanti, Western North, Central and Bono COVID-19

Between March 2020 and May 2020 Ghana was ranked second amongst countries in the West and Central Africa region most impacted by the COVID-19. In the number of cumulative cases in the WHO Africa region, Ghana is number three. Three regions have maintained their position as having the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Ghana – Greater Accra, Ashanti and Western Regions. On March 12th 2020, Ghana recorded its first two cases. Because of the spread of the virus, the government has taken proactive deterrent measures to prevent its spread. Some of the measures range from the closure of land, sea and air borders (except for the transport of goods) to partial lockdown, closure of schools, enforcement of social distancing, mandatory wearing of face mask, quarantining of suspected cases, partial closure of markets and ban on all social gatherings. Despite these restrictions, the virus seems to be making rapid spread in the country. Ghana’s total confirmed cases as at Wednesday, April 15, 2020 is as follows: Confirmed cases 268, Recoveries 83, Well/responding to treatment 175, Critically/moderately ill 2, Deaths 8. The novelty of the virus will impact women, men, girls and boys in different aspect across the sixteen regions of Ghana.
The management of the pandemic has led to an increase in the workload of women in households. Men continue to predominantly retain the role of heads of household, in some cases dedicating more time to family discussions. However, women are taking full responsibility for household chores and caring for dependents, such as children, vulnerable elderly, and the sick, as well as children who have dropped out of school due to the temporary closure of schools. This significant increase in work for women has significant effects on their physical and psychological health.
Men also face mental health problems as they are under stress from the loss of paid work and have difficulty managing the confinement measures that prevent them from working.
Women's economic empowerment continues to be conditioned by social norms that limit women's control over economic resources and decision-making over financial resources in the household. The response to the crisis can easily increase the already existing gender gaps in livelihoods given the preventive measures adopted by the authorities, even though some of them have already been lifted.
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How Can Approaches that Achieve Gender Equality Help Advance all the SDGs: Impact Evaluations Evidence from CARE Programs

Approaches that achieve gender equality, that move beyond the individual level to address greater interpersonal, socio-cultural, and community factors that influence gender attitudes and behaviors, have been shown by rigorous impact evaluations to be impactful in promoting gender-equitable attitudes (e.g., SASA! Program in Uganda), reducing gender-based violence (e.g., Stepping Stones and Creating Futures program in South Africa), and decreasing social acceptance of intimate partner violence (e.g., RESPECT program in Tanzania).
Key Findings Summary:
What are the Impacts of Approaches that Achieve Gender Equality?
• Empowerment of women and girls: 8 out of 8 programs have positive impacts on increasing women’s and girls’ self-efficacy, mobility, sexual and reproductive agency, egalitarian gender attitudes, and economic situations; 5 out of 8 programs have positive impacts on reducing early marriage rates and intimate partner violence (IPV), and increasing women’s intrahousehold decision-making power; 6 out of 8 programs have positive impacts on changing community traditional gender norms and increasing women’s community leadership.
• Increased impact on other SDGs, such as poverty reduction (SDG 1), food security (SDG 2), health (SDG 2), education (SDG 4), access to clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), decent work (SDG 8), and reduced inequalities (SDG 10).
How Did These Changes Happen?
• Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs).
• Active engagement of men and boys, community members and leaders.
• Couples’ curriculum and gender dialogues.
• Community-level social norms intervention: Social analysis and action (SAA)
• Life skills and financial management training. Read More...

The First 1000 Days, Phase III in Sekong and Phongsaly Provinces

The First 1000 Days Project Phase III focuses on improving maternal and child mortality, improving health outcomes for women, adolescents, and children in the first 1,000 days of the life of children in Sekong and Phongsaly Provinces as well as to support poor and vulnerable households in remote, rural areas to facilitate access to and improve the quality of nutrition-related health services for mothers and children and improve food and nutrition security for community members. The project also integrates adolescent sexual reproductive health, women’s economic empowerment, responses to gender based violence, and stakeholder engagement in health.
This report examines the health, nutrition, and economic empowerment of women, adolescents, and children in Phongsaly and Sekong provinces of Laos. The baseline assessment aimed to understand the current situation and identify areas where interventions could have the greatest impact. Data was collected through a combination of surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interview with key stakeholders and interviews with mother of CU5, adolescent (age 15-19), men, healthcare providers, and community leaders.
The results showed that despite high antenatal care (ANC) utilization rates in both Phongsaly and Sekong, there remains room for improvement in overall healthcare delivery, particularly around childbirth. Home births remain common, highlighting the need for increased access to skilled birth attendants at health facilities and mobile outreach services. Sekong lags behind Phongsaly in skilled birth attendance rates.
Another area requiring attention is postnatal care. While attendance is satisfactory, there's potential to improve these services. Additionally, a concerning practice of some women lying over fire after childbirth needs to be addressed due to potential health risks.
Regarding family planning, awareness and usage vary significantly between the two provinces, with Phongsaly showing higher rates. Sekong especially needs increased access to family planning services, while both provinces could benefit from addressing confidentiality concerns surrounding these services, particularly in Phongsaly.
Food and nutrition security presents a significant challenge, as nutrition indicators showed poor nutritional status of children. Stunting rates among children under five are high, particularly in Sekong. Both provinces struggle with low dietary diversity, lacking adequate consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and animal source proteins. While breastfeeding practices show positive trends in early initiation and colostrum feeding, there remains poor long-term rates of exclusive breastfeed. Sekong has lower rates of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding duration compared to Phongsaly, and even in Phongsaly, many mothers wean before the recommended 6 months. Read More...

Evaluation intermédiaire du projet « Féministes en Action » 2021-2023

Description of the document:
L’évaluation intermédiaire du projet « Féministes en Action » intervient près de trois ans après le début du projet et deux après le démarrage effectif des financements aux organisations féministes. Couvrant la période 2021-2023, elle poursuit plusieurs objectifs :
∇ Un objectif d’apprentissage et de capitalisation, alors que Féministes en Action est le premier consortium financé au titre du FSOF, l’un de ceux cherchant à atteindre directement les OSC féministes les plus fragiles et celui ayant le périmètre thématique le plus large (les autres sont construits en général autour d’une thématique d’intervention). Le consortium constitué, avec la présence d’ONG internationales et de fonds des « Suds » est lui aussi inédit.
∇ Un objectif stratégique et prospectif, avec une réflexion portant à la fois sur les changements visés et l’architecture globale du projet alors que le projet devrait disposer de nouveaux fonds à mettre en oeuvre après 2023. L’évaluation doit notamment permettre d’accompagner une réflexion sur les objectifs du cadre logique du Projet dans l’optique d’une redéfinition afin d’assurer la cohérence avec les objectifs réellement visés par le Projet et les indicateurs prévus difficilement renseignables.
∇ Un objectif de redevabilité, tourné avant tout vers les sociétés civiles féministes que Féministes en Action cherche à renforcer. Il s’agit de s’assurer que l’action menée apporte une valeur ajoutée (« do not harm ») et que les conditions de mise en oeuvre sont cohérentes avec les valeurs féministes promues tout en tenant compte des exigences d’un bailleur de fonds publics.
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Executive summary Palestine West Bank/Gaza Rapid Gender Assessment Early Gender Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This is the executive summary. For the full report, check here: http://www.careevaluations.org/evaluation/palestine-west-bank-gaza-rapid-gender-assessment-early-gender-impacts-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-full-report/

Among those most impacted by COVID-19 are women and girls. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex. All of these impacts are further amplified in contexts of fragility, conflict, refuge, displacement and emergencies where social cohesion is already undermined and institutional capacity and services are limited.

CARE Palestine West Bank/Gaza has carried out a Rapid Gender Assessment in order to highlight for policymakers the importance of addressing the gender impacts of this pandemic and social prejudices and gender norms that discriminate against women in the public and private spheres.

This report is intended for policymakers, the Palestinian Authority, civil society organizations—local and international—community members, donors, and the international community at large. It is organized around broad themes and areas of focus of particular importance to those whose programming advances gender equality and reduces gender inequalities. It seeks to deepen the current gender analysis available by encompassing learning from global gender data available for the COVID-19 public health emergency. Among those most impacted by COVID-19 are women and girls. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex. All of these impacts are further amplified in contexts of fragility, conflict, refuge, displacement and emergencies where social cohesion is already undermined and institutional capacity and services are limited.

CARE Palestine West Bank/Gaza has carried out a Rapid Gender Assessment in order to highlight for policymakers the importance of addressing the gender impacts of this pandemic and social prejudices and gender norms that discriminate against women in the public and private spheres.

This report is intended for policymakers, the Palestinian Authority, civil society organizations—local and international—community members, donors, and the international community at large. It is organized around broad themes and areas of focus of particular importance to those whose programming advances gender equality and reduces gender inequalities. It seeks to deepen the current gender analysis available by encompassing learning from global gender data available for the COVID-19 public health emergency. Read More...

Baseline Study Report of Flash Flood and Lightning

The baseline study concerning the impact of flash floods and lightning on the SUFAL-II project aims to analyze the context of flash floods and lightning, assess the scopes of the Early Warning System, and examine current trends of of hazard-specific responses taken by individual, community, and institutional levels. The objective of this project is to bolster the capabilities of vulnerable communities and institutions in Bangladesh to implement forecast-based early actions. The study employed a mixed-method approach, amalgamating both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques. This was done to assess the context, accessibility, usage, and potential of early warning systems and early actions for mitigating the risks associated with the flash floods and lightning hazards.
The study encompassed three districts prone to flash floods, namely Sylhet, Sunamganj, and Netrokona. For the treatment group areas, the selected Upazilas were Gowainghat, Dharmapasha, and Khaliajuri and for control group areas, the selected areas were Sylhet Sadar, Sunamganj Sadar, Madan.
Data was collected from 502 households, 12 focus group discussions, and 19 key informant interviews. The study's findings indicate that flash floods and lightning are recurrent and severe hazards that pose significant threats to the communities lives, assets, and livelihoods. These hazards are disproportionately affect women, individuals with disabilities and farmers. The study also identified several shortcomings in the existing early warning systems, including issues related to timeliness, quality, coverage, accessibility, comprehension, and trust.

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Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) Post Project Evaluation Summaries

The Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) project is an ambitious six-year initiative (2018-2024) funded by FCDO and USAID, which sought to enable 83,925 ultra-marginalized girls and female youth living in conflict-affected areas of Somalia to access quality education responsive to their needs. AGES combines the provision of three education modalities with financial literacy, youth savings groups, life skills, mentorship, and girl-led civic action. AGES enrolled a total of 90,698 girls in education, including 21,945 in primary education; 1244 in formal special needs schools; 13,276 in accelerated basic education (ABE); and 54,233 in non-formal education classes (NFE). This series of briefs highlights results on different components of results from the post-project evaluation.
Additionally, The Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) project worked to improve learning outcomes and positive transitions for 90,698 extremely vulnerable girls and female youth in South Somalia. AGES research showed that vulnerable girls’ limited self-confidence and voice hinders participation in class, with a negative impact on learning, particularly among girls with disabilities and displaced youth. To address this barrier, AGES
formed school-based clubs known as Girls’ Empowerment Forum (GEF). Through the GEF, vulnerable students participate in activities to develop leadership skills with support from mentors and are linked to resource
persons within the community. They are trained to act as peer mentors within their schools and community, reaching out to other girls to provide support, and engaging in joint advocacy and action. GEF participants
work together to develop plans to address issues of their choice through girl-led action. GEF mentors and peer mentors are also trained on psychosocial first aid, providing support to those affected by shocks. In 2020-2024, AGES established 911 Girls’ Empowerment Forums with a total of 9,110 members. The GEFs were connected through 18 district-level networks. Read More...

Supporting meaningful civic engagement for improved accountability by leveraging digital technologies (Ref: ISAF-II) 2019-2023

This is the end of project Evaluation for CARE’s Implementation of Social Accountability Framework (ISAF) Project. Phase two of the ISAF was implemented in five target provinces (Ratank Kiri, Mondul Kiri, Koh Kong Kratie, and Stung Treng) over 50 months (2019-2024). ISAF II aimed to reduce poverty through democratic, inclusive, and equitable local governance and more accessible and equitable public service delivery. ISAF II worked with local Non-governmental Organisation (LNGOs) that were provided grants through the project and citizens of the five targeted provinces who received improved services (commune, health centres and primary schools).
Objective of the Evaluation
The overall objective of the end of project evaluation is to provide a full assessment of the intended goals and objectives of the action including the treatment of key evaluation questions and using the six Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development / Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) criteria; relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. The evaluation also aims to capture best practices, challenges, and lessons learned during the project intervention, and provide clear recommendations for CARE, the National Committee for Sub-national Democratic Development (NCDD), European Union (EU), World Bank and other relevant Development Partners and stakeholders for future interventions. The evaluation will measure the impact and progress against the project’s logical framework. The evaluation will assess all three sectors (commune administration, health centres, and school services) in all five selected provinces under CARE’s mandate.
End of project respondents were chosen from key project participants: citizens, youth (aged 15 to 30 years old), local authorities/services providers (commune and district levels, healthcare centres and primary schools) and Community Accountability Facilitators (CAFs). A total of 649 respondents were interviewed for the evaluation. Data collection was conducted with a team of 10 data collectors in December 2023. Read More...

Unlocking the Potential of Women-led Micro & Small Enterprises: Lessons from the IGNITE project in Pakistan, Peru, and Vietnam

Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are the economic backbone of most economies worldwide, increasing employment and reinvesting in local communities. In emerging markets, there are 365-445 million micro, small, and medium enterprises. However, 80% of women-owned small businesses with credit needs are either unserved or underserved, representing a $1.7 trillion USD financing gap.

CARE’s Ignite program, launched in partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, focused on supporting micro and small enterprises, especially those led by women, in Pakistan, Peru, and Vietnam
between 2020 and 2023.

Ignite took a market-based approach to service delivery that was sustainable and scalable by working with over 35 local partners across the three countries, 11 of which were core service delivery partners. These partnerships opened up much-needed access to financial and digital resources, while building entrepreneurs’ business capacity and networks.

Ignite set out to reach 3.9 million entrepreneurs in three years with $5.26 million USD in grant funding from Mastercard. The program exceeded initial goals, reaching more than nine million entrepreneurs, and unlocking access to $154.9 million USD in loans. More than 150,000 entrepreneurs were deeply supported with loans, critical support services, and training.

The commercial value in supporting women-led MSEs is irrefutable. Global data continues to show this and,
together with Ignite financial service provider partners, CARE has proved it. Despite this, gender bias continues to permeate throughout financial institutions the world over. CARE is calling on all financial service providers to read the proof in this report that women are better financial clients, to support the drive for 100% financial inclusion for women, and to invest in reaching this goal. Read More...

Ella Alimenta Al Mundo Linea de Base/Baseline She Feeds the World Colombia

El proyecto Ella Alimenta al Mundo busca facilitar las condiciones para que mujeres productoras estén empoderadas y cuenten con medios de vida más seguros y resilientes para la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional de ellas y su comunidad. Tiene como objetivo fortalecer el papel de las mujeres productoras a pequeña escala en cadenas de valor seleccionadas y mejorar los vínculos con los actores del mercado, incluida potencialmente la cadena de suministro de PepsiCo, para garantizar ingresos sostenibles y estables.
El presente documento corresponde al estudio de línea base que presenta los resultados en relación con la situación inicial y el contexto que viven las familias participantes del proyecto en los municipios de Pasto, Ipiales, Pupiales y Gualmatán del departamento de Nariño.
El análisis se orienta a dar a conocer las condiciones actuales con relación al empoderamiento económico de las mujeres, inclusión financiera, cadenas de valor inclusivas, procesos de comercialización justos y procesos productivos sostenibles, desarrollo de resiliencia y desarrollo de las asociaciones. De igual manera enfatiza en conocer las necesidades de capacitación en agricultura adaptativa, vinculación con el mercado, gestión financiera, prácticas de nutrición; de tal manera que sea posible fortalecer capacidades de la comunidad, especialmente mujeres para crear recursos propios y mejorar los vínculos con otros actores del mercado.
Brinda un análisis desde el enfoque de género que parte de la comprensión de cómo las relaciones de género influyen en todos los aspectos de una comunidad, tanto en el ámbito productivo como social. La distribución de tareas de las mujeres y de los hombres de un grupo social específico permiten comprender la dinámica de las relaciones de género, el apoyo mutuo, el intercambio, las cargas de trabajo con relación a otras labores, como son las tareas de cuidado y sostenimiento de la vida en el hogar.
La recolección, sistematización y análisis de la información fue realizada por el equipo consultor Tierra que Anda entre los meses de septiembre a noviembre de 2023.
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