Malawi

Malawi VSLA Survey for COVID-19 September 2020

CARE is working with women in savings groups to better understand their needs in COVID-19 and how they are already leading and adapting to cope with the crisis. This is the first of 3 planned rounds of data collection to better understand how women's needs are evolving during the crisis. The findings in this survey are informing CARE's programming for VSLAs in Malawi and globally. Read More...

MALAWI COVID-19 RAPID GENDER ANALYSIS

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus has had a devastating impact globally. While WHO declared COVID-19 as a world pandemic on 30th January 2020, Malawi declared a state of disaster on 20th March 2020 and this was followed with some restrictions including closure of schools. While countries in Southern Africa have imposed lockdowns and other restrictions, as of 7th May Malawi was yet to go on lockdown, which was stopped through a court decision. Malawi is in an election period for fresh presidential elections and with the campaign period officially opened, observance of COVID-19 safety and preventive measures will be a challenge.

Global research findings have shown that COVID-19 has significant social and economic impact on people, especially those living in poverty-stricken countries. Malawi is at more risk due to other significant health challenges that would exacerbate the severity of COVID-19, such as high levels of malnutrition, malaria, anemia, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis.

For women and girls, the impacts can be much higher due to their social responsibilities as primary caregivers, coupled with childcare and nutrition and farm work. Further a majority of health care workers are female (especially nurses). In Malawi, the nursing profession is dominated by female nurses of which 91.5% are professional and 84.7% are associates . With the Covid 19 response, there is also an increased risk of exposure to the infection for health care workers, particularly if health care services are not provided with adequate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).
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Gender Implications of Cash Transfers in Malawi

The government of Malawi operates a national safety net program targeting the poorest 10% of the population with unconditional cash transfers and the next poorest 15% with conditional cash transfers through a Cash for Work (CfW) program and vouchers for subsidized agricultural inputs. In 2019 the Government, with support from development partners, has started implementation of an ultra-poor graduation program in nine districts which support ultra-poor households with livelihood grants and complementary services. This safety net is designed to quickly scale to more people or to provide more money to existing participants in case of emergencies.
CARE Malawi set out to identify the gendered implications of this cash programming and how participants’ experiences of cash transfers affected gender equality. To do so, CARE used a combination of literature review and primary data collection with stakeholder consultations, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs) at national, district, and community levels. Because of the large-scale cash response to Cyclone Idai in 2019—largely operated through international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—the study also compared gendered impacts of the government program and NGO humanitarian response. Read More...

CARE Rapid Gender Analysis for COVID 19 East, Central and Southern Africa

The impacts – direct and indirect – of public health emergencies fall disproportionally on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society. Interconnected social, economic, and political factors pose complex challenges for the ECSA region’s ability to respond to COVID-19. The region already faces significant health challenges that would exacerbate the severity of COVID-19, such as high levels of malnutrition, malaria, anemia, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Access to healthcare in the region is the lowest in the world, thus there is limited capacity to absorb the pandemic1. Gender-based inequality is extensive in the region. Women are at a higher risk for exposure to infection due to the fact that they are often the primary caregivers in the family and constitute 70% of frontline healthcare responders.2 Most women already face limited access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, and the region struggles with high levels of maternal mortality. For example, mother mortality rates recorded in South Sudan were 1150 per 100 000 live births3. COVID-19 will only increase women’s safety risks and care burdens as health services become stretched and resources shift to COVID-19 responses.
Women and girls are at increased risk of violence during the COVID-19 period. Current rates of violence against women and girls combined with the prevalence of harmful traditional practices leads to increased vulnerability. Income loss and limited mobility, compounded with existing gender role expectations, may contribute to increases in intimate partner violence and other forms of gender-based violence. Read More...

United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations Participatory Gender Analysis Final Report

United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations (UBALE), is a five-year (2015-2019) Food for Peace program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by a consortium led by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in partnership with the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Save the Children, and the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM). The program aims to reduce chronic malnutrition and food insecurity and build resilience among vulnerable populations in threedistricts in Malawi, Blantyre Rural, Chikwawaand Nsanje.

The UBALE team carried out a gender analysis in August and September of 2015, with the participation of UBALE key staff from across the program. This is the final report for that gender analysis.
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UBALE: United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations – PARTICIPATORY GENDER ANALYSIS FINAL REPORT

United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations (UBALE), is a five-year (2015-2019) Food for Peace program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by a consortium led by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in partnership with the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Save the Children, and the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM). The program aims to reduce chronic malnutrition and food insecurity and build resilience among vulnerable populations in three districts in Malawi, Blantyre Rural, Chikwawa and Nsanje.

This report describes the process and findings specific to the UBALE program. Read More...

Increasing Mitigation, Productivity and Adaptation through Crop-Recovery Techniques (IMPACT) II Project

In the 2015 / 2016 season, Malawi experienced severe floods and droughts that occurred as a result of El Nino weather conditions. The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) -composed of the Government, UN agencies and NGOs- forecasted that a minimum of 6.5 million people, or 39 percent of the country's projected population of 16.8 million, would not be able to meet their annual food requirements during the 2016/2017 consumption period. Nsanje, Phalombe and Mulanje are some of the districts that were hit hardest.

CARE Malawi implemented the IMPACT project from August 2016 through July 2017 to help the people from the three districts recover. After closure, USAID’s OFDA extended IMPACT for an additional one year (August 2017-July 2018) with a humanitarian funding of US$1,125,519 to consolidate the gains achieved in the first phase and reach additional households affected by continued dry spells and the Fall Armyworm. CARE subcontracted ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency), an international NGO with experience and presence on the ground, to implement activities of the second phase in Phalombe and Mulanje (as they had in Phase I).

This evaluation aimed to assess the design, performance and impact of the second phase. Read More...

Food and Nutrition Security Programme (FNSP) in Malawi (2015 – 2022): Midline Evaluation

Over 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger and two billion do not meet their micro nutrient requirements (Global Nutrition Report, 2016). While the global starving population has gone down in recent decades, the number of people suffering from hunger in sub-Saharan Africa today is higher than ever. Malnutrition is particularly prevalent in developing countries, where it has an impact not only upon the development prospects of an entire country, but also of each individual affected. If a child does not receive sufficient nutrients up to its second year, i.e. over its first 1,000 days beginning with the early embryonic phase, the impact on growth, mental faculties and therefore learning and work¬ing potential will endure a lifetime.

This midline survey outlines important information to understand whether the project is on track. The overall objective was improving the nutrition situation of women of reproductive age (15-49) and children under two (6-23 months) in Dedza and Salima. This report outlines how well the project is meeting this goal. Read More...

Food and Nutrition Security, Enhanced Resilience: Nutrition Baseline Survey Malawi

Over 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger and two billion do not meet their micro nutrient requirements (Global Nutrition Report, 2016). While the global starving population has gone down in recent decades, the number of people suffering from hunger in sub-Saharan Africa today is higher than ever. Malnutrition is particularly prevalent in developing countries, where it has an impact not only upon the development prospects of an entire country, but also of each individual affected. If a child does not receive sufficient nutrients up to its second year, i.e. over its first 1,000 days beginning with the early embryonic phase, the impact on growth, mental faculties and therefore learning and work¬ing potential will endure a lifetime.

The German Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) launched an Initiative “On World – No Hunger” to improve food and nutrition security (https://www.bmz.de/webapps/hunger/index.html#/de). Within this initiative GIZ implements the program “Food and nutrition security, enhanced resilience” in 11 countries in Africa and Asia.

The project‘s main target group includes women of childbearing age, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and infants. The project‘s objective is to improve the nutritional situation of approximately 880000 women, 235000 young children and 4.000 households. Structural measures to combat hunger and malnutrition, particularly among mothers and young children, are one of the most effective ways of investing in the future of a society. Read More...

Cash and Voucher Assistance that Works for Women: 6 Lessons from the Field

A brief summary from a multi-country study on "what does gender-sensitive cash and voucher assistance look like?".

The study adopted a user-centric approach to data collection. This ensured consistent reflection with crisis-affected people throughout the process and increased our ability to capture complexity and enhance accountability. Read More...

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