West Bank and Gaza

Aid obstruction in Gaza

Aid agencies working in Gaza are demanding the international community take action to address the Israeli government’s continuing and increasing obstruction of aid. While Israeli military attacks on Gaza intensify, lifesaving food, medicine, medical supplies, fuel, and tents have been systematically blocked from entering.

New data backed up by recent footage reveals the scale of aid obstruction, which is driving a humanitarian disaster, leaving the entire population of Gaza facing hunger and disease, and almost half a million at risk of starvation. 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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Rafah Governorate: Deception, Destruction & Death in the “Safe” Zone Rapid Gender Analysis

The ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip has been described as a “human rights crisis, a human-made humanitarian disaster”1 and a “war on woman.”2 Since October 7th there has been mass scale forced displacement of over a million Palestinians from Northern Gaza to Southern Governorates. The subsequent impacts of this, compounded with pre-existing gender inequalities and multidimensional vulnerabilities, have disproportionately impacted women and girls, as well as other vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, children, pregnant and lactating women, elderly populations, those living with chronic and mental health conditions.
Aim and methodology: The aim of this RGA was to hear from women and men currently in Rafah, with a focus on those providing essential services to communities and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the Governorate. The aim was to better understand the experiences of women, men, girls and boys at this moment, and to identify how CARE and the local and international humanitarian community, including U.N. Agencies, can best respond - understanding the formidable challenges and barriers to do so.
This RGA was conducted at a time where the population of Rafah were subject to continued and threatened bombardment from land, air and sea. As such it was intentionally designed to be light and small scale in terms of primary data collection; which took place between 7th April to 17th April 2024, and is complemented by secondary data review and analysis.
This RGA is being published in the days surrounding further escalation of violence in Rafah. The Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt is blocked 6 and an evacuation order has been issued in the Eastern parts of Rafah; the designated “safe zone” in the Gaza strip. This reinforces the voices of the men and women who told us, with no uncertainty, that nowhere in Gaza is safe.
Key findings related to each area of inquiry and recommendations are summarised below, with more details to be found in the main report.
Key findings:
1. Shifting Gender Roles: Continuous displacement has led to some traditional gender roles adapting and expanding, as well as others being reinforced. Increased and unrealistic pressure has been placed on women to meet the needs and demands of dependents in a highly stressful environment, which has led to an increase in verbal and physical violence against women.
2. Coping Mechanisms: On the verge of starvation, nearly the entire population in Rafah has reported extreme and harmful coping strategies including but not limited to bartering with other essential items, begging, gathering wild foods, scavenging under rubble or in trash or seeking food outside their shelter.8 Reports indicate some women are fasting for several days in a row,9 and boys and girls are forced to work on the street selling or begging. Female heads of household, older women and women with disabilities face security and protection obstacles seeking access to food distributions.10
3. Sustaining through Community Networks of Solidarity: Community solidarity has emerged as a lifeline for survival, such as women supporting children’s education and men distributing food parcels or organising activities for children. Religion and prayer have played a key role in the coping strategies of men, women and children. For youth, social media (when accessible) played a role to maintain connections, articulate fears and share experiences with others. For children, where possible, play and educational outlets within shelters provide a brief respite from the reality of airstrikes.
4. Maternal & Reproductive Health: With an overwhelmed and overstretched health system, people with disabilities, chronic conditions and trauma are left without the most basic care. With estimates of 155,000 women in Gaza pregnant or lactating, and 5,500 expected to deliver in the next month,11 the lack of adequate maternal, sexual and reproductive health services leave mothers, newborns and their children exposed to severe and life-threatening health risks. If women survive pregnancy and childbirth, postpartum recovery, including ability to breastfeed, also present severe challenges.12
5. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS): Of extreme concern is the severe emotional, physical and psychological distress among the displaced population, especially among children and youth. As caregivers do their best to survive and manage their own mental health, the impact on children and youth is extensive and holds intergenerational impacts.
6. Education: With formal education effectively stopped since October 7th, children have lost out on a whole academic year of education. While there were reports of some initiatives such as ‘informal learning circles’ and remote learning, these are not easily accessible. Parents, caregivers and children are focused on daily survival; there is the increasing need for adolescents and young girls to support with chores or be confined to their tents due to safety issues; and, particularly for boys, the need to help earn money or seek supplies for the family. Read More...

Gaza Strip Rapid Gender Analysis: Brief

There is an increasing recognition that conflict is not gender neutral; in fact, protracted conflicts such as in Gaza create a landscape of multidimensional and intersectional vulnerabilities for diverse groups compounding over time (specifically around access to food, mobility, poverty, education, protection and employment) and disproportionately affect women and girls across all categories. The escalation of violence in Gaza and the surrounding region has led to an unfathomable level of death, deprivation and destruction for the most vulnerable populations and further compromises their ability to respond, adapt and build resilience to continued shock. Thus, the humanitarian response must account for these pre-existing vulnerabilities while integrating and adapting to the complexity of this unprecedented crisis through a gender and inclusive programming lens. This Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) aims to highlight existing gender, age and disability data and provide operational recommendations for the humanitarian response in Gaza, while centering ‘Do No Harm’ principles. Given the rapidly evolving context of this crisis, this RGA brief draws from secondary data to inform immediate programming and will be updated as more information becomes available and more in-depth information is needed to support the humanitarian response. Read More...

TATWEER “Livelihood Security and Civil Society Strengthening in the OPT.”

TATWEER was implemented from May 2009 - April of 2015 utilizing partnerships with three Palestine NGOs (Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ), Economic and Social Development Center of Palestine (ESDC), and New Farm Company (NFC). The project was implemented to help devastated farmers begin to regain food security in the Jenin and Tubas regions. This research seeks to understand and assess the sustained post-project outcomes and impacts both achieved and unintended of the TATWEER as a food security enabler among Palestinian households. CARE Palestine, CARE USA, and partners used mixed methods for this post-project sustainability study. Read More...

Rapid Needs Assessment Gaza May/June 2021

CARE conducted a rapid needs assessment in Gaza between May 28 and June 3, 2021 to understand people's evolving needs in the crisis there. This graphic underlines what they found, with a survey of 62 people, including 68% women, 32% men, and 16% people with disabilities. Read More...

RAPID GENDER ANALYSIS TO INFORM THE 2021 HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMME CYCLE IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

The impacts of humanitarian crises are not gender neutral. Global evidence shows that when disasters strike, and humanitarian crises unfold, they have differential impacts on women, girls, men, boys and persons of diverse gender identities. Humanitarian response informed by gender analysis means that humanitarian action incorporates recommendations drawn from that robust analysis, which identifies the shifting needs, capacities and priorities of women, girls, men and boys. A recent report1 from the OCHA Gender Unit identified that several Humanitarian Needs Overviews (HNOs) and Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) had made progress in utilising and integrating gender analysis into the humanitarian response planning process but that more progress could still be made, specifically by improving sector-specific gender analysis and the application of that analysis to specific sectoral interventions. The same report identified that the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC) documents had made considerable progress towards gender integration and gender sensitive programming, but that more sectoral and cross cutting work could still be done since, overwhelmingly, the majority of gender analysis continued to focus on traditional areas associated with “women’s issues” such as gender-based violence (GBV), sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and maternal health.
This synthesis report is produced by CARE in partnership with OCHA. It is part of efforts to ensure a more systematic gender analysis is accessible, and utilised, throughout the 2021 HPC process. Drawing on the 2020 oPt HNO and HRP, as well as the Gender Unit’s review of several 2020 HNOs, this document synthesizes recent2 CARE Palestine West Bank/Gaza and OCHA generated gender analysis reports with the aim of helping HPC actors better integrate gender analysis into the planning process. Read More...

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...

Palestine West Bank/Gaza Rapid Gender Assessment Early Gender Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Full report

Among those most impacted by COVID19 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...

COVID 19 Rapid Gender Analysis Middle East and North Africa Region

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been wreaking havoc on the international community in recent weeks and months, leaving almost no corner untouched. As of 8th April 2020, 1,464,852 cases and 85,397 deaths have been recorded in 212 countries1, including all countries in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region with the exception of Yemen. MENA is at a critical stage in containing the pandemic. Some countries have been successful in curtailing the spread by utilizing stringent lockdown measures, while other more fragile and conflict-affected countries, that are less equipped for additional crises, are only beginning to face the inevitable spread of the virus, with incredibly diminished health infrastructures. Widespread conflict, displacement, and migration in the region significantly complicates a controlled response to COVID-19, and extreme water scarcity makes
preventative measures even more challenging.
Women and girls in MENA faced numerous barriers to education, mobility, financial and asset control, and public leadership prior to the pandemic, and any positive gains made recently are at risk. They are impacted by losses in the informal labor market, elevated levels of violence and harassment, and increased burdens of caregiving for out-of-school children, sick and elderly family members.
Levels of psychosocial distress, already high in a volatile region are only escalating, with reductions in men’s roles as providers
being felt in a context of strict gender roles and stigmatization. The potential shift in men’s and boys’ role to provide increased
caregiving should be explored in contextually-appropriate manners. Read More...

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