English
CONTEXT AND POLICY ANALYSIS, ACTION & ADVOCACY STRATEGY FOR THE « WOMEN IN ENTERPRISE» PROGRAM
The present study is part of the development of an advocacy strategy that aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of existing policies that may or may not be favorable to women entrepreneurs, the context and actors of their implementation in Côte d'Ivoire. To guide the design of a national advocacy strategy for the «Women in Enterprise» Program, with a focus on advocacy for the development of women entrepreneurs.
Data collection was carried out in Abidjan and in the regions of TONKPI and GBÊKÊ among actors involved in the issues of women's empowerment, financial inclusion and women's entrepreneurship.
Following data collection and data analysis, it appears that:
- Policy and institutional framework for women's empowerment, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship is provided.
- Government has made efforts to facilitate the creation of businesses through the Single Window CEPICI, but some conditions limit women in their process to start a business.
- Structures and programs have been created for entrepreneurship development and funds have been mobilized and made available to women, but access to these initiatives remains limited due to the conditions of grant and interest for some and lack of information for others.
At the end of the analyzes, barriers to the development of entrepreneurship were identified; these include low women education, limited access to credit, land and information related to entrepreneurial activities and lack of entrepreneurial culture.
Some recommendations for the development of women's entrepreneurship were formulated to the different institutional, technical and financial stakeholders and areas of cooperation for advocacy have been identified. Read More...
Data collection was carried out in Abidjan and in the regions of TONKPI and GBÊKÊ among actors involved in the issues of women's empowerment, financial inclusion and women's entrepreneurship.
Following data collection and data analysis, it appears that:
- Policy and institutional framework for women's empowerment, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship is provided.
- Government has made efforts to facilitate the creation of businesses through the Single Window CEPICI, but some conditions limit women in their process to start a business.
- Structures and programs have been created for entrepreneurship development and funds have been mobilized and made available to women, but access to these initiatives remains limited due to the conditions of grant and interest for some and lack of information for others.
At the end of the analyzes, barriers to the development of entrepreneurship were identified; these include low women education, limited access to credit, land and information related to entrepreneurial activities and lack of entrepreneurial culture.
Some recommendations for the development of women's entrepreneurship were formulated to the different institutional, technical and financial stakeholders and areas of cooperation for advocacy have been identified. Read More...
Women in Enterprise Phase II – Taking Enterprise Development for Women Empowerment to Scale – BASELINE STUDY REPORT
Care CIV through Care Nederland has received funding from the H & M Foundation to implement the Women in Enterprise project. This project has two phases, one of which is more focused on entrepreneurship training for women from VSLA groups and women's associations and awareness raising on women's entrepreneurship that has been implemented from June 2015 to March 2017.
In the second phase of the project, which began on April 1, 2017, credits will be granted to beneficiaries for the launch or development of their activities. However, before deploying the package of activities planned during this phase, a baseline study was conducted to get an idea of the situation or environment of the beneficiaries. The results of this study will serve as a basis for establishing the project's performance indicators and measuring the effects and impact of the project over time. Read More...
In the second phase of the project, which began on April 1, 2017, credits will be granted to beneficiaries for the launch or development of their activities. However, before deploying the package of activities planned during this phase, a baseline study was conducted to get an idea of the situation or environment of the beneficiaries. The results of this study will serve as a basis for establishing the project's performance indicators and measuring the effects and impact of the project over time. Read More...
The end-line report of “Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) Study of Women’s and Men’s Different Roles for “WE SHARE THE LOAD” Project
CARE Egypt in partnership with Ariel has implemented a project called “We Share the Load” to address women‟s economic and social empowerment and provide them with an opportunity to improve their livelihoods. The objective of the project is to enable “Women in the targeted communities to be able to economically and socially participate in lifting their families out of poverty in a society that is built on gender justice.” The project targets 1000 women/female headed household and 200 men, in two main locations within Assuit governorate: Tatalia village and Arab Tatalia.
Evaluation shows that there are a number of females who works just and that the ratio of female to family members‟ labor force participation rate in the targeted communities reached 16.8%, which indicate that women in targeted communities are economically able to participate in lifting their families out of poverty. However, since the baseline study did not measure all the project‟s indicators, the evaluation team could not assess if the goal objective is achieved or not.
On the other hand, the study tried to identify respondents‟ satisfaction with their current financial situation as compared to the year before the project to define the project‟s role in improving their financial situation. Results indicate that only 30% of respondents are satisfied with their financial situation, and 68.3% stated some improvement in their financial situation compared to previous year. This is consistent with the results of the qualitative study where respondents stated that the increase in their incomes was less than rise in prices. Read More...
Evaluation shows that there are a number of females who works just and that the ratio of female to family members‟ labor force participation rate in the targeted communities reached 16.8%, which indicate that women in targeted communities are economically able to participate in lifting their families out of poverty. However, since the baseline study did not measure all the project‟s indicators, the evaluation team could not assess if the goal objective is achieved or not.
On the other hand, the study tried to identify respondents‟ satisfaction with their current financial situation as compared to the year before the project to define the project‟s role in improving their financial situation. Results indicate that only 30% of respondents are satisfied with their financial situation, and 68.3% stated some improvement in their financial situation compared to previous year. This is consistent with the results of the qualitative study where respondents stated that the increase in their incomes was less than rise in prices. Read More...
EMERGENCY FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM: FINAL EVALUATION REPORT
This report provides the results of the final evaluation of the Emergency Food Security Program (EFSP) implemented in twelve districts within the four regions of Sool, Sanaag, Galgaduud and Mudug that was conducted during July and August 2019.
Over and above the program performance parameters, the beneficiaries overwhelmingly indicated that the program had had significant positive impacts. The program was considered timely as it was delivered when beneficiaries were getting into months of food insecurity. When asked whether the cash transfer had improved their livelihoods, 93% of the household survey respondents reported that their livelihoods had improved, mainly in terms of improved purchasing power (93%), ease of meeting their basic needs (78%), better social status (22%), better and more recognition (17%), taking children to school (14%), access to healthcare (9%) and in other (non-described) areas (7%). In the household survey, 94% of the respondents received three cycles of the correct amount, whilst 5% who were targeted under the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) received two cycles enabling households to purchase their preferred foods, at least 25Kg of rice, 25Kg of sugar, 25kg wheat flour, 3kg of cooking oil, 10kg of pasta and some vegetables.
The program had a positive impact on the 52,299 households enrolled. The programme resulted in a reduction of distress coping strategies, with an average rCSI of 12.8 reducing from 20.4 at the program baseline. This supports the effectiveness of the program in enabling the beneficiaries to reduce the number of negative coping strategies that they were previously employing in order to meet basic household needs. In addition, as planned, all the households used the cash transfer to meet their basic needs, with 97% of them using the cash transfer to purchase food for the household, indicating that the cash intervention has directly contributed to the enhancement of the household food security during the drought. Trend analysis shows that throughout the program there was a downward trend of the rCSI scores, while there was an increase of household dietary diversity index to 20.4 compared to the baseline of 12.8. Similarly, an analysis of household hunger shows that in general the beneficiaries were experiencing little to no hunger, with only 13% experiencing moderate hunger and 86% of households experiencing little to no hunger. This again indicates that the programme has achieved positive outcomes.
While the evidence suggests that the program generated a number of positive impacts, across many domains, demonstrating effective and efficient implementation, and that the beneficiaries used the cash as per the original objectives of the program, households continue to faces challenges in their capacity to fully recover from the impacts of conflict and drought. Increasing the scale of interventions and developing additional holistic livelihood strategies for the target areas, creating linkages with market-based interventions and improvement in access to water, education and healthcare, experimenting with graduation models combined with local savings (VSLAs) were among some of the areas identified for improving future programming. A more detailed description of these recommendations is provided towards the tail end of the report. Read More...
Over and above the program performance parameters, the beneficiaries overwhelmingly indicated that the program had had significant positive impacts. The program was considered timely as it was delivered when beneficiaries were getting into months of food insecurity. When asked whether the cash transfer had improved their livelihoods, 93% of the household survey respondents reported that their livelihoods had improved, mainly in terms of improved purchasing power (93%), ease of meeting their basic needs (78%), better social status (22%), better and more recognition (17%), taking children to school (14%), access to healthcare (9%) and in other (non-described) areas (7%). In the household survey, 94% of the respondents received three cycles of the correct amount, whilst 5% who were targeted under the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) received two cycles enabling households to purchase their preferred foods, at least 25Kg of rice, 25Kg of sugar, 25kg wheat flour, 3kg of cooking oil, 10kg of pasta and some vegetables.
The program had a positive impact on the 52,299 households enrolled. The programme resulted in a reduction of distress coping strategies, with an average rCSI of 12.8 reducing from 20.4 at the program baseline. This supports the effectiveness of the program in enabling the beneficiaries to reduce the number of negative coping strategies that they were previously employing in order to meet basic household needs. In addition, as planned, all the households used the cash transfer to meet their basic needs, with 97% of them using the cash transfer to purchase food for the household, indicating that the cash intervention has directly contributed to the enhancement of the household food security during the drought. Trend analysis shows that throughout the program there was a downward trend of the rCSI scores, while there was an increase of household dietary diversity index to 20.4 compared to the baseline of 12.8. Similarly, an analysis of household hunger shows that in general the beneficiaries were experiencing little to no hunger, with only 13% experiencing moderate hunger and 86% of households experiencing little to no hunger. This again indicates that the programme has achieved positive outcomes.
While the evidence suggests that the program generated a number of positive impacts, across many domains, demonstrating effective and efficient implementation, and that the beneficiaries used the cash as per the original objectives of the program, households continue to faces challenges in their capacity to fully recover from the impacts of conflict and drought. Increasing the scale of interventions and developing additional holistic livelihood strategies for the target areas, creating linkages with market-based interventions and improvement in access to water, education and healthcare, experimenting with graduation models combined with local savings (VSLAs) were among some of the areas identified for improving future programming. A more detailed description of these recommendations is provided towards the tail end of the report. Read More...
WASH support to IDPs & host communities in Dohuk & Ninewa
CARE, REACH and Harikar solicited support from GAC to support their WASH intervention in four IDP camps (Chamishko, Essyan, Mamrashan and Sheikhan) and in host community collectives (Ardawan, Ba’adre, Kalakchi, Mahate and Ayas) in Dohuk and Ninewa from January 2017 to December 2019. The project also had an emergency response component in November 2017 in three neighbourhoods of West Mosul (Al-Mansour, Al-Jawsaq and Wadi Al-Hajar). The purpose of the final evaluation is to assess the post intervention situation in the targeted areas against baseline indicators. Furthermore, the study looked at the effectiveness and efficiency of the intervention to reach the expected outcomes. The study also considered criteria such as coverage and appropriateness to evaluate the quality of the intervention. Finally, the evaluation looked at some of the impacts of the intervention.
The final evaluation concludes that CARE, REACH and Harikar reached most of the expected targets during the project implementation. The evaluation team is confident that with the intervention of CARE, REACH and Harikar men, women, boys and girls have improved access to safe water supply (Outcome 100) and to safe sanitation facilities (Outcome 200) in the IDPs camps and also to some extent in the host communities. The evaluation team can also report that IDPs have had improved access to hygiene supplies in 2017 and 2018 thanks to the hygiene voucher system set up by CARE, REACH and Harikar (Outcome 300). Men, women, boys and girls also have improved access to information about hygiene as well as gender and protection both in the IDP camps and host communities (Outcome 300 and 500). The evaluation team collected mixed results however concerning the increased capacity of community actors, local NGOs & local authorities to provide timely WASH assistance to vulnerable IDPs and host communities that meet the differing needs of women & girls (Outcome 400). Due to the volatility of the context and the limited financial capacities of local authorities, the intervention failed to identify a strong exit strategy where local authorities would take over the services provided by CARE, Harikar and REACH with the support of GAC. Read More...
The final evaluation concludes that CARE, REACH and Harikar reached most of the expected targets during the project implementation. The evaluation team is confident that with the intervention of CARE, REACH and Harikar men, women, boys and girls have improved access to safe water supply (Outcome 100) and to safe sanitation facilities (Outcome 200) in the IDPs camps and also to some extent in the host communities. The evaluation team can also report that IDPs have had improved access to hygiene supplies in 2017 and 2018 thanks to the hygiene voucher system set up by CARE, REACH and Harikar (Outcome 300). Men, women, boys and girls also have improved access to information about hygiene as well as gender and protection both in the IDP camps and host communities (Outcome 300 and 500). The evaluation team collected mixed results however concerning the increased capacity of community actors, local NGOs & local authorities to provide timely WASH assistance to vulnerable IDPs and host communities that meet the differing needs of women & girls (Outcome 400). Due to the volatility of the context and the limited financial capacities of local authorities, the intervention failed to identify a strong exit strategy where local authorities would take over the services provided by CARE, Harikar and REACH with the support of GAC. Read More...
Somalia Resilience Program Third Party Monitoring: Midline Assessment
The Somalia Resilience Program (SomReP) is a consortium of seven international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). The aim of the consortium is to enhance the resilience of vulnerable households and communities in Southern Somalia against cyclical shocks and stressors. The program’s activities focus on securing livelihoods and increasing adaptive capacities of communities and households in Somalia.
Overall, positive developments from the baseline was noted for most of the indicators analyzed in this report. Most of these positive developments could be attributed to different programme interventions. The attribution was tested through statistical correlation analysis and by synthesizing programme documents and the data collected at various stages throughout the project. The food security status of the respondents had improved, both in terms of food consumption and coping strategies. For example, the proportion of the respondents categorized as having an acceptable level of the Food Consumption Score (FCS) had increased from 48.5% in the baseline to 80.4% in the midline. The income of the respondents had also improved with both a significantly higher average income as well as more diversified income being reported. Those respondents that were part of a savings scheme as well as those that had received cash distributions through Cash for Work (CfW) or Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) reported higher FCS than those who had not. Respondents that had received cash distributions were also positively associated with higher incomes. As such, it is recommended that both VSLA and cash programming interventions should be sustained and if possible scaled-up. It is worth noting that livelihoods were still largely climate sensitive, with day labour in agriculture being the most common and important livelihood strategy, especially for male respondents. This implies that most people are still highly vulnerable to climatic shocks, such as drought. Read More...
Overall, positive developments from the baseline was noted for most of the indicators analyzed in this report. Most of these positive developments could be attributed to different programme interventions. The attribution was tested through statistical correlation analysis and by synthesizing programme documents and the data collected at various stages throughout the project. The food security status of the respondents had improved, both in terms of food consumption and coping strategies. For example, the proportion of the respondents categorized as having an acceptable level of the Food Consumption Score (FCS) had increased from 48.5% in the baseline to 80.4% in the midline. The income of the respondents had also improved with both a significantly higher average income as well as more diversified income being reported. Those respondents that were part of a savings scheme as well as those that had received cash distributions through Cash for Work (CfW) or Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) reported higher FCS than those who had not. Respondents that had received cash distributions were also positively associated with higher incomes. As such, it is recommended that both VSLA and cash programming interventions should be sustained and if possible scaled-up. It is worth noting that livelihoods were still largely climate sensitive, with day labour in agriculture being the most common and important livelihood strategy, especially for male respondents. This implies that most people are still highly vulnerable to climatic shocks, such as drought. Read More...
Somalia Resilience Program Third Party Monitoring: Baseline Study
The Somalia Resilience Program (SomReP) is a consortium of seven Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), the activities of which aim to enhance the resilience of vulnerable households and communities in Southern Somalia against cyclical shocks and stressors. This report serves as the baseline for the Third Party Monitoring (TPM) of SomReP in two districts in South and Central Somalia: Afgooye and Baidoa. The TPM study is undertaken by Forcier Consulting on behalf of SomReP, with the aim to rigorously monitor the progress and outcomes of the program.
The data indicates that resilience differed among livelihood groups (agro-pastoralist, pastoralists, and peri-urban), between women and men, and across seasons. This means that program approaches should take these differences into account when targeting groups for various interventions. For instance, people in peri-urban areas tended to have less diverse diets, while pastoralists tend to engage in more severe and frequent coping strategies. Out of the different livelihood types, pastoralists were also the most likely to report no access to risk transfer or sharing. Further, women tended to have less diverse incomes than men and incomes tend to be lowest in the dry season of Jilaal, the season in which most agriculture-related work was replaced with unskilled work. These findings indicate that women should be more frequently targeted for income diversity interventions, and pastoralists should be targeted with interventions that aim to increase social safety nets, such as risk sharing.
Capacities to deal with stressors in both the short and long-term were low across the targeted areas. Natural resource management (NRM) was poor in both districts and in and across communities. Sustainable access to natural resources is an important factor in ensuring long-term resilience and should therefore receive more attention across the communities. Response capacities were also absent across the communities. Only 9.7 of all respondents said their community had a community-based early warning system in place. Further, only 5.7% of the respondents said community initiatives existed that aimed to access support from sub-national and national institutions and authorities to respond to and cope with the recurrent shocks and stressors. Hence, moving forward, the program should ensure a focus of combined approaches to achieve improvements in system-wide resilience. Read More...
The data indicates that resilience differed among livelihood groups (agro-pastoralist, pastoralists, and peri-urban), between women and men, and across seasons. This means that program approaches should take these differences into account when targeting groups for various interventions. For instance, people in peri-urban areas tended to have less diverse diets, while pastoralists tend to engage in more severe and frequent coping strategies. Out of the different livelihood types, pastoralists were also the most likely to report no access to risk transfer or sharing. Further, women tended to have less diverse incomes than men and incomes tend to be lowest in the dry season of Jilaal, the season in which most agriculture-related work was replaced with unskilled work. These findings indicate that women should be more frequently targeted for income diversity interventions, and pastoralists should be targeted with interventions that aim to increase social safety nets, such as risk sharing.
Capacities to deal with stressors in both the short and long-term were low across the targeted areas. Natural resource management (NRM) was poor in both districts and in and across communities. Sustainable access to natural resources is an important factor in ensuring long-term resilience and should therefore receive more attention across the communities. Response capacities were also absent across the communities. Only 9.7 of all respondents said their community had a community-based early warning system in place. Further, only 5.7% of the respondents said community initiatives existed that aimed to access support from sub-national and national institutions and authorities to respond to and cope with the recurrent shocks and stressors. Hence, moving forward, the program should ensure a focus of combined approaches to achieve improvements in system-wide resilience. Read More...
Building Resilience Among the Crisis Affected in Jordan
The Building Resilience among the Crisis Affected in Jordan project falls under CARE Jordan’s Urban
Protection Program that aims to provide labor market linkages and improved access to vulnerable Syrian
refugees and host community Jordanians in targeted urban areas in Jordan. The expected outcomes of
the project include:
1. Improved access to the labor market for the most vulnerable refugees.
2. Increased access for refugees and host communities to market linkages and economic
resilience.
3. Expanded opportunities for dignified employment for refugees in new sectors.
One of the two outcome indicators was achieved for the project. Outcome 1 indicator achieved a total
of 24.2% average-for which the target was 20%- for those who reported improved access to the labor
marker and when disaggregated by sex, males reported a slightly higher access at 26.1% while females
reported 20% on average. Read More...
Protection Program that aims to provide labor market linkages and improved access to vulnerable Syrian
refugees and host community Jordanians in targeted urban areas in Jordan. The expected outcomes of
the project include:
1. Improved access to the labor market for the most vulnerable refugees.
2. Increased access for refugees and host communities to market linkages and economic
resilience.
3. Expanded opportunities for dignified employment for refugees in new sectors.
One of the two outcome indicators was achieved for the project. Outcome 1 indicator achieved a total
of 24.2% average-for which the target was 20%- for those who reported improved access to the labor
marker and when disaggregated by sex, males reported a slightly higher access at 26.1% while females
reported 20% on average. Read More...
Taking Enterprise Development for Women Empowerment to Scale
To enhance the opportunity for engagement of women in the workforce, CARE Jordan, in collaboration with H&M and CARE Netherland, is implementing the program, Taking Enterprise Development for Women Empowerment to Scale. The project falls under the strategic Sustainable Development Program of CARE Jordan, which aims to provide support and address the needs of individuals and host communities in Jordan, focusing specifically on gender barriers, combatting gender-based violence, economic empowerment, and inclusive participation.
Phase I of the program (Khatwa Skills Project) set the foundation for the program by providing support for women by establishing more formal networks for them to be able to rely on their entrepreneurial journey, such as SLA groups (Savings and Loan Groups). Additionally, the Khatwa Skills Project also provided targeted vocational training to help facilitate business idea generation and central bazaars, where women could sell their goods.
This is Phase II of a 3 year (1 April 2017-31March2020) program that will follow up on the Khatwa Skills Project by providing additional vocational and financial training to women, supporting the existing SLA Groups so that women netrepreneurs have greater access to funding for their enterprises. Phase II will also provide support for women-led MSMEs and establish women’s economic group activities that will focus on developing the skills of women and female youth. Phase II of the program aims to directly target 380 vulnerable Jordanian women living in Jordan with the
primary objective being to seek to empower women and youth through the development of successful business models, including micro and small enterprises, recycling enterprises, and group businesses, often to be developed within the context of VSLAs. These models will be scaled up through targeted initiatives in awareness raising and further developing the involvement and initiatives of role models. Additionally, approximately 5,800 women, men, boys, and girls will be indirectly targeted through the program. Read More...
Phase I of the program (Khatwa Skills Project) set the foundation for the program by providing support for women by establishing more formal networks for them to be able to rely on their entrepreneurial journey, such as SLA groups (Savings and Loan Groups). Additionally, the Khatwa Skills Project also provided targeted vocational training to help facilitate business idea generation and central bazaars, where women could sell their goods.
This is Phase II of a 3 year (1 April 2017-31March2020) program that will follow up on the Khatwa Skills Project by providing additional vocational and financial training to women, supporting the existing SLA Groups so that women netrepreneurs have greater access to funding for their enterprises. Phase II will also provide support for women-led MSMEs and establish women’s economic group activities that will focus on developing the skills of women and female youth. Phase II of the program aims to directly target 380 vulnerable Jordanian women living in Jordan with the
primary objective being to seek to empower women and youth through the development of successful business models, including micro and small enterprises, recycling enterprises, and group businesses, often to be developed within the context of VSLAs. These models will be scaled up through targeted initiatives in awareness raising and further developing the involvement and initiatives of role models. Additionally, approximately 5,800 women, men, boys, and girls will be indirectly targeted through the program. Read More...