English

PROFIT Financial Graduation

The PROFIT Financial Graduation Sub-Component, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Kenya (GOK), aimed to enable vulnerable women and youth to build sustainable livelihoods and reduce risk aversion on supply and demand sides of financial sustainability through a sequenced set of interventions, including an asset transfer, technical and life skills training, mentorship, consumption and savings support. The program targeted 1,000 women and youth in Kitui and 1,600 women in Samburu. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to place vulnerable households on an upward trajectory out of ultra-poverty.
Since January 2017, with technical assistance from BRAC USA, the PROFIT Financial Graduation program was implemented by The BOMA Project and CARE International Kenya in Samburu and Kitui, respectively. Expanding Opportunities conducted a quasi-experimental impact evaluation of the PROFIT Financial Graduation pilots by assessing changes in income, savings, food security, health, and confidence that can be reliably attributed to program activities. This report comprises the results of the endline impact evaluation. Read More...

Learning From Failure 2019

Driven by a wish to learn more from what goes wrong in our programming, and to examine where changes to the broader organization and system can improve our programming and impact globally, in 2019 CARE undertook its first evaluations-based failure meta-analysis. This analysis draws learning and evidence from 114 evaluations of CARE’s work from 2015-2018 to understand the patterns and trends in what goes wrong. This helps us take a data-driven approach to strategic investments and action plans to live out CARE’s commitment to high program quality and continuous improvement across the board.
The review draws from project specific data, but deliberately anonymizes the data and focuses on overarching trends to remove blame for any specific project team or set of individuals. This exercise is designed to help us learn more about how we can change our processes and patterns of support and engagement around weak areas to improve our work. CARE is using this data to build action plans and next steps to continuously improve our programming.
Read More...

Rapid Gender and Protection Analysis Cyclone Kenneth Response Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

On 25 April 2019, as Mozambique was responding to the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai five weeks previously, Tropical Cyclone Kenneth hit the northern part of the country causing widespread devastation, flooding and displacement.
In a part of Mozambique experiencing significant poverty and instability caused by complex conflict dynamics1, women, men, boys and girls in the province of Cabo Delgado had limited resilience to withstand the shock of a cyclone. Early reports indicated that certain groups were hit particularly hard, including female-headed households, pregnant and lactating women, people with disabilities, the elderly, and boys and girls. This was confirmed by the Rapid Gender and Protection Analysis (RGPA).
COSACA,2 a consortium comprised of CARE International, Oxfam and Save the Children, identified four districts of the Cabo Delgado province to focus its analysis based on ongoing and planned operations: Ibo, Quissanga, Macomia and Metuge Districts as well as Pemba Town. The RGPA was built up progressively over the data collection period through 39 focus group discussions (FGD), 34 key informant interviews (KII) and observational safety audits.
Mozambique has the thirteenth highest level of women’s participation in parliament in the world yet, at the same time, a third of women report experiencing violence, reflecting entrenched gender inequalities within society.3 These inequalities contribute to women and girls appearing to be the worst-affected by Cyclone Kenneth, subject to greater food insecurity and increased risk of gender-based violence. This is in line with global evidence on the disproportionate, gendered impact of disasters and conflict.4 Humanitarian responders must account for the different experience of crisis felt by women, men, boys and girls, and ensure actions are tailored accordingly. Moreover, those responsible for recovery programming should use the opportunity to address inequalities and transform harmful gender norms where possible. Read More...

Endline Assessment for Multi-Sectoral Assistance to South Sudanese Refugees and Ugandan Host Communities in Bidibidi, Palorinya and Rhino Camp

Mercy Corps and its consortium partners Save the Children (SCI), CARE, Oxfam, and DanChurchAid (DCA) implemented the 21-month “Multi Sectoral Assistance to South Sudanese Refugees and Host Communities in West Nile (Bidibidi, Palorinya and Rhino Camp Settlements)” from May 2017 to February 2019, funded by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). The project delivered life-saving and protection assistance to vulnerable South Sudanese refugees and host communities in Bidibidi (Yumbe), Palorinya (Moyo) and Rhino Camp (Arua) settlements through 1) General and child protection; 2) Water and sanitation infrastructure and hygiene promotion; 3) Livelihoods and cash-based interventions; and 4) Market development, financial services and enhanced coordination. Specifically, the project aimed to increase resilience of South Sudanese refugees and host communities while promoting peaceful coexistence between and among the target groups. Read More...

Desk review to conduct assessment of ‘value for money’ provided through CARE International’s programmes to vulnerable and marginalised populations in Asia

This case study has been prepared as part of a study commissioned by CARE International (CI) to assess its long-term impact achieved in the Asia Pacific region between 2005 and 2010. As part of this process CI explored the extent to which socio-economic cost benefit analysis could be applied on a sample of CI projects, using an adapted form of the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology1.
The aim of the study was to gain a better understanding of CI’s ability to deliver added benefit and value to participating communities and their societies, given invested resources, whilst testing the feasibility of applying an adapted form of SROI to projects. The study is also expected to contribute to a wider discussion on the usefulness, and applicability, of demonstrating value for money within the contexts CI works.
Given CI’s focus on empowerment, and especially of marginalised and vulnerable women, this case study presents the analysis and findings of four projects: Plantation Community Empowerment Project (PCEP), Sri Lanka Social & Economic Transformation of the Ultra Poor (SETU), Bangladesh Integrated Rural Development and Disaster Mitigation (IRDM), Cambodia Poverty Alleviation in Remote Upland Areas (PARUA), Laos
It is important to note that the projects selected for analysis were initiatives within wider programmes and, as such, were not intended to be illustrative of the overall programme’s magnitude or effectiveness. The SROI methodology is a good fit for CI’s projects due to its participatory nature and valuation of things that matter to stakeholders. However, due to the desk-based nature of this study, these findings should be seen as purely indicative as field research would be required to build a definitive and an accurate picture of impact. Read More...

Towards Economic and Sexual Reproductive Health Outcomes for Adolescent Girls (TESFA) Ex-Post Evaluation Report

TESFA project (Towards Improved Economic and Sexual Reproductive Health Outcomes for Adolescent Girls) was launched in 2010 which targeted ever-married adolescent girls’ economic status and reproductive health. The project envisioned to mitigate the effects of early marriage among ever-married adolescent girls in two woredas, Farta and Lay Gayint, of South Gondar zone in the Amhara regional state of Ethiopia. The project aimed to reach five thousand adolescent girls having marital history under the age of 19 in 25 kebeles in the two woredas, with the goal of achieving measurable positive change in their economic empowerment and sexual and reproductive health status. The project operated through four programmatic arms: Economic empowerment only (EE only), Sexual and reproductive health only (SRH-only), Economic empowerment with sexual and reproductive health (combined) and a delayed implementation arm (Delayed comparison).

This sustainability assessment (Ex-Post Evaluation) was conducted in the areas where TESFA project was implemented for three years to improve economic (EE-only), and sexual and reproductive health (SRH-only) outcomes for ever‐married adolescent girls (10 - 19 years old). The Ex-post evaluation is conducted four years after the completion of TESFA project to assess the sustainability and auto-replication of original girls groups formed by TESFA project. Qualitative approach with purposive sampling method was employed in this sustainability study. Ever married girls groups from the former TESFA project SRH and EE arms, SAA group members (Adult male and female community members) in the SRH Arm, and different level government officials such as Kebele Officials, Health Extension Workers (HEW) and experts from different government offices were participants in the study. Detail information about the group was pulled from archived documents at field office and mapping exercise was done by identifying the girl groups with the help of CARE field office and SAA members in each kebele prior to the focus groups and key-informant interviews. Read More...

Child, Early and Forced Marriage: CARE’s Global Experience

In two world regions—Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the Asia Pacific—CARE has developed regional strategies on CEFM that galvanize influence with regional, national, and global bodies, support feminist movements, connect the local to the global, scale up and share strategies that work, and target popular media with positive images of equality.18 At the same time, CARE is working on the ground in high prevalence countries around the world. This document lays out CARE’s
approach and experience in CEFM prevention and mitigation across the globe. Read More...

Tipping Point Final Evaluation Phase One Nepal

Phase 1 of CARE’s Tipping Point project addressed child marriage through a dynamic process of innovation, insight, and influence in two districts of Nepal in partnership with Siddhartha Samudayik Samaj (SSS) and Dalit Social Development Centre (DSDC). In its first phase, the project promoted girls’ rights and choices regarding marriage in 16 communities using complementary approaches with collectives of girls, boys, and parents, who regularly participated in meetings, and advocacy events to raise public awareness and promote gender-equitable social norms. The project also engaged allies and potential champions for girls’ rights, including government and civil society, to help drive social change and direct more resources towards girls’ empowerment in project communities.
At the conclusion of Phase 1, an external evaluation team visited project sites in Kapilvastu and Rupandehi to conduct qualitative data collection with girls, boys, parents, and community members. The evaluation team’s findings indicate that Tipping Point’s iterative and adaptive strategies have contributed to several changes in the lives of girls, the actions of parents and community members to support girls, and social norms that promote gender equity. Read More...

Tipping Point Outcome Mapping Phase 1

CARE’S TIPPING POINT PROJECT addresses child marriage through a dynamic process of innovation, insight, and influence in Nepal and Bangladesh, two countries with high rates of child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM). The project focuses on identifying the root causes of child marriage and facilitates innovative strategies to create alternative paths for adolescent girls. The project conducted a Community Participatory Analysis (CPA) Study1 designed to deepen understanding of the contextual factors and root causes driving the prevalence of child marriage in distinctive regions within Nepal (two districts of the Terai; 16 municipal areas) and Bangladesh (one district in wetland areas; 90 villages) in the highly marginalized communities in which Tipping Point programming would take place. The CPA informed innovative and context-specific program design for local level strategies, including who to target, and contributed to the
development of approaches for monitoring and evaluation. As a learning and innovation initiative, the project is expected to contribute to the global understanding of the complex issues driving child marriage and different strategies that can contribute to a “tipping point” of sustainable change to prevent child marriage and create viable alternative paths for adolescent girls. Read More...

EVALUATION OF LIFESAVING SHELTER, PROTECTION AND HEALTH SUPPORT FOR SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES IN UGANDA Rhino extension – Omugo, Arua District

CARE international in Uganda has been implementing a project on “Lifesaving Shelter, Protection and Health Support for South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda” between July 2017 and March 2018. The grant was awarded by the department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), International Humanitarian Assistance Division, through Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The GAC project was implemented in Rhino camp extension, Omugo, with a total project cost of 750,000 Canadian Dollars. The ultimate aim of the intervention was to save lives, reduce suffering, and maintain human dignity of refugees and the host communities in the Rhino settlement expansion site, with focus on the three thematic areas;
1) Increased access to appropriate, safe and dignified emergency temporary shelters for South Sudanese refugees, especially women, children and persons with special needs (PSNs) in Rhino Settlement Expansion Site;
2) Increased protection from GBV and sexual exploitation and abuse for refugees & host communities, particularly women and girls in Rhino Settlement Expansion Site; and
3) Increased access to critical SRMCH services for newly arrived refugee Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW) to Rhino Settlement Expansion Site.
The project was designed to reach a total of 26,400 beneficiaries, 15,840 (60%) of whom are women and girls. Persons with Special Needs (PSNs) were a core target under this intervention, as well as women and girls, including Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW). The majority of direct beneficiaries were South Sudanese refugees, with activities such as training and awareness raising also benefiting members of the host population. Read More...

Filter Evaluations