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CARE Rapid Gender Analysis Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – Mudja, Munigi and Kanyaruchinya IDP camps in North Kivu province

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the province of North Kivu, has recently been affected by insecurity resulting from conflict between armed combatants (militia) and the government forces (FARDC). This has had a negative impact on the territories of Rutshuru, Nyiragongo and Masisi. The fighting which began in Rutshuru and Nyiragongo, spread to the eastern part of Masisi territory, depriving the rest of the adjacent area, including Goma, of a supply route. The National Road 2 connecting Goma to Rutshuru, is controlled by the combatants since the October-November 2022 offensives. By December 2022, at least 530,190 persons have been displaced since the fighting began, including at least 318,114 women and girls. More than 88% of internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in collective centres (churches, schools, stadiums) and makeshift sites (camps), while the rest are hosted by host families. More than 137,000 IDPs were forced to return to their places of origin in Rutshuru and Rwanguba health zones when fighting intensified in October 2022. Population movements remain dynamic and evolve according to the security context. To have a response that considers the different needs, capacities and coping strategies of women, girls, boys, and men affected by displacement, CARE International in DRC conducted a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) in the displacement camps of Nyiragongo Health Zone, Kanyaruchinya, Munigi and Mudja camps from December 2022 to January 2023. Focus group discussions, Individual and Key Informant Interviews were held with the affected population. Read More...

Gender Analysis in Sudan: Exploring Gender Dimensions of Humanitarian Action and Women’s Voice and Leadership in East Darfur, Gadarif, Kassala, South Darfur, and South Kordofan

CARE Sudan is working to ensure that gender dynamics in Sudan are well understood, and that gender is fully integrated into all programmes and operations. This gender analysis covers each of the sectors to which CARE Sudan responds, highlighting key similarities and differences within the five operational states in which CARE Sudan operates. In all sectors, the analysis assesses differences in barriers and opportunities for different populations, especially women and girls.
Study Findings
Livelihoods. Unlike most of the other sectors of focus in this analysis, livelihoods present the most diverse experiences of women across states, localities, and villages. Generally, however, women the Darfur states experience similar challenges and opportunities, whereas the women in the other three states each have different types of experiences based on the context and norms in these regions. Core challenges experienced by women include the lack of available job opportunities, women’s responsibility over the household which doubles their burdens, lack of ownership and
control over productive assets, and exposure to gender-based violence. These issues are driven by some harmful and unequal official and customary laws, paternalistic gender norms, insecurity and conflict, illiteracy and poor education, and limited education.
Governance and Peacebuilding. Governance systems have been in turmoil since the 2019 Revolution. Despite this period of well-documented crisis at the national level, few issues were described by study respondents at the local level. This indicates a severe separation between national and local issues on the ground. However, women are consistently excluded in all governance and peacebuilding spaces across all states. The most common issues raised included hierarchical traditional mechanisms and powerholders, domination of men over decision-making, deliberate exclusionary practices, and the artificial fulfilment of women’s quota. These issues persist due to women’s illiteracy and poor education, social norms and traditional practices, harmful beliefs about women, low access to information for women, withdrawal of civil society, heavily centralized governance systems, and gaps in gender equality laws.
Gender-Based Violence. The types of GBV identified in Sudan include domestic / family violence (e.g., hard beating, psychological abuse), community social violence (e.g., exclusion, humiliation), harmful traditions and customs (e.g., early marriage, FGM/C), and violence during war (e.g., rape, killing). Women experience several challenges related to GBV – beyond the act of violence itself – such as stigmatization of reporting and the normalization of domestic violence. GBV is so prevalent due to unequal laws the enable it, patriarchal gender norms, economic hardship, insecurity and conflict, and the absence of law enforcement. It is driven internally by the family by the deep need
to protect family honor.
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). Issues around water are well-understood and agreed upon by community members, with little differences in opinions be gender. The core issues relate to water include unreliable water accessibility, unequal responsibilities for water fetching and management that fall almost exclusively to women and girls and cause harmful health impacts, and the contamination of water sources. Similarly, related to sanitation, there is inadequate availability of latrines and poor cleanliness and waste accumulation in available latrines. Women specifically face the core hygiene issue of unavailability of dignity kits and no soap for washing. Such issues are primarily caused by poor governance and insufficient budgets alongside decentralized and male dominated water decision-making that does not account for women’s needs and discriminatory social norms and practices.
Health. The main health challenges identified in the states related to pregnancy and reproductive health, with little attention given to infectious or chronic diseases. Core to all health issues is the deficit of available and/or adequate reproductive and general health care centres. Health care may be the only sector in which men and women feel there is more equitable treatment between the genders; in fact, pregnant women tend to get preferential treatment in health centers when they are seen. However, significant issues remain for women including a lack of trained (female) medical staff and unaffordable medications and services. Like other sectors, poor governance and insufficient budget are primary drivers of weak health systems despite the INGO community playing a major role in building and delivering care at health centers. A significant emerging issue in the sector is the increasing mental health needs for women, particularly refugees.
Food Security and Nutrition. Families in all states report insufficient food availability driven by the rapidly collapsing economic situation and price hikes due to inflation. Food scarcity challenges are compounded by the deterioration of the agricultural season as a result of climate change in as most families are constrained to eat just what they can grow or procure very easily and cheaply locally. Even when food is available, it is very limited in variety causing low nutritional intake.
Women experience malnutrition because social norms dictate that they eat last and least even though overcoming food shortages is primarily the burden of women. Read More...

ON THE FRONTLINE: Lessons on health worker empowerment through the COVID-19 pandemic response

Around the world,frontline and community health workers serve to connecthealth services, commodities, and informationwiththose who need them. Equippedwith the relevant skills and community trust, theycanstrengthen health systems by bridginggeographic and financial accessibility gaps for rural, hard-to-reach, and vulnerable populations through last-mile health delivery. When integrated into national and local healthcare systems, community health workers can additionally help patients navigate complex systems of care and ensure care continuity across services. Historically during times of health crises, global governments and organizations have often relied on community health workforces as frontline responders to deliver life-saving care to disproportionate l y affected populations. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic was no exception, with many countries mobilizing their existing community health worker programs or initiating new ones to assist with pandemic response . Leveraging lessons learned through its decades long support and implementation of frontline and community health worker initiatives across 60 countries, CARE developed guidelines for community-level pandemic response and disease prevention during this time. In June 2020, CARE partnered with Abbott to launch a one-year in-depth primary care response to the COVID-19 pandemic Read More...

Impacto del cambio climático en la Inseguridad Alimentaria Áreas afectadas por ETA, IOTA y Julia

La depresión tropical Julia impactó en Guatemala, entre el 7 y 10 de octubre de 2022. Los estragos causados por esta tormenta se logran entender en el marco de un año con lluvias estacionales intensas, que mantenían al país con un alto porcentaje de humedad en los suelos. Los departamentos más afectados fueron: Izabal, Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango, Quiché, Petén, Zacapa, Chiquimula y Suchitepéquez. Estos departamentos, coinciden con la mayoría de los que fueron afectados por Eta e Iota en el año 2020, por lo cual, el impacto de Julia fue enorme. A esto se sumaban los efectos de la pandemia por COVID-19, que aún presenta rebrotes con bajas tasas de vacunación de la población. Este contexto humanitario complejo y multifactorial, que se tenía al momento del ingreso de la depresión tropical Julia, explica en gran parte, la difícil situación enfrentada por la población afectada.
En octubre de 2022, en el Informe, CONRED reportó que las lluvias asociadas a depresión tropical Julia provocaron 1995 incidentes, con deslizamientos de tierra, derrumbes, hundimientos, inundaciones, entre otros. Fueron afectadas 1,358,158 personas, se evacuaron 58,634 y 19,372 fueron damnificadas, de las cuales 10,319 fueron llevadas a albergues. El perfil de las familias más afectadas muestra que el mayor impacto lo tuvieron hogares rurales y pertenecientes a los pueblos indígenas Q’eqchi’, K’iche’, Mam, Kaqchikel, Garífuna y Chorti´, y con ingresos menores a 3 mil quetzales, que se dedican principalmente a la agricultura de subsistencia, servicios, ventas y trabajos informales. La Evaluación de Daños y Análisis de Necesidades –EDAN-, desarrollada por CONRED, reportó que las viviendas afectadas fueron 2,303 en riesgo, 2,946, con daño leve, 15,430 con daño moderado y 996 con daño severo. Las infraestructuras públicas dañadas fueron 450 carreteras afectadas, 7 carreteras destruidas; 199 escuelas afectadas; 124 puentes dañados, 14 puentes destruidos, 14 puentes hamaca dañados y 1 destruido. (Gobierno de Guatemala, 2022)1
La depresión tropical Julia, ha impactado directamente en la calidad de vida de las personas afectadas, dejando pérdidas que profundizan su pobreza y precariedad:
• El 62% de las familias entrevistadas, ya habían sido afectadas por Eta e Iota en 2020. Es decir que son poblaciones con una situación constante de amenaza y precarización por la pérdida continua de sus medios de vida. Las pérdidas principales fueron debido a inundaciones, deslaves y derrumbes; afectando tierras, siembras, cosechas, semillas, árboles y animales de patio, y en menor medida, ganado, equipo y
herramientas y vehículos.
• De las 107 personas entrevistadas, un 35% tuvo daños en su vivienda. De estas, solo tres familias han recibido apoyo para reparar daños o reconstruir su vivienda. Muchas de estas familias ya habían tenido daños con las tormentas Eta e Iota en 2020.
• En el acceso al agua, el 4% de las familias tuvo daños severos en sus sistemas de agua y 5% perdieron el acceso al agua, debido a la destrucción de tuberías, pozos y contaminación de fuentes de agua.
• En lo relacionado con el acceso a servicios de salud, las comunidades que no tienen puesto de salud no tuvieron acceso a atención con personal de salud o a medicamentos durante la emergencia. Al igual que en otros RGA realizados anteriormente, se constata que el sistema de salud tiene limitadas capacidades para atender a la población, así como, para responder a emergencias y atender a la población afectada.
• El RGA reporta que las personas entrevistadas, en su mayoría, tienen ingresos inferiores al salario mínimo y al precio de la Canasta Básica Ampliada – CBA-. El 62% de las familias tienen ingresos menores a tres mil quetzales, y de estos, el 31% son inferiores a 1,500 quetzales. Estos ingresos no les permite generar condiciones para enfrentar este tipo de emergencias.
• En su mayoría, las familias dependen de los pocos medios de vida que poseen, y que se vieron afectados por las lluvias, inundaciones y deslaves. Read More...

IMAGINE Baseline Analysis Report

CARE has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to implement IMAGINE, a project that examines how to support married adolescent girls and their families. The project aims at helping young women in Niger and Bangladesh to delay their first birth and to envision, value, and pursue alternative life trajectories. IMAGINE’s goal is two-fold: to identify, design, and test interventions that hold promise for delaying the timing of first birth among married adolescents and to document and share learning from this initiative with the wider development community to inform others working to address the issue of adolescent childbearing. IMAGINE is multifaceted, with components that enable married adolescent girls to delay first birth and to afford greater choice in pursuing an alternative life course. Read More...

Rapid Gender Analysis Policy Brief: Sudan Conflict Response, May 2023

On April 15, 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into heavy clashes in Khartoum. The armed fighting is concentrated in urban centres, mostly affecting Khartoum and areas along the east-west corridor of Kassala to West Darfur.1 Violence continues to escalate despite the ceasefire that was announced on April 24, 2023. According to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), between April 15 and 27, 589 people have been killed and 4,599 have been injured due to the violence.
As of 6 May, 334,000 civilians are estimated have been displaced internally (a majority of whom are women and children), fleeing to safer areas within Sudan while 120,0000 have left Sudan with the majority seeking refuge in
Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and South Sudan. Vulnerable populations such as female-headed households, persons with disabilities, urban poor, pregnant and lactating
women, children, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) before this conflict are at a heightened risk.
Frontline organizations have begun providing initial reports that residential buildings, water, and energy infrastructure are damaged, some banks have closed while communications and internet connectivity have also been breached. Basic services are down, and civilians risk their lives to travel to more secure areas. Families are prioritising women and children for evacuations to safer places, leading to family separations, and exposing them
to higher risks of gender-based violence and trafficking en -route to safety. For persons with physical disability, this is particularly difficult is possible as there is limited support to help their mobility. Public and private
facilities have been looted including health centres and aid organizations as the situation gets dire. Read More...

Building Resilience of the Urban Poor Baseline Report

CARE Bangladesh, with the support from C&A Foundation, has been implementing a project titled ‘Building Resilience of the Urban Poor (BRUP)’ through CARE’s partner organization- Village Education Resource Center (VERC) in two wards (Tongi and Konabari) of Gazipur City Corporation. The overall goal of the project is to achieve enhanced resilience of targeted urban communities and targeted institutions to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from shocks and stresses. NIRAPAD (Network for Information, Response And Preparedness Activities on Disaster) has been commissioned to conduct the baseline study and to develop a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework for the project. This report describes the current situation of the project area in Gazipur as well as presents a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework based on the finding of the study. Read More...

Building Resilience of the Urban Poor (BRUP)

Building Resilience of the Urban Poor (BRUP) of CARE, funded by C&A Foundation, is an integrated initiative that builds the resilience of targeted community to more effectively cope with seasonal and unanticipated disaster. The ultimate goal of the project enhanced resilience of six targeted urban communities and three targeted institutions, reaching a total of 8,000 individuals (directly and indirectly) who can prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from shocks and stresses. [77 pages] Read More...

IGNITE Project Mid-Term Lean Impact Report

CARE’s Women’s Entrepreneurship programming aims to reduce barriers that women entrepreneurs face by offering a combination of services – both financial and non-financial – that are essential to creating sustainable growth and empowerment for women entrepreneurs. CARE partnered with 60 Decibels and Mission Measurement - who represented Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth – to perform a specialized lean impact study across Vietnam, Pakistan, and Peru to measure core business themes and capture the impact of the CARE Women’s Entrepreneurship program. Read More...

Vietnam: Female profile, impact, and experience – IGNITE program

Care International Vietnam outperforms 60 Decibels Benchmarks on female inclusivity and client satisfaction. There may be an opportunity to target more first-time loan clients with unique loan offerings. Read More...

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