Emergency|Humanitarian Aid

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...

Regional Mekong Rapid Gender Analysis COVID-19

COVID-19 has created unprecedented health, economic, and social impacts all over the world. As of 31 August 2020, there have been 25,405,845 confirmed cases globally, and a total of 849,389 deaths. In the Mekong region, there have been 5,612 cases, with 274 in Cambodia, 22 in Lao PDR, 882 in Myanmar, 3,390 in Thailand and 1,044 in Viet Nam. In addition to health effects and deaths caused by the virus, the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 and prevention measures taken by governments are far reaching and long-lasting, especially in the context of climate change and natural disasters in the region.
For the Mekong region, COVID-19 presents special challenges for high-risk populations, including the many migrant workers, garment industry workers, indigenous and ethnic minorities, refugees, internally displaced peoples, migrants, urban slum-dwellers, and people working in the informal sector, such as female sex workers. As with all crises, women and children are disproportionately affected. COVID-19 exacerbates the challenges at-risk populations face and makes it even harder for women to access the support services they need in times of crisis.

This brief summarises the Mekong RGA, written by Athena Nguyen, Jordan Hoffmann, Laura Baines, Ratha Ra, Rebecca Elias, and Christina Haneef in September 2020. This Rapid Gender Analysis draws from 301 interviews (including 126 women), secondary data sources, and CARE’s research to understand women’s specific challenges in the Mekong region during the pandemic. Read More...

Rapid Gender Analysis Philippines: Metro Manila

The NCR Rapid Gender Assessment (NCR RGA) summarises the gendered impact of the pandemic by putting into perspective the experiences of women, men, girls, and boys from different urban poor communities in Metro Manila. It recognizes the distinct situation created by urban poverty alongside the COVID-19 crisis. The NCR RGA contributes to surfacing knowledge by providing
a space for dialogue and recognising the value of stories to understanding the COVID-19 situation.
The NCR RGA was an inter-agency initiative coordinated by CARE, with participating INGOs Oxfam Pilipinas, Plan International,
Asmae; local organizations ACCORD Inc., ChildHope, Kanlungan sa Er-ma Ministry Inc.; and individual volunteers from DFAT. Agencies served as, or recruited, locally-based interviewers with backgrounds in community organizing or social work. RGA and Kobo orientations, toolkit training and simulation, and regular debriefings were facilitated virtually by CARE to support interviewers in data collection. As this assessment was during enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were not possible. 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...

Women and Girls Safe Spaces in Rohingya Camps

As the Rohingya Response of Bangladesh nears the two-year mark, the response has evolved from immediate emergency life-saving provisions to other supports (protection, health, nutrition etc). One aspect of this crisis is that majority are women and children (52% women & girls, 55% children under 18)(Rohingya Response Gender Analysis, Lulia, Mita et al, 2018) . Thus, responses specific to needs of women and girls are of crucial importance. At the heart of this are Women and Girls’ Safe Space (WGSS) locally called shantikhana (Center of Peace). As UNFPA defines:
“A safe space is a formal or informal place where women and girls feel physically and emotionally safe. The term ‘safe,’ in the present context, refers to the absence of trauma, excessive stress, violence (or fear of violence), or abuse. It is a space where women and girls, being the intended beneficiaries, feel comfortable and enjoy the freedom to express themselves without the fear of judgment or harm.”
CARE Bangladesh conducted an inter-agency study that analyzes collective experience of organizations serving survivors of GBV and other Rohingya women visiting WGSS to understand key successes, good practice, challenges and way-forward. Read More...

Zoghra Camp Multi-Sectorial Need Assessment & FGD Report

The purpose of this report is to pinpoint the main pressing needs of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled from their communities. CARE, through its partner (Ihsan), conducted this needs assessment to capture the situation of the IDPs in two camps in Jarablus, Aleppo governorate from 21st until 23rd of August 2020, in addition to a performed 4 focused group discussions on the 24th of August through CARE team’s site visit as mentioned in the following table and highlight on their needs in terms of shelter, NFI, hygiene, and food to develop the response plan according to the available capacity which can meet the needs of IDPs with high efficiency. Read More...

Las mujeres migrantes y refugiadas venezolanas y su inserción en el mercado laboral peruano: dificultades, expectativas y potencialidades

El trabajo se centró en las regiones de Lima y Callao, La Libertad y Piura, utilizando una aproximación metodológica mixta. A nivel cuantitativo, se analizaron los resultados de la encuesta realizada por CARE Perú, acerca de los medios de vida, medios de protección y salud mental de la población migrante venezolana de Lima y Callao, Piura, La Libertad y Tumbes a inicios de 2020. Con un marco muestral de 503 casos, se obtuvo una perspectiva general sobre diferentes aspectos de la situación laboral de las mujeres migrantes venezolanas en las regiones de estudio. A nivel cualitativo, se realizaron 33 entrevistas semi-estructuradas, que permitieron ahondar en las percepciones de las mujeres venezolanas y de las y los empleadores peruanos. Dada la situación de emergencia sanitaria, a raíz del COVID-19, las entrevistas se llevaron a cabo vía telefónica.

Con respecto a la condición migratoria de esta población, los principales hallazgos son los siguientes: Alrededor del 66% de las mujeres encuestadas tienen entre uno y tres años en el país, lo que coincide con el aumento de los flujos de ingreso durante los años 2018 y 2019. Por su parte, en relación a la documentación migratoria, de las mujeres venezolanas que se encontraban en situación regular, el 56% de ellas contaban con PTP, mientras que el 35% con carné de extranjería.
Read More...

Learning from Youth in West Africa in COVID-19

In July 2020, volunteers from the West Africa CARE Youth Network decided to learn more about what young women and men are experiencing in COVID-19, and how that should shape CARE’s response and our advocacy interests. This team interviewed 128 young people between the ages of 15 and 35 in 8 countries. 86 of the young people (67%) were young women. Volunteers used Whatsapp messages, phone calls, and recorded interviews to let young people tell their own stories. With a few guiding questions, and using ONA as a platform to structure and analyze the responses, the team has been able to see regional trends and individual stories that must shape humanitarian response to COVID-19 and recovery efforts in way that include young people—especially young women, meet their needs, and value their voices and leadership.

Interviewers had a set of questions from CARE’s Rapid Gender Analysis toolkit, where they asked young people about the biggest impact COVID-19 has in their lives, their biggest need right now, how they are responding to COVID-19, and what are their hopes for the future. Listening to their answers, interviewers categorized the responses based on a pre-set list of options also from the RGA toolkit.
Read More...

Rapid Gender Analysis Myanmar, Rakhine State COVID-19

Despite the number of COVID-19 cases in Rakhine State being quite low, the impact on rural food production and the livelihoods of thousands of farm labourers, who are mostly women, is immense. The loss of food production in the State could potentially push families into further poverty and produce further malnutrition in a State of Myanmar that already has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the country. Additionally, the growth of women’s empowerment, which is strongly linked to financial contributions to the household, will decline.
Women and girls in Rakhine State face inequalities in many areas, such as in employment and payment, division of domestic labour, decision making and participation. Those are likely to further increase in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. An area of specific concern is in the education of girls and boys, from poor families, who do not have the technical infrastructure and capacity to support, especially with the continuous internet blackouts across the State. Deployed in an operational environment characterised by ongoing volatility, COVID-19 prevention, treatment and containment efforts have faced multiple difficulties. Mistrust of government officers by communities, restrictions on humanitarian access, limited health services, coupled with targeted attacks on healthcare workers and facilities have proved to be serious operational challenges. Read More...

Rapid Needs Assessment COVID-19 impacts on Urban Health in Bangladesh

Since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Bangladesh earlier this March, Bangladesh is at an economic and social standstill due to the government imposed nation-wide lockdown. Although every sector of the country is facing problems, the health sector is currently among the most affected sectors.
The Health Access and Linkage Opportunities for Workers Plus (HALOW+) is directly related to the health sector and is responsible for maintaining the overall health and safety of the people/areas under its intervention. To assess the current situation of the RMG workers of 17 factories and their respective communities under HALOW+ in this pandemic crisis, a small-scale survey study was conducted from 23rd-26th April, 2020. A total of 141 participants from both Community Support Groups (CSG), Urban Low income
people including RMG Workers, Ward Health Development Committee and GO – NGO Coordination Forum, District Managers of Public, Private and NGO health and Family Planning department, Public Health Specialist from UN bodies, INGO and Academic institutes and RMG Factory owner and senior management were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire. The study revealed that COVID-19 had a significant impact on the overall health system as a total of 322 health workers out of 516 in Gazipur are currently in home/institutional quarantine, telemedicine facilities have dropped to 80% and there’s a 50% reduction in total patient reported in Upazila Health Complexes (UHC)-reasons being absence of doctors and proper medical facilities. Read More...

Filter Evaluations

Clear all