Emergency|Humanitarian Aid

Integrating Local Knowledge in Humanitarian and Development Programming: Perspectives of Global Women Leaders

This report examines local knowledge integration in the context of global development and humanitarian aid work. It builds upon a recently published report by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) called "Integrating Local Knowledge in Development Programming". That report sought to “share knowledge of how development donors and implementing organizations leverage local knowledge to inform programming.”2 This study aims to extend the original methods to better understand grassroots actors’ own interpretations of local knowledge and its integration into programming in their communities. It examines the perspectives of 29 grassroots leaders from women-led organizations around the world, looking deeply at the ways in which they conceptualize local knowledge and local knowledge stakeholders, their approaches to designing their own projects based on local knowledge, and their experiences sharing knowledge with international actors and donors. This builds the broader evidence base on integrating local knowledge to incorporate the perspectives of grassroots actors into the same conversation as the original study.
Key takeaways from this research span two broad categories – how local leaders conceptualize local knowledge and what the effective use of local knowledge in practice looks like to them. Within these categories, interviewees explored the many challenges they face in identifying and sharing knowledge; their various approaches to designing projects based on local knowledge; some of the tensions they often find themselves balancing; unique ways of measuring the contribution of such knowledge to the success of an intervention; and experiences with and strategies for sharing their knowledge with non-local actors.
In terms of how women leaders tend to conceptualize local knowledge, the research reveals three distinct but interconnected definitions of the term: 1) knowing what a community is like; 2) knowing what a community needs and where the solutions lie; and 3) having a profound connection with the community. The first definition indicates knowing a community well enough to understand the dynamics within it. The second goes a bit further to say that local knowledge means knowing both the specific needs present in a community as well as the relevant solutions for addressing them. As one respondent told us, “Contextual expertise is having experience in a certain context and being able to solve problems based on it.” And the third conceptualization indicates having a deeply rooted connection with the community or the grassroots. Some described this as “having your heart” in the community. Key to this third definition appears to be both consistency and the ability to perceive change over time. Interviewees said that local knowledge depends on people having gone through different “contexts, histories, processes, and experiences” together, and having learned from them collectively. Therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, for international actors to acquire the same level of investment in communities that is quasi-synonymous with local knowledge unless they have lived, worked, and built relationships within them long enough to meet this consistency standard. Instead, this level of knowledge of a community and its context is fairly unique to local actors. 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...

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...

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...

RECOVERY, REINTEGRATION & RESILIENCE (R3) CONSORTIUM AFGHANISTAN

The R3 consortium in Afghanistan was born in October 2020 and designed to run until March 2024. Its objective was to address the needs of the population in a context of significant displacement and chronic fragility, bridging the gap between short-term humanitarian response in the early months of displacement, and longer-term sustainability and development. The three dimensions of resilience are thus deliberately included in the title of the Consortium itself: Recovery (absorptive); Resilience (adaptive) and Reintegration (transformative). R3 programming was implemented by a consortium of NGOs led by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) with the participation of Action Against Hunger (AAH), CARE, and World Vision International (WV). Across eight provinces in western and southern Afghanistan, programming spanned a range of sectors in line with the consortium’s planned holistic approach: Water, Sanitation & health (WASH), Healthcare, Food Security & Livelihoods (FSL); Shelter, Legal Assistance, Psychosocial Support, Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Read More...

RAPID GENDER ANALYS ON POWER AND PARTICIPATION Wau, CARE South Sudan

South Sudan has experienced cycles of conflict since before its independence in 2011. Since the start of the civil war, the country has faced displacement, violence, and high rates of sexual and gender-based violence. Despite the 2018 peace deal, South Sudan continues to face intermittent violence, political instability, climate shocks, and floods. The humanitarian situation is critical, with millions of people in need.

This Rapid Gender Analysis on Power and Participation is part of the Women Lead in Emergencies project in Wau, Wau County, Western Bahr el-Ghazal State. This project is funded by Global Affairs Canada. It aims to support crisis-affected women to participate more and in more meaningful ways in community and public life and in humanitarian response in South Sudan.

This is the first Rapid Gender Analysis on Power and Participation (RGA-P) conducted in Wau. It has three main objectives: (1) analysis of crisis-affected women’s access to, and influence within, decision-making of different kinds; (2) provide practical programming and operational recommendations to support crisis-affected women to participate more in decision-making, and in more meaningful ways; and (3) identify gaps for further assessment and analysis to build a more comprehensive understanding of women’s participation and leadership in Wau over time.

The RGA-P is composed of primary qualitative data collection and a secondary data review. Primary data collection took place between Dec 2nd and Dec 6th, 2022, in four locations across Wau. It included 20 focus group discussions, 14 key informant interviews, and 4 community mappings. A total of 249 people participated, including 133 women and 116 men. This data was supplemented a validation workshop with several women’s associations and leaders.
Read More...

Foster good health and economic resilience (in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond): Integrated Programme to Reduce the Medium-term effects of COVID-19 (IPIC) in Sudan

This is the final evaluation for the Kassala state-implemented "Foster Good Health and Economic Resilience (in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond): Integrated Programme to Reduce the Medium-Term Effects of COVID-19 (IPIC)". The evaluation's goal is to assess the project's impact on the targeted beneficiaries and to assess the project's level of achievement, as well as to provide project stakeholders with information about the project's performance in relation to its stated objectives, from January 2020 to December 2022.
Relevance: The project was found to be relevant and responding to the real needs of the targeted communities. The selected communities are among the most vulnerable people in the state, with the majority of them living below the poverty line. According to the baseline survey conducted in October 2020, most of the targeted beneficiaries (53%) have incomes ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 SDG’s per month, which is equivalent to 22 to 44 USD.
Efficiency: The project was carried out with good and acceptable efficiency; the project completed 100% of its planned activities with a high level of participation from the targeted communities and important institutions, particularly the state ministry of health.
Effectiveness: The project was determined to be very effective and resulted in many changes among the targeted persons, as well as a substantial contraption for preventing COVID-19 and reducing its harmful influence on the targeted people, as evidenced by the fact that:
During the project's implementation period, a total of 47,268 people received COVID-19 knowledge and capacity building. This includes all people in the targeted areas, with the possibility of duplicate counting because some people received the awareness more than once. These capacity building and awareness programs were carried out through the execution of awareness campaigns, and the trained community outreached played important roles in disseminating information to their community members. The community outreached were carefully selected with gender (50% women) in mind, and they were trained and provided with the necessary COVID-19 prevention items.
The evaluation witnessed high level of impact and effectiveness in health sector, this ensured by the feedback of all consulted people by direct interviews, FGDs and KII interviews, in addition to the observation of the evaluation team. Different sorts of support offered to the three health facilities enhanced access to health care for 3015 HH (21,105 people), this representing all HH in the three villages.
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Multi-sectoral and integrated humanitarian assistance for the conflict displaced and most vulnerable populations Sudan

This baseline survey was conducted for the USAID/BHA funded project “Multi-sectoral and integrated humanitarian assistance for the conflict displaced and most vulnerable populations in South and East Darfur” implemented by CARE International in Sudan. The baseline was designed to collect data in selected communities in southern and eastern Darfur State to assess the situation before the start of the project and determine baseline values for project indicators. The baseline used multiple methods for data collection, including desk review of project documents, individual interviews with household leaders using a structured questionnaire, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with representatives of different groups in the communities, Key Informant Interviews (KII) with the respective institutions.

When asked how much water they collect per day for all uses, it was discovered that households collect a mean of 5.6 Jeri Can per day (1 Jerrican=20 liters) which gives 17 litters/day/person from all sources including unsafe ones, keeping in mind that this water is collected from all sources including unsafe ones and for all types of uses.

Access to latrine: From the total surveyed families, 39% do not have access to latrines (48.3% M, 31.9% F). Lack of access to latrines is common in SD, with the majority of HH (55.9%) without access compared to ED (21.4%). And from the total families;23.3% of the HH surveyed acknowledged that their family members usually practice open defecation (26.4%M, 20.8%F), 23.5% use community latrines, and 3.8% share latrines with their neighbors. 51.8% of those who have latrines are inaccessible to people with disabilities (61.5%M, 44.2%F).
Read More...

Mujeres Líderes en Emergencias Análisis Rápido de Género y Poder Pamplona, Norte de Santander, Colombia

Este informe de Análisis Rápido de Género (ARG)sobre el Poder examina el liderazgo de las mujeres en la respuesta humanitaria de Venezuela en Pamplona, Colombia. La crisis venezolana ha afectado a los ciudadanos venezolanos y colombianos, siendo las mujeres y las comunidades marginadas las más afectadas. Mediante entrevistas e investigación documental, se puso de manifiesto que las mujeres no participan adecuadamente en los espacios formales e informales en los que pueden influir en las decisiones que se adoptan en relación con el plan de respuesta humanitaria dirigido por el Gobierno de Colombia y los organismos de ayuda humanitaria. Las normas sociales patriarcales son una gran barrera, ya que se espera que las mujeres se queden en casa debido al control que ejercen los hombres sobre sus movimientos y la opinión de que las mujeres deben cuidar a los niños, el hogar y cocinar los alimentos, limita el tiempo de que disponen las mujeres para participar. La necesidad de encontrar una forma de ingresos también limita el tiempo de que disponen las mujeres para participar en los espacios de acción colectiva. La falta de conocimiento y conciencia sobre los derechos que tienen como mujeres y como migrantes, y sobre los spacios existentes en los que pueden participar es una barrera adicional. Para muchas mujeres migrantes, la situación irregular en Colombia hace que permanezcan en la sombra y no busquen ayuda ni participen en espacios de toma de decisiones por temor a la deportación. La discriminación sexual, calla las voces de los miembros de la comunidad LGBTIQ+, lo que da lugar a una respuesta humanitaria que no aborda adecuadamente sus necesidades.
Si bien hay barreras que enfrentan las mujeres colombianas y venezolanas afectadas por la crisis, existen oportunidades para aumentar su participación, por ejemplo, por parte de organizaciones femeninas y feministas ya existentes en la región, las organizaciones comunitarias informales de migrantes, y la participación en las mesas del GIFMM como método para que las mujeres actúen conjuntamente para exigir atención y recursos para sus prioridades y directamente afectadas por la crisis. Read More...

CARE Rapid Gender Analysis on Power INCREASE: Northern Samar, Philippines

Vulnerable groups – particularly women – suffer most from natural and man-made hazards. Now more than ever, there is a need to account for their needs and interests in public decision-making spaces to ensure that community-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) mechanisms and governance structures are effective, inclusive, and are sustainably adopted. Providing women with the opportunity and ability to actively participate in DRR planning and solutions not only amplifies their voice in decisions that affect their lives, but also harnesses their potential in leading community DRR work.
Aimed at increasing the resilience of small-scale farmers, fisher folk – with focus given to female headed-households and women collectives in its partner communities, Project INCREASE sought to augment its
women engagement activities and advocacy work through (1) piloting the Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE)
action research model in its activities, and (2) drawing insights from the Rapid Gender Analysis on Power (RGA-POW) conducted in nine crisis-affected barangays in Mapanas, and Palapag, Northern Samar, Philippines covered by the project.
This RGA-POW provides information about the different needs, capacities and aspirations of women – with a focus on the structural and relational barriers to, and opportunities for women’s leadership and public participation during and after emergencies, as well as relevant information on the local context from previous studies (e.g. post-distribution monitoring reports, rapid gender analyses, etc.).
Apart from demonstrating that women do have power and exercise this with other women, the report also outlines underlying reasons for limited public voice and decision-making for different groups of women, and identifies potential resistors and risks, as well as present opportunities and actions that can address observed barriers. Thus, providing promising directions for WLiE in INCREASE. Read More...

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