Emergency|Humanitarian Aid

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among People in Kailali, Nepal

COVID-19 has caused massive disruption and destruction worldwide, with millions of deaths since 2019. Vaccination plays a vital role in ending COVID-19. The objective of the study was to assess
the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine and its determinants among the general population aged 18 years and above. A total of 506 participants were interviewed in the study. A quantitative questionnaire covered socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent's knowledge related to the vaccine, misconceptions related to the vaccine, perceived reliable sources, and acceptability of the vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate was 76% in the study area. The vaccine acceptance rate was slightly lower among female participants (74%) in comparison to their male counterparts (78%). The Bivariate analysis showed a significant association of acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine with the municipality, caste/ethnicity, and family type. Similarly, in the multivariate analysis, religion, caste/ethnicity, and disability statuses were found to be significantly associated with vaccine acceptance. Concluding that the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be curbed if people do not accept the vaccine. The findings of the study showed that a considerable proportion of the respondents did not accept the vaccine due to fear of the side effects and doubt about vaccine efficacy. Therefore there is a need to increase advocacy and awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine to increase people's trust in it. Read More...

Localization in Practice: Realities from Women’s Rights and Women-Led Organizations in Poland

During the invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, violence against women and girls, especially intimate partner violence and sexual violence, increased rapidly. Since February 2022, the situation has deteriorated to alarming new levels. Exacerbated and pervasive violence against Ukrainian women and girls is a consequence of war, with women and girls continuing to be abused, exploited, and raped in Ukraine and while they flee to other countries. An increasing number of survivors are coming forward, buttressed by additional reports from women’s rights activists, service providers, humanitarian organizations, and UN agencies. As conflict in Ukraine pushes millions of women to seek refuge abroad, those leaving remain highly vulnerable to risks like trafficking, or may face sexual exploitation and abuse when seeking access to accommodation, transportation, or financial resources.

Women’s organizations in Poland, particularly those providing services to survivors of violence and working on women’s rights, are reporting more and more requests for assistance from sexual violence survivors inside Ukraine. Polish civil society has demonstrated their commitment and fitness to respond to the growing humanitarian needs, but the international community must step up with financial and technical support to ensure that a sustainable, localized approach can continue. 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...

Ukraine Rapid Gender Analysis (Primary Data) May 2022

"It is no longer very scary whether a rocket will arrive or not from the sea, but it is scary that we will die of starvation.”
The lives of people across Ukraine have been profoundly impacted by the humanitarian crisis brought on by the invasion on 24 February 2022. As of 29 April, 5.5 million refugees have already fled Ukraine,1 and the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) has reached 7.7 million. Of those who have fled the country, it is estimated that 90 per cent are women and children, while most men aged 18–60 are required to stay behind under martial law. Based on current data from the International Organization for Migration, 60 per cent of the adult internally displaced population are female, while 40 per cent are male. As the crisis quickly evolves, so do the needs and priorities of women and men across Ukraine.
This Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA), carried out by UN Women and CARE International, seeks to draw attention to the gender dynamics in the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine. The RGA also proposes recommendations for humanitarian leadership, actors and donors to ensure consideration of the gendered dimensions of risk, vulnerability and capabilities in response to this crisis.
The RGA is a progressive publication based on both primary and secondary data sources that compares pre-crisis data with up-to-date information as the situation evolves. This RGA builds upon the RGA Ukraine Brief (http://www.careevaluations.org/evaluation/rapid-gender-analysis-ukraine/) developed by CARE International during the first week of the war and on the UN Women and CARE RGA published 29 March6 based on an analysis of secondary data. For this report, the RGA team reviewed English, Ukrainian and Russian sources and interviewed 179
women and men from local communities across Ukraine, as well as representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs), UN agencies and government bodies. Particular effort was made to ensure that the voices of women and men in vulnerable situations and from different marginalized groups were included. Read More...

Improved WASH Services to the Myanmar Refugees Population in camps 15 (Jamtoli) and 16 (Potibonia), Ukhiya Upazila, Cox’s Bazar

Applying both quantitative and qualitative tools and approaches, the end-line assessment was conducted in February 2022. It covers 415 respondents' households from camps 15 and 16—data collection done with tablets in KoBo. The samples were drawn systematically. First, the sample size was determined following the most common statistical formula. The objectives of the study are as follows: 1) To know the present situation context on WASH; 2) To identify the targeted respondent's current Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP).

The study findings reveal the following:
Water
- The most commonly reported primary sources for drinking water were Piped water tap/Tap Stand, reported by 66% of households.
- In terms of water collection, male engagement has been increased. Overall, 86% of households reported women, followed by adult males (55%) and Children (6%). However, the male also helps them when they cook and cloth wash.
- Overall, only 2% of households reported a combined travel and waiting time of more than 30 Water containers.
- Females preferred to get 'Kolsi' (a pitcher) instead of Bucket or Jerrycan for carrying water. On the other hand, male and adolescent children preferred Jerrycan for carrying the water.
- 76% of respondents feel safe collecting enough water to meet their households' needs, such as drinking, cooking, laundry, bathing etc. However, women also reported that they feel unsafe because men go to water points to collect water.
- A significant proportion of households (88%) do not treat drinking water. Because they believe the drinking water source is safe—12% of households use the aqua tab to treat their water.
Sanitation
- The most-reported defecation (sanitation options) for household members five and above was communal latrines 86%, followed by shared latrines 14%, and single-household latrines 7%. Others places (2 %), bucket and open defecation was seldom reported 1%.
- The accessible latrine is one of the beauties of this project. This latrine is included: The railing on the way, The handle inside, The tap, The commode, The single-use.
- The community also thinks that these latrines will be equally helpful for elderlies.
- A significant 79% responded to the affirmative of privacy of latrine use. A significant number of
- 18% of the households' female members use the designated bathing facilities. However, this figure is low because of privacy concerns.
Hygiene
- All (100%) respondents mentioned that they cleaned every time they filled with fresh/clean water. While at the time of hurriedness, that type of cleaning activity has disrupted.
- 100% of households owned soap at the time of the interview. The study further explored other hand washing options/solutions households use when they do not have soap; because of CoVID-19, all respondents, even children, are aware of handwashing. They can recall the critical time of handwashing.
- Regarding the best way to receive health and hygiene messages, 45% stated Home visits by volunteers, and 2nd choice is by the local leaders. However, the study findings also revealed that only 7% of households said they do not know how to prevent diarrhea.
- 69% of females used reusable clothes, 16% used disposable pads. The reusable cloth is the most preferred for use during the menses.
- Most female respondents said they wash and reuse the MHM materials and dispose of way is Household/Trash bin, Throw in the open waste area/communal bins, In the latrine, Bury in the soil, and, Burn them
RECOMMENDATION
- Consideration of men, women and girls carrying water and provide water container that these particular groups prefer;
- The child-to-chid session needs to discuss the importance of Gender Marker because children remove the gender markers frequently, which causes a problem for the women;
- Need to keep attention to the elderly person in terms of WASH facilities along with Persons with Disabilities;
- Video documentaries for hygiene promotion may be more effective together; in this connection, CARE can collaborate with "shongjog" which is the open platform of CwC in Rohingya Camp. Read More...

At the last mile: Lessons from Vaccine Distributions in DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world, with just 0.87% of people in DRC having received even one dose. While the country has received 8.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, it has managed to administer 528,000 of them—just under 11% of vaccines available. In April of 2021, DRC became one of the first countries to return 1.3 million COVID-19 doses to COVAX because they could not deliver them to people before the vaccines expired.

The challenges that risked more than a million doses expiring are still in play for most of the country. In both January and February 2022, 114,705 vaccines expired in country because there was not enough investment in systems and health workers to deliver vaccines. To reach 70% of the population—62.7 million people—DRC will need to drastically scale up and accelerate COVID-19 vaccination.

CARE is working with 4 vaccination sites—2 in Butembo and 2 in Goma—to support with community mobilization in partnership with local leaders, health center operations, and training. With joint action and communication plans developed with chiefs, religious leaders, and local authorities, and additional equipment to protect health workers, those sites had vaccinated 1,132 people. In those 4 sites, we have also conducted several rounds of research and problem-solving using community dialogues between health workers and clients using the Community Scorecard, as well as the Social Analysis and Action tools, which provides the insights for this case study. The team has also supported local vaccination teams with IT infrastructure, personnel costs, and creating locally adapted COVID-19 communications plans.

Version Francaise
La République démocratique du Congo (RDC) possède un des taux de vaccination les plus bas dans le monde avec la lutte contre COVID-19. Seulement 0,87% des personnes en RDC ont reçu même une seule dose du vaccin. Alors que le pays a reçu 8,2 millions de doses de vaccin contre la COVID-19, il n’a réussi qu’à en administrer 881,204, soit un peu moins de 11% des vaccins disponibles administrés. En avril 2021, la RDC est devenue l’un des premiers pays à restituer 1,3 million de doses de COVID-19 à COVAX parce qu’elle ne pouvait pas les administrer aux personnes avant l’expiration des vaccins.

Les défis qui risquaient d’expirer plus d’un million de doses sont toujours en jeu pour la majeure partie du pays. En janvier et février, 114,705 doses ont expiré dans le pays parce qu’il n’y avait pas assez d’investissements dans les systèmes et les agents de santé pour livrer des vaccins. Pour atteindre 70 % de la population, soit 62,7 millions de personnes, la RDC devra considérablement intensifier et accélérer la vaccination contre la COVID-19.

CARE travaille avec 4 sites de vaccination – 2 à Butembo et 2 à Goma – pour soutenir la mobilisation communautaire en partenariat avec les leaders et structures locaux, les opérations des centres de santé et la formation. Ces sites avaient vacciné 1 132 personnes. Dans ces 4 sites, nous avons également mené plusieurs séries de recherches et de résolution de problèmes à travers des dialogues communautaires entre les prestataires des services et les clients avec la Carte Communautaire et l’analyse et l’action sociale, à l’aide de la carte de pointage communautaire, qui fournit les informations nécessaires à cette étude de cas. On a aussi appuyé les missions de supervisions avec l’infrastructure pour la connexion internet, la motivation des prestataires, et l’élaboration des plans de communication adaptes aux contextes.
Read More...

Tackling Vaccine Hesistancy and Expanding Vaccine Access in Tanzania with Community Health Workers in the Lead

Since September 2021, CARE Tanzania has worked as a partner to the Government of Tanzania to improve vaccine access across the country. CARE’s logistical support has helped the government to cover large, underserved geographical areas. To increase vaccine uptake, CARE staff has also engaged local Community Health Workers (CHWs) to address vaccination misconceptions and developed improved health communication and data management tools. An initial training took place in November 2021 and trained 217 CHWs in the Tabora region. With these new resources, these health workers on the front lines have put in place two new strategies. First, COVID-19 vaccination is now integrated with other basic health services at local facilities. CARE supported COVID-19 vaccine distribution in 268 health facilities in Tabora Region. These facilities distributed 20,287 COVID vaccines in areas supported by CARE. Second, the CHWs are now conducting targeted outreach informed by local concerns to address vaccine hesitancy in women and children. Now, not only are vaccinations being provided, CHWs have confirmed that women have increased their acceptance of vaccination shots. Read More...

Recipe for Response: What We Know About the Next Global Food Crisis, and How to Fight it

The genesis of the present hunger crisis goes back farther than February 2022 and is due to a combination of global and localized factors. Globally, climate change has compromised agricultural livelihoods and led to displacement, especially in regions like the Horn of Africa and Central America’s Dry Corridor, where famers struggle to produce yields that meet the needs of local markets. The global economic fallouts associated with COVID-19, and inadequate social safety nets, have led to record unemployment and growing poverty—especially for women and women-led households (UN Women 2021)—so that even where food is available, high prices put basic items out of reach for many. Armed conflict is also driving food insecurity, for example by making it difficult for farmers to cultivate their lands, or damaging or disrupting vital agricultural infrastructure—such as transportation, storage and distribution sites—and reducing access to markets and assistance.
Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity and related shocks. Gender norms and roles mean that women are often responsible for their households’ food security, including shopping for and preparing food, yet they might also be the ones to eat “last and least” in their household. Women are also more likely to be excluded from decision-making when it comes
to addressing hunger in their communities (CARE 2020). These types of gendered imbalances hurt entire communities: in a 2021 assessment in Sudan, CARE found that 82% of people living in female-headed households reported recently skipping a meal, compared with 56% of people living in male-headed households. Read More...

COOPERER III Relèvement et renforcement Financier des populations vulnérables affectées par la COVID 19 RAPPORT DE L’ÉTUDE DE BASE

CARE International au Cameroun a obtenu à travers CARE France un soutien financier du Centre de Crise et de Soutien (CDCS) du Ministère français de l'Europe et des Affaires Etrangères, pour implémenter le projet : « Relèvement et renforcement Financier des populations vulnérables affectées par la Covid-19 », en abrégé « COOPERER III » ou encore « ResCOV-19 », sur le corridor Kaélé-Touloum-Yagoua dans la région de l’Extrême-Nord du Cameroun, sur la période du 1er Avril 2021 au 31 Mars 2022. S’inscrivant dans la continuité de ses actions entrepris à travers les projets COOPERER I et COOPERER II dans ces localités (Kaélé, Touloum et Yagoua), CARE se propose de poursuivre le soutien de la résilience économique et de protéger les moyens de subsistance des femmes et des jeunes touchés directement ou indirectement par la Covid-19, en valorisant les acquis des précédents projets.
L’action de CARE Cameroun dans ces Communes est de : « Contribuer à l’accès aux services sociaux de base en matière d’accès à l’eau et aux opportunités économiques des femmes et des jeunes touchés par la pandémie de la COVID-19 dans la Région de l’Extrême-Nord du Cameroun, Axe Kaélé-Touloum-Yagoua ». De manière spécifique il sera question de : (1) Renforcer et sensibiliser le personnel des communes et les communautés sur la protection Covid et la gouvernance autour des infrastructures sociales de base (point d’eau, hygiène), dans les communes de Kaélé, Touloum et de Yagoua, (2) Améliorer l’accès des femmes et les jeunes dans les zones Kaélé, Touloum et Yagoua, aux opportunités économiques via une approche de sensibilisation et développement économique.
Les principales recommandations issues de cette étude vont dans le sens de :
▪ Poursuivre la sensibilisation des CGPE sur l’importance de leur adhésion à la micro-assurance ;
▪ Organiser un recyclage/formation des membres des CGPE et de la micro-assurance sur leurs rôles et responsabilités ;
▪ Accompagner les bureaux de micro-assurance à l’élaboration des statuts et règlements intérieurs (pour celles qui n’en disposent pas) ;
▪ Définir clairement les responsabilités des communes vis-à-vis de la micro-assurances des forages ;
▪ Faire un plaidoyer auprès de l’exécutif municipal pour qu’ils apportent un appui au fonctionnement de la micro-assurance notamment en ce qui concerne l’acquisition d’un bureau ;
▪ Renforcer la dynamique associative à travers la redynamisation/création des réseaux d’AVEC fortes et interconnectées ;
▪ Poursuivre le processus d’autonomisation des femmes via le renforcement des capacités en matière de leadership, d’entrepreneuriat y compris le pouvoir de négociation. Read More...

Post Distribution Monitoring/Evaluation finale du projet « COVID-19 : Prévention, protection et relèvement économique »

Les premiers cas de COVID-19 ont été enregistrés au Cameroun en début mars 2020. Au 18 avril 2020 le Cameroun est le 2e pays le plus touché en Afrique subsaharienne et le premier pays de la CEMAC avec 7860 cas confirmés au 08 juin 20201. Afin de limiter la propagation du virus COVID19, le gouvernement a mis en place des mesures de prévention strictes, dont la suspension des
vols commerciaux, la fermeture des frontières, la fermeture des écoles, la fermeture dès 18h des bars, restaurants et lieux de loisirs, l’interdiction de rassemblements de plus de 50 personnes, ou encore l’obligation du port du masque en public à partir du 13 avril 2020.
Pour apporter sa contribution à cet effort de solidarité, CARE International au Cameroun, a mis en œuvre le « Projet COVID-19 : Prévention, protection et relèvement économique » dans le District de santé de Biyem-Assi (Yaoundé) de juin à septembre 2020 en ciblant spécifiquement 150 femmes et filles IDPs et TS. Mis en œuvre en collaboration avec Horizons Femmes, ce projet a fait l’objet d’une évaluation finale interne afin de mesurer et apprécier les changements (éventuels) dus à l’intervention du projet sur les bénéficiaires par rapport à la période concernée.
En ce qui concerne la qualité de l’intervention, l’évaluation établit : (i) la pertinence du projet qui est aligné sur les besoins prioritaires des cibles, les objectifs de développement durable et les politiques nationales, y compris les stratégies de réponse face au COVID-19 ; (ii) une efficacité et une efficience satisfaisantes, les activités réalisées ayant permis d’atteindre les objectifs visés à des coûts et des délais raisonnables ; (iii) une pérennité envisagée, malgré la courte durée du projet, notamment par la continuité de certaines activités dans le cadre du projet CHAMP ; une prise en compte du genre acceptable, ce qui a permis d’adresser les besoins différenciés à chaque groupe ciblé par le projet.
Les recommandations formulées vont dans le sens de : (i) élargir l’intervention dans d’autres zones accueillant la même cible ; (ii) clarifier au lancement du projet les différents niveaux de diffusion de l’information ainsi que le type d’information à communiquer ; (iii) déployer le transfert monétaire inconditionnel dans davantage de projets du programme de redressement et relèvement post-crise ; (iv) accompagner les bénéficiaires ayant développé/redynamisé des AGR à la maturation de leurs activités ; (v) penser à une composante qui permettent aux IDPs qui le souhaitent de retourner vers leurs localités d’origine dans la mesure ou la situation sécuritaire évoluerait dans le sens de l’apaisement ; (vi) revoir la stratégie de sensibilisation sur la Hotline en insistant sur la signification du terme « Hotline » ou trouvant une appellation plus accrocheuse ; (vii) conserver la dynamique du code unique et l’implication des bénéficiaires dans les différentes étapes du projet pour une meilleure redevabilité. Read More...

Filter Evaluations

Clear all