Nigeria

Evidence Review of Women’s Groups and COVID-19: Impacts, Challenges, and Policy Implications for Savings Groups in Africa

It has been more than a year since COVID-19 lockdowns began, and economic recovery is a top priority for governments, donors, and international financial institutions (IFIs) worldwide, including in sub-Saharan Africa. Targeted investments that increase community resilience and spur economic growth will mitigate some of the negative economic consequences of this crisis. Investment in women’s economic resilience and social support is para- mount, considering that the crisis may reverse recent progress in gender equality. Around the world, women’s groups, such as self- help groups, savings groups, and health groups, play an important role in communities; evidence shows promise in their role in promoting women’s empowerment and economic outcomes. They encompass many models, but all bring women together around a shared purpose, such as financial inclusion, livelihoods, health, and women’s rights.
This brief focuses on one specific type of women’s group in sub-Saharan Africa: savings groups. Savings groups are a common form of women’s group and serve as a reliable mechanism for people in sub-Saharan Africa to save money. Members of savings groups pool small weekly savings into a common fund, which members can then borrow against, creating opportunities for investments and women’s empowerment. Savings groups show mixed, but promising, results in improving economic and social outcomes. This brief, written by a consortium of researchers and practitioners, presents emerging evidence from studies in diverse African contexts— with a deep dive into Nigeria and Uganda—on how COVID-19 has affected savings groups and how these groups have helped mitigate the pandemic’s negative consequences in sub-Saharan Africa.
This report is 23 pages long. Read More...

Integrated GBV prevention and response to the emergency needs of newly displaced women, men, girls, and boys in Borno State, North-East Nigeria Midterm

Currently, 41 sites across 11 LGAs in Borno are in ‘high congestion’ status with 285,000 individuals above camp capacity resulting in the majority of individuals having no access to shelter and being forced to sleep in overcrowded shelters or outside. The provision of life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable persons of concern is hampered by a continuous unfavorable environment marked by conflict-induced insecurity and protracted displacement. Limited access to adequate services, particularly in newly accessible areas, continues to exacerbate protection risks to the affected population. The ECHO-GBV project is an 18 months’ project funded by ECHO being implemented in Bama and Ngala LGAs of Borno state to provide lifesaving GBV prevention and response services to newly displaced women, girls, boys and men and vulnerable host community members. The intended use of this evaluation is to: assess the performance of project indicators against set objectives, goals and targets, review Programme strategy and methods and inform learning; hence, the primary target of this report is the ECHO participants as well as staff [24 pages]. Read More...

Integrated GBV prevention and response to the emergency needs of newly displaced women, men, girls, and boys in Borno State, North-East Nigeria Baseline

To ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the project, CARE pays specific attention to the changes to be made, effects and impacts of the intervention for displaced populations, and hosts affected within Borno State. It therefore appears necessary to define the baseline situation in order to have information that can provide precise indicators on the sector concerned by the assistance, and to develop a monitoring and evaluation system for the continuous updating of the changes and facilitate the analysis of the transformations induced at the end of the project. A total of 3 IDP camps (Arabic camp and International Secondary School of in Ngala and Government Secondary School GSS camp in Bama LGA) and 4 host communities (Ngala, Gambaru A and B in Ngala and Bama town in Bama LGA) were covered by the baseline, within the two targeted LGAs. Taking 5% of each population, 5,009 respondents in Bama and 2,054 respondents in Ngala were surveyed [23 pages]. Read More...

Integrated GBV prevention and response in Northeast Nigeria Endline Report

Context The ECHO-GBV prevention and response is an integrated GBV and livelihood project which was implemented as an entry point for CARE Nigeria into GBV-standalone initiatives. The project was funded by European Commission Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) under the supervision of CARE France. The project anticipated to provide direct service to displaced vulnerable women, men, girls, and boys and vulnerable host community members in Bama and Ngala, majority of the project participants were women and girls and indirectly benefits to the larger community. The intervention was anticipated to reach a total of 7,832 project participants. The global objective of the project was to contribute to the protection of the lives of vulnerable women, men, girls, and boys most affected by the crisis in northeastern Nigeria. The specific objective of the project was to enhance the access of newly displaced, vulnerable women, men, girls, and boys to life-saving GBV prevention and response services through coordinated, principled humanitarian support and community-based prevention activities. The project had six expected results:
• R 1. GBV prevention, care, and response services available and accessible to newly displaced individuals and vulnerable host community members at risk of or affected by GBV.
• R 2. Awareness, knowledge, and application of humanitarian principles and SEA prevention and response principles improved among humanitarian actors and security forces.
An end-line study was conducted as a part of the project monitoring and evaluation strategies and framework to review its projects before, during, and after the post-implementation phase. The endline was conducted by CARE Nigeria in August 2020 [31 pages]. Read More...

Integrated GBV Prevention and Response to the Emergency Needs of Newly Displaced Women, Men, Girls, and Boys in Borno State, North-East Nigeria Final Report

Under the European Commission Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) funding with support of CARE France, CARE Nigeria to implement a Gender Based Violence in Emergencies project. The project was implemented in Bama and Ngala Local Government Areas (LGAs) – Northeast, the goal of the project was to contribute to the protection of the lives of vulnerable women, men, girls, and boys most affected by the crisis in North-eastern Nigeria. The evaluation survey showed that beneficiaries in both intervention LGAs were aware of GBV issues and referral pathways facilitated by the project. There was an increase in the awareness of beneficiaries from the mid-term evaluation; as more respondents were more likely to make a report on GBV related incidences (i.e. sexual violence, sexual exploitation, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and forced marriages). Based on analyzed evaluation data, of the total number of beneficiaries interviewed, the following project activities were most effective in increasing beneficiary GBV knowledge e.g. Use of GBV champions - 87.5% (Ngala 32.9% and Bama 54.6%), Sensitization activities – 91.5% (55.5% in Bama and 36% in Ngala) and provision of livelihood assistance – 66.8% (43.5% in Bama and 23.3% in Ngala).
At the final evaluation, awareness amongst beneficiaries was greater in Bama than Ngala; as project-driven sensitization activities emerged as the predominant means by which beneficiaries were informed of GBV issues and accompanying referral pathways by the project. In spite of CARE Nigeria not having an on the ground presence in Ngala at the time of the final evaluation study (i.e. due to the lack of funding for GBV interventions since August 2020); interviewed beneficiaries remained knowledgeable of GBV issues and referral pathways. [122 pages] Read More...

CARE Rapid Gender Analysis Northeast Nigeria – Borno

Borno is a state in northeast Nigeria. Borno has been the epicentre of the Organized A since it began its insurgency in 2009. Records of Boko Haram operations show that thousands of people have either been murdered or kidnapped as a result of the group’s activities from July 27, 2009, through late 2019.
For Borno, COVID-19 is a “crisis within a crisis” and presents a range of challenges in a context with limited resources. In most localities (named local government areas or LGAs), access to quality health services, including intensive care, is limited. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) e.g. malaria, water borne illnesses (including cholera) and malnutrition represent the main cause of premature mortality in the state. In addition, food security and livelihoods are particularly precarious due to semi-subsistence lifestyles and heavy dependence on the informal sector for income.
Because Borno has been in a protracted crisis since 2009, gender has been a key consideration in the response. However, an outbreak of COVID-19 in Borno continues to disproportionately affect women and girls in a number of ways, as women are more likely to stay home to help with the increased domestic tasks. With the fear of contracting COVID-19, permission granted by men to access health services is decreasing which is negatively affecting women and girls’ access to maternal, sexual and reproductive health services. In addition, Gender Based Violence (GBV) service providers in Borno have reported a heightened risk of increased domestic violence in areas where pre-existing rates of violence against women in IDP camps are already very high. Additionally, with the recent loss of livelihoods, strained humanitarian interventions and inadequate field feedback handling mechanisms, Prevention of Sexual Harassment Exploitation and Abuse (PSHEA) and mitigation is a pressing concern as people in need are left vulnerable in the face of insufficient food and resources. Read More...

Nigeria VSLA COVID-19 Survey 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 Nigeria and globally. Read More...

Addressing GBV & SRHR Challenges in Bama and Dikwa LGAs in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria

Borno state in Northeast Nigeria has been under frequent attacks in the past decade, which has left several million people insecure, homeless, and without any means of livelihood. Hence, the rate of Gender-based Violence (GBV) continues to increase coupled with lack of awareness and basic infrastructure for promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). To alleviate the challenges faced by several inhabitants of these conflict-affected communities, CARE is implementing a SRHR and GBV project to reach 47,000 vulnerable boys, girls, men and women, living in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps and host communities in Bama and Dikwa Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Borno State. This report highlights the current gaps in GBV and SRHR in Bama and Dikwa LGAs to serve as benchmark for measuring progress and guide implementation of the right intervention mix.
In October – November 2019, CARE Nigeria conducted a baseline survey for the project. The study involved administration of Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP) questionnaires as well as Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) covering SRHR and GBV to randomly selected men, women, boys and girls in the project communities. Among the interviewed were; community members, representatives of security agencies, camp coordinator and health facility staffs respectively, in Dikwa and Bama LGAs in Borno State. A total of 79 FGDs and 46 KIIs were conducted, in addition to the quantitative survey involving 3,112 participants. Read More...

Projet régional de Dialogue pour la Transhumance apaisée en Afrique de l’Ouest (PRODIATA)

Le Projet régional de Dialogue pour la Transhumance apaisée en Afrique de l’Ouest (PRODIATA) est mis en oeuvre pour opérationnaliser la composante 2 du Programme Régional de Dialogue et d'Investissement pour le Pastoralisme et la transhumance au Sahel et dans les pays côtiers d’Afrique de l’Ouest (PREDIP). Le PREDIP est conçu dans une approche régionale avec un objectif général de renforcer la contribution du pastoralisme et de la transhumance transfrontalière à la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, au développement socioéconomique équitable et à l’intégration régionale en Afrique de l’Ouest.
PRODIATA a pour objectif général de contribuer à long terme à faciliter une transhumance transfrontalière apaisée et à améliorer la nutrition des populations côtières et pastorales. L’objectif spécifique du projet est d’impliquer les acteurs locaux, nationaux et régionaux de la transhumance transfrontalière dans le dialogue et la bonne gouvernance des ressources et des espaces agro-sylvo-pastoraux en réduisant les risques de conflits et en améliorant la sécurité alimentaire. De façon spécifique, le projet viser à impliquer les acteurs locaux, nationaux et régionaux de la transhumance transfrontalière dans le dialogue et la bonne gouvernance des
ressources et des espaces agro-sylvo-pastoraux pour une réduction des risques de conflits et l’amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire. 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.
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