Burundi

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Program, GEWEP II 2016-2018 Burundi, Final Evaluation Report, March 2019

The final evaluation of GEWEP II (a women's empowerment program implemented since 2016 in 7 provinces of Burundi and funded by NORAD via CARE Norway) set out to gauge the progress made but also identify the gaps that remain to be filled for the impact group (women aged 15-64 in the intervention area) to enjoy effective economic, social and political empowerment. The evaluation allowed a comparative study of the baseline situation (just as presented in the report of the baseline study) and the final situation resulting from the analysis of data collected on the ground in January 2018. The final evaluation data collection was conducted on a quantitative sample representative of 774 people including 406 women and 368 men. In addition to these quantitative data, qualitative data were collected from target groups and other key informants. [39 pages] Read More...

Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP) Midterm Report

In 2009, Norad-funded women empowerment programs (WEPs) started implementation in seven countries: Burundi, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. In 2009 and early 2010, an extensive quantitative baseline study was conducted in these countries around a common set of indicators. The present mid-term review (MTR), which was done using qualitative methodology, analysed in depth the process and nature of changes that the programs are contributing towards. In all the program countries, the country WEP team carried out the review internally with the technical assistance of an external consultant and CARE Norway (CN).

With slight variations, the overall objectives of the country WEPs focused on the economic, social, and political empowerment of women. The village savings and loan association (VSLA) methodology was common for all the programs; and these groups create the platform for working on other aspects of the program besides economic empowerment. The initial changes that the programs produce are seen in terms of increased access to savings and loans, employment opportunities, and asset ownership. The ability of the women to earn income, generate their own savings and make financial contributions in the household (HH) has greatly improved their self-esteem, thereby giving them better leverage to involve in and influence HH decision making processes. Men were highly appreciative of the income women were able to bring in to the family as a result of being involved in VSLAs. Through their improved position in the household, women reported being able to negotiate the use of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and the abandonment of different harmful practices. Through the use of couples-based approach and engaging men initiatives, HH relationships are beginning to improve; men in these households are reportedly starting to have a more positive attitude towards women’s empowerment and are themselves even taking part in domestic activities in some contexts. The VSLA approach is enabling women to create strong social networks that are becoming an influential force for social change. As a result of increased knowledge on their human rights and increasing leadership skills, women are beginning to understand how they have to position themselves to realize their strategic interests. The VSLA groups and networks also enable women to mobilise support when they are running for elections; this support has increased number of women being elected into different posts. The contribution of women in VSLAs and in community leadership positions is being increasingly recognised and appreciated by local authority figures, which can be seen when they actively seek the advice of women and VSL groups in relation to different community development initiatives.
Through working in partnership with others, the programs are being implemented in a high quality and timely manner. Engagement with strategic partners has occurred effectively in some countries, and been instrumental in enabling the programs to link grassroots evidence to national level advocacy activities which have achieved concrete results. [52 pages] Read More...

Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP) 2009-2013

CARE Norway, collaborating CARE country offices (COs), and partners have from 2009 through 2013 run the “Women Empowerment Programme” (WEP). With funding from NORAD, it has been implemented in Mali, Niger, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Myanmar and DRC (from 2013).

The results presented in this report derive from CARE’s monitoring systems, thematic assessments and research done over the 5 years. This final report is intended to give NORAD an overview of key results within the program’s four thematic focus areas: 1)Women’s Economic Empowerment, 2)Women’s Participation in Decision Making, 3) Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and 4) Prevention and Mitigation of Gender-based violence. In agreement with NORAD, the end-line evaluation of the WEP is due in May 2015. [55 pages] Read More...

POWER Ex-Post Evaluation Final Report

Description of the document: Promoting Opportunities for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Rural Africa (POWER Africa) aimed to increase the financial inclusion of direct beneficiaries and their households in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire and Burundi through forming savings groups, providing financial education, and linking mature groups to formal financial institutions. In Burundi, CARE worked in partnership with the local NGO, Great Lakes Inkinga Development, to target adolescent girls; the hardest hit by a combination of poverty, conflict, violence, societal disintegration, and sexual exploitation. The evaluation focuses on the program’s contribution to the empowerment of adolescent girls in Burundi with a particular focus on assessing the contribution of program activities to supporting adolescent girls develop income-generating activities. POWER Africa adapted their approach to ensure the intervention and engagement strategies were tailored to working with adolescent girls in Burundi. POWER Africa accomplished this through sensitization sessions to gain community acceptance of the program, by adapting the VSLA training schedule, by changing meeting times, and by responding to challenges encountered by girls during implementation. Positive outcomes reported by CARE related to business success were also supported by interviews conducted in the field. However, the extent to which participation resulted in adolescent girls establishing one or more IGA varies and CARE monitoring data shows that at least 1 in 5 girls did not establish IGAs. It was confirmed that key factors that contribute to IGA success, as identified by CARE, still hold. Girls without support are less able to establish IGAs and have relatively less successful IGAs. However, they are not necessary conditions. For example, the four girls that did not have continuous family support attributed overcoming their difficulties to being a member of the VSLA. Findings that girls who are in school reported higher incomes, that girls with community support are more able to invest in livestock, and that girls with access to land have more IGA opportunities, still hold. POWER Africa’s identification that male control of female-owned assets, loss of assets upon marriage, household responsibilities and constraints on mobility are key constraints for adolescent girls to benefit from IGA opportunities, still holds. During program implementation, many girls encountered barriers as a result of their newfound economic independence. The program actively sought to address these constraints with some success, however there is evidence to suggest a number of challenges remain. This is to be expected as social norms can take time to change. Lastly, regarding sustainability, the field research supported the idea that some of the IGAs created by the girls as a result of POWER Africa VSLA membership are sustainable as all of the girls said they still have their IGAs and plan to continue them in the future. All of the girls also planned to continue their membership of the VSLAs. Findings also suggest that the POWER Africa program positively influenced social norms relating to what activities are considered acceptable for girls to take part in, male control over assets and that participants are more resilient to environmental and economic shocks as a result of their improved financial position.

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Promoting Opportunities for Women’s Economic Empowerment Project Analysis of Effects of Linkage

This report focuses on the effects of CARE’s POWER/PROFIR (Promoting Opportunities for Women’s Economic Empowerment) project on the financial health of village savings and loans groups in Cote d’Ivoire and Rwanda. The project is a collaboration between CARE Canada, Access Africa, and MasterCard Foundation. CARE International is one of the world’s leading organizations in the promotion of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) in Africa, reaching more than 3.5 million people in 26 countries. CARE’s POWER project aims to determine the relative benefit of formal financial links for savings groups, households and individuals, and banks in Burundi, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Rwanda. However, this report only focuses on the two latter countries. For Rwanda, CARE‘s POWER project is called PROFIR (Promoting Financial Inclusion in Rwanda). [49 pages] Read More...

Qualitative Assessment of the Effectiveness of Gender Transformative Programming on Changing Gender and Social Norms and Women’s Empowerment

The “Win-Win for Gender, Agriculture and Nutrition: Testing a Gender-Transformative Approach from Asia in Africa” is a project aimed at establishing a comparison between a gender-transformative model to achieve gender equality (the “EKATA” model), and a gender-mainstreamed approach in the agriculture sector (“Gender-Light model”), in which basic activities around gender are integrated into a program whose principle focus and measures of success are women’s economic empowerment through agriculture and micro-enterprise development.

The qualitative research is using in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions(FGDs) of a subset of women and their spouses who are participating in the program. For the in-depth interviews, 30 people (22 women and their spouses) were selected and are followed every year to document different pathways to empowerment. They were randomly selected from a strata of all women interviewed at baseline to reflect different social economic and marital status. On the other hand, 106 people (45 men and 61 women) participated in a total of ten FGDs. [42 pages]
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Socio-Economic and Financial Profitability Analysis of Rice Seed Production by Women Groups “Nawe Nuze” in the framework of “Win Win” Program in Burundi

mplemented in 6 communes of Kirundo and Gitega provinces in Burundi, the 4-year research program tests an innovative approach « gender transformative » for the agriculture sector. The approach begins with the development of critical thinking aiming at defying discriminatory social beliefs and norms, via a reflective model, community dialogue and collective action. CARE is evaluating how this innovative approach could improve gender equity and the way a particular attention on power relations and a wake of conscience could produce durable effects on food security, nutrition and population economic well-being. The ultimate goal of this research is to compare (1) a model of gender transformative (EKATA4 model) for gender equity and (2) a typical gender integration approach in the agriculture model (gender light model (light, normal or usual). [63 pages] Read More...

Relation Entre La Masculinite et l’Inclusion Financiere

L’étude sur la relation entre la masculinité et l’inclusion financière des jeunes filles commanditée par Care international au Burundi s’inscrit dans le cadre d’explorer les relations de pouvoirs existant entre les hommes/garçons et les femmes/jeunes filles en faveur de plus d’égalité et d’équité comme un des facteurs clés à l’autonomisation économique de la jeune fille.

L’inclusion financière est abordée dans ses aspects d’accès à l’information, d’acquisition des connaissances, d’accès et utilisation effective des produits et services financiers à savoir : l’ouverture de compte, l’épargne, le crédit, le transfert monétaire et les moyens de payement. [76 pages] Read More...

The Win-Win for Gender, Agriculture and Nutrition Project Midline Assessment

Results of the midline assessment report for The Win-Win for Gender, Agriculture and Nutrition Project. [18 pages] Read More...

Etude d’Evaluation de la Phase Pilote de Connexion des Groupes AVEC aux Services Financiers Formels

Ce rapport présente les résultats d’une étude, commanditée par CARE International au Burundi, pour évaluer la phase pilote de la connexion des groupes VSLAs aux services financiers formels. L’objectif général de cette étude était de faire une évaluation qualitative et quantitative de la phase pilote de la connexion deces groupes, de faire un diagnostic stratégique de cette connexion et de dégager des recommandations qui pourraient tracer des pistes pour en faire une réplication de manière durable, pérenne et moins coûteuse. [71 pages]
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