Somalia
Galdogob and Bursalah Stabilization and Economic Development Initiative
Through the project activities mainly VSLAs, vocational training and infrastructure projects, beneficiaries in the project location of Galdogob and Bursallah have realized improved access to financial services (savings and loans) as well as improved livelihood opportunities especially for vulnerable groups in the community mainly the youth and female members of the community.
Through successfully facilitating dialogue between communities from Galdogob and Bursalah, conducting reconciliations dialogues between clan/tribes, conducting forums for women empowerment and participation in decision-making, engaging youth in peer-to-peer dialogues and peer networks, conducting dialogues between the community and the Puntland Government and conducting talk shows and engaging the media, the project has realized increased collaboration between community members and government in local development and conflict management and also enhanced trust between community and government.
In addition, enhanced civic education-conflict management skills of community members have equipped the community with the necessary skills to address conflicts between clans in Galdogob and Bursalah while installation of solar street lights Galdogob/ Bursalah and construction and equipping of Galdogob police station were identified as important connectors between community members as well as between community members and the government through ensuring common use of resources and improving governance outcomes such as safety and security, trust and access to services. [37 pages] Read More...
Through successfully facilitating dialogue between communities from Galdogob and Bursalah, conducting reconciliations dialogues between clan/tribes, conducting forums for women empowerment and participation in decision-making, engaging youth in peer-to-peer dialogues and peer networks, conducting dialogues between the community and the Puntland Government and conducting talk shows and engaging the media, the project has realized increased collaboration between community members and government in local development and conflict management and also enhanced trust between community and government.
In addition, enhanced civic education-conflict management skills of community members have equipped the community with the necessary skills to address conflicts between clans in Galdogob and Bursalah while installation of solar street lights Galdogob/ Bursalah and construction and equipping of Galdogob police station were identified as important connectors between community members as well as between community members and the government through ensuring common use of resources and improving governance outcomes such as safety and security, trust and access to services. [37 pages] Read More...
CARESOM RAPID GENDER ANALYSIS AUGUST 2021
This RGA aimed to gather gender-related information especially gender roles, responsibilities, barriers, misconceptions, social norms, policies, and support systems available for survivors of Gender-Based Violence. The analysis covers five geographical areas within Somalia (Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug, South West and Banadir) comprising 10 regions and 20 districts. This analysis employed both a qualitative and quantitative assessment using desk reviews, household questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions(FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and individual stories. In total, 2,437 households were interviewed (72.5% female and 27.5% male) while 51 FGDs and 26 KIIs were conducted. The assessment was conducted within CARE Somalia Program areas and households were randomly selected while FGDs and KIIs participants were purposively selected based on gender, age, availability, location and knowledge of topics under investigation. Data was collected by 36 enumerators (16 females and 20 males) using KOBO Collect and analysed using SPSS, PowerBI and Excel. The findings have been presented using graphs, tables, maps, descriptive and inferential statistics. Below are the key findings and recommendations from the assessment. [50 Pages] Read More...
Somalia: Cash Transfers via Mobile Money for Maternal Child Health Services
This study is part of a larger multi-country study by CARE entitled “Cash and Voucher Assistance for Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Outcomes: Learnings from Colombia, Ecuador, Lebanon and Somalia.”
CARE Somalia has used Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) in its programs for over ten years. This includes CVA for food security and livelihoods, nutrition, WASH, and education, as well as multipurpose cash transfers. Since 2018, with support from Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) (now the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA)), CARE Somalia has been implementing a food security and Livelihoods, health, nutrition, protection and WASH program. With BHA support, CARE currently supports 19 MCH facilities across Somaliland and Puntland that target children and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). Read More...
CARE Somalia has used Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) in its programs for over ten years. This includes CVA for food security and livelihoods, nutrition, WASH, and education, as well as multipurpose cash transfers. Since 2018, with support from Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) (now the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA)), CARE Somalia has been implementing a food security and Livelihoods, health, nutrition, protection and WASH program. With BHA support, CARE currently supports 19 MCH facilities across Somaliland and Puntland that target children and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). Read More...
CASH AND VOUCHER ASSISTANCE FOR SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS LEARNINGS FROM ECUADOR, COLOMBIA, LEBANON, AND SOMALIA
CARE is committed to ensuring that projects with cash and voucher assistance (CVA) are designed with and for women and girls, addressing recipients’ needs, challenges, and opportunities. CARE has invested in research on how to make CVA work for women and girls through gender-sensitive approaches to framing processes and outcomes of the modalities. As a widely accepted method of increasing access to services and improving autonomy, dignity, and resilience, programming with CVA has been integrated into numerous sectors to improve the lives of displaced communities, particularly the most underserved. To date, CARE’s CVA has primarily been used for food security and livelihood outcomes and multisectoral outcomes via multipurpose cash (MPC) transfers. Now, aligned with its strategic intent, CARE is investing in sectoral areas where CVA is less often used and that are of primary interest for women and girls, including gender-based violence (GBV) response and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
Building on extensive experience with CVA and SRHR programming, CARE conducted a study to investigate how outcomes for the pilot initiatives using CVA for SRHR compare to global learnings, and to identify opportunities for strengthening and expanding pilots for long-term programming. The study reviewed programming in four contexts (Colombia, Ecuador, Lebanon, and Somalia). The initial study was undertaken by two consultants, one focused on Lebanon and Somalia and one focused on Colombia and Ecuador. Data collection included 25 remote key informant interviews (KIIs) with CARE staff at the global and country levels as well as staff from partner organizations, followed by After Action Reviews with each country team and a validation meeting. All activities were undertaken in either English or Spanish and transcripts were analyzed using data analysis software. Analysis was conducted both by country and across contexts to identify commonalities and thematic learning, mostly led by CARE technical advisors. Read More...
Building on extensive experience with CVA and SRHR programming, CARE conducted a study to investigate how outcomes for the pilot initiatives using CVA for SRHR compare to global learnings, and to identify opportunities for strengthening and expanding pilots for long-term programming. The study reviewed programming in four contexts (Colombia, Ecuador, Lebanon, and Somalia). The initial study was undertaken by two consultants, one focused on Lebanon and Somalia and one focused on Colombia and Ecuador. Data collection included 25 remote key informant interviews (KIIs) with CARE staff at the global and country levels as well as staff from partner organizations, followed by After Action Reviews with each country team and a validation meeting. All activities were undertaken in either English or Spanish and transcripts were analyzed using data analysis software. Analysis was conducted both by country and across contexts to identify commonalities and thematic learning, mostly led by CARE technical advisors. Read More...
SOMALI RELIEF AND RECOVERY PROGRAM (SSRP) Final Evaluation
The Somalia Relief and Recovery Project-SRRP main goal was to address the most urgent and basic needs of drought affected communities in Bari, Galgaduud, Lower Juba, Mudug, Sanaag, Hiraan, and Sool regions that have been severely affected by the recurrent drought crisis. In particular, the project aimed to improve access to safe water and hygiene to drought-affected communities, provide temporary employment opportunities, and delivered treatment services for acutely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women, provide basic health services, and protection services. The project also aimed at improving coordination through Somalia NGO consortium to concert and coordinate efforts to adequately address the recurrent humanitarian challenges in Somalia. [66 pages]. Read More...
Durable Solutions for Returnees and IDPs in Somalia (DSRIS) Project Final Report
The Durable Solutions for Refugees and IDPs in Somalia (DSRIS) was a three-year that was implemented in Somalia between 10 January 2017 to 9 January 2020 under the consortium of CARE International (Lead agency), Save the Children (SCI), Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), IMPACT Initiatives and Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC). The project was funded by the European Union (EU). The aim of the project was to contribute to the integration of internally displaced persons, returnees and refugees in Somalia by improving access to basic quality services such as education, health, hygiene and sanitation, Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) intervention. Additionally, the project aimed at enhancing relevant and sustainable livelihood opportunities for youth at risk of illegal migrations, radicalization, as well as other vulnerable displaced people, returnees and host communities to enhance integration and social cohesion. The project was being implemented in Puntland, Bari, and Mudug (Bossaso and Galkacyo north districts), Galmudug, Mudug, and Galgaduud (Dhusamareb, Adaado, and Galkacyo south). The sectors targeted by the project include Education, Health, WASH, Child Protection/GBV, women and youth empowerment and integration. Read More...
TVET and Higher Education for Boosting Road Infrastructure Development and Growth of Energy Services (THE BRIDGES) Project Final Report
CARE Somalia/Somaliland was funded by the European Union (EU) to improve the technical skills of the youth in roads and energy service sectors. The Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and Higher Education for Boosting Road Infrastructure Development and Growth of Energy Services (THE BRIDGES) project aim to support the Government of Somalia/Somaliland plans to enhance inclusive economic growth and reduce poverty. The project aims to assist in the development of high-quality skills both for gainful employment and sustainable economic development. To meet labor demands in road infrastructure and energy sectors, the project further aims to strengthen TVET and Higher Education (HE) to offer high-quality solutions responsive to the changing market situations in the selected priority sectors of the economy. Given the increasingly dynamic employment market in Somalia/Somaliland, there is a need for high-quality competency-based skills development. The BRIDGES project sought to enhance the development of national and local capacities of TVET, and Higher Education linked to the road infrastructure and energy sector services. This is intended to be accomplished through the strengthening of institutional capacities in addition to aligning skills training to standardized international frameworks. Read More...
CARE Rapid Gender Analysis for COVID 19 East, Central and Southern Africa
The impacts – direct and indirect – of public health emergencies fall disproportionally on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society. Interconnected social, economic, and political factors pose complex challenges for the ECSA region’s ability to respond to COVID-19. The region already faces significant health challenges that would exacerbate the severity of COVID-19, such as high levels of malnutrition, malaria, anemia, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Access to healthcare in the region is the lowest in the world, thus there is limited capacity to absorb the pandemic1. Gender-based inequality is extensive in the region. Women are at a higher risk for exposure to infection due to the fact that they are often the primary caregivers in the family and constitute 70% of frontline healthcare responders.2 Most women already face limited access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, and the region struggles with high levels of maternal mortality. For example, mother mortality rates recorded in South Sudan were 1150 per 100 000 live births3. COVID-19 will only increase women’s safety risks and care burdens as health services become stretched and resources shift to COVID-19 responses.
Women and girls are at increased risk of violence during the COVID-19 period. Current rates of violence against women and girls combined with the prevalence of harmful traditional practices leads to increased vulnerability. Income loss and limited mobility, compounded with existing gender role expectations, may contribute to increases in intimate partner violence and other forms of gender-based violence. Read More...
Women and girls are at increased risk of violence during the COVID-19 period. Current rates of violence against women and girls combined with the prevalence of harmful traditional practices leads to increased vulnerability. Income loss and limited mobility, compounded with existing gender role expectations, may contribute to increases in intimate partner violence and other forms of gender-based violence. Read More...
Adversity and Opportunity: Gender Relations, Emergencies and Resilience in the Horn of Africa
The Gender in Emergencies (GiE) study contributes to this strategy development by examining how the HES can be implemented in the specific context of the Horn of Africa (HoA).2 Commissioned in early 2014 by CARE Australia, the study’s purpose is to ‘contribute to CARE International’s Gender in Emergencies learning and research agenda providing a comparative analysis of the opportunities and challenges in gender equality and women’s empowerment in emergency contexts, and provide lessons for future humanitarian responses.’ Read More...
EMERGENCY FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM: FINAL EVALUATION REPORT
This report provides the results of the final evaluation of the Emergency Food Security Program (EFSP) implemented in twelve districts within the four regions of Sool, Sanaag, Galgaduud and Mudug that was conducted during July and August 2019.
Over and above the program performance parameters, the beneficiaries overwhelmingly indicated that the program had had significant positive impacts. The program was considered timely as it was delivered when beneficiaries were getting into months of food insecurity. When asked whether the cash transfer had improved their livelihoods, 93% of the household survey respondents reported that their livelihoods had improved, mainly in terms of improved purchasing power (93%), ease of meeting their basic needs (78%), better social status (22%), better and more recognition (17%), taking children to school (14%), access to healthcare (9%) and in other (non-described) areas (7%). In the household survey, 94% of the respondents received three cycles of the correct amount, whilst 5% who were targeted under the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) received two cycles enabling households to purchase their preferred foods, at least 25Kg of rice, 25Kg of sugar, 25kg wheat flour, 3kg of cooking oil, 10kg of pasta and some vegetables.
The program had a positive impact on the 52,299 households enrolled. The programme resulted in a reduction of distress coping strategies, with an average rCSI of 12.8 reducing from 20.4 at the program baseline. This supports the effectiveness of the program in enabling the beneficiaries to reduce the number of negative coping strategies that they were previously employing in order to meet basic household needs. In addition, as planned, all the households used the cash transfer to meet their basic needs, with 97% of them using the cash transfer to purchase food for the household, indicating that the cash intervention has directly contributed to the enhancement of the household food security during the drought. Trend analysis shows that throughout the program there was a downward trend of the rCSI scores, while there was an increase of household dietary diversity index to 20.4 compared to the baseline of 12.8. Similarly, an analysis of household hunger shows that in general the beneficiaries were experiencing little to no hunger, with only 13% experiencing moderate hunger and 86% of households experiencing little to no hunger. This again indicates that the programme has achieved positive outcomes.
While the evidence suggests that the program generated a number of positive impacts, across many domains, demonstrating effective and efficient implementation, and that the beneficiaries used the cash as per the original objectives of the program, households continue to faces challenges in their capacity to fully recover from the impacts of conflict and drought. Increasing the scale of interventions and developing additional holistic livelihood strategies for the target areas, creating linkages with market-based interventions and improvement in access to water, education and healthcare, experimenting with graduation models combined with local savings (VSLAs) were among some of the areas identified for improving future programming. A more detailed description of these recommendations is provided towards the tail end of the report. Read More...
Over and above the program performance parameters, the beneficiaries overwhelmingly indicated that the program had had significant positive impacts. The program was considered timely as it was delivered when beneficiaries were getting into months of food insecurity. When asked whether the cash transfer had improved their livelihoods, 93% of the household survey respondents reported that their livelihoods had improved, mainly in terms of improved purchasing power (93%), ease of meeting their basic needs (78%), better social status (22%), better and more recognition (17%), taking children to school (14%), access to healthcare (9%) and in other (non-described) areas (7%). In the household survey, 94% of the respondents received three cycles of the correct amount, whilst 5% who were targeted under the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) received two cycles enabling households to purchase their preferred foods, at least 25Kg of rice, 25Kg of sugar, 25kg wheat flour, 3kg of cooking oil, 10kg of pasta and some vegetables.
The program had a positive impact on the 52,299 households enrolled. The programme resulted in a reduction of distress coping strategies, with an average rCSI of 12.8 reducing from 20.4 at the program baseline. This supports the effectiveness of the program in enabling the beneficiaries to reduce the number of negative coping strategies that they were previously employing in order to meet basic household needs. In addition, as planned, all the households used the cash transfer to meet their basic needs, with 97% of them using the cash transfer to purchase food for the household, indicating that the cash intervention has directly contributed to the enhancement of the household food security during the drought. Trend analysis shows that throughout the program there was a downward trend of the rCSI scores, while there was an increase of household dietary diversity index to 20.4 compared to the baseline of 12.8. Similarly, an analysis of household hunger shows that in general the beneficiaries were experiencing little to no hunger, with only 13% experiencing moderate hunger and 86% of households experiencing little to no hunger. This again indicates that the programme has achieved positive outcomes.
While the evidence suggests that the program generated a number of positive impacts, across many domains, demonstrating effective and efficient implementation, and that the beneficiaries used the cash as per the original objectives of the program, households continue to faces challenges in their capacity to fully recover from the impacts of conflict and drought. Increasing the scale of interventions and developing additional holistic livelihood strategies for the target areas, creating linkages with market-based interventions and improvement in access to water, education and healthcare, experimenting with graduation models combined with local savings (VSLAs) were among some of the areas identified for improving future programming. A more detailed description of these recommendations is provided towards the tail end of the report. Read More...