Special Evaluation/Report
Sisi Vajana “We the Youth” Initiative
Sisi Vijana is a three-year (December 2013- November 2016) innovative initiative that works with young people between 13 to 23 years old in Burundi and DRC. The objective of the initiative is to reduce sexual and gender-based violence and promote gender equality. Due to the lack of research on masculinity among young people in the Great Lakes region, the first phase of this initiative includes a formative study on the attitudes of young people towards gender equality, masculinity, sexuality and violence. The results will contribute to the development of a regional model of engagement of young men and boys focused on transforming gender roles. The model will be used for capacity building of youth in the prevention and fight against SGBV. [52 pages] Read More...
L’initative Sisi Vijana (“Nous Les Jeunes”)
D’une durée de trois ans (Décembre 2013- Novembre 2016) SISI VIJANA est une initiative innovatrice qui travaille avec les jeunes de 13-23 ans du Burundi et de la RDC car travailler avec des jeunes hommes s'est avéré être une stratégie efficace pour redéfinir les normes de genre d'une société en faveur de l'égalité des genres. L’initiative est mise en œuvre par deux partenaires locaux à savoir REJA et JJB dans les provinces de GITEGA et NGOZI. L’objectif de l’initiative est de réduire les violences sexuelles basées sur le genre (SGBV) ainsi que la promotion de l’égalité des genres. En raison de l’absence des recherches sur la masculinité chez les jeunes dans la région des Grands Lacs, la première phase de cette initiative comprend une étude formative sur les attitudes des jeunes face à l'égalité des genres, la masculinité, la sexualité et la violence. Les résultats vont contribuer à l’élaboration d’un modèle régional d’engagement des jeunes garçons axé sur le genre transformatif. Le modèle sera utilisé pour renforcer les capacités des jeunes dans la prévention et la lutte contre les VSBG. [57 pages] Read More...
Norms and practices impeding gender equality in Burundian society
The overall goal of this study is to add to CARE Burundi’s understanding of men’s behaviours and attitudes and changes in those attitudes and behaviours with regard to promoting gender equality. The results of the study will be used to inform, drive and monitor policy development in promoting gender transformation. [41 pages] Read More...
Social Cost Benefit Analysis of CARE International’s Pathways Program Technical Report
The following technical report for the Pathways Social Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) provides the rationale and detail for all assumptions and data sources used in the SCBA. It is designed to provide the reader with a clear understanding of the different pieces of data employed in the creation of the SCBA model. The report concludes with the survey materials employed in the study. [72 pages] Read More...
A-Card Progress and Prospects
A-card (A stands for Agriculture) is a brand new micro-credit mechanism, the only example in Bangladesh aimed at providing smallholder farmers financing to a digital purchase of farm inputs at a low cost (10%) through the formal financial system linked to a debit card and ICT-enabled platforms.
Addressing the problem of smallholder farmers' lack of access to finance required a consultation among different stakeholders particularly in finding an effective solution. It eventually led to the idea and design of the A-card model. In this regard, the USAID Agricultural Extension Support Activity (AESA) project's interventions effectively engaged with different stakeholders, including small-holder farmers, microfinance institutions (MFIs), formal lenders (i.e. banks) and rural agricultural inputs retailers. The aim of this collaboration was to work for a common goal with differentiated responsibilities. [14 pages] Read More...
Addressing the problem of smallholder farmers' lack of access to finance required a consultation among different stakeholders particularly in finding an effective solution. It eventually led to the idea and design of the A-card model. In this regard, the USAID Agricultural Extension Support Activity (AESA) project's interventions effectively engaged with different stakeholders, including small-holder farmers, microfinance institutions (MFIs), formal lenders (i.e. banks) and rural agricultural inputs retailers. The aim of this collaboration was to work for a common goal with differentiated responsibilities. [14 pages] Read More...
Evaluation of the Team-Based Goals and Performance Based Incentives (TBGI) Intervention in Bihar
The Team-Based Goals and Performance-Based Incentives (TBGI) intervention, which CARE conceptualized, developed, and implemented as part of the Ananya program in Bihar, leverages the power of incentives and lessons from motivational theory on teamwork and goal-setting to help improve maternal and child health. Under the intervention, CARE set targets for the percentage of eligible beneficiaries in a subcenter catchment area who should have adopted each of seven key health behaviors or goals (Box 1). All frontline health workers (FLWs) in a given subcenter, including the accredited social health activists (ASHAs), Anganwadi workers (AWWs), and the subcenters’ auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), received nonmonetary incentives (consisting of small household items) if their subcenters met five of seven goals in a given quarter. The intervention explicitly sought to encourage teamwork and cooperation among FLWs by providing these incentives for achievements by the subcenter as a whole rather than by individual FLWs, and by providing FLWs with information on the concept and importance of teamwork. It included additional elements to motivate the FLWs in each subcenter, such as a service pledge they recited together and a certificate of recognition for subcenters that met their targets in all quarters. Overall, the intervention was expected to lead to improvements in the incentivized outcomes and to broader changes in related, but nonincentivized, outcomes through increased FLW motivation and teamwork. [82 pages]
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Integrated Family Health Initiative: Catalysing change for healthy communities
Recent trends in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), nutritional status, immunization and family planning, as highlighted in Figure 1, 2, 3 and 4, indicate that there are substantial gaps in achieving related MDG goals 4 and 5.
Despite recent gains and commitments from the Government of Bihar (GoB) and active leadership of key stakeholders to improve health infrastructure and outcomes, deep-rooted problems limit the government’s ability to affect lasting change. Persistent barriers include poor quality and availability of frontline and primary health center level services and staff, limited access to services by neglected and marginalized populations, lack of accurate data, lack of effective program management, weak training systems, absence of supervision in health facilities, poor functional integration of interventions, inadequate public health infrastructures, and an underdeveloped and unregulated private sector.
With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Integrated Family Health Initiative (IFHI) program seeks to support the GoB to improve family health outcomes statewide as well as build their leadership and ownership towards these services. Ultimately this is to accelerate the progress toward MDG 4 to reduce child mortality and MDG 5 to improve maternal health. [12 pages] Read More...
Despite recent gains and commitments from the Government of Bihar (GoB) and active leadership of key stakeholders to improve health infrastructure and outcomes, deep-rooted problems limit the government’s ability to affect lasting change. Persistent barriers include poor quality and availability of frontline and primary health center level services and staff, limited access to services by neglected and marginalized populations, lack of accurate data, lack of effective program management, weak training systems, absence of supervision in health facilities, poor functional integration of interventions, inadequate public health infrastructures, and an underdeveloped and unregulated private sector.
With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Integrated Family Health Initiative (IFHI) program seeks to support the GoB to improve family health outcomes statewide as well as build their leadership and ownership towards these services. Ultimately this is to accelerate the progress toward MDG 4 to reduce child mortality and MDG 5 to improve maternal health. [12 pages] Read More...
Evaluation of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Continuum of Care Services (CCS) Intervention in Bihar
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Continuum of Care Services (CCS) intervention was conceptualized and implemented by CARE as part of the Ananya program in Bihar.1 The intervention involves the provision of ICT-enabled mobile-phone-based tools for frontline workers (FLWs) that aim to increase the coverage and quality of services that FLWs provide, enhance their communication with beneficiaries, and facilitate supervision (Box 1 summarizes the features of the ICT-CCS tool). [123 pages] Read More...
Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation Framework for the Bihar Initiative
The Family Health Initiative in Bihar, India (referred to in this report as the “Bihar Initiative”) is one of the foundation’s flagship programs. It represents a new approach to investing in global health, with the goal of yielding greater impacts on health outcomes and mortality, and accelerating progress toward Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. In particular, the Bihar Initiative takes an integrated approach to improving reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health by leveraging and bundling services and delivery mechanisms from several of the foundation’s Global Health Strategies to improve uptake and coverage across the continuum of family health care. These strategies include Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health; Family Planning; Nutrition; Vaccine Delivery; Tuberculosis; Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases; Pneumonia; and Neglected and Other Infectious Diseases. [60 pages] Read More...
Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation for the Ananya Program (Family Health Initiative in Bihar)
In 2010, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Family Health Initiative in Bihar, India (now named “Ananya”, a Sanskrit word meaning “unique” or “unlike others”). The goals of the Ananya program (2010–2015) are to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality; malnutrition; fertility; and morbidity from infectious diseases by developing and implementing innovative and integrated health solutions that involve both the public and private sectors. More specifically, the program aims to expand the reach, coverage, and quality of (1) essential primary health and nutrition services for infants, children, and women of reproductive age; and (2) diagnostic and disease-control services for infectious diseases, including pneumonia, diarrhea, tuberculosis, and visceral leishmaniasis. [68 pages] Read More...