Innovations from the FieldGender mainstreaming from the ground up

Phase 2

An IDS-WFP action research partnership, 2015-16

Aims of Innovations from the Field

A WFP-IDS action learning initiative to•Understand what already works to mainstream gender equality in WFP field programmes, and where improvements are needed•Share that learning and knowledge effectively within WFP•Apply lessons to strengthen gender-responsive practice across WFP •Inform critical thinking on gender mainstreaming and contribute to better practice globally

Pilot phase 2013 – 14 in five WFP country offices: Guatemala, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi and Senegal ( internal WFP focus)

Second phase 2015 – 17: continuation with four pilot countries, work with new countries including Lebanon, Cambodia, Benin and focus on global knowledge sharing and advocacy

PAL Context: Gender at WFP Lebanon- Young office operating in complex

emergency in middle income country

Gender actions taken- Appointment international gender focal

point in 2015- Appointment 6 national gender focal

points - Action plan and TOR completed- PAL program with IDS and WFP

PAL

• Identifying questions and gaps Understanding gender mainstreaming in WFP

• What are the most important issues to explore?

• How should we do it?Developing PAL plans

• Who do we want to share knowledge with?• What are the most effective ways to do so?

Developing a knowledge sharing

strategy

PAL program activities Lebanon

•November mission : obtain an understanding of the context and launch program

•Field visits, briefings, and Interviews with members of WFP Lebanon country and sub offices, and with relevant partners •Workshop with sub-offices to get common understanding of gender mainstreaming in WFP and plan PAL learning enquiries• Integrated bottom up approach Focus on questions that are based on experiences from the field staff

•Current mission: document and analyse the results of PAL enquiries, planning of completion, knowledge sharing and input to gender mainstreaming of WFP. Allocate budget accordingly

Results: Beirut Sub-officeHas access to purchasing power through the e-card

economically empowered women?

Data needed•Operational definition of empowerment

•Quantitative and qualitative data from before and after the introduction of the e-card quantitative and qualitative

•WFP quantitative data from PDM before and after the e-card introduced in October

– 197 HH January 2013-September 2013

– 258 October –February 2014

Lessons and findings – Changes in empowerment cannot be measures by PDM data

Different questions in different PDM – Empowerment not clearly operationalized; – 3 basic questions on food are missing: who decides what to buy,

% of e-card in total expenditures, level of debt

Additional data : Focus group discussions (FGD) and interviews. Preliminary findings include:

– WFP card is first credit card ever for respondents– Illiterate people have problem understanding ATM. More women

than men are illiterate. – Women and men buy food. Women decide what to buy, men

buy what women decide both in Syria and Lebanon– Problems with identification papers affect mobility and thus

access to e-cards and shops, services, school.

Zahle Sub-Office How have the cuts affected school attendance of both boys and girls? Data needed

•School attendance and withdrawal before and after the introduction of capping quantitative and qualitative•Importance of education•Contribution of WFP card in total household and food expenditures

Lessons and findings PDM cannot answer questions on gender and school attendance

–PDM does not ask about school attendance

–No questions about age and sex and school withdrawal

–No questions about age and sex and income generation

–Cuts are made in same period as school holiday

–PDM data show WFP card can be central and important, sometimes contributing more than 60% of food costs but most expenses, housing, transport, medication not covered.

Additional qualitative data collected from 84 persons (men and women and teachers)

Lessons and findings • Education at least until 9th grade (15 age) highly valued for

child intellectual, social and psychological growth

• Men say that a certificate helps with jobs and better position in the Syrian army. Education protects.

• Women say that girls need to be in school to prevent early marriage, unpaid care and other homework. Girls are better students

• Most children are in informal schools in the settlements• Difficulties adapting to formal Lebanese curriculum,

bullying, lack of space in Lebanese schools, transportation and other fees.

• Withdrawal is related to transportation fees, extra expenditures, harassment by the teachers, not food.

Lessons and findings

• Boys withdrawn from school are engaged in risky jobs, working as a daily worker/assistant for a carpenter, barber, blacksmith and working in agriculture. Acceptable for girls to work in jobs; hairdresser

• Child laborers face verbal and physical harassment, violence, exploitation, fatigue, diseases, they get paid between 5000-30000 L.P. per week.

Results: Qobayat Sub-Office What are the fertility effects of the safety

program?

• Data needed: Increase or decrease in the

number of pregnancies and live births after the introduction of the safety net

• Increase or decrease in abortions

• Uptake of family planning

• Fertility desires and choices and options

Quantitative data

• PDM data cannot answer question on increase or decrease in the number of pregnancies and live births because it only registers the eligible not the excluded people who are in the safety net

• Sex and age not consistently recorded• Verification includes both eligible and not-eligible people

but registers <5 yrs. We cannot know if there is a new born• UNHCR collects data but raw data not shared• Analysis of data of 1000 HH incomplete and sts

• No data on increase or decrease in abortions as it is illegal

Inconclusive data on fertility

Blue / Red 2.3 3.2 3.3 3.0

Nr of children decreasing among HH never eligibleDecrease in nr of children after cut of satety net among eligible HH

Number of < 2 y.o. / 1000 HHs Dec 2013 July 2014 Dec 2014 June 2015 Dec 2015 Dec /Jun 2015

1000 HHs eligible for Safety Net 2014-2015 no data 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.7 -28%

1000 HHs never eligible for Safety Net (regular assistance) no data 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 -20%

Qualitative data collected to complement PDM

• Focus groups discussions with 36 women and 33 men in 3 settings, and interviews with 2 UNHCR female volunteers, a widowed mother, 2 male chawich, political leader and 3 male refugee

Findings:• People want children for many reasons that are not related

to safety net. To continue the family, because children are part of life of being human, to replace personal and collective losses, to help in life. All children are equally welcome, but slight boy preference Fertility pressures. Infertility is stigmatizing

• People are more careful about having children due to their refugee status.

• Plan families using contraceptive pills, IUD and, natural contraceptives/rhythm methods. Condom use low. Abortions in private clinics

• Access to services and income impaired as a result of difficulties with renewing papers.

Findings:• SSN was important for the elderly, “non-autonomous”

persons who cannot work. It reduced overall pressure on men to generate income

• People felt SSN were valuable but poorly managed. They felt exclusion was decision against them as a person. Special concern about the elderly.

• “People over 60 will feel useless and a burden to the family” (male respondent, IDI)

• Pregnant women had to share the benefits with the whole family.

• Nobody felt the SSN alone determined pregnancy decisions. “ I will not get a newborn for an extra 13 dollar per month” male respondent FGD Bire

Wider PAL Learning Synthesis • Gender is not just about parity. • Gender Intersectionality with other socio-demographic

characteristics: age, education, household compostion Safety net cuts affect the whole family, who is affected depends on gender, age, HH composition etc.

• Projects can lead to unintended/unexpected positive or negative impacts for men, women and children. Gender roles can harm and marginalize boys and girls >education good example

• Gender inequities and causes of structural disempowerment affect WFP programs. Often causes are outside its mandate and collaboration with others is needed at field level –referral by monitors- and policy level

• Gender relations, norms and ideologies are dynamic; cultural adaptation. WFP senior management and field staff can reinforce this message

Wider PAL Learning Synthesis • PDM M&E system alone does not yield data to measure gender

performance and program impact. • An understanding of context is fundamental for mainstreaming

gender and identifying gender dimensions• Field monitors appointed as gender focal points can–with

support- contribute to realistic and context specific program deisgn, implementation and M &E. Without support they are interested but passive.

• Gender mainstreaming at WFP Lebanon has made a great start.

• Senior management plays crucial role in growing staff confidence and skills through systematically integrating gender, recognizing the focal points abilities, and allocate time.

Develop knowledge sharing strategy

• Finalize analysis and documentation of learning enquiries

• Each office finishes PPT for sharing in WFP with Lebanon senior management and between offices and gender focal points

• Focal points develop these presentations and a two pages write up of summary results for Global learning meeting in May. (1 or 8th April)

• IDS/WFP make a short video of whole global program

Developing a knowledge sharing strategy

Other national and global sharing options & ideas

•Gender focal points present PAL results to senior management and partners discuss integration in 2017 program design

•Regional conference to share PAL results and lessons learned by WFP Lebanon focusing on gender mainstreaming, e-cards, M &E

•Mainstream gender by yearly PAL prior to annual planning to check gender impact. A bottom up and tailored approach using gender as an entry point might reduce transaction costs of changing PDM and other tools. It can improve motivation of staff by recognizing and enhancing their role and capacities to contribute to program design from the ground up.

•Other ideas?