Building Gender Sensitive Resilience through Women’s Economic Empowerment Lessons Learned from Pastoralist Women in Ethiopia  

The paper explores how the overlap of a double marginalized identity produces particular disadvantages for pastoralist women in Ethiopia, and how the Oxfam intervention in the Somali region addresses the connection between these disadvantages and poverty and power.

The Oxfam intervention in the Somali region addressed the connection between pastoralist women’s disadvantages and poverty and power through four main strategies, based on the assumption that the advancement on women’s rights would be a logical step after achieving a better economic and social position and condition in Somali communities.

These strategies were:

  • Raising awareness, building capacities, and educating women and girls
  • Mobilizing and organizing pastoralist women
  • Engaging new key stakeholders (traditional and religious leaders, youth, etc. in women’s issues
  • Providing sustainable and effective livelihoods alternatives

Source: Oxfam

Date of Publication: March 10, 2021

The Use of IVR to Support Monitoring and Evaluation of Media Interventions: A Case Study of the VOTO System in Rwanda

In this report the authors explore the potential that IVR systems have as both a distribution and an M&E tool, noting the limitations the current state of IVR technology imposes.

It describes a pilot study in Rwanda using the VOTO IVR platform to 1) distribute content and 2) collect quantitative and qualitative monitoring and evaluation data regarding a media program in Rwanda. In addition to showing that the VOTO system worked well as a distribution tool (though expensive) – the findings suggest great potential for the use of IVR as an M&E tool.

Source: Annenberg School of Communication

Date of Publication: January 9, 2021

Golden Star Resources Limited – Malaria Private Sector Case Study

Golden Star Resources Limited (GSR), a gold mining company with a 17-year history of gold production in Ghana—a country with a century-long history of gold production—ranks as one of the world’s largest producers of gold. GSR operates two mines in the Western Region of Ghana: Wassa and Prestea. The company employs 3,902 stadd, including 1,859 full-term and fixed-term employees and 2,043 third party contractors.

For more than a decade, GSR has incurred significant costs to dinance malaria treatment for its stadd and their dependents. Given the high prevalence of malaria in GSR mining communities, the corresponding employees’ high absenteeism rate due to malaria, and the dinancial impacts of treatment, the company chose a more cost-eddective approach by ramping up its malaria prevention strategy to lower its malaria burden

The distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) formed a major component of GSR’s enhanced strategy. In 2018, the company distributed 3,000 ITNs for stadd, their dependents, and the surrounding communities. They also provided insecticide sprays and protective clothing for stadd. The company tracks and reports data on employee malaria cases through its clinics, and provides malaria treatment services for employees and their dependents.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, UKAID

Date of Publication: December 30, 2020

Smart Client and Smart Couple: Digital Health Tools to Empower Women and Couples for Family Planning

To prepare women and men for more effective FP decision-making communication before, during and after a counseling visit, under its global activities, the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), a project under the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) developed two “smart client” tools – one prioritizing women, and one prioritizing couples. The tools are mobile-phone, SMS- and interactive voice technology (IVR)- based and are designed to provide information and introduce practical skills to help women and their partners be informed, empowered and confident clients.

Both tools were pretested in Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, and larger user studies were conducted with both tools in Kaduna, Nigeria to evaluate the effects of the tools. Participants in the user studies had very positive feedback about the content and their experience using the tools. Furthermore, both tools had a significant positive impact on users’ beliefs and intentions related to family planning.

The Smart Client and Smart Couple tools have been developed with the intention that they can be adopted and adapted by other FP projects seeking another channel for reaching their target audience.

The following tools and reports are available:

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: October 13, 2020

Using Digital Technology for Sexual and Reproductive Health: Are Programs Adequately Considering Risk?

This commentary follows the publication of Marie Stopes International’s randomized control trial in Bangladesh which showed that mHealth to promote contraceptive use increased women’s report of gender-based violence.

The commentary describes why use of mobile technology entails risks, and outlines ways in which programs can minimize risks to clients when communicating on sensitive sexual and reproductive health topics. These risks are essential for programs to consider during the Covid epidemic too, since many health organizations are pivoting to digital strategies and remote communication, which may increase risk of inadvertent disclosure SRH service or product use.

Source: Marie Stopes International

Date of Publication: September 3, 2020

IAS Conference E-posters

Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria presented two e-posters at the just concluded 23rd International AIDS Conference.

The two posters titled Reinforcing COVID-19 Risk Communication and Community Engagement Response in Nigeria Through the Use of Mobile Curriculum andCOVID-19 Response Through 3-2-1 Digital Mobile Technology In Nigeria respectively were virtually presented on the poster virtual exhibition July 10th and 11th 2020. and is currently on the COVID-19 IAS Conference.

These posters are based on the Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria support to the NCDC’s Risk communications and community engagement (RCCE) activities on the coronavirus pandemic through the United States Agency for International Agency (USAID) funding. .

Source: Breakthrough ACTION/Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: August 5, 2020

Addressing Reproductive, Maternal, and Child Health and Family Planning Needs of Young, First-Time Parents in the Eastern Region of Burkina Faso

This brief describes a project launched in April 2018 by the the Evidence to Action (E2A) Project and Pathfinder International Burkina Faso for young first-time parents (FTPs) in the Fada and Diapaga districts in the Eastern Region of Burkina Faso. The full report is here.

The FTP project “Supporting Reproductive Health Services for Young First-Time Parents in Burkina Faso” focused on women under the age of 25 who are pregnant for the first time or have one child and their husbands. The project included package of community- and facility-level interventions to improve FP- and RMNCH-related knowledge, attitudes, communication, decision making, and use by young first-time mothers (FTMs)/FTPs to achieve the following objectives:

  • Increase FTP access to and utilization of clinical antenatal/postnatal care (ANC/PNC), delivery services, newborn care, and family planning (FP)
  • Increase demand among FTPs for RMNCH care, facility-based delivery, healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP), and FP
  • Create a friendly environment for FTP health action among household and community influencers, including health providers

Source: Evidence to Action (E2A) Project

Date of Publication: August 3, 2020

Reaching Young Married Women & First-Time Parents for Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancies

This technical brief discusses Pathfinder’s experience in Burkina Faso, implementing a project to reach young married women, first-time parents, and their key influencers, for healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy through contraceptive use.

Burkina Faso has a high total fertility rate and low contraceptive rates. Girls and young women tend to marry early, and most sexual activity occurs in the context of marriage. Despite a significant need for timely and accurate sexual and reproductive health information and services, there is a dearth of targeted sexual and reproductive health interventions for young married women and first-time parents.

Between 2012 and 2015, Pathfinder worked with the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health and local partners to develop and implement a project that has supported increased contraceptive use among young married women and first-time parents for healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. This technical brief discusses Pathfinder’s implementation experience working, as well as how the project responded to an existing gap in evidence, about how to reach this hard-to-reach population, through intensive qualitative and monitoring documentation.

Source: Pathfinder International

Date of Publication: August 3, 2020

Improving Family Planning Outcomes for First-Time Parents in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem of Tanzania (Brief)

This brief describes an initiative launched in Tanzania in 2018. Evidence to Action (E2A) Project and Pathfinder International worked together, focusing on young first-time parents (FTPs) in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem of Tanzania as a new component of the Tuungane Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) project.

The Evidence to Action (E2A) Project and Tuungane collected quantitative and qualitative data that provided insights into FP-related outcomes of interest, including uptake of modern contraceptive methods and the underlying issues—such as FP attitudes, communication, and decision-making—that influence informed, voluntary FP use.

Findings included the following:

  • Voluntary use of modern contraceptive methods increased from 35% to 66% among FTM peer group members over the course of the intervention
  • There was over a 750% increase in oral contraceptive use among FTM peer group members
  • Of the peer group members who adopted FP over the course of the intervention, the majority were new FP users
  • Qualitative findings indicate that the FTP intervention helped both married and unmarried FTMs deepen their understanding of the benefits healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP)
  • Peer group FTMs noted improved communications about FP with their partners
  • FTM peer group members reported sharing their knowledge and experiences with others in their communities, suggesting a diffusion of key messages and ideas beyond those directly engaged in the program

Source: Evidence to Action (E2A) Project

Date of Publication: August 3, 2020

In-Kind Incentives and Health Worker Performance in El Salvador

In this project in El Salvador, public sector community health teams were awarded points for targets met on maternal and child health outcomes. Targets were measured at baseline and every six months for the next 18 months, and points were redeemable for in-kind incentives like computers and air conditioners to be shared in the workplace.

After 12 months, teams eligible for in-kind incentives performed better than control teams, with significantly higher average effects across all 4 domains; an increase of 0.17 SD in community outreach, 0.14 SD in quality of care, 0.10 SD in timeliness of care, and 0.096 SD in utilization of health services.

Source: Inter-American Development Bank

Date of Publication: July 9, 2020