Standard Project Report 2016
implementation and community participation while ownership of the programme is still emerging. The overall National Capacity Index, measured through an assessment during a joint government and WFP stakeholder meeting, increased just slightly from 2015.
Progress Towards Gender Equality
Beneficiaries of the nutrition component were primarily young women and children aged 6-59 months. WFP recognised that in a typical beneficiary household, women were not usually the decision-makers and therefore might not be in a position to influence positive nutrition behaviours. Therefore, in addition to clinic-based nutrition education and courtyard sessions with a mix of family members including adolescent girls who can be targeted earlier and mothers-in-law who have power in the family, WFP facilitated male peer group behaviour change communication( BCC) meetings. This approach aimed to create an enabling environment to support women’ s empowerment, gender equality and household adoption of positive nutrition behaviours. To mitigate defaulting and support women in the advanced stages of pregnancy and mothers with very young babies, follow-up anthropometric measurements were made during household visits, and the women could nominate an alternate to collect supplementary food from the distribution centres.
The proportion of households where men and women took decisions together on how to use cash, vouchers and food, declined from 52 percent in 2015 to 37 percent in 2016. Follow-up with staff in sub-offices confirmed that more women were autonomously taking these decisions within their households. This increase was likely related to the number of men who migrated for work opportunities, leaving more women in charge of their households.
School feeding continued to promote gender equality at the community level through the essential learning package, which included discussions on pertinent gender issues, such as the importance of girls ' education, girls’ mobility, consequences of girl child marriage( e. g., negative impact of dowry and early pregnancy). School feeding directly advocated for an end to child marriage through awareness raising among students, teachers and community members as an integral part of its essential learning package.
In order to enhance the impact of women’ s leadership in school management committees( SMCs), 1,250 male and 2,500 female SMC members received leadership training that included gender sensitisation, education and advocacy, which was expected to increase female committee members’ participation in decision-making. Female leadership in the committees increased to 45 percent in 2016, closer to the 50 percent or higher target.
In 2016, the 80:20 male to female ratio in school feeding capacity strengthening trainings for the Government and non-governmental organizations( NGOs) remained concerning. The number of available female participants from the Government is still a major challenge, related to embedded social barriers against women adopting leadership positions.
The school meals initiative promoted women’ s empowerment by providing regular income to female cultivators from whom the vegetables for the hot meals were purchased. The 570 women received skills training through a collaborative effort involving the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Agricultural Extension, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations( FAO) and cooperating partner BRAC. Mothers’ clubs were formed in communities with the school meals initiative. Approximately 13,780 mothers were oriented on nutrition, health and hygiene behaviour, and on the importance of education through these clubs to enhance their role as change agents in their communities.
Under Enhancing Resilience to Natural Disasters and the Effects of Climate Change( ER), 317 participant-led management committees were formed, of which 81 percent were led by women. All committee members were trained in cash and food payment modalities. Leaders organized group tasks and conducted cash distribution for the group members. The increase in women holding leadership positions contributed to their empowerment, and is expected to improve their confidence, mobility and social dignity. In more than 80 percent of households, female and male members jointly made the decision on the utilisation of cash. These figures are encouraging. Recognising that women are typically vulnerable in the public domain and, unlike men, face difficulties in being socially permitted to migrate in search of work, the programme provided a supportive environment for the participation of female workers, with the provision of childcare, tents, access to drinking water and gender-segregated toilets. As a result of their involvement, the female participants showed more assertiveness, willingness to speak in group events, and reported their increasing involvement in decision-making at the household level. The ER’ s Saemaul Zero Hunger Community Project outcome study noted appreciable positive changes in six important determinants of women’ s empowerment: possessing domestic animals( increased from 31 percent to 56 percent), possessing productive assets( from 21 to 53 percent), contributing to the expenditure of the household( from 65 to 74 percent), active participation in the decision-making of the family( from 83 to 93 percent), having a strong opinion on reproduction / using contraceptives( from 46 to 93 percent), and participation in community decision-making( from 2 to 59 percent).
Bangladesh, People ' s Republic of( BD) 22 Country Programme- 200243