Putting women and girls at the forefront of UNICEF Afghanistan Programme: Gender and COVID-19 Update December 2020 /2020/Omid Fazel /2020/Omid UNICEF Afghanistan UNICEF © Background The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis on an unprecedented scale, affecting lives and communities worldwide. As a result of the circumstances brought on by COVID-19, children, adolescent girls and women face a myriad challenges. These range from an increased exposure to violence and early marriage, to significant loss of learning opportunities, diminished access to health facilities and devastating economic losses. Within this context, the unique needs of women and girls have not been adequately prioritized in response plans. In addition, information about women and girls’ experiences often remains hidden within existing data, obscuring the complexity, nuances and uniqueness of their situation. In Afghanistan, the COVID-19 crisis has aggravated pre-existing gender inequalities that hamper women’s access to services. For example, women’s access to health and gender-based violence (GBV) services has been decimated, and 67 percent of women cannot go to health centers without a male escort (Care International 2020). This is also confirmed by a recent Oxfam Study in Afghanistan. This report presents the second and last gender newsletter for the year 2020 in Afghanistan Country Office (ACO). The newsletter captures promising programme strategies that were developed and put to scale during the pandemic to address the unique needs of mainly women and adolescent girls. Key Strategies by ACO to Address Gender Issues Affecting Women and Girls in Afghanistan Promising Strategy#1: Engagement of women CSOs into gender COVID-19 responses Lack of access to information on COVID-19 by specific civil society organizations (CSOs), Voice of Women, social groups, such as women and girls, was highlighted Women Activities & Social Services Association as a critical issue affecting access to COVID-19 related (WASSA), and Action Aid Afghanistan (AAA). UNICEF information and services by women. A Risk and partners launched a targeted approach in Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) awareness raising at household level, using study in Afghanistan confirmed that 30 percent of mechanisms preferred by women and girls, in five women were aware of COVID-19, compared to 48 provinces, including Herat, Farah, Badghis, Ghor and percent of men, and that only 58 percent of women were rural Kabul. This ensures that women and girls have aware of COVID-19 symptoms, compared to 79 percent access to accurate information on COVID-19 and its of men. This lack of gender sensitive two-way implications on the safety, health and well-being on communication contributed to serious inequalities in themselves and their families. Since June, over 734,726 regard to access to critical information and services by women, girls, men and boys were reached with women compared to men. To address this inequality, information on COVID-19 and gender related issues. UNICEF Afghanistan engaged three women-focused Read more Beneficiaries reached with information 38563 1234 46545 Girls 16261 20072 1439 November 32195 October 1217 51567 Boys 14932 September 18418 11465 August 65799 1425 July 98335 Female 38069 38641 7808 June 55909 1760 98264 Male 33062 ©WASSA Herat/2020 35665 6081 Promising Strategy # 2: Alternative approach to reaching out to adolescent girls with WIFS amidst COVID-19 UNICEF Afghanistan’s Nutrition section devised an distribution has been piloted in the Karukh district of alternative model during COVID-19 pandemic to reach all Herat province, Kama district of Nangarhar province and adolescent girls with weekly iron folic acid supplements Garabagh in Kabul province -- all with strong results. It (IFA) to prevent anemia while schools were closed. This was also welcomed by all stakeholders, including model helped them to better reach adolescent girls who Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Education. The are not attending any form of school or staying at home nutrition section is expanding this model to three other due to COVID-19. To date, this community-based districts in the coming months. Girls Received IFA 12703 7753 7224 School girls 5268 3492 3228 Out of school girls ©UNICEFAfghanistan/2019/Maroof Kama Qarabagh Karokh 1 Strategy # 3: Scaling up prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) capacity Experience tells us that during pandemics or other emergencies, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) often increases, and timely reporting and response is often compromised. All beneficiaries of humanitarian aid must remain safe from sexual exploitation and abuse, so it is very important that humanitarian organizations and actors integrate PSEA into their COVID-19 preparedness and response. As part of the measures to address SEA and strengthen systems, UNICEF Afghanistan stepped up its role to ensure effective systems to prevent and respond to SEA for its staff, partners and its beneficiaries through targeted cascade trainings, awareness raising, and activation of clear reporting and redress mechanisms for all SEA cases. So far, around 2,745 staff, implementing partners and contractors PSEA hotline card, UNICEF Afghanistan have received training on PSEA and GBV. Promising Strategy 4#: Reaching out to women and girls with psychosocial support services through pair- social workers Safety and security concerns prevent women from taking up formal employment as frontline workers. Simultaneously, the lack of a female workforce hampers access to services by many Afghan women because of cultural norms that prevent women from accessing such services from a male health/social worker. For instance, learning from the model of community health workers that are recruited as a pair (husband and wife), Voice of Women (UNICEF’s partner in western region), is deploying social workers in pairs to facilitate critical psychosocial and referral services especially for women and girls. Use of social workers working as a pair for mobilization, safe referrals and case management, facilitated timely access to GBV services for women and Girls in Badghis. Since July 2020, over 130,267 girls, women, men and boys have received services. ©UNICEF Afghanistan/2020 Promising Strategy # 5: Meeting the dignity and sanitary needs of women and girls affected by COVID-19 During a pandemic or emergency, menstrual health and hygiene (MHM) needs become more pronounced because of movement restrictions, including lockdowns, and quarantine for women and girls. Being able to manage menstruation safely, hygienically, and with confidence and dignity, is critical for the health, education and dignity of girls and women, as well as overall gender equality. Millions of women and girls in Afghanistan were already struggling to meet their menstrual needs before the current crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation. During the Pandemic, UNICEF ACO emphasized the ©UNICEF Afghanistan/2020 importance of meeting the hygiene and dignity of 2 women and girls as a critical programming issue. In Herat water facilities and menstrual hygiene facilities remains a and Farah, in collaboration with the Directorate of top priority for the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) Women’s Affairs, UNICEF distributed hygiene kits section. During the first COVID-19 response, over 14,500 targeting women and girls. Secondly, ensuring access to women and girls received WASH services. Promising strategy # 6: Promoting the voice of Afghanistan girls through U-Report as an innovative tool to promote two-way communication Afghanistan has started using U-Report to promote What issue matters most to you as an Afghan girl? two-way-communication with its beneficiaries, including women and girls. U-Report is a social platform 59% developed by UNICEF, available via social media and Girls Health/Nutrition mobile phone, where youth can express themselves on issues that matter to them. The results of short surveys Girls Education are shared on the U-Report website. On the International Day of the Girl, girls made their voices Violence Against Girls heard on U-Report covering issues that affect them most. This platform will remain a critical mechanism to 13% 15% Menstrual Hygiene provide information, and also receive useful feedback 6% 8% from beneficiaries. For more information, please visit Others the website: www.ureportafghanistan.in Human Interesting Story: Scaling up routine immunization amidst COVID-19; polio workers on the frontline Tamara Abu Sham 16 May 2020 Jalalabad, Eastern Afghanistan: House-to-house polio immunization campaigns have been halted since the COVID-19 outbreak reached Afghanistan in late February, but the work of thousands of polio programme workers continues. Amidst the pandemic, workers are supporting families to ensure that children under one year receive childhood immunizations at health facilities, protecting them against numerous life-threatening vaccine-preventable diseases. The polio programme’s support of routine immunization in Afghanistan has made ©UNICEF Afghanistan/2020 important gains, especially in eastern Afghanistan, in the areas bordering Pakistan. Polio social mobilisers from the UNICEF-run Immunization Communication is a useful and cost-free process.’’ Network (ICN), support mother and child health referral services, and help families The work of polio mobilisers is even more valued during the COVID-19 keep track of their children’s health records. As the mobilisers are from the response. Vaccinator