Strengthening the Livelihoods of Refugees in Uganda.

Program Description
Gender Analysis:
Gender Dynamics within the target population: Adjumani settlements are primarily occupied by refugees from South Sudan. The population composition of the settlements in Adjumani is approximately 85% women and children (under 17) as most men were either killed during the conflict or when they are back to South Sudan with occasional visits to Uganda to check on their families. Because of this, the workload and demands on these women is great, as they are left with sole responsibility of engaging in income generation activities in order to provide for the basic needs of their family. However, this also contradicts with the traditional cultural norms, beliefs and practices, which give more power to the men than the women. This results in inequality in terms of roles, workload, power to make decisions, access and control of resources, opportunities for skills development and market engagement in markets.

The Risks and implementation challenges for this project posed by the dynamic: As most livelihoods interventions target women and girls, the few men who are in the settlements are left out and tend to develop negative attitudes towards supporting the women, negatively impacting the success of interventions. Thus, this project will ensure that men too are encouraged to participate in the farmer groups.

How program activities will mitigate these protection risks and be made accessible to vulnerable groups (particularly women and young people especially girls): In recognition of the gender and ethnic imbalances that exist in project areas, CAFU will ensure equal representation and inclusion at all levels. CAFU will encourage Self-Help-Groups (SHGs) committees and farmer based groups to include at least 60% women in management and training activities in line with the UN standard. The project will provide technical assistance to build the capacity of target beneficiaries to implement a gender mainstreaming strategy within the project cycle to promote gender equity.

CAFU is aware that women’s exclusion from decision-making at the household and community levels is a significant factor that contributes to gender inequalities, and this disparity is further exasperated in times of conflict. CAFU will proactively look for ways that women and men of all ethnic groups can participate equally and benefit and serve in various aspects of the project in a way that highlights the contributions and successes of both female and male participants, in order to build respect across genders and ethnic groups.

CAFU will ensure that distributions and training's will be held in locations where those with disabilities and older people are able to easily access it, and have assistance from others within the community and/or CAFU staff where needed.

CAFU will also consult with the local leaders and community to determine the best times for conducting the distributions and trainings in order to ensure that project activities do not interfere with household duties. CAFU will ensure that detailed data is collected during distributions, (including sex- disaggregated), in order to help identify the beneficiaries receiving assistance and will ensure that the most vulnerable are reached. As much as possible, even when a man is identified as the primary beneficiary, CAFU will request that he comes to the distribution with his wife as a way of encouraging the whole family to benefit from the project activities.

CAFU will ensure that protection issues are addressed across all program activities. Protection risks will be analyzed with input from the local leaders, community and SHGs in order to address those in each sector. Activities will be implemented with protection concerns in mind, making sure that the most vulnerable have access and that activities are not creating additional burdens or opportunities for protection issues.

CAFU will include M&E tools to ensure inclusion, as well as seeking community input on how to reach the most vulnerable. All activities will be done in coordination with community input, ensuring that the most vulnerable are spoken up for and that CAFU is not excluding anyone.