World Food Programme's workshop in Beirut to identify participatory action learning issues to support Syrian refugees.

1. Innovations from the Field
Gender mainstreaming from the ground up
Phase 2
An IDS-WFP action research partnership, 2015-16

2. 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

3. Program description
• E-card program WFP
• Etc etc

4. Beirut sub office
What works? PAL question Beirut office
Has the E-card program empowered women?
What evidence?
Data needed
•Before and after the introduction of the e-
card quantitative and qualitative
•Operational definition of empowerment so
we know what data to look for
•Identify where WFP can have influence

5. What do we mean by
empowerment
Different dimensions:
Economic empowerment, Socio-cultural
empowerment and access to services, Health
empowerment, Legal-political empowerment,
Psychological empowerment:

6. Dimensions of empowerment
where WFP can have direct
impact
Economic, card are a form of income
Equal access to food .food equality
Incentive to education via the school feeding
program,
food has direct multiple impacts on health,
education, and income, wellbeing & mental
health

7. Areas of empowerment where
WFP has limited influence
• Income. WFP card can be central and important, but most
expenses, housing, transport, medication not covered
>pressure on E-card
• Legal and political. Problems with identification papers
affect mobility and thus access to e-cards and shops,
services, school
• Refugees cannot work but high expenses > No labour
protection
• Gendered checkpoints; women are asked less often for ID
>does this improve women’s mobility or increase
harassment or both?

8. Data
• PDM before and after the e-card introduced in October
– 197 HH January 2013-September 2013
– 258 October –February 2014
– Limitations
– Changes cannot be answered

9. Reasons for limitations
– Different questions in different PDM
– 3 basic questions are missing: who decides what to buy,
% of e-card in total expenditures, level of debt
Lessons
– Include relevant questions related to women’s
empowerment
– Repeat these questions over time
– Enhance authority, capacity and sufficient time of
gender focal points to use and analyse the data to
inform programs

10. IF PDM cannot answer the
questions what’s next
• In depth interviews and focus groups discussions with
people who have been in Lebanon before the introduction
of the e-card.
– FDG did not answer the question because we did not
ask
– Two IDI with WFP staff

11. Interesting FGD findings
– Both men and women claim to buy food.
– Illiterate people have problem understanding ATM.
More women than men are illiterate.
– WFP card is first credit card ever for respondents
– Women know food needs better and therefore they
decide what to buy
– Man buy what women decide
– Food shopping behaviour and roles not changed from
Syria
– Legal obstacles –expired paper are a concern

12. IDI WFP staff
• Card reduces transaction and transport costs
(time and money) for beneficiaries and
WFP staff
• Card has greater flexibility about what to
buy what
• Unspent balance is kept on the card

13. Next steps: Fill data gaps
• Qualitative data FGD and in-depth
interviews with relevant people who can
speak about the changes –before and after
e-card
• WFP staff (3-5)
• Beneficiaries 2 FDG
• Hotline data –before and after e-card-

14. Identify program action
• Financial literacy training and using ATM
• ?

15. Finalize analysis and
documentation
• Ppt for global learning meeting in May
• Two pages write up
• Regional conference on e-cards and lessons
learned