Guidelines

Through focus-group discussions, researchers facilitate questions on the following topics. These questions have been drafted by CARE’s Emergency team, drawing from the IASC Gender Handbook for Humanitarian Action:

 

Sex and Age

• What is the breakdown by sex and age of:
  • The disaster-affected population
  • Households headed by a single person or a child?
• What is the number of pregnant and breastfeeding women?
• What is the average family size and structure?

 

Impact of Emergency

• How has the emergency affected the community? Are women, men, girls and boys affected differently?
• What were social, political, cultural and security conditions like before the emergency? What has changed since?
• What specific risks has the emergency caused?

 

Vulnerabilities

• Who is vulnerable? What are they vulnerable to, and why? What are the different vulnerabilities of women, men, boys and girls? (Don’t assume only women and girls are vulnerable.)

 

Capacities and Coping Mechanisms

• How capable of coping and responding are women and men?
• What different coping mechanisms are women, men, boys and girls using? What resources or support are they relying on? How can your programme support the best coping mechanisms?

Gender Roles and Responsibilities

• What were the usual gender roles and responsibilities before the emergency? Have they changed since? (Be aware that men and women may give very different answers.)
• Who does what work? For example, household chores, care-giving, farming, earning cash income.
• Who controls resources and family assets?
  • Who makes decisions (formally and informally)?

 

Access and Participation

• Do women, men, boys and girls have enough access to humanitarian assistance?
• Who has been consulted about the humanitarian response and how? Are women and men both participating in assessment and programmes?

Social Organization and Cultural Context

• What social/cultural structures does the community use to make decisions? How do women and men participate in these?
• What is the role of religious and cultural practices, beliefs and institutions in the community? How do they affect gender roles?

 

Sector-specific Questions

Water and Sanitation

• What are the community’s water, sanitation and hygiene practices? How do they vary for women, men, boys and girls?
• How do women, men, girls and boys use water, and what are they responsible for (e.g. collection, cooking, sanitation, gardens, livestock). How do family members share water with each other (quantity and quality)?
• Who has access to and control of water and sanitation resources? Who is responsible for decisions and management?
• Are water points and sanitation facilities safe? Can people (especially women and children) use them safely? Are water points, toilets and bathing facilities located and designed for privacy and security?

Health

• How has the health of the population changed since the crisis? Are women and men affected differently by diseases or other health problems?
• What is the breakdown by sex and age of the crude mortality rate? Is there a disproportionate number of deaths among women, men, girls or boys? If so, why?
• Who provides health care to whom? For example, do local beliefs and practices let male health workers care for women?
• What are the local beliefs and practices on pregnancy and birth, disposal of dead bodies, washing, water use, cooking and animal care? Are any of these bad for women, men, girls or boys?
• Do women and men talk about and/or get information about health differently? What cultural and religious practices affect health care?

Non-food items

• What are the different NFI needs of women and men, by age and ethnic background? (Look at what they had before the emergency.)
• Do women and men have cash for NFIs?
  • What cultural practices affect women’s hygiene and sanitary needs, especially during menstruation?
• How does the community collect firewood? What types of cooking stoves do they use?
• What are the sleeping and bedding arrangements (including use of mattresses and blankets)?
• What clothes do women and men normally wear? What are their daily clothing needs? Do pregnant and breastfeeding women have specific clothing needs?
• How did destitute women and households headed by women get NFIs before the emergency?

Food Distribution

• Can all members of the community/household get and prepare food? Does food insecurity differ by gender?
• Who gets food aid on behalf of the household? Who decides how to use it?
• How is food shared within households? Who eats first?
• Are single-headed and child-headed households getting enough food?
• Are there any food taboos or restrictions for women, men, children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women?
• What are the eating habits of the population as a whole?
  • What are the cultural or religious food preferences of women and men in the community?

Nutrition

• How does nutritional status (<-2 z-score weight for height) break down by sex and age? Is any group (e.g. girls or boys) disproportionately affected? Why?
• What is the nutritional status of women of childbearing age? What are the levels of anemia?
• How are gender and social position connected to malnutrition?
  • What are the special nutritional needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women, people with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable groups?
• Are there any beliefs or practices that may affect the nutritional status of women, men, girls and boys differently?
• Are a lot of women having trouble breastfeeding? Are girl and boy babies breastfed differently?
• Do boys and men have the skills to prepare food for themselves?
• How are children fed when they are at school?
• Can households get sources of micronutrients?

Food Security

• What community and household power structures affect the use of food, land and other productive resources? Who (in the community and the household) controls these resources?
• How do women and men get food locally? Do they have equal access to the local market?
• Can both women and men get cash and food-for-work opportunities, credit and agricultural materials and services?
• How self-sufficient are households in particular crops?
• Do women, men, girls and boys have trouble getting food aid or reaching the local market or farmland because of weapons, land mines or other dangers?

Livelihoods

• What main livelihood assets (land, seed, livestock, equipment, access to markets) does the community need? How has the emergency affected these?
• What livelihood assets do women and men control? Has the emergency affected who controls what?
• What types of agriculture, farming, fishing, trade and food supply existed before the emergency? What role did women and men play in these sectors?
• What local practices affect ownership and distribution of agricultural land? What are women’s property and inheritance rights?
• What skills do women have? What skills do men have? What training does each group need?
• What tasks do local customs forbid women or men to do?
• How much time do women, men, girls and boys spend on unpaid work (fetching water, cooking, collecting firewood, caring for children, washing clothes etc.)?

Shelter

• Who builds shelters? How are women, men, girls and boys involved? Which groups (gender and age) may not be able to build their own shelters?
• How are shelter materials shared? How does this affect women and girls?
• What are the community’s cooking, washing and house cleaning practices?
• Do the toilet, washing, bathing and sleeping areas have latches and locks?
• Do households have materials for partitions to allow privacy?
• What are the shelters for girls and boys without parents like? Are they safe/ culturally appropriate?
• Do single women have separate and safe shelters? Is this culturally correct, or should they be with a male relative?
• Who owns land and property? What protection (laws, customs etc.) do women, men, girls and boys have for their land and property rights?

Education

• How has the emergency affected girls’ and boys’ access to education?
• How many adolescent girls and boys are out of school?
• What safety and access problems do schools have?
• Do girls and boys have equal access to school locations? Do they have equal access to all levels of schooling?
• Are some girls and boys stigmatized by their war experiences (e.g. being raped or a child soldier)? Does this stop them going to school?
• What are the direct and indirect costs for girls and boys to attend school?
• Do parents think the school is close enough for girls to get to? For boys? Is the way safe for girls and boys?
• Are the school’s toilets accessible and safe? Are there enough? Do girls and boys have separate toilets? Is water available?
• Does the school have male and female teachers? At all grade levels? What are their qualifications and experience?
• Do school staff know how to report and follow up harassment and SGBV? Do they have suitable materials and services to help boys and girls recover from SGBV?

Protection

• What are the specific protection needs of women, men, boys, and girls? What are the continued risks for each group (e.g. vulnerability to conscription)?
• What factors increase tensions and civilian casualty numbers, and how do they affect women, men, boys and girls?
• How does the spread of weapons affect women, men, boys and girls?
• How do human rights and humanitarian law violations affect women, men, boys, and girls differently?
• How does military presence affect the risks of SGBV for women, men, boys and girls?
• Can people safely report and seek redress for violations of humanitarian law? (This includes SEA by peacekeepers and humanitarian workers.)
• What are the community’s laws and customs on abductions, trafficking in humans, sex work, slave-like practices, SGBV, early/forced marriages and property rights? How do these affect women, men, boys and girls differently?