Women and Girls First
SDC up-scales the “Women and Girls First” program of its priority partner UN Population Fund in southern Shan, where no other donor is present. The program strengthens government, civil society and ethnic health providers’ systems to be responsive to the needs of young people related to sexual reproductive health and rights. It improves access to comprehensive gender-based violence, mental health and psychosocial support services, and enhances social cohesion.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
Myanmar |
Health Gender nothemedefined
Primary health care
Reproductive health & rights Sexual & gender-based violence |
01.05.2020
- 30.04.2023 |
CHF 4’450’000
|
- Systems are responsive to the needs of women, girls and young people regarding sexual reproductive health and rights, the right to safety from violence and safety in emergencies, are adopted and implemented.
- Improved access to a quality, compre-hensive, rights-based package of integrated sexual reproductive health & rights, gender based violence & mental health & psychosocial support services.
- Enhanced community resilience and social cohesion towards realisation of sexual reproductive health and rights, gender based violence and mental health and psychosocial support outcomes.
- Strengthened capacity of authorities to plan, implement and monitor Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Mental Health & Psychosocial Support & Gender Based Violence policies.
- Increased availability of integrated quality services delivered by governmental and non-governmental service providers.
- Increased demand for Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Gender Based Violence and Mental Health & Psychosocial Support information and services through awareness raising & empowerment of women, girls & young people.
- Positive coping strategies, social norms that support equality & non-violent behaviour reinforced through individual, family & community engagement.
- United Nations Population Fund
-
Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation HEALTH
POPULATION POLICIES/PROGRAMMES & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY
Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation Basic health care
Reproductive health care
Ending violence against women and girls
Cross-cutting topics Crisis prevention
The project also supports partner organisation improvements
Aid Type Project and programme contribution
Project number 7F10446
Background | Women and girls in Myanmar carry extraordinary burdens as poverty and gender discrimination are compounded by armed conflict and inter-communal violence. Over 985’000 people across Myanmar are in need of humanitarian assistance ; more than 273’000 displaced people – of which 69% are women and children – remain in camps as a result of conflict, violence and inter-communal tensions. In the geographical focus area Shan State a particularly high amount of the population is marked as vulnerable because of different factors including, poverty, armed conflict, statelessness, movement restrictions, malnutrition and severe psychological distress. The knowledge of young people about sexual and reproductive health is very low (only 8.4% of young women know about AIDS), which is a great risk for them to engage in unsafe practices. The COVID-19 pandemic and continuous movement restrictions aggravated the risk factors and rendered especially women and girls even more vulnerable: Gender-Based Violence incidents are expected to be much higher than the reported 15% in the last national survey in 2016. SDC is well positioned with its office in Taunggyi, southern Shan to support upscaling the program. Also, operationally SDC will provide added value as an additional donor through programmatic links with the Women, Peace and Security sub-strategy of the Joint Peace Fund, and SDC’s health and civil society partners. |
Objectives | Women, girls and young people who are the furthest behind in conflict affected states realise their sexual and reproductive health and rights and fulfil their potential through improved gender equality, strengthened community support systems and prevention of gender based violence. |
Target groups | 65’000 women and girls in conflict affected, remote and hard-to-reach communities in 5 Townships in southern Shan State, with a special focus on internally displaced population (IDP) and host communities and on reaching girls and adolescents, women and girls with a disability, elderly women as well as supporting the needs of LGBTQIA+ persons, people living with AIDS/HIV and people who inject drugs. Men and boys are also targeted as part of the gender based violence prevention interventions, but also aims to ensure positive sexual reproductive health and rights outcomes for them, their female partners and families. |
Medium-term outcomes |
|
Results |
Expected results: Results from previous phases: During the entry phase, a baseline assessment was conducted in southern Shan State, a stakeholder mapping and service gap analysis were done in three townships as preparation for upscaling the programme. At the same time, pilot activities were implemented with Swiss Humanitarian Aid funding in three townships in southern Shan. Technical support was given to strengthen capacity of partners to provide comprehensive services, including prevention of gender based violence and response services for mental health and psychosocial support. |
Directorate/federal office responsible |
SDC |
Credit area |
Development cooperation |
Project partners |
Contract partner United Nations Organization (UNO) Other partners Contribution to UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
Coordination with other projects and actors | JPF sub-strategy on UN SC Resolution on Women, Peace and Security, SDC HA Social Infrastructure in Shan State, Access to Health, PHC, P4H, Paung Ku. |
Budget | Current phase Swiss budget CHF 4’450’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF 4’169’684 |
Project phases |
Phase
2
01.05.2023
- 31.12.2026
(Current phase)
Phase 1 01.05.2020 - 30.04.2023 (Completed) |