CARE International in Ethiopia
Report on
Strategic Impact Inquiry on
Women’s Empowerment in Relation
to FGC Elimination Project in Awash
(EXTRACT)
Conducted in the Awash Fentale and Amibera Woreda from
November, 2005 through July 2006
Section A.
Process
These areas are covered in this section

Background

Methodology

Data collection

Research Questions

Dissemination
Young Afar woman caring for her baby during the focus group discussions
3. Background
The gender-related development index (GDI) world wide shows Ethiopia to be one
of the least developed and the Ethiopia DHS 2000 report states that Ethiopia
pastoralists’ poverty and livelihood indicators to be lower than the national
average. The current social position of pastoralist/rural women is characterised by
low personal autonomy and self-image and an absence of collective identity, social
leadership, political influence and institution support. This is in spite of the laws
and policies created to promote gender consciousness (HIWOT CARE 2005).
Afar rural women live in very poor conditions, have little social position within the
community, are affected by wide spread harmful traditional practices such as FGC,
and subjected to male dominated gender roles and marriage institutions. Although
the Afar pastoralist woman makes significant contribution towards the income and
security of her family, she is nevertheless, limited in household decision making
and community level planning.
CARE Ethiopia’s commitment to strengthening learning, analysis and impact
measurement in its programmes commenced in 1996 in the Afar region of the
Awash Fentale Woreda with the establishment of community based and managed
health care. This area was chosen not only because of the high levels of women
mortality and morbidity in pastoral communities but also to address the root
causes of the traditional harmful practices, conditions and marginal social position
of pastoralist/rural women within their communities. Between 1999 and 2003,
CARE Ethiopia (Awash Office), participated in a multi-country FGC elimination
research project initiated by CARE USA and funded by CAREs Africa fund. The
research project became the foundation for the FGC elimination project
implemented in the two Woredas, Awash Fentale and Amibera.
CARE Ethiopia’s Female Genital Cutting (FGC) elimination project is widely
considered to have been successful in identifying the fundamental issues of
women’s marginalization and rights denial in Ethiopia’s pastoralist context. The
FGC elimination project was associated with the aim of improving the health and
social status of Afar women and girls by eliminating the practice of FGC and other
harmful traditional practices, realisation of women’s rights, promotion of safe
reproductive health practices, awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS and
strengthening the community based health system.
It is generally believed that the project was successful in making a positive impact
on the health and social status of the Afar female population. This was achieved
through the implementation of strategies that focused on women’s empowerment
through advocacy, community participation. The final evaluation and report of the
FGC/PHC project in November/December 2005 stated that there has been ‘a
significant leap in awareness of FGC, HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhoea and family
planning
The number of people having awareness against FGC increased by 60%
and knowledge about family planning 40.50%.’
Comprehensive health education packages made by the project breaks the silence
among the community to discuss about the health effects of FGC and other
harmful practices and allowed the community to discuss this openly. The project
also brought behavioural change regarding discussion related to family planning
and other reproductive health issues and has empowered women by enabling
them to be present at meetings and openly discuss health related issues with their
male counterparts’
(CARE (2) 2005).
A typical village setting where many of the focus group discussions took place during the fieldwork
research.
4. Research Questions
CARE Ethiopia considers some basic questions along with what is described in the
Global Research Framework as “basic, impact and approach” research domains, all
being of prime interest for CARE Ethiopia. The formulated questions for the SII on
Women’s Empowerment: Awash FGC Elimination Project (CARE Ethiopia) as follows.
However Question No. 1 “How do Afar women define empowerment?’ will be the
main focus as this concept was submitted to CARE UK/USA.
4.1 Basic Questions
1. How do afar women define empowerment?
2. How have FGC practices changed over the past eight years?
3. Have changes in FGC practices over the last 8 years changed anything
about how women view their own empowerment/disempowerment?
Have they had any effect on how women even define empowerment
(agency based dimension of empowerment)
4. Have these changes had much to do with CAREs programming, or are
attributed to contextual changes (partly structural dimension of
empowerment).
5. What are pastoral institutions [defined as complexes of norms and
behaviours that persist over time by serving some collectively valued
purposes (Uphoff, 1986) or rules of the game (North, 1995)].
6. How the answer to #1to #4 relates with/affects these institutions.
7. Is FGC an institution or a behaviour that results from an institution?
4.2 Impact level questions
8. What evidence is there that FGC project interventions promote more
interdependent and accountable relationships between women and the
key people and institutions they engage in pursuit of their needs and
rights?(relational dimension of empowerment and equity).
9. What evidence is there that FGC projects promote a more responsible
and equitable enabling environment? (structural dimension of
empowerment and equity).
10. What evidence is there that FGC project interventions support
expansion of women’s abilities to identify, pursue, and achieve basic
needs and rights? (agency-based dimensions of empowerment and
equity).
4.3 Approach level questions
11. What types and mixes of interventions that have proven to be the
most effective, or counter-productive, in their impact on gender-equity
and women’s empowerment? How prevalent are such practices in the
FGC project?
5. Justification of methodology tools used
A descriptive qualitative research approach was used for the SII research process to
endeavour to understand the level of CAREs impact on the community in terms of
contribution to the increase of women’s empowerment and gender equity. The field
research involved in the SII focused on the Afar people in the Awash area in order to
interpret the level of understanding of women’s empowerment and gender equity,
with reference to the norms, behaviours, and attitudes that bind them together as a
community or group.
To understand any change or past activity that has impacted (positive or negative)
on women’s equality within the Afar communities, it was important to understand
and explore the interacting groups who share ethical principles, religious beliefs,
traditional customs and social values. In keeping with the principles of the SII
process, it was vital to develop the methodology in conjunction with the participation
of partners, the Afar people and external researchers.
5.1 Open Ended Questions.
Open ended questions for the Interview and Focus Group Discussions were selected
because the process allowed for unlimited response to each question, were noninvasive and the respondents were able to answer in detail and clarify their answers.
This method also contributed richness of detail in the gathered information and
allowed for additional factors, if any and not previously considered, to be included in
the inquiry.
5.2 In-Depth Interview
The purpose of this qualitative approach was to explore and interpret the perception
of women’s empowerment in relation to the Afar woman. Face to face interviews
have the highest response rates, allow the respondent to speak freely, permit longer
question time, and enables interviewers to ask more complex, probing questions.
The research team made every attempt to overcome bias with appropriate training of
the facilitating group, and would be recorded by a note taker and tape recorder.
5.3 Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
Focus group discussions (FGDs) enabled the researchers to gather approximately
eight to twelve (8-12) people to discuss the issues related to inequality and W/E.
The facilitators were able to present the predetermined open-ended questions to the
group, guide the content through the sub-questions and explore the issues by
encouraging the group members to contribute their views. The process was noninvasive and allowed views to be written by a note taker for later translation. The
process was also tape-recorded to ensure a back up of gathered data. FGDs were
important for the SII process because they allowed all members of the group to have
an opportunity to speak out, share ideas and perceptions. Care was taken to
encourage all participants to speak out and to identify any dominant participants.
Also, information gleaned from the FGDs enabled the issues to be further interpreted
and explored during future in-depth interviews.
5.4 Observation
Observation was an important factor during the FGD and interview process. It was
essential for a member of the data gathering team to observe the surroundings,
behaviour and reaction of community members during the discussions and assist the
facilitator in monitoring the behaviour of individuals or the situation. Observations
are also a vital part of qualitative research to add richness to the spoken data.
5.5 Field notes
Field notes were a vital part of the data collection as the SII process demands a
step-by-step analysis of the proceedings. They were compiled in the form of direct
observations, researcher inferences, analytic note taking, on-the-spot translation and
a personal journal. Field notes and inferences were presented as part of the main
text because of the richness of detail and the relevance to the whole research.
Although a substantial part of the field note documentation was observation,
translations in the field also significantly contributed. However, the team was
constantly challenged with the difficulty of working in three languages, Afar, Amharic
and English. Because the fieldwork was almost always conducted in the Afar
language, the research team was heavily reliant on the Afar speaking field work
team members.
This proved difficult and challenging at all times as the Amharic and English speaking
team members were unable to keep abreast of the incoming information and guide
the questioning. This often meant that debriefing sessions were intense and group
analysis identified areas for further investigation to produce clarity on specific areas.
Unfortunately the lapse of time and on-the-spot opportunity for more detailed
questioning were constant barriers to information gathering.
Although the Afar speaking research team members were instructed on probing and
other interview techniques, lack of experience in information gathering methods
possibly meant that vital information was not documented. Photographs were also
taken (with the permission of the group/individual) to support observations,
interpretations and conclusions.
6. Theoretical rationale
The collected data were construed by using the Interpretative approach. This
approach endeavoured to give meaning to the data collection through interpretation
of the views of the study group by the Afar researchers and the facilitators. In other
words, this approach incorporated the point of view of the Afar people (both
participants and researchers) from the beginning of the research process by taking
into account how they defined their situation and what the inquiry meant to them.
The gathered information included understanding and documentation of personal
views, reasons or motives for individual or collective actions and behaviour. The
‘first-order’ of interpretation was examined by the research team (international,
national and community) in order to extract underlying meaning of the data to
attempt understand related actions or events from a local perspective. This was an
important process as the ‘second-order’ of interpretation may eventually be linked to
future research process or programmes and general theoretical significance for a
broader level of understanding of the Afar community and Afar culture (Neuman
1994).
This method was appropriate for the Strategic Impact Inquiry because the collected
data and analysis were based on the explanations of the study group. The
interpretative approach then enabled the researcher team to attempt to give
meaning and understanding to the individual or communal views regarding social
behaviour and motives for understanding of past, present and, possibly future
actions with reference to women’s empowerment and gender equity.
7. SII design
The overall study design was cross-sectional and followed the guidelines of the global
research framework for Care’s SII on women’s empowerment. Qualitative research
techniques applied during the inquiry first explored and later interpreted the
knowledge, attitudes and practices of the Afar rural community in the Awash Fentale
and Amibera Woredas in the Awash region of Ethiopia and was conducted during the
period of March and April, 2006.
7.1 SII participants
The participants in the SII process were members from the CARE Addis Ababa and
Awash offices, local Awash partners, religious leaders, government organisations,
local community members and adult members from selected Afar rural villages. All
members of the selected villages were invited to participate and care was taken to
ensure there was no discrimination such as rank or importance within the
community.
7.2 Sample size
The sample size during the data collection period was dependent on the availability
and cooperation of the village members as many work away from their homes during
the day. Also, access to the remote, rural villages was dependent on the weather
conditions and the infrastructure within the area. However local knowledge ensured
that the sample size was adequate. Sometimes this meant moving to another village
or negotiations with village elders to encourage village members to take part in the
interview process.
7.3 Sample selection
The sample selection was chosen from the Woredas of Awash Fentale and Amibera
because of CAREs previous association and work in those areas. The villages chosen
by the research team within each district/Kebele was based on the degree of
intervention by CARE i.e. more work in some villages and less in others. These areas
complied with the purpose of the SII, which was to ascertain any degree of impact
CARE had made on the underlying causes of poverty, rights denial and women’s
empowerment in the area. The sample selection was at the discretion of the
participants of the workshop and CARE Awash staff as both bodies had in-depth
knowledge of the villages and their accessibility within the area. The study proposed
to include both adult females and males from the respective villages in the research
process as well as religious leaders, members of government organisations and
professionals (medical personnel, teachers etc).
Local knowledge proved invaluable as many of the research team knew members of the communities they
visited .For instance, the facilitators were informed that Fridays and Saturdays would not be convenient
days to visit and collect data because of religious commitments and market activities. Therefore, any
research activity had to avoid these days in order to gain maximum participation. We also learnt through
local knowledge that villages are usually absent in the latter part of the morning because of work
commitments such as livestock minding or wood and water gathering.
This familiarity ‘opened doors’ for a more personal approach and encouraged people to engage in group
discussion or individual interviews. It also appeared to develop a certain level of trust between the
respondents and the Afar research teams. I feel that the communities were more comfortable in speaking
about personal issues with other Afar people, rather than outsiders, and were more inclined to divulge
factors about their lives. Also, a characteristic of the Afar woman is shyness, so having other Afar women
speak about personal issues appeared not to be so invasive.
8. Procedure
The process of the data collection for the entire research process has been found to
be rich in information that could be very informative for future work or study. As a
result, this report will include full field notes and documentation of the progression
during the entire time.
8.1 Initial workshop and field trip planning and question formulation.
The starting point of the SII process began at CARE Addis Ababa (AA), where the
group of facilitators from the office discussed the aims and objectives of the research
programme in relation to the guidelines of the SII principles. The first workshop took
five drafts of planning before there was final approval and agreement by all team
members. Being mindful of the principles and processes that were vital to the
concepts of the SII, the team from CARE AA then proposed to take the ideas to
Awash, interact with the stationed CARE members, religious leaders, the relevant
organisations and community members themselves in order to explain the planned
project and invite all participants to contribute in the research process.
The SII team from CARE AA planned to conduct three visits to the Awash area to
arrange and implement meetings, workshops and field trips. However, these visits
eventually expanded to four to ensure as complete coverage of information as
possible. The first meeting made the initial contact with CARE Awash staff members,
explained the proposed SII initiative to be held in the Awash area and recruited the
assistance and participation of CARE Awash staff and Afar speaking community
members already known to the office.
8.2 Formulation of the question structure.
Being mindful of the research questions, particularly question No. 1, the structure for
FGDs and in-depth interviews were compiled over the period of the four visits to
Awash and one in Addis Ababa. The 1st field trip and initial visit and contact with the
rural Afar people created a starting point for the question content and behaviour in
the field. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th workshops and field trips built on the existing
information. Question formulation and was pilot tested in the field. The question
structure and content was constantly changed and adapted to accommodate the
understanding of the Afar participants in order to target the research subject.
Formulation of the question content proved to be challenging for both facilitators and
workshop participants and this will be discussed in the following sections.
8.3 Defining the word ‘empowerment’ in the Afar language.
In the beginning of the SII, the research team had difficulty in finding a suitable
translation of the English word ‘empowerment’ into the Afar language. The research
team found no common understanding of ‘empowerment’ and this caused much
debate. (See field notes to follow process of establishing a common understanding).
The Afar people, under the guidance of the Afar research team members eventually
decided on the words ‘Hilaly’ (powerful) and ‘Dieto’ (capable) as being closest to the
Afar peoples understanding of ‘empowerment. These two words have been used
simultaneously throughout the research as the accepted replacement