Findings and insights from WFP staff inquiries into how WFP programmes can be more gender sensitive in the context of supporting Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The findings were shared in a regional knowledge sharing meeting with the other WFP countries working on the Syrian response.

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
Pilot phase 2013 – 14 in five WFP country offices: Guatemala, Kenya,
Lesotho, Malawi and Senegal ( internal WFP focus)
Second phase 2015 – 17: continuation with four pilot countries, work
with new countries including Lebanon, Cambodia, Benin and focus on
global knowledge sharing and advocacy

3. PAL Context: Gender at WFP Lebanon
- Young office operating in complex
emergency in middle income country
Gender actions taken
- Appointment international gender focal
point in 2015
- Appointment 6 national gender focal
points
- Action plan and TOR completed
- PAL program with IDS and WFP

4. PAL
• Identifying questions and gaps
Understanding gender
mainstreaming in WFP
• What are the most important issues to
explore?
• How should we do it?
Developing PAL plans
• Who do we want to share knowledge with?
• What are the most effective ways to do so?
Developing a
knowledge sharing
strategy

5. PAL program activities Lebanon
•November mission : obtain an understanding of the context and
launch program
•Field visits, briefings, and Interviews with members of WFP
Lebanon country and sub offices, and with relevant partners
•Workshop with sub-offices to get common understanding of gender
mainstreaming in WFP and plan PAL learning enquiries
• Integrated bottom up approach Focus on questions that are based on
experiences from the field staff
•Current mission: document and analyse the results of PAL enquiries,
planning of completion, knowledge sharing and input to gender
mainstreaming of WFP. Allocate budget accordingly

6. Results: Beirut Sub-office
Has access to purchasing power through the e-card
economically empowered women?
Data needed
•Operational definition of
empowerment
•Quantitative and qualitative data
from before and after the
introduction of the e-card
quantitative and qualitative
•WFP quantitative data from
PDM before and after the e-card
introduced in October
– 197 HH January 2013-
September 2013
– 258 October –February
2014

7. Lessons and findings
– Changes in empowerment cannot be measures by PDM data
Different questions in different PDM
– Empowerment not clearly operationalized;
– 3 basic questions on food are missing: who decides what to buy,
% of e-card in total expenditures, level of debt
Additional data : Focus group discussions (FGD) and
interviews. Preliminary findings include:
– WFP card is first credit card ever for respondents
– Illiterate people have problem understanding ATM. More women
than men are illiterate.
– Women and men buy food. Women decide what to buy, men
buy what women decide both in Syria and Lebanon
– Problems with identification papers affect mobility and thus
access to e-cards and shops, services, school.

8. Zahle Sub-Office
How have the cuts affected school attendance of
both boys and girls?
Data needed
•School attendance and
withdrawal before and
after the introduction of
capping quantitative and
qualitative
•Importance of education
•Contribution of WFP
card in total household
and food expenditures

9. Lessons and findings
PDM cannot answer questions on gender and school attendance
–PDM does not ask about school attendance
–No questions about age and sex and school withdrawal
–No questions about age and sex and income generation
–Cuts are made in same period as school holiday
–PDM data show WFP card can be central and important,
sometimes contributing more than 60% of food costs but most
expenses, housing, transport, medication not covered.
Additional qualitative data collected from 84 persons (men and
women and teachers)

10. Lessons and findings
• Education at least until 9th
grade (15 age) highly valued for
child intellectual, social and psychological growth
• Men say that a certificate helps with jobs and better
position in the Syrian army. Education protects.
• Women say that girls need to be in school to prevent early
marriage, unpaid care and other homework. Girls are better
students
• Most children are in informal schools in the settlements
• Difficulties adapting to formal Lebanese curriculum,
bullying, lack of space in Lebanese schools, transportation
and other fees.
• Withdrawal is related to transportation fees, extra
expenditures, harassment by the teachers, not food.

11. Lessons and findings
• Boys withdrawn from school are engaged in
risky jobs, working as a daily
worker/assistant for a carpenter, barber,
blacksmith and working in agriculture.
Acceptable for girls to work in jobs;
hairdresser
• Child laborers face verbal and physical
harassment, violence, exploitation, fatigue,
diseases, they get paid between 5000-30000
L.P. per week.

12. Results: Qobayat Sub-Office
What are the fertility effects of the safety
program?
• Data needed: Increase or decrease in the
number of pregnancies and live births after
the introduction of the safety net
• Increase or decrease in abortions
• Uptake of family planning
• Fertility desires and choices and options

13. Quantitative data
• PDM data cannot answer question on increase or decrease
in the number of pregnancies and live births because it
only registers the eligible not the excluded people who are
in the safety net
• Sex and age not consistently recorded
• Verification includes both eligible and not-eligible people
but registers <5 yrs. We cannot know if there is a new born
• UNHCR collects data but raw data not shared
• Analysis of data of 1000 HH incomplete and sts
• No data on increase or decrease in abortions as it is illegal

14. Inconclusive data on fertility
Blue / Red 2.3 3.2 3.3 3.0
Nr of children decreasing among HH never
eligible
Decrease in nr of children after cut of satety
net among eligible HH
Number of < 2 y.o. / 1000 HHs Dec 2013 July 2014 Dec 2014 June 2015 Dec 2015 Dec /Jun 2015
1000 HHs eligible for Safety Net 2014-2015 no data 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.7 -28%
1000 HHs never eligible for Safety Net (regular assistance) no data 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 -20%

15. Qualitative data collected to
complement PDM
• Focus groups discussions with 36 women and 33 men in 3 settings,
and interviews with 2 UNHCR female volunteers, a widowed mother,
2 male chawich, political leader and 3 male refugee

16. Findings:
• People want children for many reasons that are not related
to safety net. To continue the family, because children are
part of life of being human, to replace personal and
collective losses, to help in life. All children are equally
welcome, but slight boy preference Fertility pressures.
Infertility is stigmatizing
• People are more careful about having children due to their
refugee status.
• Plan families using contraceptive pills, IUD and, natural
contraceptives/rhythm methods. Condom use low.
Abortions in private clinics
• Access to services and income impaired as a result of
difficulties with renewing papers.

17. Findings:
• SSN was important for the elderly, “non-autonomous”
persons who cannot work. It reduced overall pressure on
men to generate income
• People felt SSN were valuable but poorly managed. They
felt exclusion was decision against them as a person.
Special concern about the elderly.
• “People over 60 will feel useless and a burden to the
family” (male respondent, IDI)
• Pregnant women had to share the benefits with the whole
family.
• Nobody felt the SSN alone determined pregnancy
decisions. “ I will not get a newborn for an extra 13 dollar
per month” male respondent FGD Bire

18. Wider PAL Learning Synthesis
• Gender is not just about parity.
• Gender Intersectionality with other socio-demographic
characteristics: age, education, household compostion Safety
net cuts affect the whole family, who is affected depends on
gender, age, HH composition etc.
• Projects can lead to unintended/unexpected positive or negative
impacts for men, women and children. Gender roles can harm
and marginalize boys and girls >education good example
• Gender inequities and causes of structural disempowerment
affect WFP programs. Often causes are outside its mandate
and collaboration with others is needed at field level –referral by
monitors- and policy level
• Gender relations, norms and ideologies are dynamic; cultural
adaptation. WFP senior management and field staff can
reinforce this message

19. Wider PAL Learning Synthesis
• PDM M&E system alone does not yield data to measure gender
performance and program impact.
• An understanding of context is fundamental for mainstreaming
gender and identifying gender dimensions
• Field monitors appointed as gender focal points can–with
support- contribute to realistic and context specific program
deisgn, implementation and M &E. Without support they are
interested but passive.
• Gender mainstreaming at WFP Lebanon has made a great
start.
• Senior management plays crucial role in growing staff
confidence and skills through systematically integrating gender,
recognizing the focal points abilities, and allocate time.

20. Develop knowledge sharing strategy
• Finalize analysis and documentation of learning
enquiries
• Each office finishes PPT for sharing in WFP with
Lebanon senior management and between offices
and gender focal points
• Focal points develop these presentations and a two
pages write up of summary results for Global
learning meeting in May. (1 or 8th
April)
• IDS/WFP make a short video of whole global
program

21. Developing a knowledge sharing
strategy
Other national and global sharing options & ideas
•Gender focal points present PAL results to senior management and
partners discuss integration in 2017 program design
•Regional conference to share PAL results and lessons learned by WFP
Lebanon focusing on gender mainstreaming, e-cards, M &E
•Mainstream gender by yearly PAL prior to annual planning to check
gender impact. A bottom up and tailored approach using gender as an
entry point might reduce transaction costs of changing PDM and other
tools. It can improve motivation of staff by recognizing and enhancing
their role and capacities to contribute to program design from the ground
up.
•Other ideas?