Written by: EnCompass Staff

In 2017, only slightly more than half of health centers in areas covered by the USAID Transform: Primary Health Care Project were providing services for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). Three years later, that proportion has grown to well over three-quarters.

How did this shift occur? One important factor is our team’s in-depth gender integration work, which takes a strongly utilization-focused approach to analysis of gender integration and GBV prevention and response in Ethiopia’s primary health system.

EnCompass is the gender integration partner for the project, whose technical assistance is helping to strengthen health systems and support the Ethiopian government’s efforts to prevent child and maternal deaths. In 2019, in response to findings from the project’s gender analysis, EnCompass LLC conducted a GBV landscape analysis to map and comprehensively understand the Ethiopian health system’s existing GBV prevention and response mechanisms, and identify opportunities to support the Federal Ministry of Health in improving them. Members of our team developed a virtual poster presentation to share the methodology, results, and recommendations from the study at this year’s American Evaluation Association’s 2020 conference.

To share the information with a wider audience during the 16 Days campaign, we are pleased to share an animated poster presentation. Click below to watch (also available on EnCompass’ YouTube channel).

Recommendations to Action

The Transform: Primary Health Care Project has undertaken multiple interventions to address and apply the recommendations from the landscape analysis. At the national level, the team engaged with the Federal Ministry of Health to support GBV strategic plan development; organize multi-stakeholder orientations on standards of practice; provide job aids, including GBV care algorithms and clinical manuals; and integrate GBV prevention messaging into the social and behavior change communication materials and interventions.

Regional teams then supported health facilities to put those policies and resources into practice. In 2019 and 2020, the project team trained 1,221 health service providers in clinical and psychosocial responses to GBV—including diagnosis, treatment, and referral of GBV survivors. The project also provided orientation on the national GBV standards of procedure to 1,361 stakeholders, across multiple sectors, who play important roles in comprehensive GBV prevention and response. From October 2019 to September 2020, the project then provided GBV care algorithm job aids, registration books, referral certificates, and other resources to more than 300 health facilities to improve data capture of GBV cases and facilitate timely referrals.

The result is positive change for health service providers as well as GBV survivors, in the form of tools and resources for providers, as well as a significant increase in the availability of GBV services. The percentage of health centers providing post-GBV services in those areas has increased from 54 percent in 2017 to 85 percent as of September 2020.

To learn more about our team’s approaches that are supporting improvements in Ethiopia’s health sector, please take a closer look at our virtual poster presentation on the landscape analysis. A static PDF version is also available.

We thank Courtney Carr for producing the video and Shailee Ghelani for narrating. Shailee Ghelani, Dustin Smith, Heran Tadesse, Kidest Lulu, and Diana Santillán created the original poster for AEA.