Key gaps

1. Lack of meaningful inclusion of local women’s organizations
2. Severe underfunding of GBV prevention, mitigation and response across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa
3. Lack of access to sexual and reproductive health and GBV services

 Recommendations for Food Security Actors

• Ensure that all projects consistently collect, analyze, and use SADD and are informed by robust gender analysis that details how women, men, girls, and boys of all diversities are impacted differently by food insecurity and the coping mechanisms they use to respond.
• Regularly consult women and girls and other at-risk groups on which food aid modalities (e.g. cash, in-kind, hybrid) and implementation strategy (e.g. selection of distribution points, the composition of the basket, etc.) they would find most appropriate and safest for a given context. Solicit feedback and adjust programs accordingly.
• Account for the differential food and nutritional needs and barriers faced by pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls of reproductive age, and tailor the food ration accordingly.
• Build stronger systems for monitoring GBV risks at food distribution sites – including risks linked to SEA by humanitarian workers.
• Incorporate the recommendations from the IASC GBV Guidelines into all components of the programme cycle, and equip food security staff with other GBV tools and resources.
• Learn from existing recommendations developed by women and girls on how to make food distribution processes more equitable and safer, tailored to the specific context and needs
• Build on good practice in participatory action research and other approaches to engage women and girls in the design of food distribution processes (including travel to and from the distribution site).
• Monitor women’s and girls’ access to food aid on a regular basis and roll out women-friendly feedback mechanisms.