Gender Equity & Social Inclusion

A woman and child receive medicine during an MDA in Indonesia

Women, men, and 'must reach' groups, including people with disabilities , ethnic or religious minorities, and transient populations, face multiple disparate barriers that affect both their risk for NTDs and their access to prevention and treatment.

Act | East recognizes that NTD control and elimination goals will only be met if all people, and particularly the most vulnerable, are reached by NTD control and elimination efforts. To address this, the Act to End NTDs | East Program integrates strategies for gender equity and social inclusion (GESI) into its programming. By integrating GESI, Act | East aims to support governments to design more effective NTD interventions to reach people, especially those historically missed, with information and treatment.

Why GESI?

NTDs disproportionately impact and disadvantage vulnerable groups—such as women (in some settings), ethnic or religious minorities, and transient populations—due to biological and sociocultural reasons that influence their exposure to NTD infection, disease risk, and access to care.

GESI is a critical lens through which to assess, integrate, and expand health equity among 'must reach' groups. For NTDs, this means understanding the distinct needs of those at risk for these diseases and the barriers they face to health access. Greater action to integrate GESI into NTD prevention is essential to maximize the effectiveness and impact of our collective efforts, and ultimately to reach goals for NTD control and elimination.

Our approach

Act | East uses context-specific sensitization and learning techniques to help countries develop their own concrete ways to incorporate GESI into NTD activities. We also apply an innovative and results-oriented approach called iDARE (Identify, Design, Apply/Assess, Record, Expand) that was developed and is led by our consortium partner WI-HER to help countries ensure NTD-fighting efforts are gender-sensitive, socially-inclusive, and achieve improved results for all people.

Using iDARE, Act | East is supporting stakeholders at all levels – national and local governments, health officials, community members and volunteers - to assess their existing system for NTD services, identify gaps, barriers, and inequities and then design, test, and scale local solutions.

Improving NTD Outcomes Through Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: Learnings from Haiti, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uganda

GESI is a critical lens through which to assess, integrate, and expand health equity among marginalized groups. In a new series of briefs, Act to End NTDs | East examines the role of GESI in designing more effective NTD interventions to reach people, especially those historically missed, with information and treatment. The briefs share results from GESI assessments in Haiti, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uganda and recommend actions to ensure NTD services benefit all affected populations. Findings also highlight GESI-related changes needed in the NTD workforce to maximize prevention efforts. Overall, the briefs posit that greater action to integrate GESI into NTD prevention is essential to maximize the effectiveness and impact of our collective efforts.

Read the briefs:

• Lessons from Haiti

• Lessons from Nepal

• Lessons from Tanzania

• Lessons from Uganda

• Lessons from Ethiopia