Gender Equity and Social Inclusion as Key to Achieving NTD Goals: Technical Briefs and Assessment Reports from USAID’s Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases | East
Neglected tropical disease (NTD) programs must take into account the dynamic, lived experiences of individuals and societies in order to achieve national elimination goals. By prioritizing gender equity and social inclusion (GESI), programs can create more effective interventions that better meet the context-specific needs of communities and ultimately reach the ‘last mile’ in NTD control and elimination.
As the lead GESI partner on USAID’s Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases | East (Act | East) program, WI-HER, with support from prime partner RTI International, conducted assessments that identified the underlying GESI factors that influence mass drug administration (MDA) and NTD service uptake, including reasons related to gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, or socioeconomic status. The analyses also explored programmatic strategies to respond to the identified GESI-related factors, and since their finalization, the findings have spurred programmatic change to improve MDA access and acceptance.
The recommendations and lessons learned from the Haiti, Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia assessments can also be applied to different contexts and serve as an example of the types of strategies NTD programs can implement to address the unique identities of the people we serve.