How has the pandemic affected the communities where WJI works? What ongoing needs do you see?

ER: The pandemic has really affected the various families in the communities where we work. Many lost their jobs and others had to close their businesses due to local restrictions. The price of basic goods has gone up; this has put a lot of financial pressure on families, which in turn increases gender inequality and violence against women and girls. The number of formal complaints of violence went down significantly in 2020, probably due to the challenges of reporting these cases during the pandemic. Once COVID-19 restrictions started to loosen at the beginning of 2021, the number of complaints increased to levels higher than before the pandemic. The current needs in the communities are employment, effective mechanisms for reporting gender-based violence, and safe spaces for participation and learning so that women can leave their homes where they have been confined during the pandemic. Many women have been forced to endure violence at home because they don’t have anyone to share their problems with or ways to seek help, making the situation even worse.

When you consider how your organization has responded during the pandemic and the hurricanes, what stands out?

ER: In the last year, WJI expanded its activities in response to needs on the ground. We developed a three-part COVID-19 response strategy: legal and psychological services delivered remotely, emergency food baskets, and radio programming. We offered legal and psychological assistance to 475 women in 100 different communities through a new direct telephone line. We provided 5,200 masks and 2,565 food baskets, which can feed a family of five for a month, to women in our programs so that they knew WJI was accompanying them. With a coalition of local organizations, we created informative radio spots that reached approximately 100,000 people in more than 100 municipalities. All this time, our community advocates continued referring and responding to cases of violence against women and girls. In turn, they received a monthly stipend and medical kits for home use. The pandemic has shown us that we can adapt WJI’s programs quickly to respond to crisis situations in the communities where we work. Our response was effective because it was based on strong local relationships, which we have been building for years, especially with the community advocates. We’ve also successfully integrated new technologies into our methodology, which will now be an important feature of future programming.

This interview was translated into English by the Tinker team.