Management Response

: Uganda
: 2022 - 2023 , Uganda (CO)
: Women and Girls Access to Justice (A2J) Through Effective, Accountable and Gender Responsive Institutions (A2J Project)
:
: Uganda
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Management take note of all the recommendations and these will be considered in successor programs.
: Approved
Recommendation: Strengthen partnership and collaboration with key actors at all levels (national and sub-national)
Management Response: Review the organization partnership strategy aligning to our SN (2022-2025), to be accomplished by end of 2023
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Description: There is need for key stakeholders to further consolidate, strengthen partnership and collaboration between the Judiciary, ODPP and UPF as well as the relevant DLG departments especially with the District Health Office and the Community Based Services Department at all levels in all project processes including design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. These are crucial for delivery of a holistic approach through the chain of justice from entry to exit and for effective coordination, institutional/systems strengthening and sustainability.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, National ownership, Oversight/governance
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Operational activities, Faith based
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Review the organization partnership strategy aligning to our SN (2022-2025), to be accomplished by end of 2023 EVAWG Specialist 2023/12 No Longer Applicable While this is not initiated at this stage, the plan is that once we have concluded the 1st phases of our A2J work, as a strategy for bolstering partnerships in the new phase, which goes beyond the partnership remits of the initial phase.
Recommendation: Long term funding investment
Management Response: Integration of Access to Justice into other country level new programs
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Description: UN Women Country Office and its implementing partners should engage with donors to advocate for long term funding or longer duration of funding for projects to enable adequate time for project inception, implementation and to improve the quality of outputs and deliverables and to realize greater impact.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support, UN Coordination, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Relevance, Sustainability, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Integration of Access to Justice into other country level new programmes Head of Programmes 2023/12 Ongoing This is ongoing as part of UGCO efforts to break down silos and achieve mutually reinforcing results and greater coherence across thematic areas. We will also ensure a stronger connection between evaluation and the way we communicate our results. This will ensure greater visibility for our work and donor appetite for our A2J efforts.
Recommendation: Review the Access to Justice Theory of Change (ToC), work plan and approach to align it to the Costed Strategy for Institutionalisation of GBV cases
Management Response: The Access to Justice Theory of Change was reviewed and aligned to the new costed strategy for institutionalisation of GBV cases
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Description: Now that a costed Strategy/options paper for a specialised mechanism to handle GBV cases and service delivery standards are ready for roll out, UN Women Country Office and the project implementing partners should review the A2J project ToC, work plan and approach to align it to the strategy and delivery standard with a workplan developed to fast track rollout. This implies that donors and national justice institutions should consider a second phase of the A2J project aligned to the costed strategy/, service delivery standards options paper.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM, Organizational efficiency
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Review the Access to Justice Theory of Change and align it to the costed strategy for institutionalisation of GBV cases Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist 2023/08 Completed
Recommendation: Develop and implement capacity building in financial management and accountability for IPs
Management Response: A financial management capacity building package for IPs already exist. UN Women will devote more resources to frequent trainings, mentorship and close technical support to IPs using the existing package.
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Description: UN Women and its partners should develop and implement capacity building in financial management and accountability to build competencies of IPs in timely accountability for funds received to address the delays in accountability and therefore implementation of project activities.
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Organizational efficiency, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Devote more resources to frequent trainings, mentorship and close technical support to IPs using the existing package. Operations Manager 2024/02 Overdue-Not Initiated
Recommendation: Share the lessons and scale up of the good practices to other regions.
Management Response: Strengthen collaboration between M&E and communications and ensure that periodic project reviews include sharing of lessons learnt.
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Description: UN Women will develop and implement a communications plan for the project. The plan will contain a strong component of lessons and good practices sharing with stakeholders.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Knowledge management, Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability, Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Develop project M&E and communications plan that integrates periodic reviews with project partners. The plan should contain a strong component of lessons and good practices sharing with stakeholders. We will also ensure that we are able to showcase results; share lessons learned; and tools on EVAWG Regional /Global Communities of Practice. Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist 2023/12 Ongoing This will also boost South-South and Triangular Cooperation on what works for boosting women's access to justice in the global south. This was a key strategy for learning in the 1st phase.
Recommendation: Balance investments in capacity building and institutional strengthening
Management Response: UN Women will review its interventions under the Access to Justice Programme to ensure that there is balance between capacity strengthening and institutional strengthening. To do this, UN Women will first establish the minimum recommended package for capacity building and institutional strengthening towards a meaningful Access to Justice project.
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Description: There is need to be intentional in being more equitable in terms of investments in capacity building and institutional strengthening across the justice institutions to realise justice from entry to exit.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM, Organizational efficiency
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
UN Women will review its interventions under the Access to Justice Programme to ensure that there is balance between capacity strengthening and institutional strengthening. EVAWG Specialist 2023/12 Ongoing
Recommendation: Consider investment in social norm change to complement the access to justice components of the project.
Management Response: A significant part of UN Women’s investment goes to social norm change. Moving forward, a deliberate effort will be made to strengthen interlinkages between UN Women’s existing social norm change initiatives and the Access to Justice Project
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Description: Given the importance of investing in both prevention and response, there is need for UN Women and partners to consider investment in social norm change to complement the access to justice components of the project. This is because social norms may deter reporting of cases and may continue to justify violence against women and girls. Also social and gender norms have an effect on the decisions and actions taken by officials in UPF, ODPP and the Judiciary as well as the legislature and cabinet. Therefore social norm change should not focus only at the family and community level but also on changing harmful institutional norms and organisational culture that may be rooted in harmful partriarchial widely accepted beliefs and VAWG
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy
Organizational Priorities: Organizational efficiency
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Strengthen interlinkages between UN Women’s existing social norm change initiatives and the Access to Justice Project EVAWG Specialist 2023/12 Ongoing Social Norms Change is one of the areas UGCO has taken on board as a cross cutting theme, as part of Gender Transformative Approaches in the current Strategic Note. The team will ensure that Access to Justice programme deliberately integrate concrete actions to address social norms in this programme
Recommendation: Strengthen the project M&E system
Management Response: An inception phase has been planned for the next project phase. Enhancing of the project M&E system is a major component of the inception phase.
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Description: Need to strengthen the M&E system to collect baseline information and populate all indicators in the results framework, set realistic targets as well as to be able to track impact. For example, the M&E should go beyond reporting numbers and report on the quality of outcomes of cases of GBV across the spectrum as well as the impact on GBV survivors accessing justice.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Include adequate inception phase in project design and implementation plans Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist 2023/09 Ongoing Dedicated PMERL staff member who is working with the EVAWG team will also pay particular attention to the concerns in this area.
Recommendation: Fast track the review and finalisation of detailed and concrete Service Delivery Standards and Procedures
Management Response: The service delivery standards and procedures is in the final stage of review and will be in place within 2022.
More detail
Description: Need to fast track the review and finalisation of detailed and concrete Service Delivery Standards and Procedures covering all the steps towards delivering Quality Integrated Justice Services. This is crucial for improving coordination and harmonisation of the delivery of justice to the GBV survivors and for promoting the good practice of justice being understood and operationalised as a chain. It will also facilitate monitoring of the quality as well as in holding the relevant duty bearers accountable.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Effectiveness, Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Fast track the review and finalisation of detailed and concrete Service Delivery Standards and Procedures Access to Justice Specialist 2023/07 Ongoing This is being prioritized also as part of the next phase of our Access to Justice programme.