Management Response

: Georgia
: 2016 - 2020 , Georgia (CO)
: Mid-term evaluation of UN Joint Programe “For Gender Equality”
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Georgia

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The mid-term evaluation of the UN Joint Programme “For Gender Equality in Georgia” (UNJP) provides analysis of the relevance of the UNJP II implementation strategy and approaches to UN and national development policy priorities; reviews the relevance of the logical framework and respective Monitoring and Evaluation Plan of the project; assesses effectiveness and organizational efficiency in progressing towards the achievement of the project’s results; assesses the sustainability of the results and the feasibility of ongoing, nationally-led efforts in the thematic areas tackled by the project from the viewpoint of national ownership, national capacity development, partnership and coordination between the participating UN agencies (PUNOs) and other development partners. The evaluation documents lessons learned, best practices, success stories and challenges informing future work of UNDP, UNFPA and UN Women in the frameworks of the UNJP II and beyond. Out of totally received 15 recommendations as a result of the mid-term evaluation, only eight were addressed to UN Women, out of these eight only three were addressed to UN Women only (the other five were also addressed to other PUNOs). Thus, the Management Response entered hereby is concentrated on these eight recommendations.

: Approved
Recommendation: Consider further advocacy to enhance the human resource capacity of GE Commission under the Prime Minister’s Office given the risks to sustainability in the absence of adequate capacity within said office. There is a need for sustainability strategy that can leverage the institution’s strength and mitigate understaffing.
Management Response: Accepted: All UNJP PUNOs agree with this recommendation and consider it highly relevant for the sustainability of work in relation to building national institutional mechanism for gender equality and women's empowerment.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Advocate for the enhancement of the human resource capacity of GE Commission under the Prime Minister’s Office, through re-appointment of the Assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues and provision of secretarial services to the GE Commission. All UNJP PUNOs (UN Women, UNFPA and UNDP) 2020/12 Completed As a result of UNJP advocacy this recommendation has been fully implemented by the government.
Recommendation: Continue to develop sustainable strategies to address the application of harmful customary law in some communities (the Kist Elder’s Code, by way of example), which neither represents international standards nor national aspirations with regards to gender equality. While the momentum is there, it is important to broaden the scope and scale of the activities and coordinate efforts with other development partners, with the involvement of youth and women to share an adequate vision and understanding of human rights values among the future generation of the Pankisi Gorge.
Management Response: Rejected: UNJP sees the relevance of the recommendation, however, considers that its implementation is beyond the scope of any particular project’s scope / lifespan and deems unrealistic to address it as proposed before the end of the UNJP II implementation cycle – 2020/12. As proposed by the evaluation report, this recommendation will be discussed further with the government of Georgia and development partners, including Government of Sweden.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Rejected
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Youth engagement
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Key Action not added.
Recommendation: Consider employing systematic, consistent and long-term strategies for beneficiaries in Pankisi Gorge, as anything less shall only contribute to further radicalization and polarization in these communities.
Management Response: Rejected: UNJP can tangibly offer only interventions foreseen by the project document / theory of change and is limited in terms of resources and time allocated to the programme. More importantly, UNJP believes that the assumption that short-term and even one-time interventions with beneficiaries in Pankisi Gorge contribute to further radicalization and polarization of the communities there is wrong and unsubstantiated either by the findings of the evaluation or by work experiences of development partners active in the Gorge.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Rejected
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability
Key Actions
Key Action not added.
Recommendation: Consider initiating a study to assess the rate of recidivism and level of behavioral change in criminal cases involving GBV and probation, with relevant baselines and indicators to better measure the impact of the UNJP’s initiatives.
Management Response: Accepted: UN Women is in agreement with this recommendation and integrated it into the implementation of the remaining activities of the project.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Impact
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Provide technical support to Prosecutor General’s office to conduct a study of criminal cases involving VAW and DV crimes that among others will allow the assessment of rate of recidivism and level of behavior changes among the perpetrators of GBV. UN Women Georgia CO 2020/12 Completed Prosecutor General’s Office has been conducting analysis of criminal cases involving VAW and DV crimes in partnership with UN Women since 2016. In order to fulfil the recommendation in question, UN Women has successfully advocated with the Prosecutor General’s office to put additional emphasis on the analysis of recidivism and behavior of perpetrators (especially if they have been covered by the behavior correction programme) in subsequent studies.
Recommendation: Consider improving data gathering in terms of UNJP’s results to better gauge how the project eliminates violence against women: (a) number of common courts judgements referencing gender motive in domestic violence and violence against women crimes, (b) number of cases of DV/GBV filed versus completed to final disposition – year on year (based on public records); (c) % decrease in the rate of recidivism among convicted perpetrators and those against whom protective/restraining orders have been issued, % early and child marriages, and (d) % reported cases of domestic violence connected to school dropout to determine the impact of one on the other.
Management Response: Accepted: UN Women is in agreement with this recommendation and integrated it into the implementation of the remaining activities of the project.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Impact
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prosecutor General’s Office, Ministry of Justice (probation and corrections), Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from Occupied Territories of Georgia, Health and Social Affairs to develop indicators for administrative data on VAW in line with in line with the article 11 of the Istanbul Convention and international best practices. UN Women Georgia CO 2020/12 Completed UN Women EVAW section in the headquarters has developed guidance on VAW/DV administrative data collection at the global level. This guidance is serving as the foundation for UN Women Georgia CO’s actions foreseen to implement this recommendation. This is a rather complex task and it has been included also as one of the priorities in UN Women EU supported project on EVAW that commenced in November 2020.
Recommendation: Consider conducting analyses of the practical application of norms governing standards for the operation and functioning of crisis centres in the private and public domain.
Management Response: Accepted: UN Women and UNFPA are in agreement with this recommendation, however, the PUNOs would like to note that crisis centers operate either under public or NGO domain, there exist no private crisis centres.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Provide technical assistance to the State Fund to assess effectiveness of state-funded crisis centres for DV/VAWG survivors UN Women Georgia CO; UNFPA Georgia 2020/12 Completed The task has been completed in close partnership with UNFPA.
Based on the findings of the assessment and in line with international standards and best practices develop standards for state and NGO-run crisis centers to ensure uniform quality UN Women Georgia CO; UNFPA Georgia 2020/12 Completed The task has been completed in close partnership with UNFPA.
Recommendation: Increase the level of understanding of grassroots-level partners regarding the link between their needs, changes at policy level, and how these policies can be applies in practice to optimize the effective implementation of those policies.
Management Response: Accepted: UN Women CO will engage with local partners to ensure localization of national-level policies in the field of EVAW/DV
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: National ownership
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Hold regular meetings with the partners to ensure that national level commitments in the field of EVAW/DV are localized / adapted to local needs and priorities in the UNJP target regions (Kakheti and Samegrelo) UN Women Georgia CO 2020/09 Completed UN Women has already tested the methodology of localization of 2018-2020 National Action Plan of Georgia for Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security in ten municipalities of Georgia. This work will be further replicated in relation to the National Action Plan on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Measures to be Implemented for the Protection of Victims (Survivors) for 2018-2020 as a part of new UN Women project supported by the EU Delegation in Georgia that has commenced in November 2020.
Recommendation: Consider developing mechanisms for better measuring the effectiveness of judicial training for DV and GBV, which include the introduction of relevant indicators and baselines.
Management Response: Accepted: UN Women CO Georgia will consider developing mechanisms for better measuring the effectiveness of judicial training for DV and GBV, which include the introduction of relevant indicators and baselines.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Provide technical assistance to the judiciary to develop indicators for administrative data on VAW in line with international best practices that will allow measuring the effectiveness of judicial training for DV and GBV. UN Women Georgia CO 2020/12 Completed UN Women EVAW section in the headquarters has developed guidance on VAW/DV administrative data collection at the global level. This guidance is serving as the foundation for UN Women Georgia CO’s actions foreseen to implement this recommendation. This is a rather complex task and it has been included also as one of the priorities in UN Women EU supported project on EVAW that commenced in November 2020.