Management Response

Recommendation:	Build partnership to enhance outreach to community level
Management Response:	UN will identify allies at the community level, including community leaders, women and men champions, who found unique, but replicable solutions to intractable problems and challenges with the view to cultivate partnerships to support the emerging new social norms, practices and behaviors that promote gender equality and women’s advancement.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments identify allies at the community level, including community leaders, women and men champions, who found unique, but replicable solutions to intractable problems and challenges with the view to cultivate partnerships to support the emerging new social norms, practices and behaviors that promote gender equality and women’s advancement. Programme Staff 2022/12 Completed During 2018, UN Women began testing the Positive Deviance Approach where members of different communities in Palestine who have positive attitudes and behaviors relevant to GEWE were identified and were provided with technical capacity and financial resources to promote GEWE within their communities. Around 150 Positive Deviants were identified during 2018 in 6 different communities and were supported to design and implement community based solutions to challenge social norms and behaviors. UN Women will continue testing the Positive Deviance Approach in 2019. The UN Women PALCO integrates the Positive Deviants approach in all its programmes/projects and identifies community members who support the vision and mission of UN Women. Positive Deviants are supported to develop and implement community based solutions related to GEWE.

Recommendation:

Adapt the approach in WEE to benefit more women

Management Response:

UN Women will focus through the next planning cycle on assisting its national partners to address key structural barriers to women economic participation and to ensure women entrepreneurs have the skills, the financial resources and the partnerships to access a more equal share of the market. Through our work under this impact area we aim to contribute to the fulfilment of the SDGs 8 and 10 and in particular to promote development-oriented policies that support decent job creation, entrepreneurship, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services, achieve full and productive decent work for women, including those who belong to the marginalized groups, and progressively achieve and sustain income growth to marginalized groups.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Develop TOC for WEE at the Country Level Programme Staff 2017/09 Completed Assist national partners to address key structural barriers to women economic participation and to ensure women entrepreneurs have the skills, the financial resources and the partnerships to access a more equal share of the market. WEE Programme manager 2022/12 Completed Update December 2022: 1. At the level of policy and legislative frameworks, during 2022, MoNE and MoF gender committees were capacitated and technically supported to develop and implement policy tools on (financial and non-financial) stimulus packages to enhance women’s access to inclusive services, especially women and youth business owners and persons with disabilities, on registration procedures, taxes (Income and VAT), gender responsive budgets, procurement procedures, cash-transfer assistance, and quantitative easing procedures. with UN Women technical support and policy advice under the regional joint programme “Work4Women”, funded by Sida. The MoF proposed an amendment of Article 61 from the Value Added Tax (VAT) draft Law, on the new version of the Law which was recently approved by the Council of Ministers during its session No. (172) on 22 August 2022, in which Article (61) was amended. MoF introduced amendments to the draft Laws on the value Added Taxes and the Income Taxes, with the support of UN Women. 2. In terms of access to financial products and resources: 2.1 A total of 208 Palestinian women business owners had access to the Ministry of National Economy’s (MoNE) developed services which focused on the formalization of businesses. This included awareness, registration, in-kind grants and procurement procedures. This is part of the services provided by the newly established and piloted Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Fund by the MoNE with the support of UN Women under the JP “Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on women’s economic participation in the State of Palestine”, funded by the Government of Norway to the UN Response and Recovery Fund. 2.2 A total of 150 women business owners, coming from underserved areas across Palestine, had access to information and skills on financial literacy, financial products (zero interest loans), services provided by the BoP and the PMA, in collaboration with MoNE, for the formalization of their businesses and enhance their access to the different services, financial products and economic opportunities, such as marketing, export etc. During 2023, UN Women will furtherly support the national partners furtherly to implement the developed tools to address key structural barriers to women economic participation and to ensure women business owners, including young women and women with disabilities, in the most underserved areas, have the skills, the financial resources and the partnerships to access a more equal share of the market.

Recommendation:	Rethink the strategy towards achieving female leadership
Management Response:	UN Women's efforts on leadership will be through advancing an enabling environment for the implementation of WPS commitments in Palestine and the engagement of women and their groups in humanitarian action. This will ensure that women lead, participate in and benefit from peace and security, humanitarian action and recovery efforts.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Develop CO overall TOC UN Women Country Office Staff 2017/09 Completed Provide the UNSC Resolution 1325 High National Committee (chaired by MoWA) and the civil society National Coalition on UNSC Resolution 1325 with institutional capacity development and technical support to implement, monitor, review, and report on the WPS commitments. WPS Programme Manager 2022/12 Completed UN Women supported the 1325 High National Committee (chaired by MoWA) and the civil society National Coalition on UNSC Resolution 1325 in developing a Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation System for the National Action Plan for the Implementation of UN SC 1325 and supported MOWA in initiating the implementation of the system in 2018 as a means of an accountability framework. UN Women is currently finalizing a Project Document that will focus on the institutional capacity for the Higher National Committee and the National Coalition. Work will focus on strengthening the monitoring of the implementation of the NAP and strengthening the advocacy efforts by the National Coalition. . UN Women launched the implementation of the programme “Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Palestine” (Project ATLAS ID 118953) on 11 November 2019. Generously funded by the Government of Norway, the programme overall goal is to meaningfully contribute to the achievements of women, peace and security (WPS) commitments in Palestine through policy change and community-level action. Institutionally, the programme aims at supporting the effective resourcing, monitoring and implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) on United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, referred to hereinafter as “NAP”. At a community level, the programme aims at supporting women’s participation in post conflict planning and recovery in areas most affected by the ongoing conflict. This interim narrative report covers the period from 1 September 2020 to 31 August 2021. Thanks to the generous support of the Government of Norway and the robust partnership with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) and civil society partners, namely the General Union of the Palestinian Women (GUPW), Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC), the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict Resolution (PCDCR), and Juzoor for Health and Social Development, the programme supported the implementation of policy level and community level actions to further the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda in Palestine. During the reporting period (2021), the State of Palestine adopted its second National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (Annex B). The NAP, which is based on four pillars: (i) prevention/protection, (ii) accountability, (iii) participation, (iv) relief and recovery and which constitutes the main national accountability framework on the WPS agenda in Palestine, was endorsed by the State of Palestine in March 2021. To bolster its implementation and monitoring, a NAP costing exercise (Annex D) was concluded and the development of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning System for the NAP is underway. The adoption of the NAP was recognized as a landmark achievement by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Office during its April 2021 briefing to the Security Council. Overall, the programme had benefited a total of 3,580 persons as direct beneficiaries and 416 as indirect beneficiaries1 . Through capacity building interventions, 72 young WPS advocates and peacebuilders (18 men and 54 women; 35 in Gaza and 30 in the West Bank) had increased their capacities and knowledge of WPS concepts, human rights reporting mechanisms and international accountability frameworks. Through awareness raising and community sensitization workshops, 1,506 persons at the grassroots level (142 men and 1,364 women) had improved awareness of women’s political and civic participation and role in local peacebuilding. Through advocacy activities, workshops and dialogues with national and international stakeholders, approximately 1,9222 civil society actors, WPS activists, and international actors both in Palestine and abroad were introduced to national action planning on WPS/UNSCR 1325 and Palestinian women’s role in peacebuilding, recovery and emergency response including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, through the economic recovery interventions, 80 young women graduates (40 in the West Bank and 40 in Gaza) had improved their employability through participation in recovery related and skill-matching livelihood opportunities paired with tailored trainings. Humanitarian and WPS actors were informed by the programme through the development of several knowledge products, which include the 2021 Gender Alerts (Annex E3 ), two policy briefs on women’s role in formal and local peacebuilding, and two articles for This Week in Palestine magazine focusing on Women, Peace and Security and humanitarian action. Updated December 2022 This interim narrative report covers the period from 1 September 2021 to 30 June 2022. To capitalize on the successes of the first phase of the programme, and to take stock of the lessons learned, AWAN, the phase II of the programme, was established in December 2021. Through the new phase, UN Women, in partnership with national and international actors, particularly civil society partners, focused on reinforcing Palestinian women’s abilities to safely lead and participate in preventing conflict and building peace; promoting young people’s capacities in political participation and peacebuilding, including through intergenerational dialogue; and ensuring women’s access to quality justice services and decent livelihood opportunities in areas most affected by conflict. The programme had also promoted efforts among the donor community to secure sustainable funding for the implementation of Palestine second National Action Plan on WPS “the PALNAP”, which was officially endorsed by the State of Palestine in March 2021. As the main accountability framework for bolstering WPS commitments, the PALNAP was developed with policy and technical advisory support provided by UN Women during the first phase of the programme. It was recognized as an important milestone by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Office during its April 2021 briefing to the Security Council. Overall, 1,182 people benefited from the programme as direct beneficiaries and 1,472 as indirect beneficiaries. Three hundred and one (301) WPS advocates and peacebuilders (49 women, 165 young women and 87 young men) strengthened their capacities through participation in seminars, capacity building initiatives, and WPS dialogues/meetings of the WPS Caucus. Approximately 513 civil society actors, WPS activists, and international actors both in Palestine and abroad became more aware of national action planning on WPS/UNSCR 1325, the gendered impact of occupation on Palestinian women’s lives, and Palestinian women’s role in peacebuilding, recovery, climate change management and emergency response. This was a result of national and international advocacy activities, workshops and conferences. Finally, 368 women maintenance rights-holders benefited from targeted livelihood and quality legal services through economic recovery interventions that are paired with comprehensive women’s access to justice support.

Recommendation:	Redefine characteristics of capacity building of MoWA
Management Response:	UN Women will work on further enhancing its partnership with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to make it more effective.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Identify Key Partnership Strategic Approach for the Upcoming SN (2018-2022) UN Women Country Staff 2017/10 Completed Develop a LOA with MOWA to highlight the implementation mechanism for the partnership in 2018 UN Women Programme Coordinator 2018/04 Completed UN Women signed and LOA with MOWA identifying the support UN Women will provide to MOWA for the implementation of the Cross Sectoral National Gender Strategy. Develop and implement a new approach for providing technical assistance for MOWA related to the implementation of the Cross Sectoral National Gender Strategy UN Women Programme Coordinator 2018/12 Completed During 2018, UN Women signed a cooperation agreement framework with MOWA for implementation of the CSNGS. The support through the agreement will focus on the institutional capacity of MOWA. UN Women supports MOWA through an integrated manner to implement the CSNGS. A technical committee is formed to that have members from UN Women and MOWA responsible to coordinate efforts and monitor the implementation of the works. Monitor the implementation of all technical support provided to MOWA to capture lessons learned and to take corrective measure when required. UN Women National Programme Coordinator; M&R Associate 2018/12 Completed UN Women is in the process of assessing the support provided to MOWA in 2019 in order to capture lessons learned for the upcoming year. The UN Women Special Representative had a meeting with the Minister of MOWA and more meetings at the technical level are planned for the 1st quarter of 2019. UN Women supports MOWA through an integrated manner to implement the CSNGS. A technical committee is formed to that have members from UN Women and MOWA responsible to coordinate efforts and monitor the implementation of the works.

Recommendation:

Further expansion of the holistic approach to GBV

Management Response:

UN Women will support national actors to develop, reform and implement laws, policies, structures, systems, mechanisms and national strategies to promote gender equality and end violence against women and girls in alignment with international human rights standards. Additionally, UN Women with its partners seeks to ensure that victims and survivors of violence are afforded protection and remedies, and perpetrators are held accountable. To reinforce VAW prevention work, UN Women seeks to enhance the engagement and support the education and mobilization of women, girls, men and boys of all ages at the community level to promote social norms, attitudes and behaviors toward gender equality. UN Women seeks to ensure that these interventions respond to the needs of women, especially marginalized women. One of the major changes that we are planning to work on is to increasingly partner with women survivors of violence in their capacity of experts, based on the recognition of their unique expertise and solutions on eliminating violence against women and girls.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Develop the Theory of Change for the Office's work on EVAW. UN Women Programmatic Staff 2018/09 Completed TOC in place and is reflected in the AWP. Support national actors to develop, reform and implement laws, policies, structures, systems, mechanisms and national strategies to promote gender equality and end violence against women and girls in alignment with international human rights standards. EVAW Programme Managers 2022/12 Completed Update December 2022: UN Women accelerated its support to the justice and security sector institutions, including the High Judicial Council (HJC), the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP), the Attorney General Office, the Supreme Judge Department (SJD), and the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD). UN Women focus included: the piloting of the VAW court, the first of its kind in Palestine; the operationalization of the VAW SoPs; the adaptation of the Mizan system, the electronic judicial system with gender justice perspectives; the establishment of a helpline at the Sharia courts and the newly established helpline at the FJPU; the implementation of the emergency plans at the GAO, PCP, HJC, MoSD and SJD; the adoption and operationalization of the cybercrimes manual at the PP; the roll out of the strategic instructive guidelines on responsive litigation of VAW cases; the revitalization of the serious case review mechanism; the launch of the newly established OSC in Nablus; the establishment of a new OSC in Hebron; the refurbishment of the Ramallah Sharia Court; and the refurbishment of the elderly centre in Jericho in line with the rights and needs of elderly women with disabilities. In line with the principle of leave no one behind, UN Women supported governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to develop responsive SoPs for the caring and rehabilitation services to elderly women with disabilities and women and girls users of drugs. Additionally, UN Women supported the adaptation of the case conference manual with the rights of women with disabilities, and the customization and adoption of two tools, the first to detect stigma and discrimination against women, to support evidence-based policy reform, and the second to lead advocacy campaigns on the rights of women with disabilities. UN Women ensured that civil society organizations have the skills and resources to lobby and advocate for the development, reform and implementation of legislative and policy frameworks related to end violence against women in line with international commitments. UN Women supported the coalition on ending violence against women, Al-Muntada, and Musawah Organization in the West Bank and the Community Media Centre (CMC) in Gaza to advocate and lobby for the development, reform and implementation of legislative and policy frameworks related to ending violence against women in line with international commitments. More specifically, UN Women supported these partners to advocate for the endorsement of a responsive Family Protection Bill, conducting legislative review of Presidential decrees from gender justice perspectives, amendment of outdated legislations, such as the penal code and others to enhance women’s access to justice. Policy advice was provided through evidence stemming from the socio-political analysis on the FPB, and other studies, such as the the production of an analytical report on the findings of the prevalence of violence survey of 2019, findings of the Justice monitor, etc. UN Women to reinforce VAW prevention work, UN Women seeks to enhance the engagement and support the education and mobilization of women, girls, men and boys of all ages at the community level to promote social norms, attitudes and behaviors toward gender equality. EVAW Programme Managers 2022/12 Completed During 2018, UN Women intensified its engagement with men, boys, women and girls through community based solutions for promoting gender equality and respectful relations among all members of the community. During 2018, and with the technical and financial support of UN Women, 3338 fathers, 83 mothers, 996 male university students, 38 female university students, 3383 male school students, 67 female school students, 377 men, and 40 male teachers and counselors were reached through UN Women supported actions aiming to enhance gender equality and reduce violence against women at the local level. UN Women mobilized 214 men in different parts of the West Bank and Gaza to publicly promote gender equality and advocate for eliminating violence against women. While it is too early to measure the effect of action on community’s attitudes and behaviors, there are clear sign that the action will assist in promoting favorable social norms. In 2019, In 2019, 682 women, and 11 men were targeted through UN Women's provided services, solutions and actions aiming to enhance gender equality and reducing violence against women at the local level (out of 50 targeted for year 2019). A total of 669 women from Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah, Qalqilia and Nablus were reached through conducting 44 awareness raising session on GBV and the available services. 8 female school supervisors, 5 female school principals, 3 male school counselors, 6 male school supervisors, and 2 male school principals were targeted to review a school diary to raise awareness of school children on gender equality. In 2019, we have 77 local champions (out of 0 decision makers and/or community leaders and /or local champions) who continued promoting publicly GE and EVAWG after the end of phase 1 of the regional programme “Men and Women for Gender Equality”. During 2020, 433 positive deviant men and women -122 couples (61 men and 61 women), 52 newly married couples (26 men and 26 women), 80 female and 26 male, 87 university students (40 males and 47 females), 21 media professionals (11 men, 10 women), and 45 CSOs and Unions staff (20 men and 25 women)- undertook actions (family visits and awareness raising sessions) that promote favorable social norms for greater gender equality in their communities. Updated December 2022 In 2022, the percentage of targeted beneficiaries with increased positive attitudes towards GE and fathers' engagement in childcare by 24% (17% women, 30% men). Beneficiaries had positive attitudes towards women’s economic participation since 52% (66% women, 38% men) disagreed with the statement: “Men should really be the ones to bring money home to provide for their families, not women” at baseline. This improved to 74% (86% women, 63% men). 51% of targeted beneficiaries (66% women, 37% men) had a positive attitude towards engaging women in decision making at the baseline by disagreeing with the statement: “Men should have the final word about decisions in the home”. This has improved to 91% (97% women, 84% men) at the end of the project. Beneficiaries had a positive attitude towards engaging men in caring for their children at baseline since 51% (61% women, 42% men) disagreed with the statement “Giving children a bath and feeding them is the mother’s responsibility, not the fathers”. This improved to 84% (83% women, 84% men) at the end-line. As for GBV among targeted men and women, the regional fatherhood programme has resulted in the reduction of verbal violence against targeted women by 21%; and in the reduction of physical violence against women by 8%.

Recommendation:

Develop a detailed communication strategy and plan

Management Response:

Advocacy and communication has been considered a crucial and integral part of UN Women’s work in Palestine. We published research on gender issues, conducted a number of high-level advocacy events, and actively engaged in UN Women’s global initiatives such as International Women’s Day, 16 Days of Activism, etc. Also, it has established strategic relations with partners including public institutions, civil society organizations, human rights organizations, as well as networks to reach out at grass-roots level. Besides, it closely works with various women’s organizations to establish a team of gender equality advocates. During the period of the SN 2018-2022, UN Women Palestine will focus its advocacy and communication work on three essential areas. Firstly, it will continue to initiate and lead a diverse range of advocacy campaigns including the engagement of men and boys for gender equality. Secondly, it will increase brand positioning and visibility of UN Women’s work in Palestine through regular production of corporate information and fact sheets, and thirdly, it will incorporate Behavior Change Communication (BCC) methodology into its communication strategy to highlight positive images and roles of women and men as agents of change in the ‘new norm’ space. This will be done through actively utilizing digital platforms, social media, the CO website by presenting positive and replicable role models and champions for gender equality and women’s rights to inspire their peers and the new generation.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments UN Women to initiate and lead a diverse range of advocacy campaigns including the engagement of men and boys for gender equality. Progarmme Staff 2018/03 Completed Through the Men and Women for Gender Equality Regional Programme and the UN HAYA JP, UN Women is supporting community members across the West Bank and Gaza Strip to develop and implement community based solutions to promote GE. UN Women will increase brand positioning and visibility of UN Women’s work in Palestine through regular production of corporate information and fact sheets Programme Staff 2022/12 Completed On February 19th, UN Women Palestine office launched the HeForShe Campaign incorporating the launch of the IMAGES MENA – Palestine report and the “Because I am a Man” regional campaign. A launching event was organized and attended by 191 participants from NGOs/INGOs (41 males, 55 females); donors (5 males, 3 females); policy makers/ government (7 males, 7 females); UN agencies (7 males, 15 females); private sector (6 males, 6 females); universities (2 males, 3 females); media (10 males, 10 females); and public (10 males, 4 females) with the participation of the UN Women Regional Director for Arab states. An International Women’s Day campaign titled “She leads the way” was launched through the collaboration of UN Women, British Consulate-General, UNESCO, UNFPA, Norwegian Representative Office to the Palestinian Authority, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation Jerusalem Office, Spanish Cooperation, Consulate General of Sweden in Jerusalem, Consulate General of Belgium in Jerusalem, and Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling. More than 1,000 individuals were reached through activities highlighting women’s participation in performing arts, technology and civic engagement through art exhibitions, workshops, theatre performances, storytelling and discussion panels. Furthermore, the UN Women Office co-sponsored the only English magazine in Palestine “This Week in Palestine” March edition under the theme of International Women’s Day and published four articles, which were shared via TWiP’s website and Facebook page. 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence “#HearMeToo: Voices against Violence” campaign was launched through the collaboration of a total 23 joint partners including international organizations, donors, national NGOs and CBOs who conducted a total 20 joint activities in 12 geographical locations (Gaza, Ramallah, Aqqaba, Qalandia Refugee Camp, Kufur Jammal, Kufur Jamal, Tulkaram, Nablus, Salfit, Qalqilya, Tubas, and Tammun) and also online and through TV and Radio channels. The 20 on-site joint activities attracted about 2,000 audiences from West Bank including East Jerusalem and Gaza, while more than half of them were women. 180 Facebook posts and 32 tweets were created by joint partners reaching total 510,000 people on social media. UN Women launched its Facebook Page in 2018. The purpose of page is to share the vision of UN Women with the public at large as well as to advocate for women's human rights in Palestine. Updated December 2022 In 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 UN Women led international and national stakeholders to implement the 16 Days of Activism. In 2022, more than 90 partners, including international partners, Palestinian civil society organizations, international non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, and the private sector, joined efforts and show solidarity towards the global movement to address all forms of violence against women and girls. The campaign partners also included a group of youth changemakers, human and women’s rights defenders, media partners, gender equality champions, women's rights activists, and academia. The campaign ran from 25 November to 10 December 2022 and included a set of partners-coordinated joint activities and a set of materials published on social media platforms, in addition to a set of daily events such as workshops, seminars, training sessions, artistic shows, radio and television episodes, among others. UN Women will incorporate Behavior Change Communication (BCC) methodology into its communication strategy to highlight positive images and roles of women and men as agents of change in the ‘new norm’ space. Programme Staff 2022/12 Completed UN Women worked with Positive Deviants through 2018 to showcase stories of individuals who have positive attitudes and behaviors towards gender equality. 214 positive deviant men/ local champions from Gaza and the West Bank promoted publicly GE and VAWG. 15 men promoted inheritance rights of women in Khan Younis (reached 1700 men); 16 male youth promoted women political participation (reached 168 male community members in Bedu and Hizma); 15 male school students promoted sharing household work (reached 400 male students); 20 fathers and 10 male youth promoted ending early marriage in Khan Younis (reached 965 men and male youth); 16 male youth promoted sharing household work in Gaza city (reached 270 university students); 10 fathers from Khan Younis promoted sharing household work in Khan Younis (reached 240 fathers); 28 fathers from Tuqu and Dura promoted sharing responsibilities of raising children (reached 40 parents); and 60 male gender equality promotors from Gaza (15-16 years old male students) shifting perspectives of men and boys on masculinities and gender equality (reached 2153 male students). Updated December 2022 PALCO has continued to promote Behavior Change Communication (BCC) methodology into its communication strategy to highlight positive images and roles of women and men as agents of change in the ‘new norm’ space. A final evaluation of the UN Women’s regional MENA programme: ‘Men and Women for Gender Equality’ was conducted in 2022. Main lesson learned from the evaluation: The programme utilized social and mainstream media effectively to share the knowledge products and reach a wider audience. Although media contributed to some extent towards raising people’s awareness of gender equality, social impact on programme and population levels requires more time to manifest. Proof of impact can be measured by collecting anecdotal evidence and quantitative measurement over time. ‘Fatherhood’ as an entry point into communities and households proved to be an appropriate and relevant framing to involve men as actors for equality. The programme also revealed that men need safe spaces to share their experiences and reflect on how patriarchy affects them, as a first step towards changing discriminatory attitudes and behaviors. Also, high-visibility celebrity or community-based role models, influencers of all genders and strategic public communications campaigns are practical tools to amplify and increase outreach. Lessons learnt: No in-depth evidence exists to fully understand how social norms operate on VAWG and on unequal care distribution in OPT. Little data exist on paid and unpaid care economy (as percentage of the GDP), and the supposed gaps in care service provision in rural and peripheric areas. While most of the international agencies are talking and investing in transforming social norms, little evidence is available on which norms need to prioritise and how transformation in social norms can produce a sustainable impact on curving VAWG and in redistributing unpaid care work in fairer way. Reducing the knowledge gaps in these areas in at the centre of PALCO’s knowledge efforts for the new programming cycle.