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The final evaluation of “Promoting Gender Responsive Policies in South East Europe Regional Programme 2017-2019” provided important findings, lessons learned, conclusions and recommendations which will support UN Women to design new GRB interventions in the Western Balkans and more broadly in ECA region and unify the use of GRB as an enabler factor for financing for GE. Additionally, the findings of the evaluation will contribute to the UN Women efforts to tailor country specific interventions while keeping the broader picture and design regional interventions.
The main findings of the evaluation suggest that: a) Gender-responsive budgeting creates a means for countries to support the standardization of gender equality principles into the institutional framework across sectors. b) This Programme has made great strides in the implementation of GRB in the target countries, building on the work of the first two phases and previous efforts, with some direct impact to women and girls already achieved in Albania, BiH and North Macedonia. c) UN Women demonstrated a competitive advantage and strong leadership in the area, building important relationships and empowering key partners. d) The Programme’s influence has resulted in the reallocation of funds based on gender equality principles in a number of jurisdictions, with direct linkages to improvement in the lives of women and girls in the region. e) This phase of the Programme has cemented the momentum and willingness of the Programme partners and ensured that strong champions in each country are supported and empowered inside their own organizations and in the broader effort in their country and in the region. f) The focus on civil society organizations not limited to those that are traditionally associated with GEWE, combined with the capacity building model of training and coaching on the creation of watchdog reports, was highly successful across all target countries g) Re-framing GRB as a long-term effort, with clearly laid out steps and progress markers would help sustain momentum and reinforce the value of UN Women’s contribution at each step. g) It is critical to portray GRB as a tool for advocacy and program improvement across all sectors.
The findings and recommendations of the evaluation have been taken in consideration in the development of the new GRB regional project covering Albania, BiH, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro (Republic of Moldova will be part of the regional interventions only, the country component will be covered under Office Strategic Planning). The actions/activities foreseen for the implementation of the evaluation recommendations spelled out in this Management Response are integrated into GRB regional project in the phase of final development and will be taken in consideration while designing interventions in other areas of work of UN Women such as data and gender, EVAW, etc.
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