Management Response

: Multi-Country Office for the Pacific (Fiji)
: 2018 - 2022 , Multi-Country Office for the Pacific (Fiji) (MCO)
: External Evaluation of the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls Programme (Pacific Partnership)
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Multi-Country Office for the Pacific (Fiji)

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One of the lessons learnt from this evaluation is that three months period is not sufficient for a remote evaluation, particularly given the complexity of the programme with implementation in 9 countries and a regional approach. Evaluations staring just before Christmas period in the Pacific have proved to be having limited to no response rate until the end of January – another lesson learnt for timing of evaluations. These two have been probably the biggest challenges for the evaluators that came up in every meeting we had. Most of the recommendations have been either accepted or “partially accepted” – the later partially due to the limited time to unpack those during the debriefings. An example is the M&E related observations, for which relevant feedback is given in the Management Response to the Evaluation. Overall the interaction with the evaluators was “very good”.

: Approved
Recommendation: 1a. The programme partners for Outcome 1 and Outcome 2 should increase their activities and investments in intervention research and rigorous monitoring and evaluation on effective programmes and policies for the prevention of VAWG, for instance along the lines of the current South Tarawa study, linked to the strengthening peaceful villages programme.
Management Response: The Pacific Partnership notes the recommendations and agrees that rigorous research should accompany interventions to determine through data what works in the Pacific context to prevent VAWG. However, rigorous intervention research, such as the South Tarawa model, requires additional financial resources not committed in the current programme. The Pacific Partnership is still producing data and evidence on the effectiveness of a range of response and prevention interventions via strong M&E. The Programme is producing a series of “What Works” to prevent VAWG for the Pacific based on the work and results from Pacific Partnership partners, with the first What Works paper produced in December 2021 on the Social Citizenship Education programme. In addition, new research on the intersections of VAWG in sports will be released providing additional data on the intersection of sports, gender and violence – and how to ensure safe sports for women and girls in the region. Increasing research activities would require a corresponding increase in resources; both financial and human which is currently outside of the available budget.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. SPC has finalised the schools lessons plans and lessons/teachers assessment template for implementation in schools. One form is for filling by teachers to guide their lesson preparation. The other form is to be used by the assistant head of school or Ministry of Education official to assess the teachers delivery of SCE according to the lesson plan, in the classroom. At the end of each 6 months, the country project officer will collect visit the schools to analyse these forms. SPC, Ministries of Education in the 4 SCE project countries 2021/12 Completed Forms finalized and discussed with Vanuatu pilot school teachers during the teacher training held in May 2021. These forms will be part of the training of RMI teachers end of June/ early July 2021 The work is ongoing in countries by the SCE officers (Vanuatu in Sep, RMI – in Sep).
2. SPC and UNW to complete the full series of What Works papers by December 2022 and shared through learning and knowledge sharing events. UNW and SPC 2021/12 Completed Launch of the What Works to End Violence Against Women and Girls through Social citizenship Education (SCE), occurred on the 31st of May. The launch of the What Works paper enhances the regional evidence base of what works to prevent VAWG in the Pacific, with specific case studies and examples from Kiribati, RMI, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. What Works to Prevent VAWG in Faith Settings is close to completion, with a launch planned in Q3 (2022).
3. UN Women, EQI and MYWSSA to complete the mid-line and endline data collection on the SPV programme to determine the effectiveness of the SPC programme in reducing IPV in the home and increasing gender equitable attitudes UNW, EQI, MWYSSA 2023/10 Completed In partnership with the Equality Institute (EQI), UN Women and MWYSSA are progressing with a mid-line evaluation of the SPV programme in Kiribati, with the final report expecting to be complete by late August 2022. Furthermore, UN Women in partnership with Raising Voices is conducting a Community Assessment Survey for June 2022 as the Awareness phase comes to an end.
Recommendation: 1b. The programme partners for Outcome 1 and Outcome 2 should Within the current Programme, further analyse and document the added value of comprehensive programming for the prevention and response to VAWG and of the success in strengthening the partnership between state and non-state actors, for instance in the Solomon Islands SAFENET programme.
Management Response: The Pacific Partnership agrees with this recommendation and values the strength of a regional approach that is tailored at the country level, bringing all components of this comprehensive programme to support national efforts to prevent and respond to VAWG. The MTE documented the additional value and the Programme Team fully agrees. For the remainder of the programme, the Pacific Partnership team aims to bring additional coherence at the national level through Action wide coordination meetings, inclusive of PIFS and SPC components
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Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Internal coordination and communication
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. SPC - use of the MTE to inform the concept paper for the next iteration of the project. SPC 2022/06 Completed The MTE has been used to inform the concept paper for the Pacific Partnership programme, along with planned partner reflections and consultations
2. PIFS: Provide a list of all NSAs part of the programme/NSA programme to UNW for in-country coordination PIFS, UNW, SPC 2022/03 Completed PIFS has provided the list of NSAs and in country coordination is taking place.
3. UN Women to coordinate a whole of Partners meeting in focused countries to bring greater alignment of regional activities. Countries include: Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Fiji. UNW 2022/03 Completed In the Solomon Islands UN Women conducted a series of partner reflections in Honiara and the Provinces, resulting in enhanced coordination of activities across the programme in country. In October 2021, UN Women Kiribati undertook a whole of partner meeting, which included a reflection element. The meeting was successful and has resulted in greater cohesion. In October 2021, UN Women in Tonga undertook a reflection workshop with all partners which had positive results, including identifying changes, impacts and best practices within the Tonga programme.
4. UNW/PIFS/SPC to organize Pacific Partnership ‘whole of partner’ learning session bring the 100++ stakeholders together in learning events before the end of the programme. UNW, SPC, PIFS 2022/09 Completed The 3rd Annual Meeting of the Regional Working Group on the Implementation of Family Protection/Domestic Violence Legislation has been tentatively scheduled for 22-26 August. The proposed theme: Strengthening systems and services to EVAWG - Lessons learnt as a region Implementing domestic violence legislation focusing on services provided for by the DV legislation. Tentativly scheduled for November is a full Regional Pacific Partnership, partner convening. The concept note is currently under development
Recommendation: 2. The programme partners should increase the efforts of translating the Programme’s strong attributes of comprehensiveness illustrated by the combination of the three programme outcomes in a single Theory of Change into programming at country level by assuring that all three outcomes are actively supported and pursued in as many countries as possible
Management Response: The Theory of Change for the Pacific Partnership Programme is based on the global Flagship Programme for the Elimination of Ending VAWG of UN Women – and as a result, it encompasses a comprehensive Prevention of VAWG programme, with strategies of engagement with CSOs and government, focused capacity building, supporting Pacific thought leadership. Translating the ToC in its entirety at the country level is depended upon donor investments in the programme, resources available, and political will – for example, the Social Citizenship Education programme is demand driven.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: National ownership
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Fundraise to bring comprehensiveness of coverage in programme interventions, based on agreed principles UNW, SPC, PIFS 2022/09 Completed Active discussions have been occurring to ensure comprehensiveness of coverage in programme interventions, as a result funding has been confirmed from the EU for a Phase two successor programme, 2024-2027.
2. Organise regional and country level learnings to disseminate good practices to countries that did not show interest so far UNW, SPC, PIFS 2022/09 Completed SPC has begun discussions with Fiji and Solomon Islands specifically in relation to SCE. UN Women is a participant in a UN Women Regional Office EVAWG convening, whereby regional learnings are being shared on what works to EVAWG. Furthermore, regional and country level learnings will be shared in the two upcoming regional convenings (August & November).
Recommendation: 3. The programme donors that are considering investing additional funds in the Pacific Partnership (or in a future programme) should, to the greatest degree possible, avoid geographic or thematic earmarking and instead invest in the common Theory of Change. Programme partners that are negotiating additional financing agreements with donors should insist that new funds support the overall Theory of Change with as little earmarking as possible
Management Response: The Pacific Partnership agrees with this approach and the design of the successor programme will ensure that as additional investors come into the programme, there will be a ‘whole of’ approach to the ToC, ensuring to the greatest degree possible, geographic and thematic earmarking is avoided.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Resource mobilization
Organizational Priorities: Organizational efficiency
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Design of the future programs to expand on this recommendation programme partners 2022/06 Completed Successor programme developed.
Recommendation: 4. The programme partners should strengthen their efforts for inclusion. While the evaluation acknowledges that much has been done by SPC and UN Women to reach disabled women, women in remote or rural areas, elderly women, people with different gender identification and people with different sexual orientation, the survey and interview responses of implementing partners indicate that there is room to further strengthen the Programme’s inclusiveness. Additional attention should also be given to including men and boys in the Programme to overcome constraints mentioned by some implementing partners.
Management Response: The recommendation is accepted particularly on the increased efforts. UNW would like to highlight that the current ToC and M&E did not have specific targets for inclusion and this may have weakened the attention at the output level. However, at activity level, efforts have been made to ensure inclusion in all major policy and institutional interventions (such as shelter standards development, national action plan to prevent VAWG, national service delivery systems (i.e. the SDPs) as well as key regional guidance).
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Engaging men and boys, Faith based
UNEG Criteria: Human Rights, Gender equality, Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Future programmes to have specific indicators and targets on inclusion in their ToC and M&E. UNW, SPC, PIFS 2022/10 Completed Completed with successor programme.
2. Proactively engage diverse groups in current interventions (targeted reach out) UNW, SPC, PIFS 2023/12 Completed UN Women has proactively engaged with the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF), with a recent meeting occurring in May. UN Women also has an ongoing relationship with Diverse Voices for Equality (DIVA), which enhances inclusion of people with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity in the programme. In, Q4 2021 SPC held a forum in Vanuatu for people with disabilities. The forum allowed for rich discussion on what social inclusion in the classroom actually means and looks like for people with a disability. In March 2022, PIFS included PDF in the high-level CSW event, ensuring representation of people with a disability were included and provided a global platform such as the CSW.
Recommendation: 6a. The programme partners should review and revise the process and format of performance monitoring. They should: Use the PMF as a living performance management instrument that is updated and accessible in real time, reviewed at least twice a year by the PSC, and annexed in full to the annual reports rather than disaggregated and embedded in sections of the report.
Management Response: This recommendation is accepted noting that the M&E framework has been revised two times and approved at PSC. However, a more often review of it is needed as an adaptive approach to an adaptive programme
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Include M&E review in the quarterly meetings of the programme (internal) UN Women, SPC, PIFS 2023/12 Completed Every quarter
2. Present the MELF revisions to PSC biannually UNW, SPC and PIFS 2022/12 Completed Twice in 2022
Recommendation: 6b. The programme partners should review and revise the process and format of performance monitoring. They should: Simplify the PMF by developing single, rather than country-specific, indicators that can still be disaggregated by country when setting targets and reporting results.
Management Response: The recommendation is accepted and partially implemented already. The M&E has generic indicators that have specific targets by country. However, some due to different institutional set up in different countries, some of them need a separate definition. Example: SAFENET only exist in Kiribati and Solomon Islands, and indicators on referrals are available only from this source. For other countries, the programme uses proxy indicators from Crisis Centers calculating referral to that service provider only as one of the most demanded so far.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Continue having this approach to M&E in the design of the successor programme UNW, SPC and PIFS 2022/10 Completed The Vanuatu programme has been integrated into the overall Pacific Partnership MELF and was reported on in the 2021 report to donors.
Recommendation: 6c, The programme partners should review and revise the process and format of performance monitoring. They should: Integrate the outcomes and outputs of the additional financing agreements signed after 2018 and of any future new agreements in the common PMF, ideally under existing indicators by expanding the disaggregation of targets and results. The addition of new indicators should be avoided unless new agreements add new elements to the common Theory of Change.
Management Response: This recommendation is accepted and implemented already. All additional agreements are contributing to the same ToC and have same indicators, with new targets for new countries.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. The successor programme design to continue having the same approach to M&E Programme partners 2022/10 Completed Completed
Recommendation: 6d. The programme partners should review and revise the process and format of performance monitoring. They should: Review and revise indicators and targets on the basis of measurability and informative value. Indicators that already have a nearly 100% achievement at baseline need to be revised as there is no room for measuring progress. This could be solved by setting targets that include the increase in coverage (e.g. >95% of teachers with positive attitudes in XX schools). Indicators with baseline data of very low numbers have a similar issue as small and insignificant increases in numbers may result in reports of large percentage increases (e.g. the increase from one to three referrals from social services is recorded as an increase of 200 percentage points). When percentage point increases are chosen as targets, the numbers on which they are calculated should always be presented in the PMF.
Management Response: The recommendation is accepted with agreement that indicators and targets need to be reviewed to better reflect the results, and where small number exist, identify additional indicators to show absolute results vs. percentage.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Review the MELF by next steering committee with proposed improvements for the indicators UNW, SPC and PIFS 2022/06 Completed Meeting with three coordinating agencies to review where appropriate update the MEL. This meeting took place in early June 2022.
2. Revise the measurement of people’s attitudes towards HR, GE and EVAWG SPC 2021/12 Completed Completed in meeting in June 2022
Recommendation: 7. The programme partners should jointly review the implementation and budget execution rates under each outcome and develop feasible solutions to mitigate the differences in implementation rates. This involves identifying implementation bottlenecks for the achievement of specific outputs, adjusting budget allocations within and across outcomes to ensure that the most promising activities are pursued, and ensuring that the outcomes and outputs are distributed among the three partners according to their highest capacity for implementation
Management Response: The recommendation is partially accepted. Programme is constantly adjusting the AWP as needs arise (and endorsed by SPC) but within Outcomes only. Co-Delegation agreement does not allow re-budgeting across outcomes, unless an amendment is signed.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Resource mobilization
Organizational Priorities: Organizational efficiency, Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Update PSC on the status of implementation twice a year. UNW, SPC and PIFS 2023/12 Completed Twice a year. (PSC meeting took place June 2022)
Recommendation: 8. The programme partners and the principal programme donors should build on the achievements of the Pacific Partnership by assuring that future initiatives for EVAWG in the Pacific continue to invest and deliver in this type of cohesive approach that unites regional organisations and institutions, PIC governments and NSAs in a continuation and expansion of the Pacific Partnership.
Management Response: This recommendation is accepted and directed for future initiatives (not current programme)
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability, Impact
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. There is no action for the current programme as the recommendation is for future initiatives. Current programme partners will continue to advocate for this approach in fundraising initiatives. programme partners 2022/12 No Longer Applicable N/A
Recommendation: 9. The programme partners and donors should, in consultation with other programmes supporting the goal of ending violence against women and girls in the Pacific, consider expanding the scope of activities by including partners with capacity to promote equality and rights in sectors not fully covered by the current Programme, such as in health and economic sectors.
Management Response: This recommendation is accepted and directed for future initiatives (not current programme). Current programme is also working with these sectors at highest level with Government and CSO.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: National ownership, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality, Human Rights
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Include other sectors more specifically in the successor programme UNW, SPC and PIFS 2022/09 No Longer Applicable N/A
Recommendation: 10. In the future, the Pacific Partnership should develop a strongly branded media footprint with a common logo to be used for all communication outputs as well as a common website where all partner activities and results can be accessed.
Management Response: This recommendation is accepted and directed for future initiatives (not current programme).
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy, Internal coordination and communication
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Develop a logo for the successor programme programme partners 2022/09 No Longer Applicable N/A
Recommendation: 5. The programme partners, in consultation with donors, should fully integrate the additional financing agreements signed after 2018 in the common programme framework, including the Theory of Change, the M&E Framework and the Performance Management Framework (PMF).
Management Response: There has been three additional agreements signed with Government of Australia and New Zealand to fund Outcome 2 of the programme, and all funding the same ToC . While UN Women has specific M&E for each donor agreement, we accept that those need to be better reflected in the results indicators in the overall M&E framework, and in particular Vanuatu programme.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance, Alignment with strategy
Organizational Priorities: Organizational efficiency
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Integrate Vanuatu programme M&E in the overall M&E framework of the programme UNW 2022/01 Completed The Vanuatu programme has been integrated into the overall Pacific Partnership MELF and was reported on in the 2021 report to donors.