Management Response

: Georgia
: 2021 - 2025 , Georgia (CO)
: Final external Independent Evaluation of the Project: Accelerating implementation of Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia
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Georgia

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The overarching goal (impact level) of the WPS project is full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia. The project had two outcomes: (1) Increase in women’s meaningful and representative participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding at the community and national level (2) Increase in accountability of government, especially key security sector partners, to Women, Peace and Security commitments. Interventions developed in the framework of the project were implemented in 17 municipalities most effected by conflict and displacement in the regions of Kvemo Kartli, Shida Kartli, Imereti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, including the villages that are adjacent to the Administrative Boundary Lines with Abkhazia, Georgia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia. UN Women partnered with the IDP Women’s Association “Consent”, the Women’s Information Center and the Women’s Fund “Sukhumi”, three CSOs that have proven experience and capacities, as well as substantive theoretical and practical knowledge on IDP and conflict-affected women and youth needs and priorities. As well, these partners possess hands on experience in the NAP localization and advocacy experience to support the resolution of pressing issues and needs faced by IDP and conflict affected women. As a result of the evaluation, the project received three broad recommendations that have all been accepted by the Country Office and will be addressed in the next phase of WPS project, which spans the period of 11 months, from 1 May 2025- 31 March 2026.

: Approved
Recommendation: UN Women should develop a coherent strategy to advance transformative gender results in peace and security by aligning project impact with long-term change, strengthening partnerships, integrating cross-cutting themes, and enhancing coordination with women-led peacebuilding actors.
Management Response: UN Women accepts this recommendation and has fully incorporated it into the design of the 2025–2026 phase of the WPS project. The revised project strategy outlines a clear pathway to achieving transformative gender results by aligning project outcomes with long-term structural change. The updated impact framework emphasizes women’s and girls’ active participation, influence, and benefit in peace and resilience building processes, as well as their equal access to opportunities within the defence and security sector. The strategy also strengthens partnerships, integrates cross-cutting themes, and enhances coordination with women-led peacebuilding actors to ensure a coherent and sustainable approach.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Peace and security (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Sustainability, Impact
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Revise the definition of the project’s impact to reflect long-term transformative change (e.g., increased resilience of IDP and conflict-affected communities), and update the Results and Resources Framework to incorporate realistic assumptions and risks (Related to Findings 3, 9; Conclusion 8) UN Women GEO CO 2025/08 Completed This recommendation has been addressed in the design of the new phase of the project. The definition of impact has been revised to clearly articulate the long-term transformative changes anticipated from the implementation of WPS agenda. Specifically, on impact level, the transformative change the new phase of the project in 2025-2026 is aspiring to is - women and girls contribute to, have influence in and benefit from building sustainable peace and resilience and enjoy equal opportunities in security sector. The project also aims to strengthen the human security and resilience of internally displaced and conflict-affected women and their communities in Georgia, while enabling and capacitating women to meaningfully participate in decision-making processes related to the WPS agenda, including security sector reform. In addition, a comprehensive review of the assumptions and risks within the Results and Resources Framework (RRF) has been conducted to ensure they reflect the current political, institutional, and social context, including the growing backlash against gender equality. The project has developed clear and actionable risk mitigation strategies (Risk Management Matrix), including capacity-building support, strengthened coordination mechanisms, and contingency measures to protect civic space and ensure the safe and sustained engagement of women peacebuilders, as well as grassroots internally displaced and conflict-affected women.
Advocate for stronger engagement of state institutions in the fifth NAP 1325, including activities requiring collaboration with women’s networks representing IDP and conflict-affected women (Related to Findings 6, 12, 13; Conclusion 1) UN Women GEO CO 2026/06 Initiated Collaboration with defence and security institutions and relevant line ministries responsible for implementing Georgia’s NAP has been limited as per the request of the donor, due to recent legislative changes (such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Law, as well as the Law on Grants) in Georgia and followed political crisis in the country As for the preparations for the fifth NAP by the Government of Georgia, UN Women will actively participate in and support the development process to ensure that the new plan is grounded in actual needs, emerging priorities, and lessons learned from previous project phases, as well as findings and recommendations special monitoring report of the NAP conducted by the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia (and supported by the evaluated project). A key priority will be to advocate for the inclusion of concrete activities that require meaningful engagement of Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors, as well as IDP and conflict-affected women in decision making processes, especially at the local level. UN Women is also committed to ensuring that the NAP development process is inclusive and participatory (if and when and where circumstances allow), by promoting the engagement of women-led civil society organizations that have played a central role in implementing the WPS agenda in Georgia as well as IDP and conflict affected women themselves.
Promote synergies between WPS and other UN Women thematic areas (e.g., women’s political participation, GBV/VAWG, environmental resilience), and consider mainstreaming prevention of violence and environmental resilience as cross-cutting issues in project design (Related to Finding 4) UN Women GEO CO 2025/12 Overdue-Initiated UN Women agrees with the importance of promoting synergies between the WPS initiatives and other thematic areas, including women’s political participation, prevention of gender-based violence (GBV), women’s economic empowerment (WEE), and women’s role in environmental resilience. In the new phase of the project, efforts were made to enhance coherence and strategic linkages across these portfolios to foster transformative change in gender and social norms. This includes integrating these dimensions into community-level activities, such as community academy of Social Mobilization methodology focused on capacity-building, as well as strengthening partnerships with women-led organizations that work at the intersection of peacebuilding, GBV, WEE, and climate change.
Define the role of the private sector in the WPS agenda and integrate activities involving WEPs-affiliated companies to support IDP and conflict-affected women (Related to Findings 4, 5; Conclusion 4) UN Women GEO CO 2026/12 Initiated In the WPS project framework cooperation was initiated with the European University, which became the WEPs signatory. The University will dedicate space and resources for the student conferences, research and other academic activities on WPS, Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) issues, as well as women’s empowerment, prevention of sexual harassment and promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment in general.
Continue developing the WPS database of women - peacebuilders and organizations; conduct a mapping exercise of women-led organizations to identify synergies, strengthen coordination, and reinforce the Network of Women and Youth Ambassadors (Related to Finding 14; Conclusion 6) UN Women GEO CO 2026/12 Initiated Building on the progress achieved in previous phases, the project will continue to develop and update the WPS database of women peacebuilding experts and organizations, including CSOs and other actors engaged in peace, conflict prevention, and security processes. The WPS program regularly provides opportunities for these women and youth-led CSO representatives by supporting their participation in national, regional and international forums, conferences and workshops, as well as trainings on WPS and YPS.
Recommendation: To promote women’s participation, UN Women is encouraged to strengthen bottom-up, gender-responsive approaches by expanding social mobilization in conflict-affected areas, empowering grassroots networks, clarifying the role of the Women and Youth Ambassadors Network, and facilitating access to funding for local peacebuilding initiatives.
Management Response: This recommendation has been taken into account in the design of the 2025–2026 phase of the WPS project. UN Women is committed to strengthening bottom-up, gender-responsive approaches by expanding social mobilization efforts in conflict-affected areas and deepening engagement with grassroots IDP and conflict affected women. The project prioritizes the empowerment of local actors through inclusive dialogue platforms, capacity-building initiatives, and support for community-led initiatives. The role of the Women and Youth Ambassadors Network has been clarified and strategically positioned within the project framework to serve as a bridge between grassroots communities and national-level peace and security processes. The network will be supported to amplify local voices, promote intergenerational leadership, and facilitate meaningful participation in decision-making spaces with a structured secretariat and action throughout the next years. To further enable local ownership and sustainability, UN Women is regularly fundraising to improve access to funding for community-based peace initiatives. This includes potential partnerships with local organizations to channel resources directly to women-led and youth-led initiatives in conflict-affected and among cross ABL communities.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Peace and security (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Disseminate the social mobilization methodology in IDP and conflict-affected communities and establish linkages with women’s self-help groups and advisory structures developed under other UN Women programmes (Related to Finding 8) UN Women GEO CO 2026/06 Initiated UN Women, in the framework of the new phase of the WPS project applies a structured and streamlined social mobilization methodology. To ensure effective implementation, UN Women partner women-led CSOs will be trained in the social mobilization methodology at the outset. These organizations will then lead this component of the project in 15 target municipalities, engaging IDP and conflict-affected women to facilitate locally driven community initiatives contributing to the peace and security and resilience at the local level.
Conduct an envisioning exercise with the Network of Women and Youth Ambassadors to define its role; establish thematic sub-groups and support participation in national, regional, and international WPS forums (Related to Finding 14; Conclusion 2, 3) UN Women GEO CO 2026/06 Initiated In the new phase of the project, UN Women will undertake a comprehensive approach to strengthen organizational structure of the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors. In the new phase of the project the Network secretariat will be established as per the Terms of Reference of the Network, after which the thematic groups in key areas such as GBV, climate change and environmental resilience, water diplomacy, and women in cybersecurity will be formed.
Build the capacity of grassroots women’s networks to localize NAP 1325; identify strategic partnerships (e.g., with NALAG) to promote dialogue between local authorities and conflict-affected women, and support monitoring of local gender equality plans (Related to Finding 7; Conclusion 4) UN Women Georgia CO 2026/06 Initiated Currently, due to the growing backlash against gender equality - evidenced by the removal of the term “gender” from the Gender Equality Law (on April 4, 2025) and ongoing efforts to amend 15 other laws where the term appears - cooperation with local authorities, particularly with local Gender Equality Councils (Councils to be also renamed), has become increasingly limited. Despite these challenges, the project will continue to strengthen grassroots capacities. Specifically, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) formed through the social mobilization component will receive training on gender-responsive budgeting, enabling them to engage in advocacy and the drafting of local budgets and local policy planning. Additionally, SHGs will be supported in monitoring and advocating local programs and policies including gender equality plans, provided such plans continue to be developed at the municipal level.
Collaborate with donors and partners to design and implement grant mechanisms (e.g., calls for proposals) that enable women’s and youth groups to carry out peacebuilding and confidence-building measures in ABL communities (Related to Finding 5) UN Women GEO CO 2026/12 Initiated Building on the sub-granting mechanism for SHGs already envisioned within social mobilization methodology in the new project phase, this initiative will provide financial and technical support for community-driven projects and initiatives that promote peace, security, resilience and intercommunal dialogue, social cohesion and reconciliation, economic empowerment through income generation and self-employment, civic and political engagement, especially among women and youth.
Recommendation: It is recommended that UN Women enhance its evidence-based decision-making on WPS by clarifying what constitutes transformative change, developing relevant qualitative indicators, standardizing data collection among partners, promoting the use of technology-driven monitoring tools, and institutionalizing adaptive learning processes.
Management Response: UN Women addresses this recommendation in the new phase of the WPS project (2025–2026). A multi-level, bottom-up strategy has been planned to ensure that IDP and conflict affected women have a meaningful voice and role in peace and security processes at the community, municipal, and national levels. Key actions include: 1. Application of Social Mobilization Methodology - A structured social mobilization methodology will be implemented across 15 target municipalities, led by trained partner CSOs. This approach empowers IDP and conflict-affected women to initiate and lead local peacebuilding actions. Synergies will be explored with other UN Women programs to link these efforts to broader women’s advisory structures and peace infrastructures. 2. Strengthening the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors - UN Women will facilitate an envisioning exercise with the Network to define its role in sustaining women’s peace infrastructures. A Network secretariat will be established, followed by the creation of thematic groups (e.g., on GBV, environmental resilience, water diplomacy, women in cybersecurity), to consolidate expertise and support participation in both national and international WPS platforms. In addition, the project will promote the use of technology-driven monitoring tools such as ZOHO tool, standardize data collection practices among partners, and develop qualitative indicators to better capture transformative outcomes. These efforts will be complemented by institutionalized adaptive learning processes to ensure continuous reflection, knowledge sharing, and course correction throughout implementation.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Peace and security (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Clearly define what constitutes a transformative effect in women's participation in peace processes and introduce qualitative indicators that reflect empowerment at the grassroots level (Related to Finding 3) UN Women GEO CO 2025/08 Completed The new phase of the project includes a dedicated indicator for the establishment of the Network Secretariat and outlines developing its Terms of Reference, which will clearly define its mission on meaningful participation of its members in peace and security processes. The Secretariat will be responsible for ensuring active participation of Network members in both local and national peace and security decision-making. Additionally, the project envisions the Network’s meaningful participation in local decision-making processes, including the development of local policies and budget cycles, as well as in national-level policy development, such as the formulation and implementation of the fifth NAP.
Ensure consistency in the collection of disaggregated data across responsible partners, expanding data points to include employment status, education level, disability, and other factors impacting human security (Related to Finding 10) UN Women GEO CO 2025/08 Completed To ensure consistency in the collection of gender-disaggregated data across partners and to effectively monitor the inclusivity and impact of women’s peacebuilding interventions, the project leverages UN Women’s internal monitoring system, ZOHO, which already includes comprehensive fields that allow disaggregated data analysis. The ZOHO beneficiary database currently captures critical variables such as: • Gender (beneficiary’s Gender) • Age and Age Range • Location (Address of the beneficiary) • IDP or ABL/Conflict-affected status • Ethnicity of the respondent • Employment/Business Activity • Network membership status and level of engagement (e.g., active or non-active member) • Participation in trainings and initiatives (trainings attended, small initiative leader/other)
Promote participatory human security monitoring tools among women's and youth groups to assess impact on peace and security and explore technology-based approaches for rapid data collection (Related to Finding 15; Lesson Learned 1; Conclusion 7) UN Women GEO CO 2025/08 Overdue-Initiated In the new phase of the project, participatory human security monitoring tools will be further integrated and utilized by members of the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors, as well as SHGs in their community work. These tools will enable grassroots actors to track changes in perceptions of peace and security within their communities and reflect on the impact of their own engagement. To measure progress effectively, the project will introduce a pre- and post-self-assessment survey defining baseline and endline specifically designed to capture community members’ perceptions of security, safety, inclusion, and resilience over time
Implement an internal learning exercise at the midterm of the next project phase to assess relevance, coherence, effectiveness, sustainability, and conflict sensitivity, and to generate lessons linked to evaluation criteria (Related to Finding 10) UN Women Georgia CO 2026/06 Initiated While the recommendation to conduct a midterm internal learning exercise is highly relevant for longer-term initiatives, the current project phase spans only 11 months, which limits the practicality of a formal midterm review. However, to ensure continuous learning and adaptive management, the project will embed periodic reflection sessions with implementing partners and key stakeholders, focused on assessing the relevance, effectiveness, and conflict-sensitivity of the interventions.