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 Completed UN Women secured a high-level political commitment from the Government of Georgia to develop a stand-alone National Action Plan (NAP) of Georgia for Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security for 2027–2028 years. Through close engagement with national counterparts, UN Women is supporting an inclusive and participatory formulation process. At the policy and coordination level, UN Women continued to lead the WPS Task Force under the Gender Theme Group. With around 50 members, the WPS Task Force served as a key multi-stakeholder platform to advance Delivering as One, facilitating joint advocacy, policy dialogue, and coordination. This platform remains instrumental in shaping the roadmap for the upcoming WPS NAP for 2027–2028 and ensuring inclusive consultations with civil society and grassroots IDP and conflict affected women. A ddraft NAP activities are planned to be validated through the Gender Theme Group – WPS Task Force, ensuring the meaningful inclusion of civil society, grassroots women, and communities living near the dividing lines. The recommendations on concrete activities across four pillars of WPS Agenda (Participation, Prevention, Protection, Relief and Recovery/Peacebuilding) are being collected from grassroots IDP and conflict affected women and youth, as well as CSOs and other stakeholders to be proporsed to the Government Administration for further discussion, consideration and final adoption.
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 Completed 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 Completed 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. This cooperation with educational institution was further extended by cooperating with LINGOSTAR - the private organization, which provides an educational platform that connects motivated young people and supports their academic, personal, and professional growth in Georgia and beyond. The organization provides courses for the school-children, future leaders, in diplomacy, international relations, arranges the model UN discussions and forums, etc. by cooperating the private and public schools in Georgia. The session on Women, Peace and Security as well as Youth, Peace and Security was delivered to 15 young people and the representatives of the organization. Future cooperation was planned to engage UN Women consultants in the planned sessions on doplomacy and international relations. In addition, at the community level, the WPS's projects local initiative on handicrafts and entrepreneurship for conflict-affected women illustrated how private sector cooperation can directly advance economic empowerment and social cohesion. 26 IDP and conflict affected women successfully translated newly acquired skills into income through market engagement, while the commitment of Zugdidi Mall to provide free retail space represented a concrete private sector contribution to sustainability, enabling continued market access and income generation beyond the project lifecycle. This combination of institutional partnerships and locally anchored private sector support highlights a viable model for embedding WEPs-aligned actors into WPS implementation, strengthening both economic resilience and peacebuilding outcomes.
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 Completed UN Women WPS team continues 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, and ensures their engagement in GTG Task Force on WPS. 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. Herewith, some steps were taken for the expansion and institutional strengthening of the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors, which grew to 268 members. The Network adopted a more structured governance model and actively contributed to national and international policy processes, including generating recommendations for the fifth WPS NAP and input to CEDAW processes such as addendum to the GR30.
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 Completed In the framework of the WPS project (funded by UK ISF) a total of 109 IDP and conflict affected women engaged in structured social mobilization processes through 16 Self-Help Groups (SHGs), supported by trained Community Workers and standardized capacity-building tools such as the Women’s Community Academy. Participants gained practical skills in civic engagement, leadership, and community development, leading to the implementation of 38 locally driven initiatives benefiting over 12,300 people in IDP settlements and the villages adjacent to the dividing line. These initiatives addressed priority needs identified through participatory assessments involving more than 1,400 community members and demonstrated strong local ownership, including co-financing and engagement with local authorities. In Abkhazia, 20 SHGs were formed with 126 women, and 16 initiatives were further implemented.
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 Completed In the framework of the WPS project (funded by UK ISF) some steps were taken for the expansion and institutional strengthening of the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors, which grew to 268 members. As a result, volunteer Governing Council was operationalized as the Network's governance structure for strategic planning, and a rotating Secretariat for executive management. Currently, the Network coordinates activities across three specialized thematic dimensions and working groups: (1) Peacebuilding; (2) Human Security; (3) Communication. Hence the Network adopted a more structured governance model and actively contributed to national and international policy processes, including generating recommendations for the fifth WPS NAP and input to CEDAW processes such as addendum to the GR30.
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 Completed In the framework of the WPS project (funded by UK ISF), a total of 109 IDP and conflict affected women were engaged in structured social mobilization processes through 16 Self-Help Groups (SHGs), supported by trained Community Workers and standardized capacity-building tools such as the Women’s Community Academy. To measure the impact of the capacity building activities a COM-B framework (behavioral framework used to understand and influence behavior change, based on the idea that behavior occurs through the interaction of individuals’ capability, opportunity, and motivation). Results showed strong impact that participants demonstrated significant improvements in behavior-related outcomes, especially in access to opportunities, with over 92% applying their knowledge in community initiatives. Additionally, among IDP and conflict-affected women, most reported improved safety, well-being, and access to services, with over 90% attributing these positive changes to UN Women-supported activities.
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 Completed Under the framework of the project "Women's Increased Leadership for Resilient and Peaceful Societies," funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, UN Women advanced two complementary tracks during the reporting period to strengthen the economic resilience and empowerment of internally displaced and conflict-affected women. In collaboration with the LEPL IDPs, Ecomigrants and Livelihoods Agency under the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, UN Women supported the launch of a standalone IDP Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of internally displaced women in remote IDP settlements. The programme, jointly developed with UN Women and approved by the Government in October 2025, was launched through an information campaign using SMS notifications and online platforms. Following the announcement of the call for applications on 27 February 2026, a total of 212 applications were submitted by end of March 2026. Currently, the selection commission is in the process of reviewing applications and selecting the winning candidates. From 60 to 80 conflict affected women will be supported in the framework of this project. A complementary stream of work targeted women living adjacent to the dividing lines, and namely 32 women had received small financial incentives in 2025 to launch or sustain livelihood activities and small businesses. UN Women and its partners Academy of the Ministry of Finance, and Georgian Farmers' Association (GFA) delivered calacity building trainings for selected 32 women from ABL villages both in Western Georgia and Samegrelo region to support enterpreneurial initiatives. Further, UN Women effectively operationalized this recommendation by scaling up its grant-based approach to support women’s and youth-led peacebuilding and confidence-building initiatives across the ABL, exceeding initial targets. Through six distinct peace and confidence-building initiatives implemented with partner CSOs and institutions, the project enabled locally driven action ranging from economic empowerment and entrepreneurship to digital skills, creative engagement, and community problem-solving. These initiatives engaged a total of 240 conflict-affected individuals (226 women and 14 men), significantly surpassing the original target and demonstrating strong outreach and inclusivity. By channeling resources through diverse partners, including women-led organizations and youth-focused platforms, UN Women ensured both contextual relevance and cross-community participation, including Georgian-Abkhaz engagement. This scaled-up delivery illustrates how targeted grant mechanisms can serve as an effective modality for empowering local actors to design and implement sustainable, dialogue-oriented interventions that strengthen trust, resilience, and cooperation across divided communities.
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 Completed In the new phase of the project, participatory human security monitoring tools was 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 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 Completed UN Women implemented this recommendation by embedding structured internal learning processes into the design and delivery of subsequent project phases, including the the UK-funded “Women Act for Peace and Security” (April 2025-March 2026) and it's upscale and the Denmark-funded “Women’s Increased Leadership for Resilient and Peaceful Societies.” While the short duration did not allow for a standalone midterm exercise for UK funded project, continuous monitoring, partner reporting, and mentoring mechanisms functioned as an effective internal review system, systematically assessing relevance, coherence, effectiveness, sustainability, and conflict sensitivity across interventions. Evidence from peacebuilding, economic empowerment, youth engagement, and protection activities, combined with regular partner and beneficiary feedback, as well as COM-B based assessment of change report served to this purpose and generated actionable lessons that informed adaptive programming, strengthened conflict-sensitive approaches, and enhanced sustainability and overall impact of WPS interventions.