Management Response

: Egypt
: 2021 - 2022 , Egypt (CO)
: Safe Cities End Term Evaluation
:
: Egypt
:

Prepared by the ECO staff collectively as per UN Women’s Evaluation Policy and cleared by the Country Representative, the management response acknowledges the recommendations of SC Evaluation. UN Women drew from the lessons learned, conclusions and already responded to most recommendations when developing its second country Strategic Note (2023-2027). Many of the recommendations have also been factored into the shaping of the emerging programmes under the newly adopted Strategic Note (as of Jan 2023).

: Approved
Recommendation: Give active civil society organizations long term support to enable sustained action and enable NGOs committed to gender equality.
Management Response: The ECO partially accepts the recommendation, recognizing that the Entity’s regulations on use of core resources prohibit addressing aspects of the recommendations however. Within the newly adopted Strategic Note (2023-2027), increased engagement and support to CSOs has been committed to and UN Women is one of the leading agencies supporting the UNCT’s increased CSO support under the approved UNSDCF (2023-2027).
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Advocacy, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Impact, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Provide core funding for NGOs and delink partnerships from project cycles Representative; Deputy Representative; Operations 2023/02 No Longer Applicable Action Rejected. UN Women Egypt does and will continue to work closely with NGOs, providing both direct financial and capacity support. Corporate criteria for use of Core funds does not allow for general support to CSOs or any implementing partner. All formal partnerships with NGOs must be done within the framework of ongoing programmes/projects (non-core), following corporate regulations and procedures for partnership selection and financing in this regard, and must be in line with national NGO laws.
Create coordination mechanisms that are not project dependent Representative; Deputy Representative; Programme Managers 2023/12 Completed This has been attempted several times but it is important to note that NGOs are often less committed to structured coordination in the absence of an ongoing project/ funding. and UN Women regularly consults with local and national NGOs when developing interventions. Further, under the UN Women Strategic Note 2023-2027, UN Women is exploring the establishment of a Civil Society Advisory Group. Under the UNSDCF 2023-2027, UN Women is one of the lead agencies supporting the RCO in increasing CSO engagement in the framework’s implementation.
Be selective in working with organizations that favor gender equality Representative; Deputy Representative; Programme Managers 2023/12 Completed UN Women has always done and will continue to support and build the capacities of active women-led and gender equality-focused non-governmental organisations that have a track record of commitment to gender equality at the national and local levels. New bi-annual AWP under the SN reflects this as well.
Commit to supporting active, grounded, feminist community-based groups Representative; Deputy Representative; Programme Managers 2023/01 Completed UN Women has always done and will continue to support and build the capacities of active women-led and gender equality-focused non-governmental organisations that have a track record of commitment to gender equality at the national and local levels.
Recommendation: Coordinate the work of gender equality with other UN agencies so as to achieve effective national partnerships at the level of ministries, governorates, and municipalities relevant to the planned program activities and in particular when high-cost projects such as urban upgrading are concerned.
Management Response: The recommendation is accepted as it is a core mandate of UN Women which the ECO is actively responding.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: National ownership, Capacity development, Alignment with strategy
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support, UN Coordination, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Impact, Sustainability, Efficiency, Relevance, Effectiveness, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Share strategic plans and planned activities with other UN agencies in a timely manner that permits joint planning Representative; Deputy Representative; Programme managers 2023/06 Completed This happens actively with all the ECO’s work. UN Women actively leads coordination on gender across the UNCT through: UNCT, PMT, Gender and Development Partners Group (GAD), UN Gender Theme Group, Government/UN chaired Women’s and Girls’ Results Group of the UN cooperation framework. The ECO’s programmes and plans therein are regularly shared with UN agencies in these mechanisms. As the lead of the newly adopted UNSDCF’s women and girls’ pillar, UN Women is coordinating the Joint AWP of the UNCT and this process to be finalized in June 2023 and will ensure clear sharing of work across the agencies.
Brief UN agencies on project/program needs and networks to facilitate joint action. Representative; Deputy Representative; Programme managers 2023/06 Completed This happens actively with all of the ECO’s work. UN Women actively leads coordination on gender across the UNCT through: UNCT, PMT, Gender and Development Partners Group (GAD), UN Gender Theme Group, Government/UN chaired Women’s and Girls’ Results Group of the UN cooperation framework. The ECO’s programmes and plans therein are regularly shared with UN agencies. Under the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, UN Women both coordinates and embeds all of its actions in the country under Joint Annual Workplans, and reflects progress in collective annual reports of the UNCT.
Coordinate with other agencies to establish effective partnerships with national partners and counterparts at the central, regional, and implementation levels so as to optimize their role and avoid duplication and confusion. Representative 2023/01 Completed This happens regularly – it is not clear what confusion the evaluation is referencing as no other entity of the UN works on Safe spaces for women in this way. UN Women Programme team actively engaged with other agencies to expand effective partnerships with national partners through the various platforms mentioned above.
Recommendation: UN Women should continue to support the NCW as a national partner to coordinate the allocation of funds and interventions through formation of a structured committee of monitoring and evaluation.
Management Response: This recommendation is only partially accepted by the ECO as the Key Recommended Actions a) exceed the remit of the national evauation team’s knowledge and tools of UN Women’s work – they were evaluating the impact of a the Safe Cities programme, not UN Women’s Strategic Note (2018-2022) in which aspects of the points below are addressed through other mechanisms; and b) the recommended actions are primarily the remit of the Government and not UN Women.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Alignment with strategy, Capacity development, National ownership, Advocacy, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Relevance, Efficiency, Sustainability, Impact, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Support a national level monitoring and evaluation body that reviews funded national gender programs Government and UN Women Support 2023/01 No Longer Applicable Only partially acceped. This is up to the Government to initiate and it is not clear what the recommendation is specifically requiring of UN Women, as the ECO cannot be responsible for the implementation. Within UN Women’s coordination mandate and as Co-Chair of the UN Cooperation framework’s Women’s and Girls’ Results Group, together with NCW (Chair), UN Women supports NCWs enhanced ability to have a robust overview of gender and development programmes under the UN. UN Women is the permanent co-chair of the Gender and Development Partners Group, which seeks to coordinate international financing on gender equality in Egypt. Further, UN Women supports the Ministry of International Cooperation in its efforts to track all internationally-financed work on gender equality in the country.
Enable the sharing of this information with government and with civil society Government with UN Women support 2023/01 No Longer Applicable This is up to the Government to initiate and it is not clear what the recommendation is specifically requiring. Within UN Women’s coordination mandate and as Co-Chair of the UN Cooperation framework’s Women’s and Girls’ Results Group, together with NCW (Chair), UN Women supports NCWs enhanced ability to have a robust overview of gender and development programmes. UN Women is the permanent co-chair of the Gender and Development Partners Group, which seeks to coordinate international financing on gender equality in Egypt. Further, UN Women supports the Ministry of International Cooperation in its efforts to track all internationally-financed work on gender equality in the country. Within the UNCT’s increasing collective engagement with civil society, and through UN Women and other’s on-going consultations with civil society on future work, this information is shared. Further, UN Women is known by CSOs to be a coordinator of this information and the ECO is regularly approached by CSOs requesting information in this regard.
Support the drafting of an annual gender report that informs on the progress of projects and provides critical commentary on their impact and potentials. Representative; Deputy Representative; Programme Managers 2023/01 Completed Again it is not clear what this recommendation is asking specifically and despite requests for clarification in this regard, the evaluators were not able to give more detail. This is something UN Women does and it was not specific to the project being evaluated, so the evaluation team was not in the position to assess this. The ECO’s statistical support has been captured in the Country Portfolio Evaluation of the previous SN (2018-2022). As the permanent co-chair with the Government and UN on the UN Cooperation Framework’s Women and Girls’ Results Group, UN Women contributes too and coordinates an annual report of all GEWE of the UN which is available for all.
Recommendation: Consult with local NGOs throughout program stages to ensure timely and clear communication and adaptation to changing context and conditions in which NGOs operate.
Management Response: ECO has discussed this recommendation and has ensured measures to respond to it are now entrenched in the newly adopted Strategic Note (2023-2027) and emerging programmes therein.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Capacity development, Internal coordination and communication
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Impact, Sustainability, Efficiency, Relevance, Effectiveness, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Structure periodic conversations with teams of implementation partners to share information, opportunities, and concerns Representative/Deputy Rep; Programme managers 2023/12 Completed UN Women accomplished and will keep on doing this regularly and in so doing, focuses on capacity building of NGOs to streamline reporting and provide more structured coordination.
Encourage academic and operations research collaborations so as to have an additional perspective on project and program implementation Representative; Deputy Rep; Programme managers 2023/01 Completed Outside of the framework of the Safe Cities project, UN Women has supported the establishment of the first ever Professional Master degree in Gender and Development at Cairo University and continues to support scholarships for CSOs and government to enroll in the degree program. This is the first MA degree of its kind in an Egyptian public university linking feminist theory with GEWE praxis. UN Women continues to upscale engagement with academic and research institutions in an effort to enhance the knowledge base on GEWE in all of its programmes under its new Strategic Note (2-23-2027)
Recommendation: UN Women & donors should standardize monitoring tools, if applicable, and regularly triangulate/ validate data.
Management Response: Under the full 2018-2022 Strategic Note, the ECO had already begun working on these issues in its emerging projects. In the current SN (2023-2027 newly adopted in Jan 2023), enhanced and participatory M&E frameworks within projects/programmes have been committed to in all programmes.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance, Knowledge management, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Develop mutually informed monitoring systems that enable all stakeholders to follow up on implementation and to have verified data that correspond to predetermined targets, when applicable Representative; Deputy Representative 2023/01 Completed Under the broader 2018-2022 SN and the newly adopted 2023-2027 SN, UN Women ECO, as per corporate requirements, has significantly increased its regular monitoring of programmes, and regular convening of implementing partners and national stakeholders under each programme, to both inform monitoring and reporting but to also increase information exchange. The ECO continues to build capacities of partner NGOs to better monitor, evaluate and report under each programme logical framework.
Budget for post-program monitoring to measure sustainability Representative; Deputy Representative; Programme Managers 2023/01 Completed In line with UN Women’s evaluation policy, between 2% and 3% of all programme expenditure (non-core) is assigned for evaluation functions; and under the new Strategic Note, UN Women has committed to a Country Portfolio Evaluation (using Core resources) which will capture post-programme sustainability
Recommendation: Engage men as a program objective from the onset. Male engagement is imperative to eliminating violence against women. Projects and programs design, implementation plans, and budgets need to engage men from the beginning of the program. Projects and programs also need to articulate public and private spaces of influence while refraining from narratives of protection.
Management Response: UN Women ECO accepts this recommendation. Engaging men and boys has been an integral part of EVAW projects and this commitment has been strengthened in the full country portfolio under the ECO’s new Strategic Note (2023-2027) and the Women and Girls’ Pillar of the new UNSDCF (2023-2027).
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Advocacy, Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Sustainability, Impact, Effectiveness, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Commission consultations and studies that enable an updated understanding of patriarchal challenges to gender justice. Representative/Deputy Representative 2023/01 Completed UN Women is committed to building the knowledge base on GEWE. UN women has lead groundbreaking research on masculinity and patriarchal norms including the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a comprehensive study on men’s attitudes and practices – along with women’s opinions and reports of men’s practices – on a wide variety of topics related to gender equality and women empowerment. Under the emerging UN Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF 2023-2027), UN Women has committed to work with the UNCT in advancing deeper knowledge on social norms, and further how to evaluate/track impact of UNCT investment in these areas.
Design programs on the basis of grounded and updated cultural and political knowledge on gender. Representative; Deputy Rep; Programme managers 2023/12 Completed All programming is based on a consultative and evidence-based processes which included targeted discussions on how/if assumptions and beliefs have shifted. UN Women coordinated with other UN agencies – who are also supporting this – to inform cultural shifts.
Mainstream gender into program implementation by targeting men and women in all activities while considering, financially and technically, methods of male participation. Representative; Deputy Rep; Programme manager 2023/01 Completed UN Women has pioneered the work on engaging men and boys in GEWE programming in Egypt. However there are many actions under UN Women programmes where men’s engagement would hinder women’s effective engagement and/or would reduce financing for women-targeted services. UN Women finds a balance on this point at all times in programmes.
Recommendation: Acknowledge structural and contextual problems that challenge interventions and influence the theory of change and accordingly incorporated this ecology into program expectations and evaluations. Revise the approach to impact and project evaluation so as to permit multiple levels of knowledge and understanding. Change is slow and monitoring or evaluating the impact of interventions on social norms and behavior is beyond the scope of a causal theory of change that discounts the influence of context therefore UN Women may consider informing their expectations of the outcomes of interventions.
Management Response: The ECO accepts the recommendation and has committed to enhancing its means of monitoring and evaluating impact of social norm change in the new Strategic Note (2023-2027).
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance, Internal coordination and communication, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Organizational efficiency
UNEG Criteria: Impact, Efficiency, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Target endemic challenges such as addiction through sustained, broad interventions, coalitions, and strategies. Representative; Deputy Rep; Programme managers 2023/12 Completed Endemic challenges, espcially addiction was a cross cutting issue that was tackled during the different interventions of Safe Cities programme.
Recognize contextual factors when drafting a theory of change for programs Representative; Deputy Rep; Programme managers 2023/01 Completed The ECO’s ToC under the SN 2023-2027 and the UNSDCF have done this and implementation of programmes under this are informed by consultative processes, needs assessment and a solid understanding of contextual factors.
Expect deviance and adapt through flexible program, forward plans and trajectories Deputy Representative, Programme Managers 2023/12 Completed Flexible, adaptable and swift response was integral to the success of the work during this programme, particularly at the local level. Lessons learned will continue to inform and guide future EVAW programming.
Encourage an understanding of the ecologies of gender justice Deputy Representative, Programme Managers 2023/01 Completed Under the new SN, UN Women will continue to work on all levels of the socio-ecological model in its interventions including awareness and community advocacy.
Temper expectations of interventions with informed research on context and on broader historical changes Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed Under new SN, focus is on implementing recommendations from EVAW-related research conducted under the previous SN. Any additional research will be identified with national stakeholders and UN parter agencies.
Differentiate between process monitoring and outcomes. Focus on and invest in measuring social norms change Deputy Representative, Programme Managers 2023/01 Completed Developing the analytical framework on behavioral change was a priority for UN Women ECO under the 2023-2027 SN. UN Women is keen to support programme staff capacities on RBM and the selection of KPIs that clearly distinguish between process and outcome monitoring.
Go beyond projects and project cycles to address through engaged research trends of broad social change Representative, Deputy Representative 2023/02 Completed Under the ECO’s new SN, UN Women ECO’s Programme team is directing efforts to map and explore broad social trends to inform programming beyond specific project cycles including research on unpaid care work, gendered impacts of crisis and social norms.
Recommendation: Engage with digital spheres, as a space for VAW but also as an opportunity for intervention, in their own terms and not as proxies of the real world.
Management Response: ECO accepts recommendation and in the WEE portfolio this is already happening. Under the new SN 2023-2027, ECO has committed to increase this focus in the EVAW portfolio.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Relevance, Efficiency, Impact, Sustainability, Effectiveness, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Design ethical interventions in the digital sphere to avoid doing harm. Deputy Representative, Project Managers. 2023/12 Completed Current UN Women programming has integrated a focus on ending online violence recognizing that the this is an important part of public space. With 2023 implementation of programmes, this focus will be developed further with national stakeholders
Research and apply appropriate tools and conceptual frameworks to address digital harassment and violence while engaging digital feminist coalitions. Representative, Deputy Representative. 2023/12 Completed Current UN Women programming has integrated a focus on ending online violence recognizing that the this is an important part of public space.
Recommendation: Transcend small project cycles and build up programs to match expectations of impact to scale of intervention and ensure that time is factored in. Scale is an essential ingredient of success. Interventions that seek to inform social behaviour in dense, dynamic, and deprived urban contexts can only realize broad change if their scale is appropriately large and extensive.
Management Response: ECO accepts this recommendation and has addressed this in its commitments under the SN 2023-2027 and the UNSDCF 2023-2027.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Normative Support, Urban agenda (safe cities and safe public spaces)
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Sustainability, Impact, Efficiency, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Reconsider the meaning of community and acknowledge the fluid and complex nature of urban settings including those in high crime contexts. Deputy Representative, Prog.Managers 2023/12 Completed All programming is based on a consultative process, needs assessments and through the engagement of grassroots organizations that are aware of and sensitive to local socio-economic and cultural complexities. With Safe Cities, components of the work were locally focused and this required regular adaptation and consultation.
Develop a Lego approach to project objectives whereby small objectives add up to broader change. Deputy Representative, Prog Managers. 2023/01 Completed UN Women’s corporate RBM requirements are fully implemented by the ECO. Programme team is keen to build on existing investments and is directing future interventions in a way to favor depth and saturate catchment groups/areas.
Revise evaluation timelines so as to capture immediate and medium-term change Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed Baselines, mid term reviews and endline evaluations are carried out systematically and any revisions to time lines are based on programmatic progress, in consultation with the contributing member state. SN 2023-2027’s MERP commits to this.
Transcend small project cycles and build up programs through longer term sustained engagements. Representative 2023/01 Completed Resource mobilization efforts are geared towards long term programmes. This is contingent to donor willingness to provide multi-year funding. UN Women has and will continue to use new funding opportunities to scale up existing investments. SN 2023-2027 responds to this recommendation.
Recommendation: Develop a strategy and a concrete plan for disability inclusion. Also, develop an approach to economic empowerment that aims to engage women in decent/dignified and/or protected work and avoid investing in unsustainable and unprotected work.
Management Response: ECO had already done this within its old SN and strengthened this in the new SN. The Safe Cities project which was developed a number of years ago, did this but in a limited way.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018), Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Advocacy, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Urban agenda (safe cities and safe public spaces), Normative Support, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Relevance, Efficiency, Impact, Sustainability, Effectiveness, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Develop a concrete plan for disability inclusion, implement and monitor it. Document the lessons for reflection and future improvement. Representative, Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed UN Women staff trained on disability inclusion by Humanity and Inclusion to mainstream disability inclusion in programming. UN Women lead the UNCT disability scorecard process and supported the first national study on Violence Against Women with Disabilities. Women with disabilities are currently target beneficiaries in both the EVAW and WEE programmes.
Avoid the creation of dead-end jobs that are not sustained by market forces. Representative, Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed This recommendation is not useful as at no point in the programme or in UN Women’s work were “dead end” jobs targeted. All WEE work is grounded on market analysis and value chain analysis.
Provide women with marketable skills that enable them to compete in markets as these skills protect women Representative, Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed UN Women is actively building linkages between protection partners and the livelihoods work.
Address workplace transgressions in programs and projects Representative, Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed WEPs being rolled out and linking EVAW beneficiaries with employment opportunities with WEPs signatories.
Support the right to decent work by giving women access to information and knowledge of economic rights. Representative, Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed Multiple NGO partners have been trained on safe work environments and zero-tolerance policies on harassment developed for CSOs and private sector.
Acknowledge the rights to a minimum wage when creating work options for women. Representative, Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed Capacity building on decent employment, and safe workplaces ongoing for women and employers.
Recommendation: Continue to invest in legal protection for women and in enabling gender responsive services but audit the quality and accessibility of these services and make funding contingent on basic standards of quality.
Management Response: Eco accepts this recommendation
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, National ownership, Advocacy, Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Sustainability, Impact, Efficiency, Relevance, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Support the study of the impact of legal reforms to ensure that laws are being implemented in ways that realize their promise. Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed UN Women has been engaging and will continue efforts to advocate for and study the impacts of legal reform.
Create coordination mechanisms with service providers so as to regularly monitor the performance of service providers (legal aide, shelters, women police) and help resolve problems encountered. Deputy Representative, Prog Managers 2023/01 Completed UN Women has been actively supporting the strengthening of the national referral mechanism and building the capacities of service providers on monitoring and reporting.
Ensure that funding is contingent on basic standards including universal access and fairness. Representative, Deputy Representative, Operations Manager 2023/01 Completed Due diligence processes for the selection of partners are strictly adhered to by the ECO.