Management Response

: Serbia
: 2022 - 2025 , Serbia (PP)
: Evaluation of the Improved Safety of Women in Serbia Project
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Serbia

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The final evaluation of the Project "Improved Safety of Women in Serbia and Montenegro" (ISWS MN project), implemented in the period from 01 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 by UN Women Programme Office in Serbia in close cooperation with the Commissioner for Protection of Equality and the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro, provided a good assessment of the progress made by UN Women and its key partners. The findings of the evaluation should contribute to organizational learning, future decision-making and effective programming and accountability. The findings of the evaluation will moreover be used by UN Women and its partners to engage policy makers and other stakeholders at national and local levels in elimination violence against women and girls.

: Approved
Recommendation: ISWSMN Project activities in Montenegro would greatly benefit from an extension to consolidate and further enhance their relevance and ensure greater coherence in the overall action.
Management Response: ISWSMN Project activities in Montenegro will be extended in order to consolidate and further enhance their relevance and ensure greater coherence in the overall action. Through the Project "Improved Safety of Women and Girls in Serbia and Montenegro", UN women will continue to carry out activities in Montenegro, based on Amendment No. 2 to the Donor Agreement, Donor ref. no SRB-19/0003 concluded between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality end the Empowerment of Women and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Amendment was concluded on 23 November 2023 and stipulated that the project would be extended for a period of 12 months, that is, to 31 December 2024.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Advocacy, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1.Support Montenegro MNE Ministry of Justice for the implementation of EMS, thorough capacity building trainings and cooperation with women CSOs in EMS promotion and awareness raising activities. UN Women, Ministry of Justice of Montenegro and two Montenegrin women CSOs 2024/11 Completed Trainings attended by 100 representatives of the justice sector completed, as well as awareness rising campaign and street actions during 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in cooperation with SoS telephone for women and children victims of violence Podgorica and Women’s right center Podgorica.
Recommendation: Further explore strengthening of the relevance in projects using calls for proposals (grants, re-granting, sub-granting) by involving potential applicants in consultation processes before calls/grants are launched/implemented/awarded.
Management Response: In order to support CSOs, UN Women received funds from the US Embassy in Belgrade for the combating violence against women and girls in Serbia. UN Women will develop call for proposals for awarding five grants.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management, Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1.Through the project "Combating Violence against Women and Girls in Serbia" UN Women will be using call for proposals for awarding five grants to women CSOs. UN Women will involve potential applicants in consultation processes before grants are awarded. UN Women 2024/09 Completed UN Women awarded five subgrants to civil society organizations (CSOs) with the most successful project proposals aimed at combating digital gender-based violence (GBV).
Recommendation: UN Women may continue to specifically favor agile project management in their future projects, where requirements are extended to change and where the end goal is not fully known at the outset. Agile project management contrasts with traditional project management methods, that donor organizations and UN system are still mainly accustomed to, and where anticipated trajectories follow a more linear and sequential approach. As the UN Women mission in fact tackles what is in theory knows as ‘wicked problems’ , and as authors agree that ‘systems thinking’ and ‘agile approach’ are best fit to address such problems, the experiences of this Project can pave the way to some innovative approaches in future projects, that can increase the overall effectiveness of the UNW as the implementing agency.
Management Response: UN Women has developed the project "Combating Violence against Women and Girls in Serbia" with innovative approaches.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Advocacy, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Develop practice-based training program for judiciary, including the topic of the gender stereotypes and prejudices with more than 80% of practical work UN Women 2024/05 Completed 215 representatives of the judiciary strengthened their capacities to recognize and process all forms of violence against women and girls.
2. Conduct extensive knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP) assessment on the digital dimension of gender-based violence against women and girls in Serbia UN Women 2024/10 Completed
3. Design and propose innovative digital solutions. UN Women 2026/08 Not Initiated This action will be initiated in the future period.
4. Set-up the network of “Digital guardian angels” to combat digital dimension of VAWG. UN Women 2026/08 Not Initiated This action will be initiated in the future period and will have innovative component. Namely, within the project "Combating Violence against Women and Girls in Serbia", digital guardian angels will be looking at digital ways to engage potential perpetrators and audience while building resilience across the social media and in the gaming world. The volunteers will be given a tutorial and definitions and examples of abusive and problematic content, and a toolkit that will help them recognize, refer and report violence.
Recommendation: Any new budget planning cycle should be based on updated market research, renewed capacity assessment of partners’ absorption capacities, which may be higher than assumed in some cases.
Management Response: UN Women project "Improved safety of women and girls in Serbia and Montenegro" was extended until the end of 2024. The extension included budget planning for 2024, which is in line with current trends.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management, Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Develop the budget for 2024 based on updated market value and previously determined financial needs of partners. UN Women 2023/11 Completed
Recommendation: Some further robustness of the result framework may have helped to capture changes, and introduction of process related indicators may further support change management around EMS, but also around rural women uplifting. Further outcome reporting, i.e. communicating results to stakeholders and using them for decision-making and accountability could be considered for future actions.
Management Response: UN Women has supported Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs in developing the Action Plan for the period from 2024 to 2025, for implementation of the Strategy for prevention and combating gender-based violence against women and domestic violence for the period from 2021 to 2025. One of the proposed activities is related to implemented activity under the finalized project "Safeguarding Women and Girls in Serbia".
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Advocacy, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Informing local self-government units about the Women Safety Audit Tool developed within the project "Safeguarding Women and Girls in Serbia". Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue 2025/12 Initiated Activity is proposed in the draft Action Plan for the period from 2024 to 2025, for implementation of the Strategy for prevention and combating gender-based violence against women and domestic violence for the period from 2021 to 2025. The Action Plan has not been adopted yet.
2. Initiating the implementation of the Women Safety Audit Tool in local self-government units. Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue 2025/12 Initiated Activity is proposed in the draft Action Plan for the period from 2024 to 2025, for implementation of the Strategy for prevention and combating gender-based violence against women and domestic violence for the period from 2021 to 2025. The Action Plan has not been adopted yet.
Recommendation: Consider engaging directly with women from marginalized groups during project planning and implementation to ensure their voices are heard, and their needs are integrated into the intervention and including them directly in advisory project hierarchy to provide input, express concerns, and make suggestions for improvement in future similar projects. In particular, consider involving women with disabilities or their representative organizations in project planning and decision-making to ensure their voices are heard.
Management Response: UN Women tries to uphold the "leaving no one behind" principle in all activities. Thus, the UN Women has developed the project „SERBIA: Strengthening Equality & Rights, Bolstering Inclusive Action" which aiming to improve the position of women with disabilities and their representative organizations. Namely, the women OPD "Out of circle… Vojvodina" was included in consultation process during the development of this project. On the other hand, the UN Women has established close cooperation with the Judicial Academy in order to increase knowledge and skills of judiciary on EVAW, including violence against marginalized women.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management, Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Develop the project " SERBIA: Strengthening Equality & Rights, Bolstering Inclusive Action" in cooperation with the women OPD UN Women 2023/11 Completed Within this project, women with disabilities and their representative organizations were involved in project planning and decision-making, having in mind that they conducted a strategic workshop where all key areas for future project implementation have been established.
2.Establish close cooperation with the Judicial Academy for capacity building of judiciary on EVAW, including violence against marginalized women. UN Women 2024/01 Completed