Management Response

: Serbia
: 2022 - 2025 , Serbia (PP)
: Evaluation of the project Support to Priority Actions in Serbia (GEF II)
:
: Serbia
:

The final evaluation of the Project “Support to Priority Actions for Gender Equality in Serbia” implemented in the period from March 2021 – February 2024 by UN Women Office in Serbia in close cooperation with the Coordination Body for Gender Equality (CBGE) and the Ministry of European Integration (MEI) provided a good assessment of the progress made by UN Women and its key Government 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 with the aims to provide key insights into the successes, challenges, and areas for improvement. The findings are intended to inform future initiatives, policy decisions, and resource allocation.

: Approved
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 1 Recognizing the role of the UN Women Office in Serbia and position in ECA RO, and the fact that this recommendation requires additional funding, this is to suggest to UN Women and donors, including EU Delegation/EU, to continue providing support to UN Women with an aim to keep on building capacity of the CSOs. Hence, it is recommended to ensure stronger consistency and continuity of engagement with civil society in Serbia including via a) maintaining open and regular communication through consultations and feedback loops that can ensure responsiveness to the dynamic context, b) creating forums for knowledge sharing and mutual learning, c) investing in the in-kind capacity-building of CSOs to enhance their sustainability, d) establishing long-term collaboration frameworks with CSOs that can provide a stable framework for sustained collaboration. The recommendation to UN Women and the donor community to ensure stronger consistency and continuity of engagement with civil society in Serbia is of high urgency given the dynamic context and the critical role of civil society in advancing gender equality.
Management Response: The UN Women Office in Serbia recognizes the vital role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in advancing gender equality. To ensure their sustainability and responsiveness to Serbia's dynamic context, the management response prioritizes actions such as establishing regular consultation mechanisms, fostering knowledge-sharing forums, and delivering targeted capacity-building initiatives. These efforts aim to strengthen long-term collaboration frameworks with CSOs, enhancing their operational resilience and ability to advocate for systemic change. By integrating feedback loops and providing in-kind support, UN Women seeks to create a robust partnership model that addresses emerging challenges while leveraging the expertise of local organizations.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Enhance communication and feedback mechanisms through continuous consultations with CSOs to ensure open dialogue and responsiveness to evolving needs. UN Women 2026/12 Not Initiated Continued support for CSOs will be critical to fostering sustainability and inclusivity in advancing gender equality.
2. Develop knowledge-sharing forums and organize annual knowledge-sharing events for CSOs, government representatives, and international partners to share best practices and lessons learned. UN Women, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Gender Mechanisms at national level 2027/12 Not Initiated
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATIONS 2 Enhance stakeholder involvement to ensure inclusivity, collaboration, and a comprehensive understanding of diverse perspectives, via regular consultations with a wider array of actors (employment agency, line ministries tasked with labor, health, education, safety, etc., CSOs not associated with grant funding, sector development experts, etc.) to gather feedback, insights, and recommendations, ensuring that diverse voices are heard and considered in the decision-making process and by including groups such as EU Delegation staff, IPA programming consultants, and sector development experts in the gender mainstreaming teaching and technical assistance programs and other capacity building interventions. The recommendation to UN Women to enhance stakeholder involvement for inclusivity, collaboration, and a comprehensive understanding of diverse perspectives is of utmost urgency given the complexity of gender issues and the need for inclusive decision-making processes.
Management Response: UN Women Serbia office recognizes the importance of broadening stakeholder involvement to ensure inclusivity and diverse representation in decision-making. Planned actions include consultations with a wider array of actors and targeted technical assistance programs for key stakeholders such as IPA programming consultants and EU Delegation staff. These measures aim to foster collaboration across sectors and integrate diverse perspectives into gender mainstreaming initiatives.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Broaden consultations and conduct biannual stakeholder consultations, social dialogues, and thematic meetings on GE issues with key stakeholders, to incorporate diverse perspectives. UN Women, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Gender Mechanisms at national level 2027/12 Not Initiated
2. Strengthen technical support on gender mainstreaming: Provide targeted guidance to IPA programming staff and EU Delegation to enhance cross-sector integration of gender priorities. UN Women, Ministry of European Integration 2027/12 Initiated
3. Attract young people to gain knowledge and skills in the field of GE trough internship and mentoring programmes in order to support relevant institutions in the implementation of their mandate. UN Women, Ministry for Human and Minority rights and social dialogue, Ministry of European Integration, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs 2027/06 Not Initiated
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATIONS 3 It is strongly recommended that grant programs to women’s CSOs be sustained and prioritized through continued support or alternative funding mechanisms. This will ensure the ongoing empowerment of women’s organizations, fostering their vital contributions to gender equality initiatives and wider community development. The recommendation to sustain and prioritize grant programs for women's CSOs is of high urgency due to the crucial role these organizations play in advancing gender equality and community development. UN Women will continue to advocate for alternative funding sources in order to empower women’s organizations to continue driving transformative change and advancing gender equality.
Management Response: UN Women Serbia Office emphasizes the urgency of sustaining and prioritizing grant programs for women’s CSOs. The GEF project (first and second phase) supported women CSOs trough grant schemes, however, the EU clearly stated that new EU4GE project will not have this component, and action will include partnerships with local self-governments to build capacity and introducing community-based approach to address localized gender equality challenges.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Partially Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Advocate for alternative fundings with EU and other donors to establish multi-year grant funding mechanisms for women’s CSOs. UN Women 2025/12 Initiated UN Women Serbia Office already advocated for the women CSO’s and raised the issue of funding with the EU institutions in Brussels, with DEU in Serbia, Government of Serbia, and other donors in Serbia.
2. Enhancing capacities trough technical support to the Government of Serbia/MoLEVSA in the development and gender mainstreaming of the calls for proposals for women empowerment under the IPA III Operational Programme. UN Women, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs 2027/12 Not Initiated
3. Support local self-governments and local GEMs to implement recommendations for grant support to CSOs at local level, and support development of model for support to social enterprises from national and local budgets. UN Women 2026/12 Not Initiated
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATIONS 4 Conduct a thorough needs assessment of governmental counterparts, including those that address gender equality horizontally, but also those whose sectoral policies are important for ensuring gender equality (e.g., employment, social affairs, climate change, transport, health, safety, education, etc.), to identify specific areas of gaps, underperformance, deficiency, and understaffing. Tailor the support program accordingly, addressing the identified gaps and building upon existing strengths. Consider developing performance improvement plans in collaboration with a wide array of national institutions, outlining specific steps and benchmarks for addressing deficiencies and enhancing performance over time within horizontal and sectoral, as well as national and local parts of gender equality machinery. The recommendation to conduct a thorough needs assessment of governmental counterparts is of critical urgency to ensure effective collaboration and alignment of efforts towards gender equality.
Management Response: UN Women Serbia Office acknowledges the critical importance of conducting a thorough needs assessment and gender analysis of governmental counterparts. Planned actions include designing a standardized assessment tool to identify capacity gaps and implementing this across priority sectors. The team will collaborate with national institutions to develop gender assessments, ensuring alignment with identified needs as well as alignment with the Strategy for Gender Equality. These steps aim to enhance institutional capacities for gender equality at both horizontal and sectoral levels.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Provide technical support to the Government in developing mid-term evaluation of the Strategy for Gender Equality 2021-2030, and ex-ante analysis and development of the next AP for GE. UN Women, Ministry for Human and Minority rights and social dialogue 2025/12 Not Initiated The Strategy for Gender Equality is currently without Action Plan. The AP for GE is developed for the period 2023-2024, however it is not adopted by the Government of Serbia.
2. Conduct gender analysis based on the government’s needs and relevant topics. UN Women 2027/02 Not Initiated
3. Provide technical assistance in developing gender related recommendations to sector strategies, policies, regulations UN Women 2025/12 Not Initiated
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATIONS 5 The recommendation to ensure the Project's visual identity, in the future similar actions, reflects national ownership to foster a sense of shared responsibility and commitment among stakeholders is of moderate urgency.
Management Response: The importance of aligning the Project’s visual identity with national ownership to strengthen stakeholder commitment and shared responsibility is acknowledged. Actions will include revising communication materials to reflect national symbols and engaging local designers to co-create visuals. Public awareness campaigns will further highlight Serbia’s role in advancing gender equality through the project’s achievements.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Revise communication materials: Include national symbols and messaging in all project branding to reflect ownership UN Women, Communication Team 2025/08 Not Initiated Enhancing the Project’s national identity will foster ownership and accountability among stakeholders
2. Launch public awareness initiatives through media campaigns emphasizing Serbia’s role in advancing gender equality UN Women, Ministry for Human and Minority rights and social dialogue 2027/12 Not Initiated