Management Response

: Mali
: 2024 - 2028 , Mali (CO)
: 2020-2024 Strategic Note Evaluation
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:

Mali

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NA
: Approved
Recommendation: UN Women should support the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and Families to update the National Gender Policy and align it with the new Strategic Note while focusing on strengthening existing structures for greater ownership and sustainability.
Management Response: • Assist in the revision and update of the National Gender Policy to reflect current challenges and opportunities. • Develop partnerships with national and international actors, avoiding the creation of new structures where existing structures can be strengthened. • Intensify efforts to combat harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and early marriage by embedding human rights commitments within national frameworks. • Ensure alignment with both national priorities and international gender equality standards.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Global norms and standards (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: National ownership
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Assist in the revision and update of the National Gender Policy to reflect current challenges and opportunities Programme management and personnel 2025/12 Completed The national policy has been revised and is in the process of being adopted by the Council of Ministers
Develop partnerships with national and international actors, avoiding the creation of new structures where existing structures can be strengthened. Management and Programme personnel 2025/12 Initiated The country has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the goals of sustainable development, in this case SDG 5, before the international community through CSW 69, and is actively preparing the country's commitment to Beijing +30, to be held on 22 September 2025 in New York.
Intensify efforts to combat harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and early marriage by embedding human rights commitments within national frameworks Management and Programme personnel 2025/12 Initiated The country has adopted a series of legal texts in line with international standards in the fight against GBV, including the preamble to the constitution of 22 July 2023 and the new penal code adopted in December 2024.
Ensure alignment with both national priorities and international gender equality standards. Mamagement and programme personnel 2025/12 Completed Ensure that national priorities are in line with international gender equality standards.
Recommendation: UN Women should strengthen its coordination role to advocate for legal reforms on women’s rights, building strategic alliances with civil society and religious leaders to challenge harmful practices.
Management Response: • Leverage UN Women’s mandate to drive advocacy for legal reforms in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental actors. • Form alliances with grassroots movements, religious leaders and civil society organizations to promote gender-sensitive reforms. • Implement culturally adaptive advocacy strategies that respect local norms while pushing for progressive gender equality standards. • Empower local champions and use religious narratives that support women’s rights to counter resistance from conservative political parties, groups or influencers. • To correct the underfunding of women’s leadership programmes, consider developing a strategy for sustained investment beyond election periods.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Global norms and standards (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: National ownership
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Leverage UN Women’s mandate to drive advocacy for legal reforms in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental actors Management and Programme personnel 2025/12 Initiated With the support of UN Women, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights is in the process of adopting for the first time a sectoral gender strategy for the Department of Justice and its action plan.
Form alliances with grassroots movements, religious leaders and civil society organizations to promote gender-sensitive reforms Management and Programme personnel 2025/03 Completed To form alliances with local movements, religious leaders and civil society organizations to promote reforms that integrate the gender dimension.
Implement culturally adaptive advocacy strategies that respect local norms while pushing for progressive gender equality standards. Management and Programme personnel 2025/12 Initiated An action plan has been validated to achieve harmonization between progressive gender equality standards.
Empower local champions and use religious narratives that support women’s rights to counter resistance from conservative political parties, groups or influencers. Management and Programme personnel 2025/11 Initiated Several religious narratives that support women's rights in order to combat the resistance of conservative political parties, groups or influential individuals whose religious analyses on respect for women's participation in public life in the religions most practiced in Mali (Islam, Christianity, etc.). Several religious leaders are leading defenders of the cause of women in Mali.
To correct the underfunding of women’s leadership programmes, consider developing a strategy for sustained investment beyond election periods. Management and Programme personnel 2025/10 Initiated The promotion of women's leadership has largely been addressed through the PAREM project, although there is still a need for additional funding to ensure the sustainability of previous actions to achieve parity in public and political life.
Recommendation: UN Women should foster normative change by deepening its understanding of local cultural contexts and building alliances with gender activists, religious leaders and civil society to drive transformative gender equality initiatives.
Management Response: • Dedicate resources to studying and mapping cultural interactions between global norms and local practices. • Collaborate with local gender activists and religious leaders to localize global gender norms into practices that resonate with the Malian context. • Strengthen alliances with religious actors in favour of gender equality agendas to provide a strong counternarrative to harmful traditional practices. • Engage regularly with civil society to ensure that gender equality initiatives are inclusive and contextually relevant. • Target marginalized groups and reflect disability in strategic documents with adequate funding. • Create accountability structures for integration of the leave no one behind principle within the Country Office and inter-agency programming across the country.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Global norms and standards (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: National ownership
Organizational Priorities: Normative Support
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Dedicate resources to studying and mapping cultural interactions between global norms and local practices. Management and Programme personnel 2025/02 Overdue-Initiated A network of traditional and religious leaders and CSOs is now in place to address issues related to GBV and improving the status of women.
Collaborate with local gender activists and religious leaders to localize global gender norms into practices that resonate with the Malian context Management and Programme personnel 2025/02 Completed A network of traditional and religious leaders and CSOs is now in place to address issues related to GBV and improving the status of women.
Strengthen alliances with religious actors in favor of gender equality agendas to provide a strong counternarrative to harmful traditional practices. Management and Programme personnel 2025/02 Completed A network of traditional and religious leaders and CSOs is now in place to address issues related to GBV and improving the status of women.
Engage regularly with civil society to ensure that gender equality initiatives are inclusive and contextually relevant Management and Programme personnel 2025/11 Initiated The Department for the Advancement of Women holds regular consultations with CSOs
Create accountability structures for integration of the leave no one behind principle within the Country Office and inter-agency programming across the country Management and Programme personnel 2025/11 Initiated An international forum for short people was supported by UN Women, the sub-regional network was revitalized, and a work plan was drawn up.
Recommendation: UN Women should enhance gender coordination mechanisms by addressing gaps in the UNCT Gender Score Card and strengthening evaluation oversight across its portfolio.
Management Response: • Regularly reassess UNCT-SWAP Gender Scorecard indicators to ensure consistent performance improvements. • Collaborate with the Resident Coordinator’s Office and the Gender Theme Group to ensure utilization of evaluations and the Gender Scorecard. • Improve internal coordination across UN agencies to streamline gender efforts and reduce duplication. • Establish clearer accountability for gender outcomes within the Country Office and across inter-agency programming.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Gender equality, Coherence
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Regularly reassess UNCT-SWAP Gender Scorecard indicators to ensure consistent performance improvements Management and Programme personnel 2025/11 Initiated An evaluation of the UNCT-SWAP gender score card was carried out under the leadership of the GTG under the leadership of UN Women/RCO, recommendations were issued, and an action plan is being implemented.
Collaborate with the Resident Coordinator’s Office and the Gender Theme Group to ensure utilization of evaluations and the Gender Scorecard. Management and Programme personnel 2025/11 Initiated Thanks to the collaboration with the RCO, several training sessions on the UNCT-SWAP gender score card were given to UNCT working groups.
Improve internal coordination across UN agencies to streamline gender efforts and reduce duplication. Management and Programme personnel 2025/09 Completed The mapping of UN agencies' interventions on gender issues is being developed, which will enable the pooling of efforts in the spirit of "One UN" The holding of joint meetings between the GTG and other UNCT working groups
Establish clearer accountability for gender outcomes within the Country Office and across inter-agency programming. Management and Programme personnel 2025/10 Initiated The GTG now has an annual work plan in which the agencies are responsible for implementing each activity.
Recommendation: UN Women should resolve operational challenges and strengthen its monitoring and evaluation function to enhance programmatic effectiveness and ensure evidence-based decision-making and strategic use of resources.
Management Response: Strengthen the one-person PMSU by redeploying or reassigning Operations personnel to address the persistent issue of outstanding partner advances. • Address operational challenges in procurement and recruitment by streamlining processes and enhancing accountability. • Implement a robust M&E framework that systematically tracks and documents programmatic results across all sectors. • Ensure that monitoring data is regularly updated and used to substantiate the successes and impact of interventions. • Clarify the division of labour between the M&E Unit and programme managers for reporting by identifying ambiguities and overlaps in roles and responsibilities
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Global norms and standards (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, National ownership, Evidence, Data and statistics
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Coherence, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Strengthen the one-person PMSU by redeploying or reassigning Operations personnel to address the persistent issue of outstanding partner advances. Operations, Programme 2025/06 Completed A pool of programme assistants has been associated with the PMU to carry out this action.
Address operational challenges in procurement and recruitment by streamlining processes and enhancing accountability Management, Operations, Programme and M&E personne 2025/09 Initiated AWP's six-monthly review of the office plans to remedy operational problems in the areas of procurement and recruitment
Address operational challenges in procurement and recruitment by streamlining processes and enhancing accountability Management, Operations, Programme and M&E personnel 2025/09 Initiated Third Party Monitoring (TPM) Partners have been recruited to monitor activities in insecure areas.
Implement a robust M&E framework that systematically tracks and documents programmatic results across all sectors M&E personnel 2025/07 Completed Monitoring data is regularly updated and used to justify the success and impact of interventions in the various periodic reports.
Ensure that monitoring data is regularly updated and used to substantiate the successes and impact of interventions Programme and M&E personnel 2025/06 Completed
Clarify the division of labour between the M&E Unit and programme managers for reporting by identifying ambiguities and overlaps in roles and responsibilities. Management 2025/02 Overdue-Initiated A work plan has been drawn up and the roles are known, but the reduction in staff means that the M&E unit is duplicating tasks.
Recommendation: UN Women should reinforce long-term planning and integrate exit strategies from the outset to ensure sustainability and resilience in the face of political and funding fluctuations.
Management Response:
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Description: • Develop comprehensive long-term strategies that include sustainability plans and exit strategies for all major projects. • Engage with national stakeholders and communities to build local capacity, ensuring continued gender equality progress even after project closure. • Ensure that sustainability plans account for political instability and short-term funding cycles, protecting gender equality gains. • Integrate sustainability as a key element in project planning, ensuring that results endure beyond the immediate intervention period.
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Leadership and political participation (SPs before 2018), Leadership and participation in governance systems (SP 2018-2021)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Develop comprehensive long-term strategies that include sustainability plans and exit strategies for all major projects Management, Programme and M&E personnel 2025/03 Overdue-Initiated
Engage with national stakeholders and communities to build local capacity, ensuring continued gender equality progress even after project closure. Management, Programme and M&E personnel 2025/09 Initiated
Ensure that sustainability plans account for political instability and short-term funding cycles, protecting gender equality gains. Management, Programme and M&E personnel 2025/09 Initiated
Integrate sustainability as a key element in project planning, ensuring that results endure beyond the immediate intervention period. Management, Programme and M&E personnel 2025/09 Not Initiated
Recommendation: UN Women should proactively engage men and boys in gender equality efforts, leveraging gender-equitable interpretations of religious texts to challenge harmful practices and promote inclusive norms.
Management Response: • Develop initiatives that specifically target men and boys to shift harmful gender norms and engage them as allies in gender equality efforts. • Leverage gender-equitable interpretations of religious texts to counter practices such as early marriage and female genital mutilation. • Create programmes that encourage male participation in preventing gender-based violence and promoting women’s economic and political participation. • Foster partnerships with community and religious leaders to deliver messages that promote gender-inclusive norms across Mali.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Coherence, Gender equality, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Develop initiatives that specifically target men and boys to shift harmful gender norms and engage them as allies in gender equality efforts. Management and Programme personnel 2025/08 Initiated
Leverage gender-equitable interpretations of religious texts to counter practices such as early marriage and female genital mutilation. Management and Programme personne 2025/07 Overdue-Initiated
Create programmes that encourage male participation in preventing gender-based violence and promoting women’s economic and political participation. Management and Programme personnel 2025/11 Initiated
Foster partnerships with community and religious leaders to deliver messages that promote gender-inclusive norms across Mali. To be led by: Management and Programme personne 2025/04 Overdue-Initiated