Management Response

: Jordan
: 2014 - 2014 , Jordan (CO)
: Achieving E-quality in the ICT Sector Project
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Jordan

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Overall the evaluation found the project to have strong and relevant results in the area of women's economic empowerment and skills building. The evaluation identified a few key areas to be addressed in the UN Women's future programming. Namely these are: a) stronger M&E oversight and more rigorous attention to the collection and collation of data and results, b) stronger partner outreach, and c) more emphasis on lessons learned publications. These are all accepted and response actions are detailed below. The evaluation also made a number of additional suggestions for a new phase of the project. However it has been decided by the UN Women CO that a new phase will not be undertaken for the following reasons: a) ICT market saturation, b) lack of alignment with the UN Women's new global flagship programmes.

: Approved
Recommendation: Motivating the participation of the private sector to enhance job opportunities and adopting and sponsoring students’ projects.
Management Response: Accepted. UN Women has a resource mobilization strategy which also targets partnership development with the private sector.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Resource Mobilization strategy. Lisa Jeppesen 2015/10 Completed
Recommendation: Separation of the Quality Assurance function from the technical (Operations) function in project structure to ensure independence and impartiality of the quality assurance decisions in future projects. Creating an explicit risk management plan (What-If) in future projects that takes into consideration all probabilities, expectations and the appropriate remedies, alternatives and corrective actions is recommended.
Management Response: Accepted. Greater oversight is needed in project management functions for any future phase of the project. This will be ensured and efforts have already been made to redress challenges through streamlining staff functions. All projects developed have included a detailed risk management plan. The country office has also its own corporate risk management plan.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Risk management plans formulated. UN Women CO staff 2015/10 Completed
All new project proposals of the CO now include a risk management plan. UN Women CO staff 2015/10 Completed
Recommendation: Monitoring reports were embedded in the periodic reports. It is recommended to have separate Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan and reports written by independent M&E personnel.
Management Response: Accepted. This is currently implemented in all of UN Women CO projects.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Governance and planning (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Ensure continued oversight from the M&E focal point in all UN Women's programmes and partners. UN Women CO staff (M&E focal point) 2015/12 Completed
Develop a list of all project indicators and submit to the M&E focal point to ensure reporting on a regular basis. Data inputted on a quarterly basis. UN Women CO staff (M&E focal point) 2015/12 Completed
Recommendation: There is the issue of ICT job market saturation. The demand for Cisco academies’ graduates might not stay high for unlimited period. This should be taken into consideration for UNW in planning for future activities. For how long will this demand stay? This needs a market survey; especially that digital networking is only one branch of the total ICT job market demand.
Management Response: Accepted. UN Women agrees that it is not strategic to keep working in this area. There will be no new phase of this programme.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Maintain the close dialogue with Cisco Systems, int@j and Ministry of ICT to benefit from the latest market surveys that might be conducted by them. UN Women CO staff 2016/12 Completed A number of meetings with Cisco and other ICT supporting organizations took place in 2015.
Recommendation: Information management (Recording, tabulation, storage and retrieval) is important to building information, knowledge and learning systems. Therefore, project achievements should be properly recorded and tabulated. Sharing of women’s empowerment “Best Practices” between graduates is essential (ie, what worked and what did not work for women empowerment? how we can build on the successes? what suggestions do graduates have in this respect?). It is also recommended to produce a video on the project documenting all stages, events, achievements and success stories. To increase success in securing jobs for female graduates in remote areas: UN Women can look for ideas to bring jobs to remote areas. This can be done by examining the possibility of the following suggestions: 1) Group projects. 2) Sub-contracting projects. 3) Supporting and encouraging entrepreneurial initiatives.4) Partnership with entrepreneurial private sector.
Management Response: Accepted. It is understood that there were shortcomings in terms of the recording of results throughout the life cycle of the project. However, some good practices were written in the research study: "Status of the Jordanian women in the ICT sector". Future projects will ensure better documentation of results. The CO has no further funding for this area.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency
Key Actions
Key Action not added.
Recommendation: Future projects should include partners and alliances from local communities of the targeted regions, who know the community well and can give advice and suggestions, and also provide support to the project's promotion and advocacy campaigns. Local NGOs and CBOs (Particularly women and gender- based organizations) could be considered in this context. Moreover, UN Women should exert more efforts on the policy and public advocacy levels to promote such initiatives in the remote areas. Lobbying with the local community leaders (Religious, Political, Civic …) and women development NGOs could be very beneficial.
Management Response: Accepted. UN Women will strive to ensure broader partnerships in all of its future programming.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Stakeholder mapping to be undertaken prior to all project implementation for future work at UN Women UN Women CO staff 2017/12 Completed This is now part of the Standard operating procedures of the country office whenever a project proposal is designed.
Recommendation: There should have been more attraction programs and campaigns for the participation for women from outside the universities. Participants of Cisco academies’ courses (male and female) are either university students, or members from local communities who want to improve their employment opportunities. Cisco academies’ courses are either integrated in the universities’ curricula, but still members from outside the universities can join these courses as community extension service or independent courses where these courses are also open to community members’ participation.
Management Response: Not applicable. UN Women will no longer continue to work in the ICT sector.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Key Action not added.
Recommendation: Networking: Keeping ties with female leader graduates and keeping a roster of outstanding women graduates should be established to promote future advocacy and cooperation programs.
Management Response: Not accepted. It is not the function of UN Women to serve in a role where 'outstanding graduates' are defined and rostered for the private sector.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Key Action not added.
Recommendation: UN Women, even after exiting the project, should examine the possibility of holding an updating meeting for all partners in which it suggests roles for each to enhance sustainability. Also issuing and distribution of an update document that summarizes major project stages and achievements to all partners to keep them updated. A small “Permanent” Committee should be formed with members from some partners and some outstanding successful female graduates to keep track of project's achievements.
Management Response: Partially accepted. This will be linked to the work that is done in ensuring the sustainability of the University Trust Funds.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Relevance, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Letter to be drafted for University Trust Funds. Anoud Majali 2015/11 Completed
Recommendation: Supporting the initiative suggested by the universities of the "Parade Ambassadors"(Students in each university) to contribute to maintaining, promoting and sustaining the National Technology Parade.
Management Response: Not applicable. The Universities are in charge of organizing the National Technology Parade.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness
Key Actions
Key Action not added.