Management Response

: Sudan
: 2014 - 2016 , Sudan (CO)
: Consolidating Efforts that Contribute to Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Sudan
:
: Sudan
:

Overall we accept the recommendations

: Approved
Recommendation: The GEWE programme remains very relevant to the current Sudan context. Its implementation should therefore be given an extension. This, however, requires increased and predictable/multi-year funding; and a scale up of operations not only at the HQ level in Khartoum but also in other states and further consolidation of Outcomes with due consideration to other recommendations presented below.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018), Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Sustainability, Impact, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
UN Women has a new strategic plan for 2014-2016 that builds extensively on previous work including for the biennium 2012-2013. This in a way ensures continuity of the GEWE programme in Sudan but one that accounts for lessons learned in previous programming cycles, evaluation findings and recommendations received from various partners during consultations. On the issue of multi-year funding, UN Women will provide it whenever possible based on availability of funds and partners? capacity as indicated in audit recommendations. On the issue of presence in other states, this is not feasible at the moment and this might not be cost effective either. UN Women recognizes the need to strengthen Darfur office but at the moment, this will be done through support from the staff in Khartoum. Parallel to this UN Women will continue to work through relevant partners including government, CSOs, CBOs, academic institutions and other UN agencies to support GEWE in other states. HQ, SRO and CO. 2016/12 Overdue-Not Initiated Funding for the office has become low and unpredictable. Therefore, the office cannot at this point in time ensure sustainability of funds for partners.
Recommendation: Outcome 1: UN Women should build on its success and achievements working with political parties and the National Elections Commission in Sudan by ensuring the gender mainstreaming of the structures, plans and operations of the commission.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018), Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality, Impact, Sustainability, Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
UN Women has indeed engaged political parties through the collaboration with the Political Parties affairs Council (PPAC). This collaboration faced major operational challenges due to the partners? capacity and the office?s capacity to monitor project implementation. Moving forward, UN Women will work through academic institutions, the MoWSS and the Women?s Human Rights Center to reach out to political parties. The upcoming elections in 2015 provide a unique opportunity to engage with the National Elections Committee (NEC). Once the country needs assessment mission (NAM) is completed, UN Women will seek an active collaboration with the NEC. UN Women CO with MOWSS and other partners 2015/12 No Longer Applicable UNW was not able to engage in the political election because of the sensitive context.
Recommendation: All Outcomes: The inadequacy of the GEWE programme performance measurement denied it the much needed data upon which to base decision making and (possibly) adjustment of programme strategies. Programme design needs to be carefully done to improve monitoring and evaluation through development of a strategy and framework jointly with partners.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018), Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability, Relevance, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
UN Women Sudan recruited a M&E officer in May 2014. In collaboration with Senior management and programme officers, the M&E officer will ensure that all programmes include sound monitoring frameworks. The M&E officer will seek technical support from the RO M&E officer in carrying out these tasks. The M&E officer will ensure that programme officers and partners are fully aware of their responsibilities in monitoring various programmes and have clear monitoring plans for all projects. The M&E officer will organize monthly monitoring visits with partners and quarterly training on monitoring & reporting. UN Women CO M&E officer with assistance from RO M&E Officer 2016/12 Overdue-Initiated Due to lack of fund, the office was not able to review the contract of the M&E Officer and the M&E duties are currently performed by UN Fellow. New M&E tools to improve monitoring of implementation of activities and reporting based on result is developed and in place. Many challenges are faced in terms of ensuring that IPs are aware of their monitoring and reporting duties. Monitoring visits with partners are not currently happening. The office improved in terms of involving M&E in pre-design phase (proposal writing)
Recommendation: Outcome 1: The GEWE programme's strategy of targeting 10 most representative political parties out of 76 political parties unintentionally barred 66 others from GEWE programme activities/interventions and risked being viewed as partisan. Programme interventions should thus be designed with the view to reach for all existing political parties and political parties should be encouraged to participate by representation.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018), Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality, Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
The office does not have the capacity or the resources to engage with 76 political parties. Therefore it was a realistic strategy to target the most representative ones. Nevertheless, UN Women Sudan will ensure that its responsible parties engage a broader pool of political parties in activities pertaining to Women?s Leadership and Political Participation. PPAC did this quite effectively by including all political parties in its awareness raising workshops. The planned engagement with the NEC in 2015 will also allow UN Women to reach all political parties. UN Women CO DCR Governance officer, when recruited 2015/12 No Longer Applicable The office suspended recruitment of a new governance officer due to financial constraints. UNW was not able to engage in the political election because of the sensitive context.
Recommendation: All Outcomes: Reported delays in disbursement of programme funds (and discontinuation in some cases) resulted in a short period (than planned) of implementation compromising programme quality as rushed implementation of programme activities did not give enough time for the results chain to be genuinely cultivated for better results. UN Women and IPs should streamline reporting and accountability arrangements through carefully developed and agreed upon annual work plans that provide details for reporting and accountability. UN Women should organize partners? orientation for new partners to clarify approaches, strategies, tools and methodologies.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Governance and planning (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Many of the delays in disbursing funds were due to the fact that the office did not have DoA and had to rely on the RO for its operations. As of December 2013, the office has received its DoA and is now able to take more timely action on programmes and operations. In addition to this, UN Women Sudan will streamline its internal procedures and enhance its capacity to prepare agreements in a timely manner, disburse funds swiftly and give partners adequate time for implementation. The capacity and performance of programme staff in ensuring this will be closely monitored by senior management through a traffic light system for each project. Work plans and M&E plans are an integral part of the partner agreements that we sign. UN Women will flag these to the partners and the M&E officer will work with the partners to ensure that they fully understand the reporting frameworks and timelines. In addition, the M&E officer and finance associate will conduct monthly monitoring visits and quarterly training workshops for all partners on technical and financial reporting. On the issue of discontinuation of funds, there was only one instance in Darfur IGAs that had absorptive capacity and under a project that was discontinued by the donor. The lesson remains that thorough partners? capacity assessments should be conducted prior to entering into an agreement. Finally, UN Women CO will inform donors of any challenges and delays in due time to enable no cost extensions for funds when necessary. UN Women CO (DCR and OM) ; M&E officer and Finance officer & Implementing partners 2016/12 Overdue-Initiated UNWS has no longer an M&E officer. Finance officer started in-house training for implementing partners (MOWS).IP capacity assessment is done prior to contracting
Recommendation: All Outcomes: Coordination and management arrangements for the GEWE programme did not operate optimally which affected implementation and programme results. UN Women and IPs should designate programme/project staff to be focal points responsible and accountable for implementation and follow up of programme initiatives in their specific outcome docket while working to optimize synergy with other outcome areas.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Governance and planning (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
UN Women CO must make a conscious effort to improve Coordination & Management arrangements for GEWE Programme. The CO will convene a stakeholders? meeting twice a year with its main partners/stakeholders (responsible parties, donors and UN agencies) to discuss progress in programme implementation and build synergies between various interventions. The CO will include in future agreements a requirement for dedicated staff to be assigned by the IP/ responsible party for implementation of UN Women projects on a cost sharing basis. The CO?s 4 programme staff (3 in Khartoum and 1 in Darfur) will share responsibilities for coordinating partners in each impact area including through regular meetings to keep all partners abreast of development and provide a platform for building synergies. The CO will set up its CSO advisory board by Q2 of 2015, this effort should contribute to strengthening coordination with relevant stakeholders. UN Women CO management & programme officers 2016/12 Overdue-Not Initiated The plan to set up an advisory board is being reconsidered due to political sensitivities and polarized civil society that might negatively impact UN Women's work in Sudan.
Recommendation: Outcome 3: Socio-cultural and political difficulties and challenges still exist in addressing VAW/G. Programme interventions for VAW/G should include a strategy for raising awareness and for transforming traditional, common law and Sharia judicial systems to be receptive to the needs or rights of women victims of violence.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Governance and planning (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
The UNW CO will ensure that the VAW/G Programme interventions include a strategy for raising awareness on gender issues in all VAW programmes Partners will be encouraged to develop sensitization programmes for transforming traditional, common law and Sharia judicial systems to be receptive to the needs or rights of women victims of violence. Furthermore, the office will seek collaboration with non-traditional partners including men, the police, religious and traditional leaders in addressing VAWG. UN Women CO & VAW/G Officer 2016/12 Overdue-Initiated The UNW CO collaborate with the police resulting in the establishment of a desk to review cases of VAW/G a step in the right direction. Cultural challenges are important in terms of transforming traditional law, due to the sensitiveness of the issue
Recommendation: 8. All Outcomes: Systematic and structured training programme should be developed and delivered to partners to enhance their appreciation and understanding of (i) Women?s Rights and basic gender frameworks; and (ii) Results Based Management (RBM) of projects/programmes. (iii) UN Women should develop institutional capacity building strategy to address partner needs - such a strategy would provide a framework for identifying capacity required by partners to be effective, efficient and accountable.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Governance and planning (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Knowledge management, Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Efficiency, Effectiveness
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Capacity building is a key strategy in all UN Women programmes and projects. The challenge so far has been in building institutional capacity and making these efforts sustainable. In its SP/AWP and in all new programmes, UN Women Sudan is taking a more systematic approach to capacity building with provision of technical support to the gender machinery within the MoWSS, collaboration with academic institutions for the production of training tools and roll-out of training programmes, expanding knowledge and evidence base through commissioning research , mapping studies, capacity assessments and so on In addition to this, UN Women CO will ensure that practical in-house training for partners are conducted: (i) Programme staff will facilitate one training workshops annually for partners on Women?s Rights and basic gender frameworks looking at our 5 impact areas; (ii) M&E staff will facilitate training on Results Based Management (RBM) of projects/programmes. (iii) Operations staff will conduct training on financial reporting This will contribute to addressing capacity gaps identified through partner capacity assessment or audit reports. UN Women CO Programme officers, M&E Officer and Operations/Finance officer 2016/12 Overdue-Not Initiated Capacity building initiatives are key in UNW CO mandate. For Instance, A Workshop was delivered to the UNCT Group (Gender Thematic Group). However, capacity building initiatives need to be systematic. CO Staff was internally trained on RBM and programme staff on different themes under the 5 impact areas
Recommendation: Outcome 4 & 5: (i). UN-Women should continue its support for the Directorate of Women Affairs (in the MoWSS) in Sudan to strengthen their capacity for engendering line ministries plans and activities. (ii)..UN Women continue supporting a gender budgeting approach that ensures mainstreaming gender in public expenditure and policy, gender audit of public expenditure programmes and adequate resource allocation for gender in key line ministries
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Governance and planning (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Knowledge management, Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
UN-Women will continue to support the Directorate of Women Affairs (in the MoWSS) in Sudan to strengthen their capacity for engendering line ministries plans and activities. This technical support is one of the main outcomes of the joint programme on gender for 2015-2016. Parallel to this, UN Women will continue to support the annual meeting of gender focal points in state ministries and include a capacity building component in those meetings to allow them to be more effective in their roles. Gender planning and budgeting is an important aspect of the SP/AWP for UN Women Sudan. To achieve and sustain its results in this area, the office is forging a partnership with Sudan Public Finance Management project (a 4-year ADB funded project which aims to build technical capacity of public institutions). Furthermore, the office will support collaboration with GEPMI-Arab States and the formulation and implementation of a GRB strategy that will include the various components of gender budget analysis, capacity building and expenditures tracking. It should be noted that the use of line item budgeting and difficulties in accessing budget documents are important challenges for GRB work in Sudan. UN Women senior management 2016/12 Overdue-Initiated The collaboration with the Directorate and gender focal points continues but funds constraints prevent UNW CO from scaling up its intervention.