Management Response

: Ethiopia
: 2016 - 2016 , Ethiopia (CO)
: End Evaluation of the Joint Programme on GEWE
:
: Ethiopia
:

Government counterparts of the JP, MoWCA and MoFEC and participating UN agencies appreciated the relevance and usefulness of the evaluation findings and its recommendations. The evaluation is expected to inform the development of future JPs as can be seen from the accepted recommendations. Both government counterparts and UN agencies have identified key actions to be taken based on the recommendations which will be monitored for compliance.

: Approved
Recommendation: The GoE and participating UN agencies should develop an exit plan for Phase II that includes a communication strategy to inform all key stakeholders like the implementing partners and communities in the region of the end of the JP GEWE programme and other options for funding.
Management Response: The recommendation is accepted and a JP GEWE Concluding Workshop will be organized where the key elements of an exit plan and how government counterparts might be able to absorb key line items of the JP GEWE will be discussed. Also, the platform will be used to communicate with partners and stakeholders regarding the end of the JP GEWE as it exists currently and the plan regarding the way forward.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Leadership and political participation (SPs before 2018), Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018), Governance and planning (SPs before 2018), Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018), Global norms and standards (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Organize a JP GEWE Concluding workshop UN Women in collaboration with MoWCA 2017/06 Completed
An exit plan will be developed focusing on how to upscale on good practices, and exit from target Woredas in a manner that sustains initiatives Participating UN agencies with the leadership of UN Women and MoWCA 2017/06 Completed
Recommendation: UN agencies and donors should support separate and thematically focused JPs that continue and strengthen what has been done under Phase II. Examples of such JPs may include: 1) the current GBV bilateral programme could be expanded to other agencies and also include a component of economic empowerment; 2) Gender Mainstreaming JP to deepen existing initiatives like GRB, Levelling tools & Gender Audit and address any new issues like Gender Statistics and SDGs.
Management Response: UN agencies and donors are ready to take the lessons from the JP and move forward by identifying thematic areas in collaboration with GoE, develop a programme document and implement the same. Hence going forward, mapping will be carried out to identify already ongoing programmes and identify thematic areas which would be suited for and benefit from joint implementation.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Global norms and standards (SPs before 2018), Ending violence against women (SPs before 2018), Governance and planning (SPs before 2018), Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018), Leadership and political participation (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Impact, Efficiency, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Carry out a mapping exercise to identify thematic areas that are not covered by ongoing JPs and develop a new programme on specific themes. MoWCA and UN Women 2017/11 Completed MoWCA did a mapping study in Q3 of 2017. The next generation of the JP GEWE is under development, MoWCA has proposed to continue with the 4 outcome areas, where as UN agencies are negotiating to limit the outcomes to 2 outcome areas based on lessons learned during the implementation of the past two phases. UN Women is leading the development of the next phase of the JP GEWE in consultation with MoWCA.
Ensure joint initiatives, that can absorb best practices, are going on and joint programming is robust Participating UN agencies and other line ministries with the leadership of MoWCA 2017/08 Ongoing - MoWCA is leading on this activity - UN Women ECO has taken up some best practices from the JP GEWE and integrated them into their new Women in Leadership Programme - UN Women is continuing to partner with the Rome-based agencies on JP RWEE - UN Women is developing new partnerships with UNHCR and UNFPA for joint programming
Recommendation: GoE and UN agencies should ensure affirmative action as an essential element of any GEWE Programme in Ethiopia with baseline and targets, mentoring and training to ensure that women can access key JP positions at all levels of decision-making.
Management Response: The recommendation is partially accepted as in the current JP there were only few positions that were fully dedicated to manage the JP solely and most focal persons were playing the role as an additional responsibility apart from their main portfolio in their respective offices. Hence, the recommendation was found not to take note of the situation at hand. However, going forward, other JPs on GEWE will consider this recommendation and ensure that key JP positions are accessed by female candidates and further capacity building options are available to them.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Review upcoming JPs to check whether they incorporate affirmative action clauses in the hiring process to manage programme implementation Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA 2017/12 Overdue-Not Initiated
Ensure that female candidates are encouraged to apply for JP positions (both for formal recruitment and internal appointment) and after they hold the position they will benefit from a capacity building support to enhance their project management skills. Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA 2018/06 Overdue-Not Initiated
Recommendation: UN agencies should have a realistic planning with different fundraising scenarios, based on available resource envelope otherwise it will be difficult to mobilize resources without a costed programme document shared with funding agency.
Management Response: Recognizing the huge funding gap the JP has faced, particularly in the final years of the programme implementation, an attempt was made to have realistic planning particularly at the Annual Work Plan (AWP) planning level. Accordingly, AWPs were made to be realistic and within the available budget. Going forward, UN agencies are committed to ensure realistic planning and incorporate different fundraising scenarios.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Internal coordination and communication
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, UN Coordination, Operational activities, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Ensure that lessons are learnt from the JP GEWE and future JPs have a realistic budget plan both in the main programme document and at AWP level. Participating UN agencies and MoWCA with the leadership of MoFEC 2017/12 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring a realistic budget in all their ongoing and new JPs
Ensure that future JPs incorporate different resource mobilization scenarios Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA and MoFEC 2017/12 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs
Explore ways to jointly mobilize fund with GoE during the planning and implementation of future JPs Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA and MoFEC 2017/12 Completed This is under the leadership of MoWCA and MoFEC. However, the UNCT has developed a joint resource mobilisation mechanism under the current UNDAF.
Recommendation: Participating UN agencies and government counterparts should ensure participation of all relevant stakeholders including sector ministries as well as CSOs in the design of future JPs related to GEWE.
Management Response: GoE and participating UN agencies will ensure that all key stakeholders will participate in the consultation leading towards the development of upcoming JPs related to GEWE.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM, Operational activities, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Impact, Sustainability, Relevance, Efficiency, Gender equality, Human Rights
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Ensure that relevant stakeholders take part in consultations prior to the development of new JPs on GEWE. Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA 2017/12 Completed A series of stakeholder consultations were held. However, there is no progress on the development of a potential phase III of the JP GEWE.
Recommendation: Where a JP already exists, participating agencies should avoid parallel activities and instead invest additional resources in the relevant JP or parallel JPs.
Management Response: For the future, participating agencies will ensure that there will not be an overlap between interventions covered by the JP and a parallel bilateral project unless there is a need for additional geographical coverage i.e. the geographical coverage of the bilateral programme is not adequate to address the need. In the latter case, the need to divide allocation of budget between a JP and another bilateral programme for the same intervention cannot be avoided, which is why the recommendation is partially accepted.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Internal coordination and communication
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Carry out mapping of projects on GEWE to avoid duplication and to inform the focus of the new joint programme. Participating UN agencies lead by MoWCA 2017/08 Completed MoWCA has taken out a mapping study of projects on GEWE in Ethiopia in early October
Where it is decided to have a JP on specific thematic issues, ensure that additional resources are allocated to implement the same. UN agencies and MoWCA with the leadership of MoFEC 2017/12 Overdue-Initiated The next generation of the JP GEWE is under development, MoWCA has proposed to continue with the 4 outcome areas, where as UN agencies are negotiating to limit the outcomes to 2 outcome areas based on lessons learned during the implementation of the past two phases. UN Women is leading the development of the next phase of the JP GEWE in consultation with MoWCA.
Recommendation: In designing future JPs on GEWE, UN agencies and government counterparts should balance geographic focus vs. national coverage. Select limited number of regions based on prevalence of GEWE issues and expand to other regions given resource availability, scalability, and replicability of interventions.
Management Response: The recommendation is partially accepted as the management has reached agreement to focus on thematic areas per region and focus on few Woredas rather than limit the number of regions. Hence, the upcoming JP is expected to have a national geographic coverage depending on the availability of resource.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Impact, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Identify regions where thematic GEWE issue is prevalent and consider the finding in the programme framework of the upcoming JP. UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA and MoFEC and in collaboration with line ministries 2017/12 Ongoing Discussions have been held to limit the number of Woredas within regions due to the political sensitivity of reducing the number of regions. However, no consensus was reached on the geographical scope as there was no agreement on the modality of a phase III for JP GEWE in general.
Recommendation: In future JPs on GEWE, UN agencies and government counterparts should develop M&E systems that can systematically collect and report on outputs & outcomes, given indicators and targets and include all donors, stakeholders and IPs in joint M&E missions with common checklist and one final monitoring report vs separate agency reports. Regular RBM and reporting training is also important.
Management Response: Though the JP had an M&E mechanism that is embedded in its programme document, it lacked a detailed and separate performance monitoring framework which impeded the systematic collection of data and evidence regarding the implementation of the programme. In view of this, the recommendation is fully accepted and future JPs will ensure the availability of such framework.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Operational activities, Culture of results/RBM, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Ensure that future JPs have detailed and separate Performance Monitoring Framework. Participating UN agencies and government counterparts 2018/03 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs
Ensure that a baseline study is carried out to ensure that all data necessary to track progress is complete. Participating UN agencies and government counterparts with the leadership of MoWCA 2018/03 Overdue-Not Initiated The next phase of the JP GEWE is still under development.
Ensure that the Performance Monitoring Framework is widely shared and strictly followed by all partners. Participating UN agencies and government counterparts with the leadership of MoWCA 2018/03 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs
Include RBM capacity building activities within the JP Work Plan. Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA and MoFEC 2018/05 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs
Recommendation: Balance between direct support and addressing structural issues (i.e. Economic empowerment should cover not only direct service delivery, but also structural financial issues that impede women’s economic empowerment).
Management Response: As correctly noted by the evaluators under outcome three and four, there is better focus on structural issues of gender inequality whereas, under outcome one and outcome two, focus is made on direct support for beneficiaries and building the capacity of service providers. Therefore, going forward measures will be taken to ensure structural issues are given adequate focus under all Outcomes.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM, Operational activities
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Human Rights, Gender equality, Impact, Relevance, Sustainability
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
In future JPs identify structural issues that hamper the promotion of GEWE as part of the situation analysis. Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA 2017/12 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs (e.g. JP RWEE)
Ensure that outputs addressing structural issues are included in the programme framework. Participating UN agencies with the leadership of MoWCA 2017/12 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs (e.g. JP RWEE)
Recommendation: Need for greater coordination, communication and transparency: 1) Between programme leads, participating UN agencies and partners; 2) Between MoWCA and sector Ministries (i.e. Education, Health, Justice).
Management Response: Coordination and effective communication has indeed been noted as a significant element to achieve intended outcomes under the JP. Where such was lacking, the JP suffered setbacks in achieving intended results. Accordingly, the recommendation for enhancing coordination and communication is fully accepted. However, as the recommendation related to transparency is not clear and supported by the findings and analysis of the evaluation it was not accepted.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Internal coordination and communication
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, UN Coordination, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
For future JPs, strengthen coordination mechanism at federal, regional and Woreda levels and across sectors. Participating UN agencies lead by MoWCA and MoFEC 2018/03 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs (e.g. JP RWEE)
Identify synergy points across agencies and actors and use the same to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. Participating UN agencies lead by MoWCA and MoFEC 2018/03 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs (e.g. JP RWEE)
Ensure that there is more regular coordination meeting at all levels i.e. TWG, PMC, etc. Participating UN agencies lead by MoWCA and MoFEC 2018/03 Ongoing - UN Women is ensuring this in all their ongoing and new JPs (e.g. JP RWEE)