Management Response

Recommendation:

Considering comparative advantage and evidence to guide decision-making:

Management Response:

Based on the available funds and when agreed upon with the Donors, context analysis and needs assessments were conducted systematically. The area of improvement would be on identifying and building on results achieved by other partners and complement interventions with UNW's comparative advantage for sustainability and an efficient use of the funds available. A resource mobilization strategy to engage with more Donors in being implemented. The aim is to gather sufficient resources to implement long- term humanitarian and development projects to enable assessment of short, medium and long term effects of UN Women's interventions.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Emphasize on conducting needs assessments, context analysis and mapping of past interventions when discussing project funding with Donors. Ensure project intended results build on past results achieved by UN Women and other partners. Richard Cox_ Resources mobilization and donor relations consultant 2024/12 Overdue-Initiated UN Women routinely conducts various assessments, studies, and surveys such as baseline surveys, market surveys, needs assessments, and project evaluations tailored to each project. The results of these studies inform the resource mobilization plan, which is developed by the resource mobilization consultant and team. So far, these findings have been utilized during discussions with donors about project funding (SIDA, Japan and OCHA).

Recommendation:	Strengthening office capacity:
Management Response:	The organization needs to adopt a country profile that will allow clear roles and responsibilities to alleviate the Country Representative from the office technical tasks. In view of the complex situation in Sudan the agency needs to establish a Deputy Representative position.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Establishing the position of Deputy Representative. Raise awareness of the senior management on the urgency of the situation. Maxime Houinato_Regional Director 2024/12 Overdue-Initiated Discussion is underway with HQ and RO to see how to address this recommendation

Recommendation:

Strengthening coordination:

Management Response:

During the last two years of the SN and especially in 2023 with the war outbreak and consequently the humanitarian crisis, UNW has prioritized coordination within the UN System including by actively participating in the UNIGTG and providing technical support on gender at inter-agency level, including a review of the HNRP 2023 and the development of the HRP 2024. In addition, UN Women became a member of the following clusters: Accountability for Affected Population/Community Engagement and Accountability Cluster, Cash Programming Cluster.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Identify specific coordination role for each staff member based on their TORs. Review of staff members TORs. Adjaratou Fatou Ndiaye_Country Representative 2024/12 Overdue-Initiated Coordination with partners and stakeholders has been enhanced. Staff in each thematic area have strengthened coordination efforts with beneficiaries and partners. This is emphasized and followed up during staff program and operation meetings. The coordination role for each staff member is yet to be identified based on their Terms of Reference (TORs).

Recommendation:

Maximizing intervention effectiveness and sustainability:

Management Response:

A resource mobilization strategy to engage with more Donors in being implemented. The aim is to gather sufficient resources to implement long- term humanitarian, peace and development projects to enable assessment of short, medium and long term effects of UN Women's interventions and their sustainability. However, the current humanitarian context is a limit to increasing the scope and scale of projects due to the instability of partners and beneficiaries.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Strengthen the capacity of IP to enable them to implement projects impacting a larger number of beneficiaries. Develop and implement a capacity building plan for IP. Fatma Mohamed_ National programme Officer 2024/12 Overdue-Initiated The capacity of Implementing Partners (IPs) was strengthened through training courses, orientation sessions on M&R, finance, communication, and direct communication via field visits. During these activities, UN Women provided IPs with the knowledge and skills to implement projects that impact a larger number of direct and indirect beneficiaries. For example, the value chain projects in Red Sea, Kassala, and Gadaref benefit communities in addition to the direct beneficiaries. UN Women interventions are also focused of addressing gender norms to ensure better power balance in women and men relationships, so women can sustain the gains made.

Recommendation:	Increasing accessibility for relevant participants and partners:
Management Response:	With the current humanitarian context, this recommendation may be difficult to address. But in areas not affected by the conflict the following proposed actions can be taken.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments Engage with Master organizations that will coordinate community initiatives; at the planning stage, clearly define the target beneficiaries and plan activities early enough to allow maximum participation. Undertake a mapping of NGO specialized in GE and women's rights to identify those that can reach a larger target groups and diversify the office partnerships and areas of intervention. Awatif Nihar_Senior programme coordinator 2024/12 Overdue-Initiated In new projects, UN Women considered increasing accessibility. In the WPHF project, UN Women enhanced accessibility by engaging a large number of responsible partners who cover wide geographical areas across Sudan. These partners target various types of beneficiaries, including women, young girls, people with disabilities, farmers, representatives from CSOs, academia, and men.