Management Response

Recommendation:

Reflecting that the long-standing causes of the exclusion of women from decision-making in the target countries, the gender-based violence that reinforces their social marginalisation and the failure to acknowledge the stigmatisation of women survivors of conflict related sexual violence will take not just three-year projects or even decades of such initiatives but generations to completely overcome, a new Project should be developed to build on the success of the Project and its forerunners. The combination of growing upward pressure from grassroots women, and the developing national and regional frameworks that will enable their demands about peace and security issues to be addressed by the authorities ? regionally, nationally and (where women experience them) locally ? provides a realistic expectation that the Project?s long-term objectives can be attained.

Management Response:

This recommendation is accepted. The UNSCR 1325 successor project will build on the good practice of its UNSCR 1325 predecessor initiatives as including both a bottom-up and top down focus.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments 1.1. Progress towards the implementation of this recommendation are dependant on the development and attraction of funds towards a successor to the current UNSCR 1325 project. To this end, the draft UN Women project, Advancing the Leadership of Women in Securing Peace and Security in the Western Balkans (2014-2016) has been developed and submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SIDA for their consideration. ??Project Manager (final proposal to be cleared through the Regional Centre for Europe and Central Asia). ??As the assignment of the Project Manager will terminate on 28 February 2014, task follow-up should be assigned. 2014/01 Completed On 22 January 2014, a draft UNSCR 1325 project proposal was informally submitted to the Norwegian MFA. UN Women was subsequently invited to revise and informally resubmit the project proposal with a scaled down budget and activity set. This task was completed on 29 January 2014. SIDA declined to enter formal discussions as to potential support for the project. The formal grant application procedure/call for proposals (to secure funds from the Norwegian MFA) should have opened in January 2014. When the procedure opens, a formal application should be submitted. The UNSCR 1325 proposal is in the Norwegian MFA format from 2013. It is unknown as to whether a new proposal format will be issued. A decision should be rendered as to which UN Women entity will submit the proposal to the Norwegian MFA. As the assignment of the Project Manager will terminate on 28 February 2014, task follow-up should be assigned. The key action was revised in October 2014 as due to the heavy floods in May 2014 in BiH, and related re-prioritization of the donor assistance to support flood recovery initiatives, UN Women proposal was not considered by Norway in 2014. UN Women will re-initiate resource mobilization with the Norwegian MFA in 2015 through the parallel efforts of both RO and CO.

Recommendation:	Networks and relationships have been advanced during the current Project to the point where UN Women is in a strong position to facilitate more substantive interventions but empowering women at the local level should continue to underpin any new Project.
Management Response:	This recommendation is accepted. The UNSCR 1325 successor project includes a series of initiatives dedicated to the empowerment of women at the local level.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments see key action for the recommendation 1 see key action for the recommendation 1 2014/03 Completed

Recommendation:	A further feature of a new Project should be to extend the leadership and community capacity to facilitate dialogue among alienated communities, nationally and sub-regionally that UN Women has been able to grow in the current Project.
Management Response:	This recommendation is accepted. A primary focus of the UNSCR 1325 successor initiative rests on empowering women?s leadership in facilitating / participating in peace and stability dialogues on the local, national and sub-regional levels.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments see key action for the recommendation 1 see key action for the recommendation 1 2014/03 Completed

Recommendation:	New initiatives should include further regionalising the approaches and strategies used during the current Project, with a significant focus on scaling up successful Project activities, example the pilot developing local action plans for municipalities to work with grass-roots organisations addressing women?s participation in local community boards and the needs of survivors of war rape.
Management Response:	This recommendation is accepted. The UNSCR 1325 successor project scales up predecessor project activities dedicated to local level political empowerment and conflict related sexual violence

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments see key action for the recommendation 1 see key action for the recommendation 1 2014/03 Completed

Recommendation:	Given that the prospect of EU accession, to a greater or lesser extent, has provided one of the incentives for States to progress UNSCR 1325 commitments and has also facilitated the introduction of human rights based concepts, a new Project should include a focus on strengthening policy development capacity, not just outside state agencies, but at senior levels in the public services.
Management Response:	This recommendation is accepted. The proposed UNSCR 1325 successor project includes focus on enhancing governmental and non-governmental policy development capacity at both the local and national levels.

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments see key action for the recommendation 1 see key action for the recommendation 1 2014/03 Completed

Recommendation:

Once the new regional architecture is in place, UN Women should develop guidelines to clarify the respective roles and accountabilities of regional and country staff where they overlap at the country level. The same recommendation was made in the Mid-term Evaluation and while it was not accepted by UN Women HQ at the time, the risks of a lack of role clarity remain.

Management Response:

This recommendation is not accepted. Through the development of detailed terms of reference and open avenues to secure daily guidance, UN Women provides considerable clarity to the respective roles and accountabilities of regional project and country office staff. In addition, any concern as to the potential for overlapping roles/accountabilities is resolved through: (i) internal Country Office management/staff discussions that occur during regular communication and information exchange/updates (staff meetings); and/or (ii) guidance, formerly provided by the UN Women CSEE Sub-Regional Office and now provided by the UN Women Regional Centre for Europe and Central Asia. With due respect, this recommendation seems to be a speculative exercise on the part of the evalaution consultant as, when examining this issue within the UNSCR 1325 project, the consultant found: The Project reporting lines are clear. However, the ?Head of (Project) Office? in each focus country of the 1325 Project has responsibility and is accountable to UN Women HQ for the general performance of the organisation within the country. In-country partners of the regional project may also work with the ?country office? and there is obvious potential for overlap and disagreement. To date there have been few practical difficulties, largely because both country and regional personnel communicate effectively and issues are openly debated and resolved. On the ground, individuals are working through the issues effectively, challenging though they sometimes are (Extract from the mid-term evaluation). ...few practical difficulties have arisen from these complicated roles and accountabilities, largely because both country and regional personnel have been able to communicate regularly and effectively, with issues being openly debated and resolved. On the ground, these personnel have working through issues effectively, challenging though these sometimes have proved (Extract from the final evaluation).

Key Actions Responsible Deadline Status Comments UN Women took note of the recommendation and concluded that any concern of the evaluator was a result of the ongoing regional architecture process and will therefor be addressed. UN Women Regional Office and UN Women Country Office 2014/03 No Longer Applicable