United Nations Development Fund for Women



United Nations Development Fund for Women

multi-year funding framework cumulative report, 2004-2006

Annex 1 – Examples

Example I

Catalytic work on gender equality in National Development Strategies (NDSs): UNIFEM work in Tajikistan demonstrates strategies used and results achieved to secure stronger commitments to gender equality by aligning the NDS with the National Action Plan on Gender Equality. The Tajikistan NDS includes a chapter on gender equality that builds on the National Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities and focuses on creating implementation mechanisms for gender policies in the context of public administration reform; ensuring equal access to resources for women entrepreneurs; and eliminating gender inequality in the development of human potential. The Government is currently developing the PRSP II based on the NDS, and has identified a range of gender equality priorities.

Replicability: South-South exchange is key in this work. The Tajikistan experience built on achievements in Kyrgyzstan and fed into a similar initiative in Azerbaijan.

Example II

Catalytic work on strengthening policies to protect women migrant workers: In November 2005, the Covenant of Ethical Conduct and Good Practices of Overseas Employment Service Providers was adopted by participating national associations at a UNIFEM organized regional meeting of Southeast Asian and Arab countries. Participants issued a Joint Statement on good practices to protect Women Migrant Workers (WMWs), outlining agreed measures, including legally enforceable contracts.

UNIFEM supported the Government of Jordan to issue a “model” contract for the recruitment of domestic workers. It ensures basic rights, including time off, minimum wages, medical insurance and paid return to home countries. It prohibits the withholding of passports or salaries by employers or recruiting agencies. A second new law tightens regulation of recruitment agencies, and specifies fines or the revocation of Government-issued licenses for failure to meet basic standards. In 2006, the Jordanian Ministry of Labour began work to amend the Labour Law; issued rules and regulations for licensing of recruitment agencies; established a specialized department on domestic workers and a committee of stakeholders including UNIFEM to resolve pending issues related to WMWs.

With UNIFEM assistance, the Ministry of Labour in Thailand developed draft amendments to its legally enforceable contract for foreign migrant workers to include legal protections for foreign domestic workers.

In Nepal the Ministry of Labour and Transport drafted a Foreign Employment Act with rights-based provisions. Nepali women travelling to work abroad now receive information about the contractual obligations of employers and about migrant centres that provide assistance in destination countries. A Migrant Worker Welfare fund has been created, and the Ministry is considering ways to more effectively regulate recruitment agencies.

Example III

Catalytic support for gender-responsive budgeting: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) in Morocco offers a clear demonstration of building institutional ownership and leadership on GRB. The MoF coordinates all GRB efforts, including through training sectoral ministries in the country. The production of the country’s second Gender Report, annexed to the Economic and Finance Report which accompanies the 2007 Finance Law, consolidates the work of the MoF and provides comprehensive data on gender inequality in 11 policy sectors (Health, Agriculture and Rural development, Justice, Employment, Family Affairs, Housing, Energy, Water, Infrastructure and Transport, Finance). Women’s groups are monitoring the Ministry of Justice budget allocations for implementation of the Family Law passed in 2004. In addition to facilitating concrete changes in GRB know-how and budgeting processes, the initiative is contributing to a stronger gender equality component in national data, statistics and poverty mapping.

A different approach – but also showing promising results – is being used in Ecuador. The Ministry of Finance in Ecuador approved specific funds to be implemented by the National Machinery for Women to support the “Incorporation of Gender in Fiscal Policies”, and for the first time the country’s budget guidelines include gender. The programme also involves a partnership with UNICEF to support civil society to monitor budget allocations and public expenditures in relation to the Free Maternity and Violence against Women Laws.

Replication / upscaling: The Morocco and Ecuador GRB initiatives are two of four countries (with Mozambique and Senegal) in which the Government of Belgium supports UNIFEM to enhance work on GRB. UNIFEM brings teams working on the programme together to foster South-South exchange. The Moroccan MoF staff is poised to support stronger implementation of GRB: UNIFEM and the Ministry are preparing a strategy to launch a francophone GRB institute in Morocco.

Example IV

Catalytic support for strengthening public sector employers’ response to the gender equality dimensions of the HIV/AIDS pandemic:  UNIFEM partnership with the Indian Railways – the third largest public sector employer in the world – to incorporate gender-responsive policies and practices on HIV/AIDS began during the last MYFF and continued into the current.  UNIFEM began by supporting 48 peer educators working in Vijayawada Division of the India Railways to demonstrate a viable policy and programme framework for the Railways system’s response to HIV/AIDS.

As a result of the programme: HIV/AIDS awareness training has been incorporated into the curriculum of the Railway school, which educates children of employees; a training module on Gender and HIV/AIDS has been incorporated in the programme of the technical training institutions of the South Central railway Zone; programmes are in place to reduce stigma and discrimination by offering employment to wives of men who have died of AIDS; and employees have increased access to anti-retroviral treatment through the railways health services. The project has provided a model for gender focused public sector HIV intervention, with prevention, care and support built in as a seamless package.  A communications strategy focusing on male responsibility and redefining masculinity in terms of caring and supporting roles in the household shifted the debate from ‘multiple partner or illegitimate sex’ to ‘safety in sexual relationships’.  

Replication / spin-off effects: The Railways System has replicated the programme in six additional divisions.  Partnerships have been strengthened with other UN agencies (ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNODC), civil society and the State AIDS Society in Andhra Pradesh.  With support from UNFPA in China, staff from the Chinese Railway System visited India to explore replication. A delegation from Nepal, comprising NGO representatives, women’s agencies and government officials from the national HIV Control Organization also visited the project, and subsequently took the initiative to begin gender sensitive HIV interventions in their programmes.  The peer counseling and training component of the project is being sustained with the support of the Railway Staff Benefit Fund.

Example V

Catalytic support for mainstreaming gender equality into MDGs with UNDP: The UNIFEM-executed UNDP project on Gender and the MDGs, which piloted innovative approaches to mainstreaming gender equality in MDG processes in Cambodia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, and Peru, was evaluated in 2006. Overall, the evaluation found that each pilot initiative offered useful approaches for engendering national MDG processes. The approach that the programme used in Cambodia, Morocco and Kyrgyzstan to support multi-stakeholder processes to generate locally-owned gender equality targets and indicators for the MDGs was identified as a useful model that can be replicated in other countries.

In Cambodia the experience built on an earlier partnership with UNDP, and the World Bank. It focused on MDGs 1 and 3 as a platform to bring visibility to the situation of women garment workers in the context of changing trade agreements and to influence the policy agenda of the Ministry of Labour to enhance social protection for women garment workers and integrate gender equality perspectives in the National Social Development Plan and the MDG Update Report. In Kyrgyzstan and Morocco, the multi-stakeholder process that UNIFEM and UNDP facilitated generated agreement on localized targets and indicators that reflected national priorities for tracking progress on gender equality, and brought together commitments to MDGs, the Beijing PFA and CEDAW. Kenya and Peru piloted two different innovative approaches to advocacy on gender and MDGs. Kenya launched poverty dialogues in poor rural districts, generating interest at local level and leading to the formulation of gender-responsive district level MDG action plans. The initiative in Peru enhanced the gender equality dimension of an existing UNDP MDG campaign and was notable in targeting two very specific constituencies: women’s groups and youth. The initiative was able to build support among leading women’s groups to use MDGs as a platform for advocating for women’s rights and gender equality. It produced a wide-range of media-products and launched a contest for university students to submit essays on the centrality of gender equality to the MDGs.

The evaluation of the pilots recommends i) expanded support to country-level work on harmonization of gender indicators, consistent with the aid effectiveness agenda and the move toward greater coherence in the United Nations; and to ii) further operationalize of the links between MDG monitoring, costing, and gender-responsive budgeting.

Upscaling / spin-off effects: A follow-up workshop will take place in 2007 to encourage UNCTs to replicate promising practices in mainstreaming gender equality commitments in the MDGs.

Example VI

Catalytic support to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan: The most prolonged and well-financed engagement during the MYFF period with a Ministry of Women’s Affairs has been in Afghanistan. UNIFEM has two outposted staff in MOWA and a multi-dimensional programme of support: to strengthen the Ministry’s overall institutional capacity (in collaboration with UNDP); to enhance women’s access to justice; and to demonstrate successful approaches to strengthen women’s economic empowerment.

A key area of emphasis in 2005 and 2006 was UNIFEM support to the Ministry to coordinate a national multi-stakeholder process – including involvement of 26 other Afghan ministries, national and international experts and civil society – in devising a National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA). UNIFEM focused its technical assistance on the Planning Department of MOWA, which took the lead in coordinating with other ministries. It also supported MOWA’s statistics unit to compile statistics from 52 major studies on Afghan women and develop situation analyses as the evidence base for building commitment to the NAPWA. UNIFEM is providing additional support to build MOWA’s statistical capacity, including through supporting development of the statistical handbook “Women and Men in Afghanistan”. The handbook will establish a common baseline of gender sensitive statistics that government and its partners can to promote women’s advancement and monitor changes in their lives. UNIFEM also supported MOWA to design a primary database on the extent and nature of violence against women. The database is being used by MOWA and its partners to collect data.

Upscaling / spin-off effects: Although Cabinet approval is pending, the NAPWA will be the main document to guide gender mainstreaming in the government. It has already stimulated pilot programming in two Ministries, with an expansion expected in 2007. MOWA is positioned to provide technical support and overall monitoring of implementation of the Plan. Advocacy by MOWA and other partners resulted in key provisions of the NAPWA being integrated into the Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS, the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy) and the Afghanistan Compact (which encompasses donor commitment to the country).

Example VII

Support to increasing participation and representation of women in elections in Liberia: In 2005 UNIFEM supported women’s equal participation in the political process through leadership capacity-building workshops, civic and voter’s education, mobilizing women to stand as candidates and as voters and capacity-building workshop for women candidates for the House of Legislature.  Consultations with political parties to ensure maximum support for women’s candidacy were also supported.

As a result of this support women constituted a majority of registered voters in the 2005 elections.  For the first time the level of women’s representation in the House of Legislature reached 14% (14 out of 94) and the first woman president in Africa was elected.  Further, women have been appointed to head five ministries (Finance, Gender and Development, Youth and Sports, Commerce and Trade, and Justice).  

In post election, UNIFEM continues to support Parliamentarian Women through technical support and encouragement to women in the Senate and the House of Representatives to work across party lines in support of gender equality issues.  The result has been the establishment of the Liberia Legislative Women’s Caucus with an Executive Committee membership drawn from the two Houses.  UNIFEM is providing infrastructure and capacity development support.

Example VIII

Catalytic support for gender equality in land reform in Kyrgyzstan: Women’s legal rights in the land reform process in Kyrgyzstan were strengthened through a programme that supported rural women to claim their right to land and other agricultural assets, resulting in changes to the livelihoods of close to 4,000 rural families.  Over 1,900 women received legal counsel on such issues as access to and use of land, resolving conflicts between land owners, registering legal documents, and business development in rural areas. Of the approximate 1,900 women supported by project lawyers, 826 women were able to successfully access land through the local government administration and the courts. A small grants scheme increased access to irrigation for 8,769 women; provided 421 women from poor families with preferential terms for grinding wheat; and supported 257 poor women to better access to their land through rehabilitating rural roads.  

Replication / potential to upscale: UNIFEM work on women and land rights in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has led to a follow-up joint effort with FAO on gender-responsive monitoring of land reform in Tajikistan in the framework of the United Nations Consolidated Appeal.

Example IX

Catalyzing action through convening and advocacy in South Asia: Since 1996, UNIFEM has been convening governments in South Asia bi-annually to jointly review their progress in implementing the Beijing PFA. The “Commemorating Beijing” process also provides an opportunity for NGOs, regional organizations and the UN system to participate, provide feedback and propose concrete actions that governments can take to speed up progress toward gender equality. As a forum for enhancing accountability and action, this sub-regional convening regularly generates concrete commitments to forwarding the gender equality agenda. At the 2005 convening the Delegates agreed to prioritize efforts and actions on a two-year plan on the following areas: VAW, Economic & political empowerment of women, Disaster preparedness and management and Health and Education.

The International Women’s Commission (IWC): In 2005, UNIFEM convened an inaugural meeting of the IWC, a tripartite body of prominent Palestinian, Israeli and international women leaders that seeks to bring women’s experiences to bear on efforts to restart peace negotiations in the region. The IWC increased its influence in 2006, providing briefings to prominent Government, European Union (EU) and Quartet representatives on mechanisms for breaking the deadlock, which influenced the dialogue within the quartet and contributed to the EU decision to set up a development assistance funding mechanism for the Palestinians. UNIFEM facilitated IWC meetings with EU Government representatives in Athens in June and with women Heads of State and Government as well as the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and key high level United Nations officials during the 61st session of the General Assembly in September 2006.

The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, spearheading United Nations system engagement with practical responses to VAW: In accordance with A/RES/50/166, since 1997 UNIFEM has coordinated the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. In its first six-years, the Trust Fund convened a global Programme Appraisal Committee (PAC) composed of United Nations organizations and outside experts on VAW to select from the proposals submitted to the Trust Fund. Based on an assessment of the Fund undertaken in 2002–2003, and PAC guidance, the Trust Fund revised its strategy in 2004 to incorporate two key changes: a) Because demand on the Trust Fund resources far outstripped supply – and because the 2002-2003 review showed that many laws and plans had been instituted at national level but with little evidence of implementation – the guidelines were revised to support initiatives focused on implementation in countries where laws and policies were in place and on special ‘windows’ for learning about specific manifestations of VAW; b) Because of the Trust Fund’s goal of stimulating greater action and involvement by United Nations organizations, the PAC process was devolved to the field, with UNIFEM convening nine regional PACs that together involved participation by 16 UN organizations. The devolution is intended to stimulate greater involvement of field-based colleagues in Trust Fund-supported initiatives.

The revised strategy, implemented for the past two years, has had some initial results. Trust Fund resources grew from about $1.5 million in 2004 to more than $6 million in 2006. With a more narrowly focused grant-making strategy, the Trust Fund is now honing its evaluation methodology to more systematically extract learning from the Trust Fund portfolio and be able to generate concrete evidence about what the most effective responses to end violence against women. The Secretary-General’s In-depth Study on Violence against Women recommends that states, donors and international organizations increase significantly the financial support for work on violence against women, including to the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

Example X

Catalytic support to address the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS focused on two UNIFEM initiatives: the Japanese Human Security Programme (HSP) “Enhancing Human Security through Gender Equality in the Context of HIV/AIDS” implemented in 10 countries across three regions and an African regional HIV/AIDS programme and with a total budget of US$5 million.

The evaluation identified key innovations that emerged from the programmes: 1) It affirmed that support to positive women’s groups, particularly in the form of capacity-building and leveraging their partnerships with other women’s networks and decision-makers, enhanced their visibility and impact as advocates in national and global fora and had positive effects on the lives of individual women. In Cambodia, for instance, the Positive Women’s Sector (PWS) now has a voice in the National AIDS Authority. 2) It highlighted the catalytic nature of the knowledge resources that UNIFEM produced. The evaluation noted, for instance, that the UNIFEM partnership with SAfAIDS and the Regional AIDS Training Network in Zimbabwe to develop training and manuals on Negotiating Safe Sex for Married Women “was considered by many (of those interviewed) as a groundbreaking achievement…” 3) It noted the effectiveness of UNIFEM work to bring a gender equality perspective to National AIDS Councils. In Nigeria, the evaluation affirmed that the UNIFEM strategy of supporting pilot initiatives at the state level to strengthen treatment and care policies to take the specific needs of women affected and infected with HIV into account fed into effective advocacy through the UNAIDS theme group to strengthen the gender equality content in the National Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS.

Finally, the evaluation noted that the UNIFEM piloting of “Gender Empowerment Zones (GEZs)” provided important insights into how focused, integrated, community-based approaches can contribute significantly to changes in HIV prevalence and the effects of HIV on women and their communities. The GEZs with the Indian Railways (see example IV) and in Zimbabwe were notable. In the Zimbabwean rural pilot programme undertaken with a number of United Nations partners, results included: transforming gender relations, with male volunteers increasing their involvement in providing home-based care for women and children; a woman, for the first time, chairing the Motoko AIDS Committee; increased demand for testing and counselling, indicating a reduction in stigma and discrimination in the communities.

The majority of UN partners in UNAIDS Theme Groups interviewed in five countries recognized UNIFEM strategic support in mainstreaming gender and human rights into the work of the Theme Group. They also referred to two key factors that limited UNIFEM efforts: lack of resources and limited presence in country.

The evaluation recommended that UNIFEM has a unique niche in this area, particularly in bringing together the gender and human rights framework; in stimulating a critical analysis of the inter-linkages between HIV/AIDS, violence against women, and poverty; in bringing the voices of women affected and infected by HIV/AIDS to policy arenas.

UNIFEM is incorporating these findings by: further focusing its support to Positive Women’s Networks; deepening its work on the linkages between HIV/AIDS and VAW through the creation of a funding window within the Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, on the intersection of HIV/AIDS and VAW; strengthening its partnerships with UNAIDS Theme Groups and with UNDP and UNFPA on the gender and human rights dimensions of HIV/AIDS.

Example XI

Catalytic partnership to support better responses to Gender-based Violence (GBV) in Rwanda: Since 2004, UNIFEM has executed a UNDP programme on Enhancing Protection from Gender Based Violence to support women’s networks to provide training to police and other actors in 14 districts in Rwanda on preventing and responding to domestic violence cases. Police Headquarters now has a free hotline and gender desk. Special police are being equipped with motorcycles to speed up response time. This has resulted in an increase in reported Gender-based Violence (GBV) cases. In 2006 UNDP scaled up the programme through the Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund for the third consecutive year. The police officers trained by the programme in Rwanda have been called by both UNICEF and UNFPA to share experiences at convenings in South Africa and Brussels respectively. The Rwanda UNCT has committed to support a follow-up joint programming initiative.

Example XII

Catalytic support to build technological literacy amongst poor women: In the Arab States, UNIFEM efforts to ensure that women benefit equally with men from Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) have been scaled up significantly. What began as a partnership, in 2001, with the Government of Jordan, CISCO systems, UNDP and USAID to bring a gender dimension to CISCO Networking Academies has now been taken to larger scale by the Government in Jordan and is being replicated in Morocco and Lebanon. In Jordan, UNIFEM is now executing an “E-village” initiative as a public-private partnership for the government and many private sector partners (Microsoft, Lego Robotics, and others). The initiative ensures that rural women benefit from the government’s support to ICT initiatives by bringing technology and training to semi-rural villages that are hoping to attract tourists. Plans are underway to extend the E-Village project in Jordan by partnering with UNESCO and WHO in implementing mini E-Villages throughout the country.

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