Outcome BGD_O_1

UN-Women is an accountable and trustworthy development organization that manages its financial and other resources with integrity and in line with its programmatic ambitions and fiduciary obligations

Significant progress has been made on this output to further solidify UN Women’s position as an accountable and trustworthy development organization. Personnel’s capacity to assure compliance with policies and procedures and maintain the highest standards in terms of audit and accountability has been enhanced through the introduction of weekly operations clinic meetings. Satisfactory audits undertaken in 2022 (UN Board of Audit (UN BoA) and partner’s audit) are evidence of the office’s robust processes. The Country Office received only two recommendations from UN BoA, which have since been addressed, and the partner audits received unmodified audit opinions. UN Women’s position as an accountable and trustworthy development partner was also reinforced with key donors, specifically the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), through a satisfactory risk management review. Regarding programmatic ambitions, UN Women successfully achieved its programmatic goals, reaching over 90 per cent delivery at year-end (as of 11 January 2023). New processes were implemented to enable this achievement, such as weekly delivery and utilization status reports and programme meetings, which have further streamlined delivery oversight. The Country Office remains compliant with the Country Office Assessment Tool on the core-to-noncore ratio, management ratio, and operational commitment control (KK) ratio, with only one shortfall in revenue generation, which continues to be a challenge, as reflected in the Risk Register, especially in light of the current context of global conflicts and looming recession. The Country Office continues to maintain good security management, as part of the organization’s corporate business processes. This is evident in the 94 per cent Information Security Training completion rate, full compliance status with ICT standards (see uploaded OneApp screenshot), and 98 per cent compliance with safety and security requirements (the compliance checklist is available on the global SharePoint under the security tab). Leveraging its coordination mandate, UN Women, through the Operations Management Team and Gender Equality Theme Group, enhanced the prioritization of the leave no one behind principle in procurement, through the implementation of gender-responsive procurement, as per the Business Operations Strategy implementation plan. The inter-agency initiative has resulted in the orientation of 150 women-owned or women-led enterprises as potential vendors. Following this, the initiative resulted in 240 new women-owned businesses entering in the UN Global Marketplace (UNGM). Follow-up actions under this initiative will continue in 2023.

UN-Women is an accountable and trustworthy development organization that manages its financial and other resources with integrity and in line with its programmatic ambitions and fiduciary obligations

UN Women has made significant progress on this output to demonstrate its position as an accountable and trustworthy partner to advance the gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) agenda in Bangladesh. Despite a year marked by civil unrest that led to a historical political transition, the Bangladesh Country Office (BCO) upheld its position as an accountable and reliable partner and demonstrated its commitment to quality results, with an anticipated programme delivery rate of 80 per cent. The projected final expenditure is USD 5.7 million against an annual budget of USD 7.1 million. Diligent monitoring of fund utilization and reporting by programme partners enabled the identification of gaps and challenges, particularly given the sociopolitical crisis faced mid-year. Furthermore, the office’s commitment to sound financial and operational management was validated by an internal audit by the Independent Evaluation and Audit Services (IEAS) of UN Women and an external quality assurance review by the Government of Sweden. The former resulted in a ‘satisfactory’ rating; the office implemented all recommendations by the auditors by December. The latter has resulted in mobilizing Strategic Note Direct Funding (SNDF) for the Bangladesh Country Office for the very first time totalling USD 7.1 million from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). In total, the office generated USD 14.5 million in revenue, a significant achievement for the office during its current Strategic Note 2022 – 2026 period. Rigorous assessment of risks and relevant mitigation measures strengthened the office’s focus on business continuity and operational excellence. Personnel and partners strengthened their knowledge on key issues such as fraud risk, occupational health and safety, and partner management processes. The office’s strong partner management was reflected in the partner audit reports, with a total of 11 partner agreements (PAs) audited that all received ‘unmodified’ reports. Commitment to communicating high-quality results was also demonstrated as 96 per cent of donor reports were submitted on time. UN Women’s active engagement through its convening and coordination role within the UN system in Bangladesh was further strengthened by its continued work with the Operations Management Team and other inter-agency mechanisms, on key issues including Gender Responsive Procurement and gender parity within the UN system, with a vision to advance UN 2.0 linked to organizational culture change. Further efficiency will be enabled as the office transitions to the common premises (UN House) in 2025, with reduced costs and use of common resources, which was delayed in 2024 due to the civil unrest. The office continued to demonstrate organizational accountability with regular updates and outreach to Office of Oversight Services (OIOS) or Ethics Advisor, as required. As a year of change came to a close, BCO took the lessons learnt from the experiences during the civil unrest and to review/bolster its business processes and procedures with a focus on staff safety, whilst ensuring business continuity. The organization’s ability to be flexible and nimble, whilst keeping care and wellbeing of both personnel and partners at the forefront, will enable BCO to take on the challenges in the coming year.

UN-Women is an accountable and trustworthy development organization that manages its financial and other resources with integrity and in line with its programmatic ambitions and fiduciary obligations

UN Women has made significant progress on this output to demonstrate its position as an accountable and trustworthy partner to advance the gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) agenda in Bangladesh. In 2023, Country Office’s ability to deliver results effectively has been enhanced by the global rollout of the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Quantum, which has enabled greater streamlining of processes as well as deepening leadership and accountability of programmes. Personnel’s skills and knowledge on the new system was enhanced through extensive in-person training, learning-on-the-go as well as peer-to-peer exchange. The Country Office’s coherence as a team was demonstrated through this open exchange to deliver results effectively, despite challenges posed by such a tremendous change that has affected UN Women globally. UN Women’s commitment to quality results and delivery as a reliable partner was demonstrated through its anticipated final programme delivery rate at 85 per cent, which is in line with corporate targets, despite the significant learning curve posed by Quantum. Its commitment to communicating quality results was further demonstrated by its graduation to Tier 1 country for donor reporting, achieved earlier than expected in the Strategic Note lifecycle. UN Women’s active engagement through its convening and coordination role within the UN system in Bangladesh was further strengthened by its continued work with the Operations Management Team and other inter-agency mechanisms, on key issues including gender responsive procurement. After a year of significant change, the Country Office realized that change management is not linear, and progress in improving internal capacities and processes require consistent office-wide effort and teamwork. A workforce with strengthened capacities, reinforced by a nimble and flexible management, will enable the Country Office to take forth challenges in the coming year.