outcome XM-DAC-41146-APA_O_5

UN-Women efficiently and effectively discharges of all business processes that advance integrated delivery of its mandate at HQ, Regional and Country levels, including through shared services.

In 2023, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (ROAP) achieved substantial progress, significantly contributing to the efficient and effective advancement of UN Women’s integrated delivery of its mandate at the regional level. This progress is attributed to the diverse works of various units. Strategic Partnerships and Communications: Through the External Relations Unit, advanced progress was recognized in the integrated delivery of UN Women's mandate at the regional level stemming from the enhanced capacity of Country Offices, Programme Presences, and programmatic units within the Regional Office. This improvement is a result of providing strategic advice and offering technical support, particular in the areas of communication, advocacy, and RM/partnership. Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) and Migration: The WEE Unit designed the results frameworks for different programmes within its portfolio,aligning withthe Strategic Note (SN) Outcomes and Outputs.These frameworks, funded directly through SN, address WEE priorities, including Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), care(Gender Inclusive Care Economy Programme), and entrepreneurship (e.g., 2024 climate tech accelerator program,funded by MOGEF). Despite the end of the WeEmpowerAsia donor programme in 2019, internal and external capacities developed in Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and private sector engagement allowed the WEE team to persist amid funding gaps from August 2022 to 2024 and continued prioritisation of this area even without a full programme, sustaining relationships and interest built through WEA with donors. The WEE through advancing private sector engagement evaluation recommendations provided further guidance in shifting the focus from WEPs commitments to programming for deepened implementation and also encouraged a broader focus from SME development in the WEE portfolio towards informal sector, care work and migration and micro entrepreneurship, that captures the full scope of efforts to advance WEE in the Asia Pacific region. WEE missions supporting various country offices (as detailed in Output OEEF 5.7) informed priority areas and developed a coherent approach to labor migration. The gender mainstreaming by UN Women in the area of labour migration extended to intergovernmental mechanisms such as ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) and the Colombo Process and its thematic area working groups. Additionally, through the first-ever multi-agency programme “Governance of Labour Migration in South and South-East Asia (GOALS)”, a Joint UN Regional Programme implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organization (ILO), and UN Women, supported by the Swiss Agency for Develo pment and Cooperation (SDC), UN Women provided valuable technical inputs and recommendations on gender mainstreaming in improving policies and practices in the areas of ethical and fair recruitment, skills development and recognition, and sustainable reintegration. These efforts also increased gender data towards evidence-based and gender-responsive policy development. Results from the programme will be used to inform future WEE programming with a view to standardize this approach while tailoring it to different sectors and issue areas. Governance, Peace, and Security and Access to Justice: “A Regional Framework Towards Peaceful and Inclusive Societies: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Inclusive Governance in the Asia-Pacific Region (2023-2027)” – known as “The GPS regional Framework” – significantly contributed to programme’s effectiveness and resource mobilization of countries (including Sri Lanka, Philippines, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Papua New Guinee, Pakistan, Nepal, Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Kiribati, Fiji, Samoa, and North Korea through support to Special Rapporteur). The thematic priorities based on knowledge, expertise and evidence-based programming, included National Action Plans on Women Peace and Security (WPS), promoting women in law enforcement and preventing trafficking in border locations, preventing violent extremism, cybersecurity and emerging technologies, climate and peace and security, natural resource management and disaster preparedness. The capacity building, peer learning and other initiatives were undertaken to support the program development and/or implementation and/or resource mobilization capacities of Country Presences. Additionally, knowledge products were developed to support Country Presences’ efforts. Notably, ROAP mobilized 7.2 million USD for direct implementation by a country presence or mobilized by a country presence with technical support of ROAP. Humanitarian: The Resilience Unit developed a tracking document to meticulously record all the support provided to country offices, HQ, and ROAP. In a continued effort to enhance this system, the team was developing a form specifically designed to monitor each instance of support provided throughout 2024. HIV: ROAP provided technical support to COs, ensuring the timely implementation of activities and utilization of resources. Despite the challenges arising from the roll-out of Quantum and delay in fund transfers, the average delivery rate exceeded 80%. Strategic Planning and Coordination (SPC): The SPC Unit contributed to the inclusive and integrated delivery of ROAP's mandate. The planning process has been further simplified at the corporate level, and the SPC team provided necessary support to translate the procedure at the APRO and CO levels. The process for developing Strategic Notes (SN) has been simplified. The SPC team piloted the new SN guidance in two countries (Myanmar and Papua New Guinea) during the reporting year. Evaluation: The Evaluation Unit improved efficiency through an establishment of retainer contracts for engaging evaluators. Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW): The EVAW Unit contributed to the improvement of business process by providing observations and points of feedback regarding gaps and challenges associated with Quantum. Monitoring and Reporting: Monitoring and Reporting Unit periodically reviewed its business processes and made adjustments to be more efficient and effective as well as placed “clients” at the center of its services, and leveraged AP RBM COP (co-organized with two other units) to conduct capacity building and knowledge exchange.