Outcome AFG_O_3

ACO’s reputation and operational approach is recognized as able to deliver impact at scale

Throughout 2024, ACO field presence through its five sub offices in Bamyan, Herat, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Balkh remained a crucial enabler in ensuring the impact and robustness of our programmes. The Taliban’s approach to governance is largely decentralized, meaning that provincial authorities have considerable power in how they implement edicts and decrees. For this reason, there are often opportunities to leverage existing exemptions or negotiate new entry points for programming that can reach women and girls at local level. While these agreements are informal and fragile, with variations across sectors and provinces, they have also yielded openings that would not have been otherwise possible. Working in a “grey zone” where relationships at the local level are critical requires presence. As a result, UN Women has strengthened its field presence across 5 regions, increasing staffing capacity across programme, operations and security portfolios. Sub office Operational capacity strengthening efforts were also made, equipping them for effective delivery. Operations teams had intensive hands-on couching/training sessions in sub offices, notably on budget, Procurement and IT.

ACO’s reputation and operational approach is recognized as able to deliver impact at scale

UN Women has implemented Programmes/Projects at large scale , to support individual women and girls in a highly complex socio-political, economic, and humanitarian context, with total funding of 39 million US$ in 2023, with each partner agreement averaging $400,000. These Programmes/Projects materialize UN Women’s firm commitment to “stay and deliver” for individual women and girls including women CSOs working in challenging environments. ACO has been recognized the largest office of UN Women with more than 100 staff nationwide that brough innovative and creative approaches such as on boarding third parties to support on monitoring and reporting, building capacity of CSO partners in particular financial management and operations, to engage with Money Service Provider (MSPs) for payments to women beneficiaries in humanitarian and women entrepreneurs as standby service providers/suppliers. More importantly, despite the closure of women’s CSOs, ACO was able to pivot its programme agreements to procurement contracts in order to continue its engagement with women’s CSOs.