Outcome AFG_O_5

ACO effectively plans for and delivers on UN Women’s GEWE mandate through efficient and coordinated programmatic and strategic planning, and monitoring, evaluation and reporting of results

The whole year of 2024 also marked continued political shift in Afghanistan with increasingly bans and shrinking space for women and women led organizations. The situation has been closely monitored, tracked and documented across programmes and supported informing programming across different thematic areas. On the monitoring, evaluation and reporting fronts , a detailed action plan was developed and implemented. This resulted to 100% of all reports, including donor, Internal UN Women RMS and One UN reports for Afghanistan finalized and timely submitted in year 2024; Improved tracking and validation of programme and project results and overall improved office compliance on donor reporting, internal UN Women reporting and timely evaluations as per UN Women corporate recommendations including policies, guidelines and procedures on planning, monitoring and reporting. On the programme management fronts, the ACO strengthened its adherence to UN Women’s Policy, Procedure, and Guidance frameworks, resulting in enhanced programme management capacity across the team through close collaboration with HQ PMSU and the Regional Office. Training sessions led by Headquarters, the Regional Office, and the Country Office were instrumental in increasing ACO personnel's proficiency with UN Women Systems, Policies, and Procedures. Additionally, targeted, case-specific support was provided to programme units, enabling smoother navigation of programming guidelines. In the second half of 2024, the ACO was also actively involved in discussions around the fast-tracking procedure for programming actions. By collaborating with the Regional Office and HQ, the ACO successfully explored practical applications of this procedure in the context of protracted and humanitarian crises, laying the groundwork for more agile responses in challenging environments. The ACO will continue to explore operational modalities to maintain effectiveness in an increasingly restrictive operating context. As programming activities and partnerships become more localized, ongoing coordination between the thematic work of Sub-Offices and the Country Office in Kabul has ensured alignment, increasing the overall impact of ACO initiatives. In December 2024, the ACO successfully finalized its 2025 Annual Workplan, with the approval of the plan in RMS, ensuring a solid foundation for the year ahead.

ACO effectively plans for and delivers on UN Women’s GEWE mandate through efficient and coordinated programmatic and strategic planning, and monitoring, evaluation and reporting of results

Throughout 2023, the UN Women ACO successfully strengthened its programming, monitoring, and reporting capacity, and set-up tools and systems to enable an effective delivery on UN Women’s GEWE mandate under the Strategic Note 2023 – 2025. With the finalization of the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan 2023 – 2025 in June 2023, and the subsequent approval of the UN Women ACO Strategic Note in November 2023, key planning frameworks were put in place in 2023 to support UN Women’s work in Afghanistan. The inclusive process adopted for the development of the UN Women Country Office Strategic Note thereby ensured broad stakeholder support for the implementation of the framework now in place, including from other UN entities and the donor community. In 2023, in parallel to leading these overarching strategic planning processes, the UN Women ACO – with support from the Regional Office and Headquarters – furthermore successfully concluded a programme pivoting exercise to adapt its programming to challenging contextual developments. Key among these were the de facto authorities’ December 2022 ban on Afghan women working in I/NGOs, and its subsequent extension to Afghan women working in the UN in April 2023. Both bans had a major impact on UN Women’s programming “for women, by women”. Requiring unprecedented thinking on what principled programming entails amidst such an onslaught on women’s right, these bans prompted a re-shaping of UN Women’s programming, as well as comprehensive UN Women engagement in One UN processes on gender-responsive programming in Afghanistan. Capturing measures such as enhanced localization of programming approaches, strengthened stakeholder engagement through UN Women Sub-Offices at the provincial levels, and an on-going commitment to work with and for women’s rights and women-led organizations, UN Women’s programming pivoting approaches were presented to and approved by respective donors in 2023, enabling the UN Women ACO to re-launch/pursue programme delivery. Programming delays encountered due to contextual developments in 2023 were thereby openly discussed with donors. Programme planning was also accompanied by planning for the effective monitoring of results in a restrictive operating environment, including through the strategic recruitment of Third-Party Monitoring Service Providers. A UN Women internal risk-assessment, concluded in November 2023, supported the ACO’s planning for enhanced monitoring and evaluation capacity in 2024. Throughout 2023, the UN Women ACO continued to engage with the Regional Office and Headquarters on the effective application of UN Women policies, guidance and procedures for delivery in a humanitarian crisis setting. The successful activation of the fast-tracking for programming actions procedure for Afghanistan thereby enabled a more effective selection of programme partners, as well as a faster approval of humanitarian response project documents – supporting the implementation of UN Women’s GEWE mandate in Afghanistan overall. Finally, in a context where personnel numbers have significantly expanded, and with many personnel new to the UN system in general and to UN Women specifically, the UN Women ACO - with support from the Regional Office - continued its investment in staff capacity on UN Women programming and operations processes, policies, and systems. This included the successful conclusion of in-house capacity development sessions, and the negotiation of enhanced ACO staff attendance in Regional Office trainings. In an environment where he fraught country context is a continued trigger of trauma and stress for staff, particularly for national women staff, continued investment in staff capacity and welfare will remain key for the UN Women ACO to effectively deliver on UN Women’s GEWE mandate in Afghanistan.