Planned Budget (Total)
Other resources (non-core)
Country Indexes
outcome XM-DAC-41146-AFG_O_2
ACO continues to sustain, generate and diversify strategic partnerships and resources to advance gender equality and women’s rights in Afghanistan
During 2023, ACO continued to sustain, generate and diversify strategic partnerships and resources to advance gender equality and women’s rights in Afghanistan. A Resource Mobilization and partnerships strategy was developed by June 2023 in light of the recent bans of December 2022 and April 2023. The revised approach to partnership engagement and resource mobilization was reflected and integrated in the newly developed Strategic Note for the office (2023 to 2025) and was informed by the UN system wide Joint Strategic Framework endorsed in July 2023. Given the operational context, ACO regularly engaged with its donors and partners – both new and potential donors. These are twin tracked engagements-political/context updates and UN Women programme pivoting. Collective engagement with a broad range of existing and prospective donors was ensured through the convening of the monthly “Gender & Human Rights Strategic and Thematic Working Group/STWG”, which is the United Nations key coordination platform for gender programming in Afghanistan. In addition, the first in person retreat was organized on 21-22 September in Istanbul for the group. The retreat outcomes (documentations attached here : ) included: Discussing the state of play on the situation in Afghanistan with a focus on Gender and Human Rights. Developing a renewed vision for the group: who we are / what is our vision – a) what is the expected role from the group; b) how it can better inform and influence the ACG; c) finalizing CSO membership. Identifying coordination and cross learning opportunities between the different STWGs. Preparing messages to inform the ACG on gender and Women rights issues. Additional resources were secured for the office during 2023 in support of the newly endorsed Strategic Note for the Afghanistan Country Office (2023-2025). The following agreements were signed: Iceland: USD 380,000 (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (2023-2024). Spain: Euro 250 K ($264,845)- (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (2023-2025). Norway: NOK 70,000,000 –($6,600,188)- (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (2023-2025) Finland Euro 2,100,000 – ($2,297,253) - (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (2023-2024) Sweden: SEK 40,000,000 – ($3,900,712) - (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (2023-2025) Austria: Euro 120 K - (131,272)- (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (2023-2024) Austria development Agency Euro 1 M – ($1,059,380) - (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (2023-2024) Additional funds from Denmark: DKK 2,740,000 ($402,248) - (Against the Strategic Note) – Duration: (Jan – March 2024) Total funding received in support of the Strategic Note 2023-2025: $15,021,053
outcome XM-DAC-41146-AFG_O_3
ACO’s reputation and operational approach is recognized as able to deliver impact at scale
UN Women has implemented Programmes/Projects at large scale , to support individual women and girls in a highly complex socio-political, economic, and humanitarian context, with total funding of 39 million US$ 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.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-AFG_O_4
ACO nurtures an empowered workforce and advances an inclusive UN Women culture capable of delivering together in as a cohesive team able to adapt to the new and emerging operating context
ACO has nurtured an inclusive workplace where both international and national staff, regardless of gender or position, feel safe, respected and welcomed. In specific terms, UN Women continued to provide capacity building opportunities domestically and internationally, knowledge exchange through different platforms - in person and online for staff and partners to be able to support UN Women deliver on its mandate on gender equality and empowerment of women in Afghanistan. Given the increased number of new staff in the office, UN Women ACO conducted "Staff Retreat" for the first time in four years in December 2023 that provided space for staff to connect, reflect, and plan for the organization’s future, to strengthen understanding of UN Women's programming and operational principles and guidelines including to adapt to the new and emerging operating context. More importantly, psychosocial counselling and stress management services for staff have been provided on bi-weekly basis. The ban on national women staff working at the office has undoubtedly had a significant impact on their well-being. It has restricted their opportunities for professional growth, collaboration, and engagement with their colleagues. Furthermore, not being present at the office has limited their ability to actively participate in activities that require their presence, further impeding their professional development. In response to these challenges, the management at ACO has taken several steps to mitigate the adverse effects of the ban. Firstly, ACO have ensured that weekly meetings are conducted with thenational female staff. These meetings serve as a platform for open communication, feedback, and addressing any concerns they may have. It allows them to stay connected with the organization and maintain a sense of belonging, and to ensure immediate actions are taken to address any challenges they might face during working from home. Additionally, recognizing the impact on mental and emotional well-being, ACO has partnered with a reputable psychosocial support company (CIC) as well as taken advantage of the Rome Institute agreement. This collaboration allows the office to provide counselling services to its female staff, ensuring they have access to professional support when needed. ACO prioritize its staff mental health and strive to create a supportive environment for all our employees. Furthermore, ACO provided colleagues with necessary tools to enable them to work effectively from home taking into consideration the usual poor connectivity and cut off electricity. While these measures may not completely eliminate the challenges caused by the ban, ACO is committed to continuously exploring additional avenues to support our national female staff. Their contributions and well-being are of utmost importance , and the office is actively working towards finding sustainable solutions.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-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
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.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-ALB_D_1.1
By 2026, government institutions ensure increased and more equitable investment in people to remove barriers and create opportunities for those at risk of exclusion (UNSDCF Outcome A).
Progress was made in 2023 to achieve this outcome. Albanian women and girls have improved access to social and community services as a result of efforts at the central and local level. UN Women worked closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, targeted Local Government Units, the faculty of Social Work and CSOs to develop strategies, increase capacities of local officials, costing social services, actively engaging women especially the most vulnerable ones, in voicing their needs and priorities, and preparing a new generation of social workers who are sensitive and value gender equality and diversity. Key contributions of UN Women and other stakeholders to achieve this outcome include: Five Local government institutions address and respond to the needs and concerns of the most marginalized women and girls. This was achieved thanks to budgeting and planning processes that increasingly consider the unique needs of women and girls. Local government units and civil society organizations, including at the grassroot levels enhanced their capacities to achieve these results, through UN Women’s continuous trainings and support. Through these efforts, over 700 women and girls from five municipalities, including from remote areas and diverse groups of women in Vau i Dejes Fushe Arrez, Dropull, Delvine and Gjirokaster, raised key issues during participatory budgeting sessions facilitated by partner CSOs. 60% of issues raised by women were effectively addressed and incorporated into local budgets. Another added value and key contribution of UN Women was costing services, further enhancing the efficacy of the initiative. Local Government Units accessed recommendations to enhance women’s participation and access to social services, and are being held more accountable, through five CSO budget Watchdog Reports “All-inclusive social services for women and girls”. UN Women leveraged its strategic collaboration with the PRISMA network, the leading participatory budgeting network comprised of 50 grassroots organizations to produce the reports. In addition to preparing the reports, the Network proposed concrete suggestions for improving key pieces of legislation affecting women's access to social services, such as the social services and public procurement legal framework. UN Women played a pivotal role in achieving these results by offering financial support, training, capacity building, and technical expertise to the PRISMA Network. UN Women also supported knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices from the region through dedicated study visits. The final draft of the Social Protection Strategy (2023-2030) is gender responsive and makes a clear commitment to gender equality aligning with international and national gender equality standards . The strategy identifies and addresses gender disparities, intersectional discrimination and specific vulnerabilities faced by women, which are carefully reflected into its overarching vision, outcomes, and action plan. The collaborative efforts between UN Women, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and UNICEF played a pivotal role throughout the entire process of drafting the strategy and yielded the integration of gender considerations and budgetary allocations into the strategy. Students are equipped to deliver inclusive services that value and uphold the values of gender equality and diversity, with the support of the Department of Social Work and Policy at the University of Tirana . Through targeted initiatives, 42 master’s program students affiliated with the department are well equipped to navigate and contribute to social welfare through inclusive lens. This was the result of a well-structured workplan developed jointly by the department of Social Work and Policy and UN Women. Technical support was delivered through organization of bootcamps, joint workshops, open auditorium sessions with students and targeting diversity through social inclusion Overall, the lessons learned underscore the critical importance of institutional ownership in achieving results and, most importantly, sustainability. This highlights a profound systemic inclusion of GRB by municipalities, demonstrating their commitment and determination to address the diverse needs of vulnerable women. Additionally, collaboration with networks of organizations proves crucial in having a diverse range of expertise and fostering effective collaboration. The theory of change for this outcome remains valid, based on the progress achieved. UN Women forged synergies among various Country Office programs to establish a systematic approach that fosters the inclusion of marginalized women across diverse thematic areas. The participation of UN Women in UN Joint Programme such as the Leave No One Behind uniquely positioned the CO to achieve these results. This approach will lead to tangible benefits for more women at risk of exclusion and will ensure their increased access to social protection services. The outcome was generously supported thanks to the contribution of SDC through the Multi-Partner Trust Fund.Showing 6 - 10 of 10