Outcome ECA_D_1.1

Duty bearers implement and finance evidence-based gender-responsive normative frameworks and policies, including in the context of crisis response and recovery.

The outcome was not fully achieved, however significant progress has been made in the implementation and financing of gender response normative frameworks and policies. Key legislative enhancements have been made by ECA countries/territories that have further institutionalized and ensured the sustainability of financing and implementation of governmental gender equality legislation and commitments at national and local levels. In the Western Balkans, governments have adopted two new national policies and laws in 2022 that directly regulate gender mainstreaming in the budgetary processes. In North Macedonia, the new Organic Budget Law includes gender budgeting as part of the budget planning process. The Law includes the definition of key terminology, such as the principle of gender equality, gender responsive budgeting, gender responsive budget statement, and gender indicators and an obligation to report on gender responsive indicators and achieved goals and results. In Kosovo, the government adopted a new Concept Document on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) which represents a critical step in the ongoing process of institutionalization of gender responsive budgeting. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the government initiated a participatory process to develop the next Gender Action Plan for the period beyond 2022, and at the local level, 65 local governments introduced policies and are implementing gender responsive budgeting. UN Women has provided critical technical support to governments in all countries and territories in the process of policy formulation. Four countries (Albania, Armenia, Serbia and Ukraine) from ECA region are among 19% of the countries that have systems in place to track investments in gender equality (according to data on the implementation of SDG 5c1 indicators received from 69 countries). UN Women provided direct technical support to the Governments of Serbia and Albania in achieving this result. North Macedonia and Kosovo significantly improved the gender responsiveness of their legal frameworks related to budget laws and budget preparation and BiH, Belarus, Georgia, Tajikistan and Moldova invested heavily in capacity building of public administration at the national and local level to integrate gender in the budgetary and policy process. In Albania, budgetary allocation for gender equality increased from 1% in 2015 (38.4 million USD) to 9% in 2023 (480.9 million USD), while Bosnia and Herzegovina reported an average of 4.54% of its annual budgetary allocations (of selected state and entity line ministries) in 2022. Governments of Armenia and Georgia strengthened their national capacity to design and collect gender related indicators on emerging issues such as measuring unpaid domestic and care work as a result of conducting the first-time use survey . This critical data will enable the country to fill in specific data gaps and start monitoring the progress towards achieving the target 5.4 of SDG 5. In Kazakhstan, the Government has been supported to design and collect data on VAW, one of the commitments undertaken within the framework of gender equality action coalition on gender-based violence. UN Women ECARO has provided methodological guidance and financial support to the National Statistical Office of these countries throughout the whole cycle of data collection and analysis, including strengthening the catalytic partnership and south-south cooperation across countries in the region. There are still remaining challenges that need to be addressed to advance further progress, including increasing political will towards enacting meaningful legal frameworks that promote gender equality in decision-making institutions and processes. UN Women ECARO advocated to member states to consider various forms of temporary special measures that have proved effective, including gender quotas for elected and appointed positions, and provided technical support to UNCTs on advancing TSMs and gender responsive legal frameworks. UN Women will continue to provide technical support to policy makers and experts in governments in the region to further strengthen their legislation and enhance capacity, knowledge and skills on how to implement the data and evidence-driven gender responsive policies and interventions Based on the progress made to date, the original strategy and theory of change for this outcome remain applicable . If, as expected the strategy is successful, more gender-responsive normative policies and frameworks will be in place including strengthened capacities to produce timely and high quality gender data in addition to institutionalized gender responsive budgeting across the region.

Duty bearers implement and finance evidence-based gender-responsive normative frameworks and policies, including in the context of crisis response and recovery.

I n 2024, duty bearers across the ECA region strengthened their implementation and financing of evidence-based gender-responsive normative frameworks and policies, including those addressing crisis response and recovery, through targeted support and capacity development facilitated by UN Women ECARO. Key achievements include: National and local governments in 89 percent of UN programme countries in the ECA region ( 16 out of 18 ) engaged in gender mainstreaming through gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) . Albania and Serbia remain regional leaders in integrating GRB into national and local public finance management (PFM) systems. Both countries are among the 19 percent of nations that track and publicly disclose allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment ( SDG target 5.c.1 ). Thanks to UN Women’s technical support, Western Balkan countries increased annual budget allocations for gender equality, averaging 7.3 percent (10 percent in Albania), registering 206 gender-focused public budget programs and over 1,000 gender performance indicators. Additionally, 108 local governments integrated GRB policies and took more than 180 initiatives in policy and budget planning. Other countries in the region (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Türkiye and Uzbekistan) continued developing policies to mainstream gender in PFM. B y 2024 ECA region’s commitment in implementing the W omen, Peace, and Security ( WPS ) agenda remains strong with 82 percent of member states/territories (46 total) in the UNECE region hav ing NAPs on WPS , representing 41 percent globally. Between 2023 and 2024, eight countries adopted their NAPs, including Albania in 2024 . Additionally, 5 countries ( Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan , and Ukraine ) began developing the next generation of their NAPs in 2024, with plans for adoption in 2025. Two countries ( Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia ) submitted their new NAPs to the government for review in late 2024. Azerbaijan is expected to adopt its first-ever NAP on WPS in 2025; the draft was developed by women-led organizations in cooperation with state entities in early 2024. With ECARO’s support, a detailed justification for the first Regional Action Plan on WPS for Central Asia was developed and submitted to the foreign ministries of five Central Asian countries, aiming for development in 2025. UN Women also facilitated opportunities for partners to exchange lessons learned on NAP development and implementation. In Ukraine, the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) and the 2024 Ukraine Situation Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) incorporated gender considerations, addressing the needs of groups in situation of vulnerability , including women, older people, and people with disabilities, especially in accessing healthcare and protection services. These plans complement and align international humanitarian responses with national strategies. UN Women focused on advocating for temporary special measures, including gender quotas for elected and appointed positions, and provided technical support to United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) to advance gender-responsive legal frameworks . A notable success was achieved in Uzbekistan, where a 40 percent gender quota for parliamentary elections was enacted, with rank and placement rules and a strict enforcement mechanism. The original approach and theory of change for this outcome remain relevant, but significant challenges persist, including: Insufficient political will and competing national priorities. Low analytical capacity among public officials. Gender values that are unsupportive of gender equality. Insufficient gender data for quality evidence-based policymaking. Gender backlash creating resistance to transformative actions. Weak monitoring mechanisms, ongoing conflicts, and fragmented collaboration between governments and civil society. To address these challenges, it is essential to continue using evidence to challenge gender stereotypes and implement and finance comprehensive policies across all levels of governance and society. This includes promoting inclusive decision-making, repealing discriminatory laws, and ensuring equal leadership and participation for all groups in policy and budgetary processes.

Duty bearers implement and finance evidence-based gender-responsive normative frameworks and policies, including in the context of crisis response and recovery.

The outcome was not fully achieved, duty bearers made significant progress implementing and financing evidence-based gender-responsive normative frameworks and policies. Albania and Serbia remain regional leaders in the integration of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) in national and local public finance management (PFM) systems, among 19% of countries with systems to track and make public allocations to gender equality and women’s empowerment (SDG target 5.c.1.). National and particularly local governments in the region increased their capacities to integrate GRB in mid-term budget frameworks. Supreme Audit institutions in the region, non-traditional stakeholders in gender equality, developed the first two sub-regional parallel gender audits after enhancing their capacities to do so through a regional exchange of knowledge facilitated by UN Women. By acknowledging and designing plans to respond to SAI audit reports, governments in the region strengthened their knowledge and skills to plan and monitor GRBs. Other countries in the region (Türkiye, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Tajikistan) continued to formulate policies to mainstream gender in the PFM. The Governments of Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kosovo enhanced their capabilities to plan and generate gender data on emerging issues, including unpaid domestic/care work and violence against women. The newly acquired gender data positions Armenia to report on the progress towards achieving SDG target 5.4, and Kazakhstan and Georgia are now among the few countries in the region that completed two rounds of VAW prevalence surveys since the adoption of Agenda 2030, providing more than one data point to monitor the progress on SDG target 5.2. UN Women ECARO provided methodological guidance and financial assistance to the National Statistical Offices of these countries, which resulted in the development of in-house gender data collection capacity. While 15 out of 18 UN Programme countries/territory in ECA region had National Action Plans on WPS by the end 2023, some partners joined WPS international platforms in 2023, namely 1) the Kazakhstan Government and Women Information Center in Georgia (NGO) made commitments and signed the Compact on WPS-HA in June 2023; and 2) seven countries, as members of WPS National Focal Points Network, contributed to consultations on the role of WPS National FPs, WPS Center of excellence, etc. Ten CSO partners shared their perspectives regarding inclusive implementation of WPS commitments by attending the Network’s meetings with UN Women technical and advisory support. Additionally, the Central Asian Women Leaders Caucus (CAWLC) decided to develop its first regional action plan (RAP) on WPS (roadmap forthcoming in 2024).UN Women ECARO reviewed NAPs for Central Asian countries to identify common challenges to translating WPS international commitments into national actions and provided a ground for discussions key priorities to be jointly addressed by the RAP. UN Women shared knowledge on mechanisms and tools for WPS localization and engaging with the civil society organizations to address gender and human security. CAWLC members agreed to conduct an annual Central Asian Forum to monitor the progress in the implementation of the WPS Agenda with the involvement of all stakeholders. Also, women-led organizations, women human rights defenders, and WPS experts from Central Asia and South Caucus agreed on a vision and objectives for a multi partners WPS platform. UN Women held the WPS annual expert gathering in Almaty, facilitated the discussions, and provided access to best practices on women’s participation in peace processes. Given these results, the original strategy and theory of change for this outcome remain applicable. Despite this progress, significant challenges remain, such as lack of technical capacities of the government to conduct gender analysis as well as low human and technical capacities of the local level government to implement gender-budgeting. Additionally, increased political will is needed for enacting meaningful legal frameworks that promote gender equality in decision-making institutions and processes. UN Women ECARO advocated to member states to consider various forms of temporary special measures that have proved effective, including gender quotas for elected and appointed positions, and provided technical support to UNCTs in advancing temporary special measures and gender responsive legal frameworks.