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Region:Asia Pacific Current UN Women Plan Period Afghanisthan:2018-2022
i-icon World Bank Income Classification:Low Income The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. For this purpose it uses gross national income (GNI) per capita data in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency using the World Bank Atlas method, which is applied to smooth exchange rate fluctuations. i-icon Least Developed Country:Yes Since 1971, the United Nations has recognized LDCs as a category of States that are deemed highly disadvantaged in their development process, for structural, historical and also geographical reasons. Three criteria are used: per capita income, human assets, and economic vulnerability. i-icon Gender Inequality Index:0.575 GII is a composite metric of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. A low GII value indicates low inequality between women and men, and vice-versa. i-icon Gender Development Index:0.723 GDI measures gender inequalities in achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: health, education, and command over economic resources.
i-icon Population:209,497,025 Source of population data: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects: The 2022 Revision Male:19,976,265 (9.5%) Female:189,520,760 (90.5%)
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Country
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OVERVIEWRESULTS & RESOURCESOUR PROGRESSSTRATEGIC PLAN CONTRIBUTIONS
progress

outcome XM-DAC-41146-RWA_D_3.1

Communities and other stakeholders are better able to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls and deliver essential services to victims

UN Women made strong progress in 2022 in the prevention and response to violence against women and girls by supporting communities and relevant stakeholder to efficiently deliver essential services to victims. As such, with UN Women support, more than 850,000 individuals from the community and mining sector improved their knowledge and awareness of GBV prevention and response including legal literacy, available GBV services, reporting mechanisms, prevention of harmful practices and promotion of positive masculinities as well as special protection to women and girls with disabilities. This was achieved using different mutually reinforcing mechanisms and approaches that included mobile clinics to increase the proximity of GBV services to the community, community outreach campaigns including the 16 days of activism, mass sports, Radio and TV Programmes as well as the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. In addition, UN Women in collaboration with Rwanda Bar Association convened '' a consultative policy dialogue on GBV Prevention and Response in Rwanda: From Policy to Practice'' which offered an opportunity to share experiences, good practices but also challenges and recommendations for decision making in relation to GBV prevention and response. The dialogue brought together different key stakeholders working in the area of gender equality, and prevention and response to GBV namely Government institutions such as the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, National Public Prosecution Authority, Rwanda Investigation Bureau, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Gender Monitoring Office, Rwanda Correctional Service, Rwanda National Police, UN Agencies, the Rwanda Bar Association and its members, CSOs and media practitioners among others. Consequently, the policy dialogue resulted in 21 recommendations that would ensure effective GBV prevention and response in Rwanda, and UN Women has committed to supporting their implementation and follow-up. In addition, 2818 GBV service providers have enhanced their capacity through UN Women's support in collaboration with Rwanda Investigation Bureau and different NGOs/CSOs namely Rwanda Women's Network, and Reseau des femmes which helped GBV victims to get effective support with dignity (victim-centered and human rights-based support). These service providers are composed of local community structures and local government leaders, youth volunteers, and local security organs. Moreover, thanks to the operationalization of 4 GBV shelters and Isange One stop centres safe rooms through UN Women support in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, 448 GBV victims (416 Females and 32 Males) benefited from the provision of safe accommodation, protection and comprehensive support including medical-legal and psychosocial support which helped them to restore their hope of life and esteem. Furthermore, community-based monitoring and reporting tools were developed by UN Women in collaboration with Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and Health Promotion to strengthen the capacity of institutions to respond effectively to GBV and HIV/AIDS-related issues with respect to leaving no one behind principle. In terms of building on the use of tools targeting female sex workers and adolescent girls and young women victims of GBV, 90 peer educators that include 50 Female Sex Workers and 40 Adolescent Girls and Young Women were skilled in screening, referrals, and monitoring the quality of services rendered to girls and women at the community level and by health center facilities.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-RWA_D_3.2

Attitudes and behaviours related to women's and girl's rights to enjoy spaces free from VAW improved

In 2022, UN Women made significant progress in improving attitudes and behaviors related to women's and girls’ rights to enjoy spaces free from VAW. To increase the safety for women and girls including women living with disability in public spaces, UN Women in collaboration with the Association of Women Living with Disabilities (UNABU) and Youth Association for Human Rights Promotion and Development (AJPRODHO) secured a commitment to protecting women and girls, especially women street vendors and those living with disabilities who are the most vulnerable and most of the time marginalized. The commitment was from 115 local security structures such as Police, District Administration Security Support Organ (DASSO), Community night patrol (IRONDO) as well as 30 men pioneers, and youth volunteers. This commitment resulted from capacity enhancement sessions which helped the local security organs to improve their skills and knowledge in the prevention of and response to sexual harassment and GBV in urban public spaces, especially for women and girls with disability including their special security needs and protection. In addition, community awareness of the prevention of and response to sexual harassment and GBV in public spaces including women's and girls’ rights was improved using men engage approaches and men’s pioneers/advocates. This resulted from awareness and capacity enhancement sessions for 30 men composed of husbands of women living with disabilities and fathers of girls with disabilities on GBV prevention and response. These men committed to becoming champions of gender and GBV and formed a group of advocates to cascade the knowledge and awareness acquired. Subsequently, through these champions, community engagements were organized with the aim of preventing and responding to GBV at the community level which helped to increase awareness and secured positive behaviors from 769 people (362 Men and 407 women) during 16 days of activism.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-RWA_O_1

Enhanced coordination, coherence and accountability of the UN system for commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment

Through its UN system coordination mandate and its chairpersonship of Gender Technical Reference (GTRG) and PSEA Group (GTRG/PSEA), UN Women continued to leverage on the coordination and accountability mechanisms to strengthen gender equality and women's empowerment within the UNCT under the delivering as one Principle. UN Women in collaboration with RCO enhanced the capacity of the GTRG/PSEA Group in gender scorecard as an accountability tool of the UNCT which led to the production, validation, and submission of the comprehensive SWAP Gender scorecard assessment and action plan in January 2022 and the UNCT gender scorecard report in December 2022. In 2022, UNCT SWAP gender scorecard report focused on 5 indicators where the UNCT had scored low (approaching minimum standards or missing). The 2022 assessment showed that, 4 out of the 5 indicators ‘’Approaches Minimum Requirements’’ and one ‘’Meets Minimum Requirements’’. The CO will continue to advocate for the UNCT-SWAP gender score card recommendations compliance. Furthermore, UN Women CO leveraged its UN coordination mandate and led the development of the CEDAW CONFIDENTIAL Report in collaboration with RCO and the GTRG/PSEA Group. This report submitted to the UN Inter-Agency working group in Geneva helped the Geneva team to identify key issues for the Government of Rwanda's consideration and comment before the official consideration of the report by the CEDAW Committee. UN Women also maintained its coordination role of the joint programme on gender bringing together 6 UN Agencies (UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, IOM, UNHCR), the National gender machinery institutions under the leadership of the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) and different other government and CSOs which provide a coordinated space for advocacy on gender equality and the empowerment of women in Rwanda.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-RWA_O_2

Increased engagement of partners in support of UN-Women’s mandate

Through pinnacle leadership and collaboration in achieving UN Women's GEWE priorities collectively, this year UN Women significantly explored further partnerships, engagement and advocacy with different Government of Rwanda institutions, partners, media, CSOs, etc. in support of GoR development priorities and awareness-raising of GEWE efforts in the country. Following the UN Women's baseline survey on unpaid care work published in 2022, ( https://bit.ly/3GEc1FI ) showed disproportionate time spent between women and men on unpaid care work. As a result, the Government of Rwanda is revising the family law which will soon value unpaid care work in divorce settlement cases making Rwanda one of the few countries in the world compensating spouses for unpaid care work in divorce settlements. Currently, the bill is at the ministerial level and will soon be tabled before cabinet https://bit.ly/3koUfi4 . In addition, UN Women supported government programmes including generation equality forum commitments, bridging the gender digital gap in STEM and innovation as well as the organization of the connected girls hub side event on the sidelines of YouthConnekt Africa Summit in partnership with Ministry of Youth and Culture and the Ministry of Gender, providing financial and technical support to Hanga Pitchfest, a startup pitching competition festival organized by the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, to showcase tech-entrepreneurs from all over the country and promote the use of technology and innovation in Rwanda. The government of Rwanda through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion recognized the work of UN Women over the years in providing platforms like the ‘Connekted Girls Hub’ to discuss persisting challenges that limit girls to join STEM careers, saying that the ‘Connekted Girls Hub’ is part of an intentional effort to create a space for stakeholder networking, reflection and learning beyond the overarching priority of STEM. (In this article link attached https://africa.unwomen.org/en/stories/news/2022/10/bridging-the-gender-digital-divide-in-africa-un-women-rwanda) . The coordination of the YouthConnekt summit strengthened UN Women Rwanda’s partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Culture, as a result, positioning UN Women as a key technical collaborator. The partnership among others will support a coherent and strengthened gender and youth mainstreaming in policies, initiatives, processes and partnerships. Furthermore, UN Women Rwanda strengthened its partnership with the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO), Private Sector Federation (PSF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support private sector companies to promote gender equality and accountability in their businesses. 19 out of 32 enrolled private companies and government agencies were recognized for instituting gender accountability mechanisms and promoting a gender-responsive work environment. Private sector companies committed to provide a solid framework and concrete tools to support private sector companies’ gender equality agenda in line with the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to promote gender equality. Additionally, UN Women has consistently increased its working relationship with leading national media outlets, as a result, the CO's work has been covered extensively including in the East African regional new paper on UN Women's work on GEWE during Common Wealth Heads of State meeting held in Rwanda https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/sponsored/chogm-leaders-key-in-promoting-gender-equality-3855444 , in the Newtimes on its COVID recovery support to women house headed households https://www.newtimes.co.rw/featured/new-un-women-programme-sets-out-restore-hope-among-women-most-affected-covid-19 and in the Kinyarwanda paper “Igihe” https://en.igihe.com/news/article/beneficiaries-supported-by-un-women-during-covid-19-cheerful and its work with Rwanda Extractive Industry Workers Union (REWU) in addressing gender-based violence in the mining and quarry sector https://rewu.org.rw/?p=868 , the launch of ECDs in Nyaruguru district to alleviate women's care burden and empower them to get involved in economic activities on Isango TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgJs0g8I1Lw ETC.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-RWA_O_3

High quality of programmes through knowledge, innovation, results-based management and evaluation

UN Women continued to endeavour to implement high quality of programmes. Through annual trainings in RBM and financial reporting for UN Women staff and all implementing and responsible partners has resulted in effective compliance with UN Women regulations. 100% of programme staff and 56 staff from 30 Implementing partners that the CO is working with have increased their skills in Result Based Management (RBM) which helped the CO and partners to produce plans, reports and human-interest stories which are evidence based and inform the entire programme cycle and decision making. In 2022, 100% of donor reports were submitted on time and maintained a high quality.
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The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
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