APPRAISAL REPORT

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT PROJECT TO THE WOMEN’S AFFAIRS OFFICE

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Basic Data Sheet, Currency and Measures List of Tables, List of Annexes, Abbreviations, Project Matrix, Executive Summary (iii – x) 1. ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE PROJECT 1 2. THE GENDER MAINSTREAMING STRUCTURE AND

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 2 2.1. Poverty Profile 2 2.2. Women and gender development in Ethiopia 3 2.3. The National Policy on Women and Institutional Framework 6 2.4. The Ethiopian Women’s Development Fund 8 2.5. Women’s Affairs Department at MOFED 8 2.6. Gender Mainstreaming Gap Addressed by the Proposed Project 9 2.7. Institutional constraints 9 2.8. Training Service Providers in Gender and Women’s Development 11 2.9. Donor Interventions in the Country 11 2.10. Lessons Learned 12 3. THE PROJECT 12 3.1. Project Concept and Rationale 12 3.2. Project area and beneficiaries 14 3.3. Strategic Context 15 3.4. Project Objective 16 3.5. Detailed Description of Project Components and Outputs 16 3.6. Project Costs 19 3.7. Sources of Financing and Expenditure Schedule 20 4. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 21 4.1. Executing Agency 21 4.2. Organisation and Management 21 4.3. Supervision and Implementation Schedule 22 4.4. Procurement Arrangements 23

4.5. Disbursement Arrangements 25 4.6. Monitoring and Evaluation 25 4.7. Financial Reporting and Auditing 26 4.8. Aid Coordination 26 5. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY AND RISKS 26

5.1. Recurrent Costs. 26 5.2. Project Sustainability 27 5.3. Risks 27 5.4. Justification 28 5.5. Social impact 28

6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 29 6.1. Conclusions 29 6.2. Recommendations 29 __________________________________________________________________________ This report was prepared by Ms. S. Pitamber, Senior Gender Specialist (Mission Leader), and Mr. J. Coompson, Senior Agriculture Economist, following their mission to Ethiopia in January 2004. Further information on this report can be obtained from Mr. B. B. Sidibe, Director, ONAR. ___________________________________________________________________________

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AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FUND B.P. 323 – 1002 Tunis Belvedere, TUNISIE

TEL: (216 71) 10 2037 Fax No. (216 71) 334 335

PROJECT INFORMATION SHEET

The information given hereunder is intended to provide guidance to prospective suppliers, contractors

and all persons interested in the procurement of goods and services for projects approved by the Board of Directors of the Bank Group. More detailed information and guidelines should be obtained from the Executing Agency of the Recipient. 1. COUNTRY The Federal Republic of Ethiopia 2. NAME OF PROJECT Institutional Support Project to the Women’s Affairs Office 3. LOCATION The project is located in Addis Ababa and five regions: Amhara, Tigray, Afar, SNNPR, and Oromiya. 4. RECIPIENT The Federal Republic of Ethiopia 5. EXECUTING AGENCY Women’s Affairs Office at the Prime Minister’s Office

P.O. Box 1031 Addis Ababa Tel: 251- 1- 557794 Fax: 251-1- 552986

6. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT: The project will support training, procurement of office and training equipment, rehabilitate women’s training centre, and provide technical assistance to support the Women’s Affairs Office in developing training manuals, gender mainstreaming guidelines, gender monitoring indicators, etc. 7. TOTAL COST : UA 1.174 million Foreign Cost : UA 642,970 Local Cost : UA 531,450 8. BANK GROUP ADF GRANT : UA 1.06 million 9. OTHER SOURCES – GOE : UA 116,690 10. ESTIMATED STARTING December 2004 DATE AND DURATION 24 months 11. PROCUREMENT: Procurement of goods, works and services financed from the ADF grant will be in accordance with the Bank's Rules and Procedures for Procurement of Goods and Works, and the Bank’s Guidelines for the use of Consultants, as follows: (i) procurement of office equipment and technology will be National Competitive Bidding (NCB), (ii) rehabilitation of the training centre will be done through National Competitive Biding (NCB) (iii) training will be provided by local institutions, which will be selected on the basis of the type of training offered, through shortlist and direct contracting. 12. CONSULTANCY SERVICES REQUIRED AND STAGE OF SELECTION:

Technical assistance services would be required for 24 person months, a procurement expert for 8 person months, an M&E expert for 10 person months, 6 short term consultancies ranging from a period of 2 to 4 person months, for a total of 27 person months. The technical assistant will be recruited during the first year of the project, procurement expert will be recruited within the first three months of the project and will continue for 6 months in PY1 and will be recruited in the first quarter of PY2 for a further 4 months. The consultants will be recruited as per the annual work plan of the WAO/ PMO and the WAD/ MOFED, starting second quarter of PY2.

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CURRENCY AND MEASURES

Currency Equivalents (February 2004)

Currency unit = Birr (ETB) UA 1.00 = Birr 11.8547 USD 1.00 = ETB 7.978 ETB 1.00 = USD 0.125

Weights and Measures

1 kilogram (kg) = 2.204 pounds (lb) 1 000 kg = 1 metric tonne (t) 1 kilometre (km) = 0.62 miles (mi) 1 metre (m) = 1.09 yards (yd) 1 square metre (m2) = 10.76 square feet (ft2) 1 acre (ac) = 0.405 ha 1 hectare (ha) = 2.47 acres

GOE - Fiscal Year

7 July - 6 July

LIST OF TABLES

Page Number Table 3.1. Summary of Cost Estimates by Components 20 Table 3.2. Summary of Costs Estimates by Category of Expenditure 20 Table 3.3. Sources of Finance 21 Table 4.1. Expenditure Schedule by Component 22 Table 4.2. Expenditure Schedule by Sources of Finance 22 Table 4.3. Summary of Procurement Arrangements 24

LIST OF ANNEXES

Annex I Map of Ethiopia 31 Annex II Provisional List of Goods and Services 32 Annex III Implementation Schedule 33 Annex IV Organogram of the WAO/ PMO 34 Annex V Organogram for the WAD/ MOFED 35 Annex VI Summary of Bank Group On-going projects 36 Annex VII Highlights Of The Project Review Process 37

WORKING PAPER Working Paper will include: (1) Detailed Cost Tables

(2) Terms of References for: • Project Coordinator • Technical Assistants • Auditing Firm • Procurement expert • Monitoring and Evaluation Expert • Study on Land Tenure and Management • Study on Women and Law • Study on Gender Responsive Budgeting

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ADB African Development Bank ADF African Development Fund ADLI Agriculture Development Led Industrialisation APR Annual Progress Report CAS Country Assistance Strategy CSP Country Strategy Paper CV Curriculum Vitae DAG Development Assistance Group ESDP Education Sector Development Programme ETCO Ethiopia Country Office EWDF Ethiopian Women’s Development Fund GAW Group for Advancement of Women GDI Gender Development Index GNP Gross National Product GOE Government of Ethiopia GTZ Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zussamenarbeit (German Development Cooperation) HIV/ AIDS Human Immuno-deficiency Virus/ Acquired Immuno-deficiency Virus IEC Information, Education and Communication ILO International Labour Organisation MCH Mother and Child Health MDG Millennium Development Goals MOFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development NAP National Action Plan NEPAD New Partnership for African Development NEWA Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations] NGO Non Governmental Organisation NPW National Policy for Women ORWAB Oromiya Regional Women’s Affairs Bureau PMT Project Management Team PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PSC Project Steering Committee SDPRP Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme SNNPR Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regions TOR Terms of Reference TOT Training of Trainers UA Unit of Account UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme USD United States Dollar WAD/ MOFED Women’s Affairs Department at Ministry of Finance and Economic WAO/ PMO Women’s Affairs Office at the Prime Minister’s Office WIDP Women in Development Project

GLOSSARY OF LOCAL NAMES

Zone Second tier of local government Woreda Third tier of local government similar to the level of district

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BASIC DATA SHEET

Year Ethiopia AfricaDevelo-

pingCountries

Develo-ped

CountriesBasic Indicators Area ( '000 Km²) 1 104 30 061 80 976 54 658Total Population (millions) 2003 67.3 831.0 5,024.6 1,200.3Urban Population (% of Total) 2003 17.4 38.6 43.1 78.0Population Density (per Km²) 2003 58.4 27.6 60.6 22.9GNI per Capita (US $) 2003 110 650 1 154 26 214Labor Force Participation - Total (%) 2003 43.6 43.1 45.6 54.6Labor Force Participation - Female (%) 2003 36.4 33.8 39.7 44.9Gender -Related Development Index Value 2003 0.347 0.484 0.655 0.905Human Develop. Index (Rank among 174 cou 2003 169 n.a. n.a. n.a.Popul. Living Below $ 1 a Day (% of Populat 1997 31.3 46.7 23.0 20.0

Demographic IndicatorsPopulation Growth Rate - Total (%) 2003 2.4 2.2 1.7 0.6Population Growth Rate - Urban (%) 2003 5.7 3.9 2.9 0.5Population < 15 years (%) 2003 45.2 43.2 32.4 18.0Population >= 65 years (%) 2003 3.0 3.3 5.1 14.3Dependency Ratio (%) 2003 93.0 86.6 61.1 48.3Sex Ratio (per 100 female) 2003 70.3 98.9 103.3 94.7Female Population 15-49 years (% of total po 2003 22.6 24.0 26.9 25.4Life Expectancy at Birth - Total (years) 2003 45.6 50.6 62.0 78.0Life Expectancy at Birth - Female (years) 2003 46.5 51.7 66.3 79.3Crude Birth Rate (per 1,000) 2003 43.0 37.3 24.0 12.0Crude Death Rate (per 1,000) 2003 17.7 15.3 8.4 10.3Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000) 2003 109.2 81.9 60.9 7.5Child Mortality Rate (per 1,000) 2003 185.8 135.6 79.8 10.2Maternal Mortality Rate (per 100,000) 1994 1,400 641 440 13Total Fertility Rate (per woman) 2003 6.2 4.9 2.8 1.7Women Using Contraception (%) 1997 4.3 40.0 59.0 74.0

Health & Nutrition IndicatorsPhysicians (per 100,000 people) 1996 4.1 57.6 78.0 287.0Nurses (per 100,000 people) 1990 7.7 105.8 98.0 782.0Births attended by Trained Health Personnel 2000 8.0 38.0 56.0 99.0Access to Safe Water (% of Population) 2002 24.0 60.3 78.0 100.0Access to Health Services (% of Population) 1993 55.0 61.7 80.0 100.0Access to Sanitation (% of Population) 2002 15.0 60.5 52.0 100.0Percent. of Adults (aged 15-49) Living with H 2003 6.6 5.7 1.3 0.3Incidence of Tuberculosis (per 100,000) 2002 144.8 198.0 144.0 11.0Child Immunization Against Tuberculosis (%) 2002 51.0 76.4 82.0 93.0Child Immunization Against Measles (%) 1998 37.0 67.7 73.0 90.0Underweight Children (% of children under 5 2002 47.2 25.9 31.0 …Daily Calorie Supply per Capita 2003 2 037 2 444 2 675 3 285Public Expenditure on Health (as % of GDP) 2000 1.7 3.3 1.8 6.3

Education Indicators Gross Enrolment Ratio (%) Primary School - Total 2002 64.0 89.2 91.0 102.3 Primary School - Female 2002 52.0 83.7 105.0 102.0 Secondary School - Total 2002 18.0 40.8 88.0 99.5 Secondary School - Female 2002 14.0 38.2 45.8 100.8Primary School Female Teaching Staff (% of 2000 27.3 49.9 51.0 82.0Adult Illiteracy Rate - Total (%) 2003 59.7 37.9 26.6 1.2Adult Illiteracy Rate - Male (%) 2003 51.9 29.2 19.0 0.8Adult Illiteracy Rate - Female (%) 2003 67.6 46.4 34.2 1.6Percentage of GDP Spent on Education 2000 4.8 3.5 3.9 5.9

Environmental IndicatorsLand Use (Arable Land as % of Total Land A 2003 10.0 6.2 9.9 11.6Annual Rate of Deforestation (%) 1997 0.5 0.7 0.4 -0.2Annual Rate of Reforestation (%) 1992 10.0 4.0 … …Per Capita CO2 Emissions (metric tons) 1997 … 1.1 1.9 12.3

Source : Compiled by the Statistics Division from ADB databases; UNAIDS; World Bank Live Database and United Nations Population Division.Notes: n.a. Not Applicable ; … Data Not Available.

COMPARATIVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORSEthiopia

Infant Mortality Rate ( Per 1000 )

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Ethiopia Africa

GNI per capita US $

0

200

400

600

800

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Ethiopia Africa

Population Growth Rate (%)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Ethiopia Africa

111213141516171

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Ethiopia Africa

Life Expectancy at Birth (Years)

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PROJECT MATRIX

ETHIOPIA: Institutional Support Project For the Women’s Affairs Office Logical Framework

NARRATIVE SUMMARY VERIFIABLE INDICATORS MEANS OF

VERIFICATION ASSUMPTIONS/ RISKS

GOAL: to contribute to increasing Government’s capacity to achieve gender related MDG and SDPRP targets.

1.1 Gender effectively reported in SDPRP Annual Progress Reports for 2005 and 2006 1.2 Gender responsive planning and mainstreaming effected in the SDPRP update and the

Decentralisation programme by end 2006

1. National Statistical Data. 2. SDPRP – APR and MOFED Reports 3. Project Completion Report

Objectives: The objective of the project is to establish greater local institutional and human capacity of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and selected regional women’s affairs offices to design and implement gender sensitive policy and development planning interventions.

1. Gender is mainstreamed, with quantifiable targets, in the MOFED Strategic Framework Document by 2005

2. Systematic application of gender mainstreaming strategies and tools in regional development planning and policy formulation by 2006.

3. Gender is monitored and mainstreamed, with quantifiable targets, in all new rural development projects in the participating regions by end 2006

Project quarterly and annual reports, ADB Supervision Reports, and feedback GAW

The gender in development and mainstreaming policy environment remains favourable.

OUTPUTS: Building the human resources capacity for gender mainstreaming at the federal and regional level in the planning, monitoring and outreach activities at the various development planning processes. Building the institutional capacity at the federal and regional level to undertake gender mainstreaming planning, monitoring, and reporting activities in their respective policies, programmes and projects.

• 40 key staff, each in PY1 and PY2, of MOFED trained in Gender mainstreaming & reporting in the national planning and budgeting process.

• 40 staff, each in PY1 and PY2, from federal line WADs and participating RWABs and Zonal level will be trained in Gender Mainstreaming and M&E strategies in Policy Reform

• 10 high level government officials in PY1 and a further 30, will be sensitized in gender mainstreaming issues

• 1 TOTs, each in PY1 and PY2, workshop for 15 staff per workshop of EWDF trained in upgraded production and marketing skills

• 40 staff in PY1 and a further 80 staff in PY2, from Federal and regional planning and budget staff of key line ministries and bureaus, trained in gender mainstreaming in the planning process by MOFED

• 30 regional staff in PY1 and a further 50 staff in PY2, from the Judiciary and Police force sensitized in gender and violence issue and trained on efficient handling of gender related grievances,

• 40 staff in PY1 and a further 120 staff in PY2, from line bureaus, commissions and executive agencies sensitised in gender issues and trained in mainstreaming gender in their activities.

• 60 staff in PY1 and a further 120 staff in PY2, from the participating zones and Woredas trained in Gender Mainstreaming, Community Mobilization, Leadership and Participatory Approach

• 20 staff in PY1 and a further 60 staff in PY2, from participating RWABs and Zonal level trained in Gender Mainstreaming in Project & Policy Design, Implementation & Monitoring

• 100 community leaders in PY1 and a further 500 in PY2, from participating regions Sensitization in gender issues, mainstreaming strategies and participatory mechanism

• 2 short term training and networking in PY1 and a further 4 in PY2, for key staff of WAO/ PMO be undertaken

• 3 short term training and networking in PY1 and a further 7 in PY2, for key staff of participating RWABs to be undertaken

Project quarterly and annual reports, ADB Supervision Reports.

Trained staff are not attracted by other organisations to leave civil service. Government will finalise the recruitment drive for staff and fill the vacant positions in the respective institutions.

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• 18 Computers (with accessories) purchased by PY1 (2 each for WAO and EWDF; 1 for WAD/ MOFED, and 2 for each Region)

• 9 Fax machines purchased by PY1 (1 each for WAO, EWDF, WAD/ MOFED and the 5 Regions) • 9 Photocopiers purchased by PY1 (1 each for WAO, EWDF, WAD/ MOFED and the 5 Regions) • 9 Scanners purchased by PY1 (1 each for WAO, EWDF, WAD/ MOFED and the 5 Regions) • 9 Office furniture sets purchased by PY1 (1 each for WAO, EWDF, WAD/ MOFED and the 5 Regions) • 40% of rehabilitation of training centre undertaken by PY1 and 100% by PY2 • 12 staff in PY1 and a further 16 staff in PY2 trained in computer software and statistical analysis package

(staff will be: 4 from WAO/ PMO, 2 from WAD/ MOFED and 22 staff from RWABs) • One short term Procurement Expert consultant for six months in place in PY1 and four months in PY2 • One short term Monitoring and Evaluation expert in place for 4 months in end PY1 and 4 months in end

PY2. • Audited project accounts in place by end PY1 and PY2.

Building the technical capacity for gender mainstreaming by putting in place the necessary guidelines, tools, monitoring and evaluation processes and indicators, and reporting requirements.

• 3 sectoral guidelines completed in PY1 and further 2 completed in PY2; • 2 strategic frameworks to be completed by end PY1 and a further 2 to be completed by end PY2; • Gender budgeting study to be completed in PY1 and • Studies on Land Tenure and Management and Women and Law to be completed in PY2

Project quarterly and annual reports, ADB Supervision Reports.

Trained staff are provided the adequate working environment in their respective institutions to efficiently undertake gender related activities.

Activities: 1) Undertake appropriate and

relevant short term regional and local training for effective gender mainstreaming.

2) Undertake appropriate and relevant administrative and computer training.

3) Identify and undertake appropriate and relevant study tours.

4) Undertake networking activities 5) Conduct gender sensitisation and

advocacy training for selected officials and committees

6) Procure equipment and services for rehabilitation of facilities

7) Procure services of identified technical assistants

8) Develop appropriate gender mainstreaming guidelines, tools and strategy documents.

9) Conduct quarterly coordination and back-stopping meetings

RESOURCES/ BUDGET (UA ‘000) Sources of Resources (UA ‘000) ADF 1,057.72 Federal Government 116.69 Total 1,174.41 Component (UA ‘000) 1. Institutional Support and Development 977.81 2. Gender mainstreaming tools development 196.60 Total 1,174.42

Quarterly Progress Reports ADB Supervision mission Reports Project Audit Reports Quarterly Progress Reports ADB Supervision mission Reports Project Audit Reports

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Ethiopia: Institutional Support Project For the Women’s Affairs Office

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Project Background 1. The GOE has recognised the need to strengthen federal and regional capacities for gender mainstreaming and monitoring in the development planning process and to hasten the process of achieving the MDG and the SDPRP targets. Thus, an initial request was made to the Bank Group Ethiopia Country Office, ETCO, in January 2003. The Bank Group, after a preliminary assessment of proposed project, held a Country Team Meeting and recommended the project for inclusion in the Bank Pipeline which was approved by the Bank Management. In the meantime, the Bank Group has undertaken the Ethiopia Country Gender Profile in October 2003, which reaffirmed the conclusion that the institutional capacity for gender mainstreaming at all levels is weak. Purpose of the Grant 2. The purpose of the grant is to provide resources not exceeding UA 1.06 million to meet all the foreign exchange requirements (external training, producing studies, guidelines and gender mainstreaming tools, as well as procurement of office equipment) for the proposed capacity building and also part of the local costs of the project. Sector Goal and Project Objective 3. The overall goal is to contribute to increasing Government’s capacity to achieve gender related MDG and SDPRP targets The specific objective of the project is to establish greater local institutional and human capacity of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and selected regional women’s affairs offices to design and implement gender sensitive policy and development planning interventions geared to achieving MDG and SDPRP targets. Brief Description of the Project's Outputs 4. In order to achieve these objectives, the project will provide to the WAO/ PMO, the WAD/ MOFED, the regions of Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR, Afar and Oromiya (as identified in the National Poverty profile as the priority areas for development interventions) support for short term training, training of trainers workshops, networking, study tours, conducting studies, developing regional strategic framework for gender mainstreaming, developing gender mainstreaming tools and guidelines, training, office equipment and technical assistance. Project Cost 5. The total project cost including physical and price contingencies is estimated at ETB 13.92 million, equivalent to UA 1.174 million. The foreign exchange component of the Project is estimated at UA 642,970 or about 55% of total project costs, while local costs amount to UA 531,450 (45% of total cost). Physical and price

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contingencies of 5% each have been included in the cost estimates. The cost estimates are based on the February 2004 prices. Sources of Financing 6. The ADF funding to the Project will be to the tune of UA 1.058 million (equivalent to 90.1% of the total project cost). This will be for the investment cost items namely small repairs and maintenance, equipment, training, studies and preparation of policy and operational guideline documents, technical assistance and some of the recurrent cost items – field allowances for project staff. The Federal Government will support the project to the tune of UA 116,690 (9.9%). This will cover the costs of salaries and office running expenses for the participation of the WAO/PMO and WAD/ MOFED in the project. Project Implementation 7.1. The Women’s Affairs Office at the Prime Minister’s Office (WAO/ PMO) will be the executing agency. By this the project will be managed through the existing structures. The Project Management Team (PMT) will be located in the WAO/ PMO and its role will be to coordinate the implementation of the activities under the project for the different target beneficiaries. The PMT will comprise of Project Coordinator, Project Accountant, and Project Secretary, all three to be nominated by the State Minister in WAO/ PMO. The WAD/ MOFED will submit its annual work plan and request for implementation of respective project activities to the Project Coordinator and he/ she will be responsible to coordinate and effect the requests and follow-up on activities. 7.2. A Project Steering Committee (PSC), chaired by the State Minister in WAO/ PMO will be created and will have overall authority over the project in terms of policy guidance, approval of work plans and budget. The members of the Steering Committee will be the Head of Planning and Project Department in MOFED, the regional Directors of the Supreme Office under which the Regional Women’s Affairs Bureaus are structurally located in the regions of Amhara, Tigray, Oromiya, SNNPR, and Afar; representative of the national women’s NGOs network - NEWA; and head of women’s affairs departments of the Ministry of Capacity Building. The project coordinator will be the Secretary to the PSC. Conclusions and Recommendations 8. The capacity of Federal Ministries and the Regional Bureaux to coordinate and implement gender mainstreaming and monitoring policies and programmes has been found to need strengthening. The proposed project will help to improve identifying gender inequities, developing strategies to address these and hasten the process of achieving sustainable human development in the country. It is recommended that a grant not exceeding UA 1.06 million from ADF resources be provided to the Government of Ethiopia for the purpose of implementing the project as described in this report, subject to conditions specified in the Protocol of Agreement.

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1. ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE PROJECT 1.1. Ethiopia is situated in the horn of Africa, having boundaries in the west with Sudan, in the east with Somalia and Djibouti, in the south with Kenya and in the north with Eritrea. Ethiopia’s population in 2001 was approximately 64.5 million, of which half are women. It has a population growth rate of 2.4% per annum and about 45% of the population is under the age of 14 years, implying a high dependency ratio. Ethiopia is administratively divided into 10 National Regional States of Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somalia Benishagul-Gumuz, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) Gambella and Harar and the two administrative States, Addis Ababa city administration and Dire Dawa Council. 1.2. The country is undergoing a number of positive changes in terms of refocusing on sustainable development, under the current decentralisation programme, through increased emphasis on equal resources for men and women, increased participation of women and men in economic development planning, improved identification of grassroots needs, increased focus on women’s inadequate access to opportunities in the economic sector, and strengthening of delivery mechanisms mandated with mainstreaming gender and development issues. As such the GOE is keen to see that gender issues are properly handled, both federally and regionally, with a more comprehensive approach to speeding up the process of achieving gender equity targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and gender mainstreaming processes stated in the Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme (SDPRP). 1.3. The GOE and the Bank, through the recently conducted Ethiopia Country Gender Profile, have highlighted some constraints, which have led to inadequate gender mainstreaming efforts and which are not having the desired impact in order to realise the MDG and SDPRP targets. The report highlighted that there are significant capacity weaknesses in terms of supporting the implementation of respective gender mainstreaming strategies in development planning, policy and programmatic interventions. The Women’s Affairs Office at the Prime Minister’s Office (WAO/ PMO) as well as the Regional Women’s Affairs Bureaus lack adequate skills, as well as mechanisms and tools necessary to identify and mainstream areas for intervention to address gender disparities and gaps. They lack specific monitoring and evaluation systems and methodologies to report on gender disaggregated information and follow-up on such results with relevant activities. They are also unable to provide the technical support to other government units in gender mainstreaming, due to their own skills and tools related constraints. The Ethiopia Gender Profile also highlighted the importance, as well as the inadequate capacity, of the Women’s Affairs Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (WAD/ MOFED) in addressing gender issues within the overall macro-economic development planning process, such as the Sustainable Development Poverty reduction Programme (SDPRP), as well as in monitoring of implementation of related activities. In response to the request of GOE, the present project is designed to address the identified gender mainstreaming weaknesses in Ethiopia. In particular, it is envisaged that the project activities will facilitate and contribute to the efforts in achieving MDG and SDPRP targets, as well as put in place the necessary conducive policy environment for project interventions to be more effective at all levels.

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1.4. In September 2002, a Bank team in the process of usual consultations with the Women’s Affairs Office (WAO) with the aim of coordinating and mainstreaming gender issues in the Bank’s intervention was informed by the Minister of Women’s Affairs of the need for institutional and capacity building support to the WAO. The Women’s Affairs Office at the Prime Minister’s Office (WAO/ PMO) is the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) organ responsible for the overall coordination and mainstreaming of gender issues in development policies, planning, and programmes. Thus, a request for project support was made to the Bank Group, through the Ethiopia Country Office, ETCO, in January 2003. The present project, is the outcome of the appraisal mission fielded by the Bank in January 2004. The present project will contribute to GOE’s gender mainstreaming efforts and put in place a system which will empower the gender machinery and its staff to effectively address gender issues and to contribute to achieving the SDPRP and MDG targets related to gender equity in Ethiopia. 1.5. The proposed project is in line with the priorities set out in the SDPRP. The SDPRP has spelled out gender mainstreaming support in the different priority sectors, and specifically highlighted capacity building support to federal ministries in strengthening their coordination role to other technical units as well as to the regional administration up to Woreda level. The proposed project is also in line with the Bank’s Gender Policy, and is in accordance with the Bank Group Ethiopia CSP (2002 -2004) where the critical areas on gender issues are highlighted and the urgent need for capacity building in the country is emphasized. 2. THE GENDER MAINSTREAMING STRUCTURE AND

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 2.1. Poverty Profile 2.1.1. Ethiopia is situated in the horn of Africa and is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita GNP estimated at about US$ 110. The UNDP 2003 Human Development Report ranked Ethiopia as 169 out of the 175 countries. The incidence and severity of poverty is largely identical amongst the five most densely populated rural regions where it is estimated that the Tigray region is the poorest, followed by Amhara region, Southern region, and Afar region with a poverty index of above 50%; followed by Oromiya region with a poverty index of slightly less than 50%. Rural poor households have little or no access to production resources, health, education and sanitation facilities. Poor nutrition and deteriorating health conditions are also evidence of extensive poverty. 2.1.2. Poverty in Ethiopia is pervasive, deep and persistent. At present, close to 31.3% of the population is below the poverty line of US $1/day. Furthermore, approximately 15 to 20% of poor households are female headed. According to the participatory poverty assessment, which was carried out by GOE and the World Bank in 1997, women-headed households may be more vulnerable as they traditionally have less direct access to land and productive resources. Life expectancy for men is about 44 years and for women is 46.5 years. Infant mortality rate is 109.2 per 1000 live births, and close to 47% of children under five years of age suffer from malnutrition. Although the causes of poverty are multidimensional in nature, the most important factors include low levels of agricultural technology, high population

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growth rates, underdeveloped rural infrastructure, recurrent drought and the accompanying degradation of the natural resource base also contribute to the persistence of poverty. In recent years, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has undermined the productive capacity and exacerbated the problems of both urban and rural poverty in Ethiopia. 2.1.3. The Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme (SDPRP) spells out the development plans of the GOE by looking at the critical sectors which will promote sustainable human and economic development as well as free the country from dependence on food aid and render the poor the main benefits of economic growth. The SDPRP recognizes gender issues under the section ‘Cross Cutting Issues’ and lists possible measures in the area of food security and agriculture, education, health, enhancing political participation of women, confronting harmful traditional practices, reducing women’s workload and strengthening the legal environment. However, addressing gender is limited to this section rather than being mainstreamed throughout the document. Certain weaknesses in highlighting specifically gender related issues and activities in the different sectoral chapters gives raises the constraint of continuous and appropriate monitoring and evaluation of gender in the document. Furthermore, the issue of gender disaggregated data is not emphasized enough, and this weakness comes out in the recent Annual Progress Report (APR) on the SDPRP where again there is no clear reporting on gender impact of the SDPRP implementation. Moreover, the SDPRP does not identify adequate gender monitoring indicators and thereby future follow-up and reporting is compromised. 2.1.4. With regards to the Millennium Development Goals, the poverty analysis points to the great challenge facing Ethiopia in its ability to meet the targets by 2015. According to the analysis in the SDPRP, the Government estimates that the Ethiopian economy must grow in real terms by 5.7% per annum until 2015 to reduce poverty by half from its current level. Furthermore, according to the UNDP 2002 MDG progress tracking report, Ethiopia is either “far behind” or has “slipped back” in its progress towards achieving most of the MDGs by 2015. 2.2. Women and Gender Development in Ethiopia

The following paragraphs will illustrate the track record of Ethiopia in the

process of achieving the MDG and SDPRP targets: Literacy and Education

2.2.1. The adult national illiteracy rate is about 59.7%; with a very pronounced gender difference, where women’s illiteracy level is 67.6% against 51.9% for males. Furthermore, the gross enrolment ratio for girls is 52% at primary level and 14% at secondary level. The Ethiopian Education and Training Policy was approved in 1994 and the overarching goal of the Policy is to provide a new education system which will achieve the present and future national and social development goals. The Policy focuses on increasing access to educational opportunities and in particular it promotes an education system that would remove the cultural and traditional misunderstandings attached to benefits of female education. The Education Sector Development Programme I (ESDP I) put in place broad participatory and equity approach measures.

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ESDP II is meant to build further upon the experiences of ESDP I and pay special attention to the design of strategies for improving gender equity 2.2.2. During the implementation of both ESDP I and II a number of positive initiatives were undertaken to reduce the gender gap in the sector. Number of female teachers increased in elementary schools. It is estimated that in the period 1996/ 1997 to 2000/ 2001 the gender disparity in the net intake rate has been reduced from 5.5 percentage points to 3.7 percentage points between 1996 to 2000. The gender gap in the GER of 30.2 percentage points in favour of boys in 1996/ 1997 for the first cycle primary was brought down to 25.1 percentage points in 2000/ 2001. In 1996/97, the urban rural difference in female enrolment as percent of the total enrolment was 14.8%; by 2000/ 2001, this gap was narrowed down to 7.3%. 2.2.3. While significant progress has been made in the promotion of gender equity in the education sector, some constraints still remain to be addressed. In particular, the rural female drop out rates have not been reduced significantly mainly due to inadequate sensitisation of parents and teachers to the needs of the girl child in education. Specifically issues of accessibility and security in reaching and attending schools, need for teacher sensitisation on gender issues, positive gender representation in school curriculum and books, as well as addressing attitudes to girls’ empowerment need to be addressed.

Women in Health and HIV/ AIDS

2.2.4. The 1993 Health Policy has given special attention to the health needs of the family, particularly that of women and children. In this regard, primary health care services that include Mother and Child Health (MCH) and reproductive health services are expanding with the establishment of clinics and health centres specially in rural areas by local governments. Furthermore family planning activities have been intensified in view of high fertility status of women in Ethiopia, estimated at about 6.2 per woman. Vaccination against killer diseases among children is intensified to improve the survival status of children. However, whereas the policy framework is in place, the accessibility and outreach for the rural population is still very weak. It is estimated that on the average there is 1 doctor per every 25,000 persons and one nurse for every 7,000 persons.

2.2.5. It is estimated that about 6.6% of the adults between the ages of 15 - 49 are living with HIV/ AIDS. In particular, estimates show that about 1.2 million women between the ages if 14 - 49 are considered to be infected by the virus. The infected population group constitutes the most economically productive segment of the population. The HIV/ AIDS pandemic, amongst other health issues, has led to increased time devoted by women to care for those infected, affecting continued production. The GOE has, in response to the growing threat, declared an HIV/ AIDS policy in 1998 and put in place a National AIDS Council and a National AIDS Secretariat. In this regard a number of key activities such as producing guidelines, action plans, and IEC material have been developed for increased campaigning and awareness raising. A national women’s HIV/ AIDS coalition has also been established, chaired by the First Lady, and members include female Ministers and Parliamentarians. Moreover, about sixty-five laboratories have been established

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through out the country which are equipped for effective testing and detection of the disease. 2.2.6. Women are disproportionately at risk of HIV/ AIDS infection because of several reasons. The practice of polygamy, especially, in rural areas, increases risk of infections due to the multiple partners involved. Moreover the risk of infection increases amongst women in the age range of 15 to 24 years due to their early marriage to older men who may already have other partners. In addition, younger women and girls are also continuously exposed to abduction and rape increasing their risk of infection. Circumcision is also reported to increase HIV risk because of the unhygienic operating conditions and lack of facilities for sterilisation of operating instruments. Finally, poverty has also impacted on increased risk of HIV infections for women because there is an increase in women entering into commercial sex sector as a means of generating income, and they are categorised as the high-risk group in order to facilitate the economic work of the sick as well as those taking care of the sick.

Women and political participation 2.2.7. Currently, the GOE is undertaking the overall review of its family law and penal codes to identify and change any discriminating provisions. It is also to be noted that Ethiopia has ratified the two important international conventions relating to the rights of women, i.e. the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women. On the political front, the government encourages women to take full part in the political life of the country. However, currently out of 548 seats, in the House of Peoples Representatives only 2.3% are occupied by women and the Federal Council has only 5.5% women out of its 128 members. At the Woreda council level the number of women in office were estimated at 8% in 1998. Inadequate representation of women in the political process has led to inadequate visibility of gender and development issues in the policy, legal and programmatic interventions and reforms in the country.

Gender in the economy 2.2.8. Women’s participation in the economy is limited, with only 36% of the formal labour force being women. In the civil service, 63% of the employees are men, and 33% are women. Of these women in this sector, 70% are employed in the secretarial and clerical job categories. In the private sector, from the total active labour force, it is reported that 31% of the women, as opposed to 23% men, are engaged in elementary occupations. Furthermore, 29% of the women as opposed to 27% men are classified as market sellers; 26% women as opposed to 22% men are employed in crafts and related trades. In the occupation group of senior managers, it is estimated that 0.8% are women as opposed to 2% men. Due to the socio-geographical characteristics of the Ethiopian population where the majority is located in rural areas, women tend to make up about 85% of the rural small-holder agriculture labour force. In this sector, women are engaged mainly in subsistence farming and home-based agro-processing. The inadequate number of women involved in the formal economy has contributed to increased poverty for women and female headed households as they are limited to informal sector and low income/ unskilled and labour intensive activities.

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2.2.9. In this regard, the Bank through its Private Sector Department and in collaboration with the ILO has carried out a country assessment on factors affecting women entrepreneurs’ business environment for three East African countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya. The study is in the finalisation stage and intends to map out key areas to foster and promote this specific business population, as well as to outline intervention and assistance that can be provided by ADB/ ILO. 2.3. The National Policy on Women and Institutional Framework 2.3.1. The GOE has reaffirmed its commitment to the equitable development of women and has drafted the National Policy on Women (NPW) in 1993 and the promulgation of the new Constitution in 1995 where women’s rights are mainstreamed. The National Policy on Women aims to institutionalise the political and socio-economic rights of women by creating appropriate structures in government institutions. As a result, the Women's Affairs Office (WAO) was created within the Prime Minister's Office and mandated to coordinate and facilitate conditions to promote gender equality in areas of development; at the respective sectoral ministries the Women’s Affairs Departments (WADs) were put in place, the Regional Women’s Affairs Bureaus (RWABs) at the regional administration level, and women’s coordination and desk officers at the respective Zonal and Woreda levels. The extensive structure was meant to ensure that gender and women’s development issues could be addressed comprehensively at all levels of administration and society. 2.3.2. The National Action Plan (NAP) is meant to operationalise the National Policy on Women and to set out clear priorities for intervention both for donors and the GOE. The WAO/ PMO has developed a concept paper for the design and finalisation of the NAP. A number of donors in the country are helping the WAO/ PMO with financial and technical resources to finalise this document which is expected in August 2004. It is envisaged that the NAP will highlight activities related to strengthening of gender and development coordination federally and regionally. Therefore, the present project will complement the finalisation of the NAP since the project highlights issues of gender and women’s development capacity building at a national level as well as within an overall policy and development planning framework in Ethiopia. Thus, the proposed project is well positioned to complement the activities which maybe identified under NAP and hasten their implementation through the improved capacity of the WAO/ PMO. 2.3.3. The Women's Affairs Office of the Prime Minister's Office (WAO/ PMO) is technically charged with responsibilities to oversee and coordinate activities leading to the effective implementation of the National Policy on Women, and is headed by a Minster who is supported by six staff members. The WAO/ PMO is accountable to the Prime Minister and in particular, it is charged with: (1) coordination, facilitation and monitoring of women’s affairs activities at the national level; (2) to initiate proposals for developing gender sensitive policies as well as reviewing existing ones to ensure that gender is mainstreamed; (3) to collect relevant data and information nationally and sectorally in order to disseminate them as well as to undertake studies on pertinent gender and women’s issues; (4) to organise workshops, conferences and symposiums at the national level to promote and raise awareness on women and gender issues in the Country; (5) to enable a conducive environment which will

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promote women’s empowerment and equal participation. The Women's Affair Office also creates a forum where government and non-government organizations at national level exchange experiences. 2.3.4. In line with the guiding principles of the National Policy on Women, Women's Affairs Departments (WADs) were established within 16 strategically situated line ministries. These WADs are mandated to bring out the issues of women's and gender gaps as well as to develop strategies to best address these inequities in the respective sector and sub-sector of responsibility. In particular they are charged with: (1) to create a favourable condition for effective gender mainstreaming and implementation of gender sensitive activities in the sector of their mandate; (2) the WAD will be responsible to monitor progress and report to the WAO periodically on challenges and constraints; (3) the WAD will also be in charge of ensuring that gender is mainstreamed in all projects and programmes within the authority of their respective sector and ministry. The departments are accountable to the respective ministries and commissions but also report to the WAO/ PMO concerning their annual plan and other pertinent gender issues that need due attention. 2.3.5. Similarly, and in line with recommendations of the NPW, and also to ensure the incorporation of gender in the planning and implementation of development programs at all levels, the Regional Women's Affairs Bureaus (RWABs) were established in all the regions and administrative zones. The RWABs are accountable to their respective Regional Administrative Council. The duties and responsibilities of the respective RWABs include, (1) provision of gender mainstreaming guidance to all regional, Zonal and Woreda level programmes and project interventions; (2) identification of gender mainstreaming and equity needs at all levels in the region; (3) developing respective gender mainstreaming strategies for the different technical and sectoral bureaus in the region; and (4) to initiate and undertake gender mainstreaming and awareness raising sessions at all levels of the region and across all sectors. Within the recent on-going decentralisation, the Zonal and Woreda level administration are given more responsibilities for all development related activities. The Zonal level offices usually play a coordination role between the RWABs and the Woreda but are in a position to have a view of the regional disparities and needs. The Woreda level administration works more closely with the communities and identifying and addressing needs at the grass roots level. At the Woreda level the women’s desk officer is in charge of implementing relevant activities as highlighted in the different gender and women’s development policy, programme and/ or project interventions. 2.3.6. The NPW has highlighted the federal and regional coordination linkages and processes. The WAO/ PMO is the overall body in the country mandated to ensure gender and women’s development issues are adequately addressed in all government policy and programmes. It is expected to do so through the sectoral WADs, RWABs and through them reach the Zonal and Woreda level gender machinery and regional line WADs. While each of these institutions is accountable to its own direct organisation head, they are required to report to the WAO/ PMO regularly on progress made in their respective geographical and sectoral fields. They also hold regular meetings with the WAO/ PMO to discuss work activities and proposed programmes for gender mainstreaming. In turn, the WAO/ PMO is mandated to source funds to undertake relevant training for the gender machinery, develop guidelines, tools, and sensitisation campaigns wherever possible. Currently,

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this role of the WAO/ PMO is not fully accomplished due to its weak technical capacity of their staff, and inadequate funds for developing the necessary tools. 2.4. Ethiopian Women’s Development Fund 2.4.1. The Ethiopian Women’s Development Fund (EWDF) was established by the GOE Proclamation number 240/ 2001. The GOE stressed that there was a need to establish such a fund in order to address the growing demand for economic empowerment of women and men, in particular those who are the poorest of the poor, have little or no education and no income generation skills, and whose family livelihood is considered to be highly vulnerable to poverty. Thus, the objectives of EWDF are to support and enhance the business, financial management, and technical skills of vulnerable groups such as poor women and men, female heads of households and the disabled. In addition, the EWDF aims to support the development of small and micro businesses for trained women and men; as well as provide awareness raising on gender equity issues to the trainees and some community leaders. The EWDF is governed by a Board which is chaired by the Minister of WAO/ PMO, other members include heads of regional women’s affairs bureaus, and some heads of relevant institutions and organisations as designated by the GOE. A Director who is supported by a Head of Administration and a Head of Institutions is in charge of the Office of the EWDF. 2.4.2. The EWDF oversees the operations of six different sub-organisations such as training and production centres and trading units. Furthermore, it hosts the project implementation unit for the World Bank, Italian Aid, and GOE funded Women in Development Project (WIDP). The WIDP is being implemented since 2000 and has an overall loan amount of USD 8 million approximately. The Project intends to operate in all the eleven regions of the country and reaching approximately 16,000 women in about 800 groups. The activities of the Project include organising grass-roots women into groups for training in entrepreneurial knowledge, technical skills, small business development, and use and management of start-up capital. 2.5. The Women’s Affairs Department at MOFED (WAD/ MOFED) 2.5.1. The WAD/ MOFED has the mandate to oversee and ensure that gender is mainstreamed in national level development and financial planning. In the past years the Department had a limited role in designing gender sensitive activities. However, within the current reemphasis of commitment by the GOE to gender sensitive poverty reduction and sustainable development, the Department is playing the broader role of mainstreaming gender and women’s development issues at all levels of national planning as well as providing an advisory and coordination role in these specific activities. Although, the mandate for the WAD has been broadened the Department is still staffed by only three professional staff which was considered adequate given the previously limited activities. The WAD is now in the process of recruiting two more professionals to support the increased activities for gender mainstreaming in national development planning.

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2.6. Gender Mainstreaming Gap addressed by the Proposed Project 2.6.1. Gender mainstreaming and women’s development in Ethiopia is largely undertaken in donor funded projects and programmes. For example, the Bank group has identified some gender mainstreaming strategies in watershed management, irrigation development projects, and rural finance. Other donors, such as the World Bank and the Italian Aid are supporting activities for the promotion of women in entrepreneurship skills development. Furthermore, GTZ has supported some activities in legal aid and literacy for gender and development; UN agencies are involved in relief, mother and child health, water and sanitation, etc. While these interventions are necessary as well as timely, little focus has been given to the aspect of gender mainstreaming in policy design and reform, macro and regional level development planning, as well as monitoring of the nation’s achievements, specifically with respect to MDG and SDPRP targets. Therefore, the proposed project will fulfil this gender mainstreaming gap by strengthening the key institutions which are mandated to undertake gender mainstreaming at the policy level, the national and regional development planning, as well as monitoring and reporting of the nation’s progress in gender and development issues. It is envisaged that the project activities will facilitate and contribute to the efforts in achieving MDG and SDPRP targets, as well as put in place the necessary conducive policy environment for project level interventions to be more effective at all stages. 2.7. Institutional Constraints Human Resource Capacity 2.7.1. The most critical problem facing the gender machinery in Ethiopia is that of inadequate capacity at different levels as reflected in the technical capacity of the staff, outdated methodologies, approaches and tools to promote gender mainstreaming, adequate information exchange and knowledge sharing, as well as inadequate equipment and information technology.

2.7.2. The WAO/ PMO is currently inadequate with six experts for the more demanding role of national coordination and guidance. The six experts have varying qualifications from university degrees to technical diplomas with several years of hands-on experience. However, under the new budget it is planned that three more professionals will be recruited to address the more demanding mandate of coordination at the regional level. The EWDF has been functioning adequately with the current staffing level. However, within the increasing need for training of low-income unskilled women, two more experts are being recruited. Most of the staff of the WAO/ PMO, including EWDF, have a basic university qualification in different disciplines and have acquired some knowledge of gender mainstreaming through their own initiative and exposure while working in such issues. They have limited opportunities to undertake formal and guided education due to overall GOE budgetary constraints. 2.7.3. The WAD/ MOFED is also in the process of recruiting three experts given the increased demand for gender sensitisation of the SDPRP implementation and monitoring as well as to address the emerging issues. The staff in the WAD have moved through other technical departments and are experienced in areas of financial

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and development planning but have inadequate knowledge and skills in mainstreaming gender approaches and issues in development planning. They are also constrained by the lack of adequate gender mainstreaming tools and operational manuals. 2.7.4. At the regional level up to the Woreda level, the staff occupying the gender desks and offices are usually university graduates or have technical diplomas with experience in a technical discipline. Therefore, their outreach and impact on gender mainstreaming at the regional level is weak as a result of their inexperience in gender related issues as well as lack of training, access to relevant information, and lack of platform for discussion and exchange of experience and sharing of best practices. 2.7.5. Training and updating of knowledge and skills is another critical constraint. Training of staff of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED, and at regional level is mostly undertaken by donor support. Within the national training plan, added preference is given to promote the more technical disciplines. The gender machinery, therefore, is given only a few opportunities under the national training and development programme; such opportunities are inadequate for extensive coverage of gender training needs nationally and federally. Furthermore many of the junior experts within the gender machinery are not trained as gender or women’s development experts and sometimes due to the lack of budget, an officer may be assigned to do the gender related activities without having adequate knowledge on strategies, methods and approaches. At the Zonal and Woreda level the situation in training and updating knowledge and skills is much more serious. At these levels training is focused mainly on sectoral issues and is infrequent. The staff at these levels also lack gender mainstreaming sectoral and development planning guidelines and monitoring tools which are necessary to measure progress and identify the way forward. Equipment and mobility 2.7.6. Another serious constraint facing most of the Government institutions and which has a negative impact on the achievements of the gender machinery is outreach. Some offices do not have adequate information technology and other office equipment. Of particular importance at the regional and Woreda levels is mobility for the officers to reach the rural women and men as well as to address productivity and poverty reduction issues. This is constrained due to the lack of adequate transportation facilities for these officers. Advocacy and Sensitisation 2.7.7. An additional critical constraint facing the women’s machinery in Ethiopia is the inadequate sensitisation of the respective ministerial, regional, and Zonal and Woreda level technical staff and high-level officials on gender issues. Since the majority of these officers are men and most of them dealing with technical issues, they are unable to clearly address gender and women’s issues in their work related activities. This gap is mainly due to the weak capacity of the gender machinery itself as well as the view that such activities are the responsibility of the gender officer rather than all federal and regional staff. This in turn puts the responsibility for mainstreaming women’s issues on the gender focal person alone.

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2.8. Training Service Providers In Gender And Women’s Development Issues 2.8.1. Ethiopia, in the last five years, has seen a boost of women’s development activities within various donor driven programmes. Thus, this has given rise to a large number of local and international NGOs, as well as local women’s associations, to engage in gender training delivery activities. Some have developed their own training manuals in issues of gender mainstreaming in development planning, project cycle, and community participation. Where the training requires more technical information, NGOs have collaborated with local professional associations to develop such training approaches and material. Such service providers have proved to be widely mobile, have adequate staffing capacity whose technical qualifications and local language abilities are up to standards. Furthermore, most of the experienced service providers are able to design training programmes for specific regional or population group needs. The University of Addis Ababa includes a unit for research on women’s development issues. It has, to date, not been involved in training service delivery but is highly competent in undertaking research and studies on regional and local women and gender related issues. The training activities planned under the proposed project will make use of these locally existing training service providers. 2.9. Donor Interventions in the Country 2.9.1. The World Bank has identified in their Ethiopia CAS (2002) the need to support capacity building for gender mainstreaming and sensitisation in the Country. They have, together with the Italian Aid Cooperation financed a project of USD 5 million in Ethiopia. The project focuses on training and capacity building of grass roots beneficiaries in the areas of legal awareness, leadership and decision making training, and business skills training. 2.9.2. The European Union’s support to gender mainstreaming has been mainly under the civil society programme that is currently planned for Ethiopia. The Netherlands Development Aid support has been mainly through the Ministries of Education, Health and Agriculture respectively. They have also provided some support to the HIV/ AIDS coalition, the Ethiopian experience in the use of the Gender and Development Index (GDI), as well as establishing the Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) as an umbrella for women’s NGOs in the country. They had previously supported the development of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the National Policy on Women. However, due to some constraints at the time, the NAP was not finalised. Thus, they are now spearheading the re-launching of the development of a National Action Plan together with the support of other donors. They have also provided some support to address gender mainstreaming capacity building to five line Ministries, the Federal Civil Service Commission, four local NGOs and representatives of the media. This support is channelled through an international NGO and focuses, at the Ministerial level, on addressing gender issues in organisational development, culture, and policies. The Norwegian Development Aid provides most of its support to activities related to HIV/ AIDS. However, some support has been provided to women’s NGOs, economic empowerment of women, and peace and reconciliation. The Norwegian Development Aid, through an NGO, is currently providing support for training in gender mainstreaming in some selected sectoral ministries and NGOs. The GTZ has been providing support, on a pilot basis, for gender mainstreaming and legal aid in 2 selected zones in the Oromiya region.

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The UNDP, among other activities, is managing a pool fund established for the development of the National Action Plan. 2.10. Lessons Learned 2.10.1. The Bank has mainstreamed gender issues in on-going projects in Ethiopia, for example, the Koga Irrigation and Development Project, The Rural Finance Intermediation Support Programme, the Agriculture Sector Support Programme, The Wacha Maji Road Upgrading Project. The Bank has also financed a capacity building project to the Ministry of Women Affairs in Djibouti. These Bank interventions highlight some important lessons, which have been taken into consideration in this project:

• The national women’s ministry is usually bypassed for support, because many programme and projects go directly to the regions;

• The women’s ministry is the focus for all women and gender related coordination and consultation processes in the country, but they are constrained by inadequate technical skills and tools to enable them to play an effective role;

• The project coordination and implementation capacity of the RWABs is weak; • The RWABs are unable to play the gender guidance and back-stopping role

for the line bureaus and other stakeholders at the regional level. • The various ministerial and line bureau level technical officers are not clear on

what is the role of the WADs in their ministry, and RWABs in the region. • The regional and federal level women and gender development officers are

sometimes discouraged due to their incapacity to address some of the needs in their work activities.

• Community leaders and elders are aware of the need to involve women in development planning and programme implementation but are unable to realise this need into action.

3. THE PROJECT 3.1. Project Concept and Rationale 3.1.1. The rural populace of Ethiopia that comprises some 75% of the country’s population is considered to be the majority of the poor. Some of the MDG targets are considered to have slipped back as compared to the regional MDG progress. For example, rural access to clean water has worsened, going down from 17% in 1999 to 12% in 2000. HIV prevalence among pregnant women is reported at 15% and malaria related deaths amongst children of ages 0 to 4 years stands at 1000 as reported in year 2000. Furthermore, maternal mortality stands at 1,800 in 1997 and skilled health personnel attended only 6% of the births in rural areas. Indicators related to education have also not improved significantly. For example, the ratio of girls to boys in primary education increased from 0.66 in 1990 to 0.68 in 2000. The ratio of female to male literacy increased from 0.66 in 1990 to 0.81 in 2000.

3.1.2. Given this poor performance, serious gender and human development inequalities have resulted. Uneven application of the NPW, irregular planning, supervision, and monitoring as well as emerging challenges to human development

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such as recurrent drought, inadequate agriculture and livestock production, endemic diseases, have exacerbated the situation and prevented rural and peri-urban communities from reducing their vulnerability. 3.1.3. Currently, gender and development interventions designed in some donor funded projects and programmes have limited outreach and impact to a few communities which are specific to the project area. These interventions are usually oriented to inclusion of women in production and in participation activities. There still remains, however, a vast gap in identifying and addressing gender issues in national and regional policy reform, development planning framework, and national and regional development budget and expenditure planning. While, the WAO is mandated to coordinate addressing these issues holistically, it has been constrained by insufficient capacity both technical and human. Under the proposed project, the capacity building support will address the identified gap for gender mainstreaming in development planning, budget, and policy reform both federally and regionally; the project will focus on the five biggest and poorest regions which constitute almost 78% of the Ethiopian population. By filling this identified gap, more sustainable human development interventions that focus on bottom-up development will be derived. To assist and enable this, the second component of this project, gender mainstreaming tools development is designed. This component will ensure that appropriate gender mainstreaming and development techniques and approaches are used, properly monitored, and further gender and development issues are brought to the forefront. 3.1.4. The project will proactively strengthen the human resource base, which has been overtly over-stretched at all levels in recent years. Following decentralisation more and more policy and programmatic planning, implementation, and monitoring responsibilities have been delegated to the regional and Woreda level staff. Capacity building and institutional development will ensure that the overall development framework and delivery is made gender responsive and sustainable. This includes training and assistance to community leaders, women’s associations, regional and federal women’s affairs and development officers, as well as technical officers from planning and budget departments of key ministries who are responsible for the macro and regional level planning, design, monitoring and evaluation activities. 3.1.5. Thus, the present project supports the GOE’s commitment to achieving SDPRP and MDG targets for social development and ensuring gender and development in their policy and programmes. The project will target the technical officers of the key federal ministries and line bureaus such as agriculture and rural development, health, education, infrastructure, water resources and finance and economic development. It is expected that the project will enable these staff members, and thereby respective institutions, to pursue improved and effective gender mainstreaming in the development planning and policy design stage. It is expected that the project will enable and ensure the necessary and conducive policy environment to ensure that the project and programme related interventions achieve the planned impact with respect to poverty reduction and sustainable human development. 3.1.6. In particular it will address constraints related to strengthening and updating of skills and knowledge of relevant staff of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and selected regions in issues related to gender mainstreaming. It will further

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address the constraint of inadequate gender mainstreaming tools, guidelines, and regional strategic framework for gender and development. Moreover, the project will enable networking, information sharing and promotion of best practices federally and regionally. Furthermore, it will also enable gender equitable bottom-up identification and implementation and monitoring of sustainable development strategies, while supporting existing gender machinery to have a more concrete and proactive role within their areas of operations through better sensitisation of high-level officials in key GOE organs. 3.1.7. During the project formulation, discussions were held with representatives of key ministries and gender focal persons. Selected regions were also visited where in-depth discussions were held with the RWAB director and experts, and the regional planning and budget staff. Furthermore, civil society representatives and professional NGOs were also consulted to concretise the project design and envisage coordination and collaboration platforms. The project design, thus, reflects the needs and demands of the GOE and has been developed after extensive consultation with the beneficiaries other stakeholders. Furthermore, donor representatives were also consulted and discussions were held to ensure effective coordination of proposed activities. In this regard both the overall Donor Assistance Group (DAG) and the Group for Advancement of Women (GAW) were consulted. 3.2. Project Area and Beneficiaries 3.2.1. The project area is identified as national in terms of the outreach by the WAO/ PMO and the WAD/ MOFED. It will also include five regions which are Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR, Oromiya, and Afar. The selection of these regions is based on the National Poverty Profile where they have been identified for priority development intervention; the combined population of the five selected regions represents approximately 78% of the Ethiopian population. These regions also represent a major part of the Bank’s active portfolio. The Oromiya region has an approximate population of 22 million with women slightly outnumbering men. About 90% of the region's population is rural and engaged in agriculture as the main source of livelihood. Oromiya has a great natural resources diversity including mountain ranges, undulating plateaus, deep river valleys and rolling plains. The prevailing climatic types in the region are grouped into three main categories: dry, tropical rainy and temperate rainy. 3.2.2. The Amhara region is estimated to have a population of 15 million with about 51% women and more than 90% of the population being rural. Approximately 85% of the people in the region are engaged in agriculture and the region is one of the major teff (a staple food for Ethiopians) producing areas in the country. Women in the region are equally engaged in agriculture working on the family plot as well as doing back-yard gardening for subsistence. The women are also engaged in keeping small livestock and managing dairy products. Amhara rural women are better mobilized into community associations and savings groups and thus have relatively more experience in income generating activities. Amhara is topographically divided into two main parts - the highlands and lowlands. The highlands dominate the region and are characterized by chains of mountains and plateaus.

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3.2.3. The SNNPR has an approximate population of 11 million of which almost 51% are females. The rural population of the region accounts for nearly 95% of the total population engaged in agriculture based activities. The population is concentrated mostly in eastern, northern and central part of the State while the western and southern parts are sparsely populated. Approximately 55% of the total area is found below an elevation of 5,000 feet meters elevation and is categorized largely as hot low land. 3.2.4. The Tigray region has an estimated population of 4 million with women constituting about 55%. About 85% of the population is rural based and engaged in agriculture production of cereals and vegetables. The region is also known for its production of cotton, incense, sesame and minerals. Both men and women are engaged in agriculture activities as well as handicrafts including gold smiths, painting and wood sculpturing are widely practiced in historic cities of the state. The region is largely dry with few trees, and has an average annual rainfall is between 18 and 40 inches a year. 3.2.5. The Afar region lies in the Great Rift Valley and is distributed into 5 Zones and 29 Woredas. It has an estimated population of 1.26 million of which 40% are women. Approximately 92% of the population is rural and lead a pastoral life rearing camels, cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys. Women are involved in keeping and managing small livestock and their by-products. Most of the region is flat land with the elevation ranging from 384 feet below sea level to 5,280 feet above sea level. Some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in the low lying areas was about 49 degrees Centigrade. During the rainy season, the average temperature drops to about 32 degrees Centigrade. The average annual rainfall is approximately seven and a half inches.

3.2.6. The direct beneficiaries of this project will be the WAO/ PMO, the WAD/ MOFED, and Regional Women’s Affairs Bureaus, Zones and Woredas from the regions of Amhara, Tigray, Afar, SNNPR, and Oromiya. The project will also, through the primary beneficiaries, target the high level officials and technical officers from the ministries and line bureaus of agriculture and rural development, education, health, water resources, infrastructure, and finance and economic development; as well as community leaders and representatives. 3.3. Strategic Context 3.3.1. The GOE considers gender and women’s development as an important priority to achieve sustainable human development. The National Policy on Women has highlighted the areas needing urgent attention in order to achieve women’s empowerment and gender equity in Ethiopia. The SDPRP has further added emphasis to the need for involving women in the development planning process by identifying capacity building in gender mainstreaming issues in the various sectors, at the regional, Zonal and Woreda level. The concept paper to develop the National Action Plan has built upon this to highlight the need for capacity building at the overall national level which will enhance coordination for gender mainstreaming activities. The present project is in line with the proposed National Action Plan and is complementary to the proposed activities therein. The strategic significance of the project is further demonstrated by focusing on key institutions mandated with

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promoting gender mainstreaming in the country which will contribute to Ethiopia’s efforts in achieving the gender related MDGs and SDPRP targets. The project is also in line with the priorities and strategic interventions proposed in the Bank CSP (2002 – 2004). 3.3.2. The proposed project has adopted a targeted approach in tackling the issue of capacity deficiencies within the pertinent institutions in charge of gender and women’s development nationally and within the overall and regional development planning and monitoring. The project’s extensive concentration on human resources development at both the Federal and Regional levels of Government is consistent with the country’s urgent need for skilled and experienced human power in gender mainstreaming, involving the coordination, implementation, monitoring and reporting of gender and women’s development issues. In Ethiopia’s decentralized system of Government, the regional bureau find themselves assuming heavy responsibilities of implementing and monitoring development activities and yet the regions generally lack adequately skilled and experienced staff for this task. By addressing the capacity strengthening issues, particularly targeted to development of human power, at the relevant Federal and Regional structures the project is expected to put in place a reasonable mechanism for the promotion and monitoring of gender mainstreaming issues in the country. 3.4. Project Objective 3.4.1. The overall goal is to contribute to increasing Government’s capacity to achieve gender related MDG and SDPRP targets The specific objective of the project is to establish greater local institutional and human capacity of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and selected regional women’s affairs offices to design and implement gender sensitive policy and development planning interventions geared to achieving MDG and SDPRP targets. 3.5. Detailed Description of Project Components and Outputs The project will have two components with the following outputs: A) Institutional Support and Development 3.5.1. The project will support long term training undertaken for WAO/ PMO. Local training workshops for 40 high level officials, 160 staff at the federal level and 620 staff at the regional level from key line ministries and regional bureaus in gender mainstreaming strategies, monitoring, and reporting, will also be undertaken under the project. Furthermore, short term training and networking will be supported for 22 key staff of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and the regional women’s affairs bureau staff from the five participating regions in gender and development approaches and mainstreaming strategies in project and programme management. 600 community leaders selected from participating regions will be targeted for sensitisation campaigns in gender issues, mainstreaming strategies and participatory mechanism. Local training in IT and statistical analysis packages will be undertaken for 28 staff from WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and participating RWABs. The WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and participating regional women’s affairs bureaus will benefit from office automation and equipment.

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3.5.2. The PMT will be supported with office automation and technology. Furthermore, staff of PMT will receive support for participation in two networking activities. The PMT will also receive support for one short term Procurement Expert consultant for six months in PY1 and two months in PY2, as well as annual audit of project accounts. (B) Gender Mainstreaming Tools Development 3.5.3. The project will support the development of 5 packages of sectoral guidelines and tools, 3 regional gender mainstreaming strategic frameworks, and one feasibility study and action plan for the EWDF training centre, for the WAO/ PMO and WAD/ MOFED. The project will also support 3 sectoral action plans in the area of Women and Law and Customary Practices, Women and Land Tenure in Ethiopia, and Gender Budgeting in Ethiopia will also be undertaken.

Detailed Description of Components A) Institutional Support and Development 3.5.4. This component will serve to strengthen the human resource capacity of the WAO/ PMO, federal high level officials and line WADs and selected technical and regional staff to effectively address and mainstream gender issues in their respective policy, programme and activities. 3.5.5. Long and Short term training: The project will support relevant staff of the WAO/ PMO to undertake long term training in the area of gender and development. Furthermore, relevant staff of the WAO/ PMO will also be supported to undertake short term training in areas relevant to gender mainstreaming strategy design, implementation, monitoring, and reporting and in the different country level activities such as policies, programmes and projects, macro-economic and national development planning which will strengthen their capacity to give guidance to other sectoral and regional experts as well as enable them to provide adequate monitoring and reporting. The selection of participants for training will be done through consultation with the respective WAD at the line ministries, RWABs for the respective line bureaus. 3.5.6. Training workshops and sensitisation campaigns (detailed training topics are listed in the log frame): The project will support WAO/ PMO in conducting training workshops for technical experts from the key line bureaus (such as agriculture, water resources, health, education, finance and economic development) and staff of the regional women’s affairs bureaus, selected zones and Woredas in areas of gender sensitisation and awareness raising, gender mainstreaming strategies in development planning process, participatory approaches in rural decision-making structures, gender monitoring and reporting methodologies, and leadership and community mobilisation approaches. The WAO/ PMO will also initiate gender sensitisation campaigns for community leaders and other influential groups at the community level. The proposed training workshops and sensitisation campaigns will be outsourced to qualified service providers such as NGOs and other local training institutions. The selection of participants for training workshops will be done in

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consultation with the relevant regional women’s affairs bureau. The proposed training and sensitisation activities will be undertaken in collaboration staff from the regions of Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR, Oromiya, and Afar. The selected regions will also receive office equipment and information technology. 3.5.7. The Women’s Affairs Department at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development will help to achieve the objective of putting in place a gender sensitive and responsive development planning and budgeting system. Therefore, WAD/ MOFED will be supported to provide extensive training in gender responsive development for the planning and budget staff of the different line ministries as well as the regional line bureaus, Zonal and Woreda level administration. The project will also support the WAD/ MOFED to initiate training in gender sensitisation and mainstreaming strategies for the relevant staff of the MOFED including the high level officials. The WAD/ MOFED will also benefit from, as well as initiate, training on developing gender sensitive indicators, gender responsive monitoring, as well as reporting and follow-up with regards to the SDPRP. Consultants will be recruited to undertake the different training and development of relevant training material and guidelines. 3.5.8. Minor maintenance and repairs: The EWDF will benefit from small maintenance and repairs of one training centre building. This centre is currently being used for training of grass-roots women and men in improved production and business management skills, and participants range from unskilled to semi-skilled, illiterate to semi-literate, disabled, and other vulnerable groups. It is expected that the rehabilitation of the training centre building will directly contribute to increasing the number of vulnerable men and women trained and will reduce poverty at the household level. The EWDF will also update training equipment and materials, as well as receive training of staff in updated and new income generation skills. Furthermore, the EWDF will also be supported to develop a feasibility study for construction of a new training and production centre and will also develop a Strategic Framework for Promotion and Development of the EWDF. Both documents will empower EWDF to promote their activities throughout the country and will increase their outreach to the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable groups nationally and federally. 3.5.9. Project management: The project will be managed through the existing structure of the WAO/ PMO. Thus, the WAO/ PMO will assign three staff members, whose qualifications and experience are acceptable to the Bank, for the positions of project coordinator, accountant and secretary to comprise the Project Management Team. Therefore, the Project Management Team (PMT) will be provided with office technology and equipment, field allowances and office running expenses. Furthermore a short term procurement consultant will be recruited for six months in PY1 and four months in PY2. The project will also support the costs of annual auditing of project accounts. The project will also support one technical assistant who will have experience in training design and delivery. He/ she will be charged with finalising the terms of references of the various short term training workshops, sectoral guidelines and tools, studies, and strategic frameworks. Moreover, he/ she will play an advisory role to the WAO/ PMO, the WAD/ MOFED, and the participating regions in issues related to project activities and implementation. The TA will also assist in coordinating the different activities under the project ensuring

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their effective implementation. The project will also provide office automation and information technology to the WAO/ PMO; WAD/ MOFED, and the participating RWABs. Specifically the project will provide for training to the selected staff of these institutions in different computer software such as Excel, PowerPoint, Word, SPSS, as well as internet and email services. B) Gender Mainstreaming Tools Development 3.5.10. Development of guidelines and tools:The project will support the participating regions to develop guidelines and tools for gender mainstreaming in sectoral activities as well as regional development planning and monitoring. These will be done with the help of consultants who have experience in developing gender mainstreaming guidelines and tools in agriculture, water resources, governance, health, education, gender in project cycle and development planning, etc. The guidelines will be translated into the local language and distributed to technical experts in sectoral ministries and regional executive agencies. The RWABs will be responsible to sensitise the technical line bureau officers in the use of the guidelines and will follow-up on improved gender mainstreaming outreach in the respective sectors. The project will also support the development of a gender mainstreaming strategic framework for the regions which will be aimed to prioritise and outline the activities necessary to address the most pertinent gender constraints and issues. 3.5.11. The project will also provide support to develop key action plans, with the help of consultants who have experience in action oriented research. An action plan will be proposed in the area of Women and Land Tenure in Ethiopia. The objective of this report will be to present a situation analysis and regional comparison on the practice of land tenure and management with regards to men and women. The report will identify critical issues and best practices and will provide a concrete and participatory action plan to ensure gender equity in issues concerning land. The WAO will also be supported to prepare an analysis on Women, Law and Customary Practices. The objective of this review will be to document and critically analyse the implementation of gender-sensitive legal codes and articles as well as to analyse the extent of customary law implementation. The report will identify areas of inconsistencies and bottlenecks and develop an action plan to alleviate these critical constraints in order to promote the enhanced implementation of a gender sensitive legal framework. Local research assistants will assist the consultants in undertaking the studies. The project will also support WAD/ MOFED to undertake, through the use of a consultant with experience in gender analysis in macro-economic planning, a critical analysis of Gender Budgeting in Ethiopia. The objective of this analytical review will be to establish the Ethiopian experience, challenges and constraints, in gender responsive planning and budgeting and to develop a framework for promoting gender sensitive national budget and expenditure analysis and promoting gender sensitive national budgeting process in the coming fiscal planning phases. 3.6. Project Costs 3.6.1. The total project cost including physical and price contingencies is estimated at ETB 13.92 million, equivalent to UA 1.174 million. The foreign exchange component of the Project is estimated at UA 642,970 or about 55% of total project costs, while local costs amount to UA 531,450 (45% of total cost). Physical and price

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contingencies of 5% each have been included in the cost estimates. The cost estimates are based on the February 2004 prices. The summary project costs by component and by category of expenditure is given in table 3.1 and 3.2 below:

Table 3.1. Summary of Cost Estimates by Components

Component (ETB'000) (UA'000) %FE Foreign Local Total Foreign Local Total Exchange Costs Costs Exchange Costs Costs 1. Institutional Dev. Component 5,869.88 4,667.99 10,537.87 495.15 393.77 888.92 56%2. Gender Tools Dev. Component 1,059.40 1,059.40 2,118.81 89.37 89.37 178.73 50% Total Base Cost 6,929.28 5,727.39 12,656.67 584.52 483.13 1,067.65 55% Physical Contingency 346.46 286.37 632.83 29.23 24.16 53.38 55%Price Contingency 346.46 286.37 632.83 29.23 24.16 53.38 55%Total Project Cost 7,622.21 6,300.13 13,922.34 642.97 531.45 1,174.42 55%

Table 3.2. Summary of Cost Estimates by Category of Expenditure

Category of (ETB'000) (UA'000) %FE Expenditure Foreign Local Total Foreign Local Total Exchange Costs Costs Exchange Costs Costs Civil Works 175.00 175.00 350.00 14.76 14.76 29.52 50%Equipment 1,576.72 82.99 1,659.70 133.00 7.00 140.00 95%Training 2,999.74 2,999.74 5,999.48 253.04 253.04 506.08 50%Studies 1,089.40 1,089.40 2,178.81 91.90 91.90 183.79 50%Technical Assistance 504.75 504.75 1,009.49 42.58 42.58 85.16 50%Recurrent Costs 583.68 875.52 1,459.20 49.24 73.85 123.09 40% Total Base Cost 6,929.28 5,727.39 12,656.67 584.52 483.13 1,067.65 55% Physical Contingency 346.46 286.37 632.83 29.23 24.16 53.38 55%Price Contingency 346.46 286.37 632.83 29.23 24.16 53.38 55%Total Project Cost 7,622.21 6,300.13 13,922.34 642.97 531.45 1,174.42 55% 3.7. Sources of Financing and Expenditure Schedule: 3.7.1. The ADF funding to the Project will be to the tune of UA 1.058 million (equivalent to 90.1% of the total project cost). This will be for the investment cost items namely small repairs and maintenance, equipment, training, studies and preparation of policy and operational guideline documents, technical assistance and some of the recurrent cost items, such as field allowances for project staff. The Federal Government will support the project to the tune of UA 116,690 (9.9%). This will cover the costs of salaries and office running expenses for the participation of the WAO/PMO and WAD/ MOFED in the project. The proposed financing plan for the ADF Project by Source of Funds is given in table 3.3. below.

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Table 3.3. Sources of Finance - (UA ’000)

Source Foreign Local Total % of Exchange Costs Costs Total ADF 642.97 414.75 1,057.72 90.1% Federal Government 116.69 116.69 9.9% Total 642.97 531.45 1,174.42 100%

4. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 4.1. Executing Agency 4.1.1. The Women’s Affairs Office at the Prime Minister’s Office (WAO/ PMO) will be the executing agency. Currently the WAO/ PMO has a staff strength of six and is further in the process of recruiting three experts. It has been proposed that two experts from this staff strength, over and above the PMT staff, will be allocated full-time to guide the activities of the project. The WAO/ PMO is currently managing a UNICEF supported HIV/ AIDS coordination project, and coordinating the World Bank partly-funded project of WIDP. Thus, it has the necessary experience in managing and implementation of donor supported projects. However, the WAO/ PMO will be supported by technical assistance in specific areas of developing terms of references of action plans, regional gender strategic frameworks, guidelines, training, etc. The WAO/ PMO also has adequate office space to accommodate the technical assistants and short-term consultants to be recruited under this project. Therefore, the Project Management Team will be located in the WAO/ PMO and its role will be to coordinate the implementation of the activities under the project for the different target beneficiaries. 4.2. Organisation and Management 4.2.1. The project will be managed by a project management team which will be composed of a coordinator, an accountant and a secretary. These positions will be filled by existing staff of the WAO/ PMO and will constitute part of Government contribution. The WAO/ PMO will assign staff, whose CVs have to be approved by the Bank, for the positions of project Coordinator, accountant, and secretary to comprise the Project Management Team (see condition B (i)). The Project Management Team will be responsible for the day-to-day activities of project implementation. The WAO/ PMO will allocate office space for the Project Coordinator, Accountant, Secretary and the short and long term technical assistants and consultants (see condition B (ii) ). A Procurement Consultant and a Monitoring and Evaluation consultant will be recruited on a short term basis in PY1 and PY2. These consultants will assist the project coordinator and work closely with the project assigned staff of WAO, WAD/ MOFED and the heads of the RWABs. The Project Coordinator together with the Accountant will be responsible for the coordination and implementation of all the project activities for all the beneficiaries under the project, as well as preparation and submission of the relevant progress reports to the Bank. Furthermore, the Project Coordinator, together with the technical assistant will finalise the terms of reference for the different action plans and strategic frameworks, and recruitment of relevant consultants and implementation of the training activities.

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The accountant will maintain project financial records and provide the progress reports on financial issues. 4.2.2. The WAD/ MOFED will submit its annual work plan and request for implementation of respective project activities to the Project Coordinator and he/ she will be responsible for the coordination of the requests and follow-up on the activities. 4.2.3. A Project Steering Committee (PSC), chaired by the State Minister in WAO/ PMO will be created and will have overall authority over the project in terms of policy guidance, approval of work plans and budget (see condition B (iii)). The other members of the Steering Committee will be the Head of Planning and Project Department in MOFED, the regional Directors of the Supreme Office under which the Regional Women’s Affairs Bureaus are structurally located in the regions of Amhara, Tigray, Oromiya, SNNPR, and Afar; representative of the Network of Women’s Associations (NEWA); head of women’s affairs department of the Ministry of Capacity Building. The project coordinator will be the Secretary to the PSC. The minutes of the Steering Committee meetings will be submitted to the ADF. The Project Management Team will report regularly to the Steering Committee and receive feedback, and also prepare project accounts, quarterly project reports and ensure the preparation of annual audit reports for submission to the Bank, and undertake all procurement and disbursement functions under the project. 4.3. Supervision and Implementation Schedule 4.3.1. The overall Programme will be implemented over a 2 year period (2004/5-2005/6, see Annex III). Summary of the Expenditure Schedule for the ADF Project by Component and by Sources of Finance is given in Table 4.1 and 4.2 respectively.

Table 4.1. Expenditure Schedule By Component (UA ’000)

Component 2004/5 2005/6 Total 1. Institutional Development Component 608.81 369.01 977.81 2. Gender Tools Development Component 182.09 14.51 196.60 Total 790.90 383.52 1,174.42

Table 4.2.

Expenditure Schedule by Source of Finance (UA ’000) Source of Finance 2004/5 2005/6 Total ADF 712.31 345.41 1,057.72 Government 78.59 38.11 116.69 Total 790.90 383.52 1,174.42

4.3.2. During implementation, the Bank will closely supervise the project twice per year and ETCO will assist in the regular follow-up of the project. Since the project is of a short-term duration a Mid Term review will not be necessary. A Project

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Completion Report (PCR) will be prepared both by the GOE and the Bank by the end of PY2. 4.4. Procurement Arrangements 4.4.1. Procurement arrangements are summarized in Table 4.3 below. All procurement of goods, works and acquisition of consulting services financed by the Bank will be in accordance with the Bank's Rules of Procedure for Procurement of Goods and Works or, as appropriate, Rules of Procedure for the Use of Consultants, using the relevant Bank Standard Bidding Documents. 4.4.2. Civil Works (small maintenance works): Small rehabilitation and maintenance works for EWDF Training Centre amounting to UA 32,480 will be procured through National Competitive Bidding (NCB) because the character, location, and size of the maintenance works to be undertaken are such that they are unlikely to attract bids from outside Ethiopia, and there are sufficiently qualified local contractors and suppliers and their numbers are sufficient to ensure competitive bidding. 4.4.3. Equipment (office automation): The procurement of equipment worth UA 154,000 (in several lots) will be done through National Competitive Bidding (NCB) because the equipment is of such value and quantities that their supply will not interest suppliers outside Ethiopia and there are local suppliers in sufficient numbers to ensure competitive bidding. 4.4.4. Studies (guidelines, action plan, etc): The cost of studies refers to the preparation of sectoral guidelines, gender mainstreaming tools, regional strategic frameworks, monitoring and evaluation indicators and guidelines, as well as analysis on critical issues constraining women’s access to resources. These activities worth UA 202,170 will be procured on the basis of a shortlist of qualified firms/ individuals in accordance with Bank Group’s “Rules of Procedure for the Use of Consultants’. The selection procedure for firms will combine technical quality with price consideration. For individual local consultants required to undertake short-term studies not exceeding two months, the PMT will be allowed to recruit them directly in accordance with the Bank Rules. 4.4.5. Training and Workshops: worth UA 556,690 will be procured as follows: long and short term overseas training will be procured through shortlists of training institutions. The selection procedure of these institutions will be based on establishing the comparability of contents of the training courses and selection of the lowest financial offer. Training workshops and sensitisation campaign for government staff will be procured through a shortlist of qualified institutions that offer the type of training required. The PMT will work with the relevant beneficiary institutions in identifying the appropriate training institutions. In the case where the services of consultants to facilitate such services will be needed, especially the workshops, procurement of such consultants will be done in accordance with Bank Group’s “Rules of Procedure for the Use of Consultants’. 4.4.6. Technical Assistance: Technical assistance, including a long term gender training expert, short term procurement consultant and a monitoring and evaluation consultant, worth UA 93,670 will be procured on the basis of a shortlist of qualified

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individuals. In accordance with Bank Group’s “Rules of Procedure for the Use of Consultants’ (section 2.9.7 and 3.5.1.). The Executing Agency will advertise the positions nationally and regionally because the amounts involved are relatively small. 4.4.7. Miscellaneous: Recurrent expenditure items such as the payment of field allowances, salaries and office operation expenses worth UA 135,400 will be procured by GOE using its regular procedures which have been reviewed and found acceptable. Audit Services worth UA 9,290 will be acquired through a shortlist. The selection procedure will be based on establishing the comparability of technical proposals and selection of the lowest financial offer. 4.4.8. Executing Agency The Project Management Team will be responsible for the management of the procurement process, and also for preparing the training schedule. While the WAO, which will host the PMT, has adequate experience in management and implementation of projects funded by other donors, the present Bank funded project is the first under WAO coordination. Therefore, in order to facilitate the effective procurement of goods and services, a procurement expert will be recruited on a short-term basis for the project.

Table 4.3. Summary of Procurement Arrangements (UA ’000)

Category NCB Short List Other (a) Total 1. 1.1

Civil works Rehabilitation and maintenance

32.48 (32.48)

32.48 (32.48)

2. 2.1

Goods Office Automation

154.00 (154.00)

154.00 (154.00)

3. 3.1

Consultancy services Training and Workshops

556.69

(556.69)

556.69

(556.69) 3.2 Studies 202.17

(202.17) 202.17

(202.17) 3.3 Technical Assistance 84.39

(84.39) 84.39

(84.39) 4. 4.1

Miscellaneous Salaries, field allowances and office running expenses.

135.40

(18.70)(b)

135.40 (18.70)

4.2 Audit Services 9.29 (9.29)

9.29 (9.29)

Total 186.48 (186.48)

852.54 (852.54)

135.40 (18.70)

1,174.42 (1,057.72)

Figures in bracket represent ADF Grant contribution. (a) Other mode will include procurement using the GOE regular procedures (b) Field allowances only

4.4.9. Procurement Notice The text of a General Procurement Notice (GPN) will be issued for publication in the UN “Development Business News” upon approval by the Board of Directors of the grant proposal.

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4.4.10. Review Procedures

The following documents are subject to review and approval by the Bank before promulgation: (i) Specific Procurement Notice; (ii) Pre-qualification Invitation Documents; (iii) Tender Documents or Requests for Proposals from Consultants; (iv) Tender Evaluation Reports or Reports on Evaluation of Consultant’s Proposals including recommendation for contract award; and (v) Draft Contracts if these have been amended from the drafts included in the tender invitation documents 4.5. Disbursement Arrangements 4.5.1. The disbursement methods to be used will be direct payment and special account. A foreign exchange account will be opened in a local bank acceptable to the Fund into which the ADF's contribution to the local costs will be deposited to meet four months of such expenditure based on an expenditure schedule prepared by the project. Replenishment of this account will be made after submission of a request and proof of utilization of at least 50% of the amount previously deposited. 4.6. Monitoring and Evaluation 4.6.1. The basis for the overall project monitoring and evaluation will be the logical framework, and the project working paper. In addition, other indicators for monitoring project effectiveness will be the number of households in the participating regions which have information on gender mainstreaming concept as part of the community sensitisation campaigns; the number of federal, regional, zonal and Woreda level technical staff using the gender mainstreaming techniques in their work; number of federal and regional policy and programmatic documents which include clear gender mainstreaming strategies; increased coordination and networking visits and meetings between the federal and regional women’s development officers; and incremental participation of women in community focused activities both GOE initiated interventions as well as intra-community activities. 4.6.2. The Project will also recruit, on short term basis, an M&E expert for 6 months in PY1 and 4 months by the third quarter in PY2. The consultant will be required to put in place an extensive monitoring and evaluation system and reporting process as well as develop process and output monitoring indicators for reporting. He/ she will develop a reporting format and guide the heads of the five RWABs, the head of the WAD/ MOFED and experts in WAO/ PMO in the use and preparation of M&E reports for the project (see detailed TOR for further information). The monitoring indicators will compare project performance each year with the targets set in the annual work plan and budget for that year. The general principle for the participatory monitoring of project activities will include, the RWABs, Zones and Woredas will monitor their activities and performance, as well as inputs and output achievements. The M&E Officer will co-ordinate all monitoring and evaluation activities and facilitate the production of the necessary reports. 4.6.3. Furthermore, quarterly progress reports will be prepared by the Executing Agency and forwarded promptly to the Bank for review. These reports will highlight key implementation issues and recommend actions for their resolution. Similarly, the Bank will also closely monitor the project by undertaking regular supervision

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missions to evaluate implementation progress. The Ethiopia Country Office (ETCO) will assist in the regular follow-up of the project. The Executing Agency will ensure that the accounts of the project are audited at the end of every year and that the audit report is submitted to the Bank promptly in accordance with the ADF’s General Conditions relating to financial reporting. 4.7. Financial Reporting and Auditing 4.7.1. The Project Management Team will maintain proper consolidated financial reports and audited accounts, copies of which will be made available to the Bank not more than six (6) months after the end of the financial year. The project will finance the costs of conducting the annual audit through an independent external audit. It will submit to the Fund regular quarterly progress reports that follow the official Bank report guidelines. 4.8. Aid Coordination 4.8.1. The Development Assistance Group (DAG) is the overall aid coordination group in Ethiopia. It is chaired, currently, by the UNDP and all donors in the country are members, including ADB through the ETCO representation. The DAG meets once a week where on-going and planned policy and programmatic interventions by the donors are discussed and followed-up. The Group for Advancement of Women (GAW) is the gender-donor focal group, of which ADB is a member, and meets regularly to discuss donor funded activities and in the country. The GAW is currently chaired by SIDA and meetings are held at the Austrian Development Cooperation offices. In particular GAW is mandated to monitor progress of gender mainstreaming in the GOE programmes and development plans, as well as to provide guidance and back-stopping support to the gender machinery in the country. The GAW also aims to coordinate gender related donor activities in order to ensure complementarity. The mission team has briefed both groups on the present project. Both the DAG and the GAW supported the ADB project and recognised the need for such an initiative. Thus the proposed project falls in line with the overall donor support in Ethiopia. Future Bank supervision missions will continue to participate in the GAW meetings while in the country and will follow-up on any new donor driven gender programmes. The present project does not overlap or infringe upon regional or federal activities supported by other donors. The present project is currently the first comprehensive capacity building intervention to the WAO/ PMO and the WAD/ MOFED in the country. 5. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY AND RISKS 5.1. Recurrent Costs. 5.1.1. The total recurrent cost of the project amounts to UA 135,400. This covers expenditure items such as salaries of Government staff to be seconded to work on the project, field allowances and office operating expenses. The Government will provide UA 116,690 (86%) to meet the cost of staff salaries and office operation expenses of the WAO/ PMO and WAD/ MOFED while the Bank will contribute UA 18,710 (14%) for the payment of field allowances for the project staff. Most of the staff positions earmarked for secondment to the project do have their salaries already

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included in the National Budgets thus this is not going to cause any significant additional strain on the Government’s resources. 5.2. Project Sustainability 5.2.1. The sustainability of the project will be ensured through the impact it will have in the long term. By putting in place staff, both regionally and federally, who are trained as trainers, future refresher training can be done in-house by the staff trained under this project. The gender mainstreaming tools and guidelines developed under this project will be used to assist in future refresher training. Furthermore, sustainability will also be ensured by the proactive involvement of the trained staff in programme and policy design as well as monitoring SDPRP and MDG targets. Furthermore, the technical officers from the key line ministries and bureaus will also make use of the guidelines and tools developed under the project in their own respective work activities, programme and policy design and monitoring. Furthermore, the target beneficiaries, both regionally and federally, are currently mandated with gender mainstreaming responsibilities, therefore ensuring that this comprises a major part of their responsibility in delivering the government commitments for sustainable development, in particular for MDG and SDPRP targets. The project has further ensured that the trained staff will be able to more closely network and exchange experiences by way of unifying their approach to gender mainstreaming. The trained staff of the RWABs, Zones and Woredas will also be provided with the respective gender guidelines and tools which will help them to carry out gender mainstreaming after the project life. 5.3. Risks 5.3.1 The project benefits may not be sustained if the number of vacant positions are not satisfactorily filled before start of the project. However, this risk will be mitigated because the GOE is already in the process of recruiting qualified and relevant staff for the respective vacant positions in the different beneficiary institutions. Nevertheless, the issue will be maintained as a project condition. (See Condition (C) (ii) ) 5.3.2. A second risk could arise relating to the trained staff being attracted by other organisations to leave the civil service. This risk will be mitigated by the fact that a majority of the training for the technical staff at the federal and regional level is in the form of one-week local training workshops. Contents of such workshops will be specific to the needs of the training beneficiaries. 5.3.3. A third risk could arise relating to the trained staff not having the adequate working environment in terms of visibility and representation in their respective institutions to efficiently undertake gender related activities. This risk is mitigated by further sensitisation and training of higher level officials in gender issues and gaining their support to provide more visibility to gender focal persons and gender mainstreaming strategies in the planning and implementation process. The presence of adequate visibility for gender issues at the federal and regional level will be closely monitored and follow-up action will be recommended by the PSC when and where necessary.

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5.3.4. A final risk could arise if the arrangement of the policy environment changes with regards to women and gender and development. However, the obvious determination of the government in mainstreaming gender issues in the country, as reflected in the development of the NAP, the significant measures put in place to meet the Beijing +10, as well as commitment to achieving the MDG targets, reassures that the policy environment would remain favourable for gender mainstreaming and promotion. 5.4. Justification 5.4.1 Ethiopia is the leading beneficiary of ADF resources and the Bank Group’s portfolio in the country is among the largest, in terms of both amount of investments and the number of interventions. Furthermore, Ethiopia is also considered to be among the countries on the continent suffering from the most critical gender gaps in all aspects of the socio-economic structures. As both the Government and the Bank have identified capacity weaknesses in the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED and at the regional level, corrective measures have become necessary. Thus, this project will contribute to effective and timely gender mainstreaming strategies and actions in respective country-wide development programmes and efforts aimed at achieving MDG and SDPRP targets. 5.4.2 The project will address the capacity weaknesses of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED, and regionally for the Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR, Afar, and Oromiya and their respective Zones and Woredas. As GOE has submitted the first draft of the Annual Progress Report (APR) on the SDPRP and major gender related weaknesses have been highlighted in the report, the project is well targeted and timely in order to strengthen the capacity of the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED, and RWABs and respective Zones and Woredas to identify, address, and mainstream gender issues in the future SDPRP updates and APR. The project’s benefits will go beyond Bank Group’s operations and impact positively on all other development programmes coordinated and implemented by the GOE organs. 5.5. Social Impact 5.5.1. It is expected that with the support of this project the gender mainstreaming activities in the country will be greatly strengthened. It will specifically improve the design, implementation and monitoring of the gender mainstreaming interventions at the regional and grassroots level. This will enable the development of realistic interventions and support the measurable impact analysis of the conditions of rural and urban poor women. The project will contribute to developing a clear mechanism for feedback and support from the central level to the regional and Woreda level gender mainstreaming agencies which will help to avoid duplication of efforts and enhance best practices implementation as well as identify region specific constraints and strategies concerning women and gender and development. It is expected that the project will capacitate the targeted staff at regional and federal level to enable a focused approach to gender mainstreaming and women’s development, especially at the grassroots and community level. Furthermore the trained staff will be in a position to apply best practices for improved gender mainstreaming at the planning level, and will be able to better participate within the overall federal and regional economic development planning and monitoring process.

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6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1. Conclusions

The proposed project is in conformity with the Bank Group’s gender mainstreaming and poverty reduction strategy as well as the Ethiopia CSP (2002 – 2004) recommendations. It is also in line with the Ethiopia SDPRP, and the National Policy on Women. The thrust of the proposed project is to contribute significantly to the rectification of the capacity situation in the WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED, and the RWABs of Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR, Oromiya, and Afar, and to promote effective gender mainstreaming and sustainable human development for poverty reduction strategies. In the process, the benefits would accrue not only to Bank Group operations but to all other development programmes coordinated and implemented by the respective GOE organs. 6.2. Recommendations It is recommended that a ADF grant not exceeding UA 1.06 million be granted to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the purpose of implementing the project as described in this report, subject to the following specific conditions: (A) Conditions Precedent to Entry into Force of the Grant Protocol

(i) The Protocol of Agreement will enter into force upon its signature; (B) Conditions Precedent to First Disbursement of the Grant

The obligations of the Fund to make the first disbursement shall be conditional upon the entry into force of the Protocol of Agreement and the fulfilment by the Recipient of the following conditions: The Recipient shall have, to the satisfaction of the Fund:

(i) Assigned the necessary staff to the positions of project coordinator, accountant and secretary, and their CVs shall have been subject to prior approval by the Bank; (see paragraph 4.2.1.)

(ii) Assigned office space to accommodate the Project Management Team

and other technical assistants and consultants recruited under this project; (see paragraph 4.2.1.)

(iii) Submitted to the Fund, satisfactory evidence that the Steering

Committee has been created, together with the first minutes of its meeting. The Steering Committee will comprise the State Minister in WAO/ PMO (Chairperson), the Head of Planning and Project Department in MOFED, the respective regional Directors of the Supreme Office under which the Regional Women’s Affairs Bureaus are structurally placed; Network of Women’s Associations (NEWA); heads of women’s affairs departments of the Ministries of Capacity

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Building, Agriculture, Education, Health, and Water Resources; (see paragraph 4.2.3.)

(iv) Provide evidence that a foreign exchange special account, to be

credited periodically with proceeds from the Fund’s contribution, has been opened in a local bank acceptable to the Fund; (see paragraph 4.7.)

(C) Other Conditions In addition, the Recipient shall:

(i) Submit to the Fund, for clearance, a schedule for all the training to be undertaken under the project by the second quarter of PY1; (see paragraph 3.5.5., 3.5.6., 3.5.7., 3.5.8 and 3.5.9.)

(ii) Provide satisfactory evidence that at least half of the vacant

positions, excluding the project management team, at the WAO/ PMO, EWDF, and WAD/ MOFED, is staffed by the end of PY1. (see paragraph 5.3.1.)

ANNEX I – MAP OF ETHIOPIA

This map has been drawn drawn by the African Development Bank Group for the exclusive use of the readers of this report to which it is attached. The names used and the borders shown do not imply on the part of the bank and its members any judgement concerning the legal status of the territory nor any approval or acceptance of these borders.

ANNEX II – PROVISIONAL LIST OF GOODS AND SERVICES

Category of (ETB'000) (UA'000) Co-financiers (UA’000)Expenditure Foreign Local Total Foreign Local Total ADF Fed. Exchange Costs Costs Exchange Costs Costs Govt. Civil Works 192.50 192.50 385.00 16.24 16.24 32.48 32.48 - Equipment 1,734.39 91.28 1,825.67 146.30 7.70 154.00 154.00 - Training 3,299.71 3,299.71 6,599.42 278.35 278.35 556.69 556.69 - Studies 1,198.34 1,198.34 2,396.69 101.09 101.09 202.17 202.17 - Technical Assistance 555.22 555.22 1,110.44 46.84 46.84 93.67 93.67 - Recurrent Costs 642.05 963.07 1,605.12 54.16 81.24 135.40 18.71 116.69 Total Cost 7,622.21 6,300.13 13,922.34 642.97 531.45 1,174.42 1,057.72 116.69

Annex III: Implementation Schedule (December 2004 – November 2006)

Activity

Period

Responsibility 1 Grant Approval 12 May 2004 ADF Board

2 Grant Signature July 2004 ADF/GOE

3 Identify and Depute PMT Members August/ September, 2004 EA

4 Set Up Project Steering Committee and hold 1st Meeting August/ September, 2004 GOE

5 Open Special Account August/ September, 2004 EA

6 Grant Disbursement Effectiveness November 2004 ADF

7 Project Launching December 2004 ADF/GOE

8 Develop and Finalise Procurement Plan and Documents January – February 2005 EA/ Procurement expert

9 Develop Training Programme (for WAO/ PMO, WAD/ MOFED, RWABs)

January – February 2005 PMT/TAs/ RWABs/ WAO/ WAD-MOFED

10 Develop Reporting, M&E Arrangements January – February 2005 PMT/M&E Specialist

11 Develop and Finalise Training Plan January – February 2005 PMT/WAO/ WAD-MOFED/ RWABs

12 Procure goods and equipment March 2005 PMT

13 Implement federal and regional level activities March 2005 - continuous PMT/TAs/ RWABs/ WAO/ WAD-MOFED

14 Monitoring and Reporting/Quarterly Reports 15 Days After end of Each Quarter EA/ PMT

15 Audit Report 6 Months end of Each Fin. Year EA

16 Project Completion Report November 2006 EA and ADF

Annex IV Organogram of the WAO/ PMO

Office of the Prime Minister

Women’s Affairs Office State Minister

Regional Administrative Council - President

Central Government Executive Organs

Regional Women’s Affairs Bureau

Zonal Women’s Affairs Department

Woreda Women’s Department

Ministries

Commissions

Central Agencies

WADs WADs WADs

ANNEX V – ORGANOGRAM FOR THE WAD/ MOFED

Office of the Minister of Finance and Economic Development

Advisory Team

Legal Services

Public Relations

Audit Services

Administration and Finance

Minister of State Economic

Cooperation

Minister of State Economic Cooperation

Women’s Affairs Department(WAD/ MOFED)

Minister of State Public Finance

ANNEX VI – BANK GROUP OPERATIONS IN ETHIOPIA

ANNEX VII HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROJECT REVIEW PROCESS 1. Project Identification: In September 2002, a Bank team having usual consultations with the Women’s Affairs Office (WAO) with the aim of coordinating and mainstreaming gender issues in the Bank’s intervention was informed by the Minister of Women’s Affairs of the need for institutional and capacity building support to the WAO. Thus, a request for project support was made to the Bank Group, through Ethiopia Country Office, ETCO, in January 2003. The Bank Group, undertook a preliminary identification of the proposed project (during the period of evacuation from Abidjan) in February 2003. A Country Team Meeting was held in May 2003 and the project was included for inclusion in the Bank Pipeline. In the meantime, the Bank Group has undertaken conducted a Country Gender Profile for Ethiopia with support from the Finland Bilateral Fund, in October 2003, which reaffirmed the identification report’s findings that the institutional capacity for gender mainstreaming at the national level, overall and in particular at the WAO/ PMO, the WAD/ MOFED and regionally is weak and needs capacity building support. 2. Review process before departure of the mission: The mission issues paper was submitted for internal and inter-departmental working group meetings. Both review processes had adequate participation from relevant departments and divisions. Both review meetings recommended that the team should consider upgrading the mission to an appraisal, once in the field based on the availability of information, adequacy of consultation, and strength of the government’s proposals to be considered in the document. This recommendation was based on the fact that the GOE had stressed the need for the project since March 2003 on several occasions, and that the project appraisal was initially planned for November 2003 and that it was not undertaken at that time. 3. Project Preparation and Appraisal: The preparation mission was undertaken in January 2004 by a team comprising Gender Specialist and an Agricultural Economist, for a period of three weeks. The mission visited Ethiopia since and consulted with government, donors, civil society and NGOs and other stakeholders on the priority constraints and needs of the project’s target beneficiaries and sought and obtained their views on how to best to articulate them in project document. The government was found to be well prepared in its ideas for inclusion and consideration in the project document. Furthermore, both the donor representatives and civil society stressed the importance and the urgency for the project as the targeted institutions were becoming key to gender mainstreaming in the country and needed the capacity building support for addressing their more demanding role. Thus, at the end of the mission, the team considered the availability of information and adequacy of proposed project design and in consultation with the Director, ONAR, and the Ethiopia Country Office it was decided that the project could be upgraded to appraisal and processed as such. 4. Post-mission review process: The document has been reviewed by thoroughly as follows: two internal working groups were held, one interdepartmental meeting was held and the document was then presented for the senior management committee review. After the SMC was held, the document was sent to the government for their review and comments as no “loan negotiations” were to be held, this being an all grant project. Comprehensive comments were received and were incorporated at each review stage.