second consolidated annual progress report. reporting period 1 january - 31 december 2015
TRANSCRIPT
1
SECOND CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT
REPORTING PERIOD: 1 JANUARY – 31 DECEMBER 2015
2
Programme Title & Project Number
Country, Locality(s), Priority Area(s) / Strategic
Results
• Programme Title: Accelerating Progress
Towards Economic Empowerment of Rural
Women
• MPTF Office Project Reference Number:
00092000-6
Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal,
Niger, Rwanda
The strategic result is to secure rural women’s
livelihoods and rights in the context of
sustainable development and the SDGs
Participating Organization(s)
Implementing Partners
• FAO
• IFAD
• UN Women
• WFP
• Government Ministries, NGOs/CSOs, private
sector, and other UN Agencies and
International Organizations
Programme/Project Cost (US$) Programme Duration
Total approved budget as per project document:
US$ 35,000,000
MPTF Contribution:
• FAO: US$ 2,146,869
• IFAD: US$ 1,021,867
• UN Women: US$ 3,023,170
• WFP: US$ 2,715,401
TOTAL: US$ 8,907,307
Overall Duration: 60 months
Start Date 15/10/2012
Original End Date 14/10/2017
Programme Assessment/Review/Mid-Term Eval. Report Submitted By
Assessment/Review
Yes No
Mid-Term Evaluation Report
Yes No
o Name: Azzurra Chiarini
o Title: JP RWEE Global Coordinator
o Email address: [email protected]
3
PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF
THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO)
INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT (IFAD)
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP)
UNITED NATIONS ENTITY FOR GENDER
EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF
WOMEN (UN WOMEN)
CONTRIBUTING DONORS
NORWAY
SWEDEN
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbreviations and acronyms……...………………………………….…………………………………….……………………………………………..5
Definitions…………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………….….6
1. NARRATIVE REPORT…………………..........……..………………………………………………………………………..…………………...7
Executive summary…………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………..7
I. Purpose……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
II. Results……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
i) Narrative reporting on results…………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
a. OUTCOME 1: Rural women have improved food and nutrition security……………………………….9
b. OUTCOME 2: Rural women have enhanced entrepreneurship skills and value chains to
access markets for their products………………………………………………….......................................10
c. OUTCOME 3: Rural women have enhanced leadership and participation in their
communities and in rural institutions……………………………………..………………………………………....11
d. OUTCOME 4: A more gender responsive policy environment is secured for the economic
empowerment of rural women…………………………………………………………………………………………..13
e. Delays in implementation, challenges, lessons learned & best practices…………………………….14
f. Qualitative assessment of the JP’s implementation……………………………………………………………15
g. Governance arrangements…………………………………………………………………………………………………16
h. Knowledge management and sharing events………………………………………................................17
ii) Indicator Based Performance Assessment…………………………………………………………………………….….19
iii) A specific story………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……...23
III. Other assessments or evaluations…………………………………………………………………………………….……………………….....24
IV. Programmatic revision…………………………………………………………………………………………………..….………………………….25
V. Resources…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………..25
2. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE……....…….……………………………………………………………………..…….………..……………...26
1. Sources and use of funds…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………26
2. Partner contributions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..27
3. Interest earned……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….27
4. Transfer of funds…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….27
5. Expenditures and financial delivery rates……………………………………………………………………………………………………….28
5.1 Expenditure reported by Participating Organization……………………………………………………………………….28
5.2 Expenditure by project……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………28
5.3 Expenditure reported by category………………………………………………………………………………………………….30
6. Cost recovery…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………31
7. Accountability and transparency……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………31
8. Direct costs…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….31
List of attachments……………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………….....…………….31
5
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
ADS: Agricultural Development Strategy
CGR: Community Grain Reserves
DaO; Delivering as One
FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
GBV: Gender-Based Violence
IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development
ISC: International Steering Committee
JP: Joint Programme
MoA: Ministry of Agriculture
MPTFO: Multi Partner Trust Fund Office
MT: Metric Ton
NSC: National Steering Committee
OD: Organizational Development
PMF: Performance Monitoring Framework
PO: Producer Organization
P4P: Purchase for Progress
RBAs: Rome-based Agencies
RWEE: Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment
SAA: Standard Administrative Agreement
SACCO: Saving and Credit Cooperative
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
SDG-F: Sustainable Development Goals Fund
SGBV: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
SLAs: Savings and Loan Associations
SRH: Sexual and Reproductive Health
TA: Technical Assistance
TAC: Technical Advisory Committee
TF: Trust Fund
ToT: Training of Trainers
UN: United Nations
UNDAF: United Nations Development Assistance Framework
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNFPA: United Nations Fund for Population Activities
UN Women: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
WEAI: Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index
WFP: World Food Programme
6
DEFINITIONS
Allocation
Amount approved by the Steering
Committee for a project/programme.
Approved Project/Programme
A project/programme including budget,
etc., that is approved by the Steering
Committee for fund allocation purposes.
Contributor Commitment
Amount(s) committed by a donor to a Fund
in a signed Standard Administrative
Arrangement with the UNDP Multi-Partner
Trust Fund Office (MPTF Office), in its
capacity as the Administrative Agent. A
commitment may be paid or pending
payment.
Contributor Deposit
Cash deposit received by the MPTF Office
for the Fund from a contributor in
accordance with a signed Standard
Administrative Arrangement.
Delivery Rate
The percentage of funds that have been
utilized, calculated by comparing
expenditures reported by a Participating
Organization against the 'net funded
amount'.
Indirect Support Costs
A general cost that cannot be directly
related to any particular programme or
activity of the Participating Organizations.
UNDG policy establishes a fixed indirect
cost rate of 7% of programmable costs.
Net Funded Amount
Amount transferred to a Participating
Organization less any refunds transferred
back to the MPTF Office by a Participating
Organization.
Participating Organization
A UN Organization or other inter-
governmental Organization that is an
implementing partner in a Fund, as
represented by signing a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the MPTF Office
for a particular Fund.
Project Expenditure
The sum of expenses and/or expenditure
reported by all Participating Organizations
for a Fund irrespective of which basis of
accounting each Participating Organization
follows for donor reporting.
Project Financial Closure
A project or programme is considered
financially closed when all financial
obligations of an operationally completed
project or programme have been settled,
and no further financial charges may be
incurred.
Project Operational Closure
A project or programme is considered
operationally closed when all programmatic
activities for which Participating
Organization(s) received funding have been
completed.
Project Start Date
Date of transfer of first instalment from the
MPTF Office to the Participating
Organization.
Total Approved Budget
This represents the cumulative amount of
allocations approved by the Steering
Committee.
US Dollar Amount
The financial data in the report is recorded in
US Dollars and due to rounding off of
numbers, the totals may not add up.
7
1. NARRATIVE REPORT
Executive summary
The Joint Programme on “Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women”
(JP RWEE)” is a global initiative jointly implemented by FAO, IFAD, UN Women and WFP in seven
countries, whose overarching goal is to secure rural women's livelihoods and rights in the context of
sustainable development. After a slow start mainly due to challenges with programme financing, the
implementation of JP RWEE has gained pace since the end of 2014, with financial contributions from the
Governments of Norway and Sweden and the recruitment of a global and national coordinators being
instrumental to commence country-level implementation.
In 2015, funding of US$ 7,299,416 was received through the RWEE Trust Fund and allocated to the
RWEE countries on an equal basis (approx. US$ 1,042,775 per country). The programme began to show
highly promising results in terms of: responding to rural women’s needs and adding value to existing
initiatives; partnering with rural women’s organizations to strengthen their capacities; helping countries
to build more comprehensive national strategies for rural women’s empowerment; and – more
importantly – producing lessons that can strengthen the focus on rural women and girls in SDG-related
initiatives.
With approximately 18,000 women and their
households directly benefitting from the JP RWEE
over the past twelve months and a governance
mechanism fully operational at the global and
national level, the programme has made good
progress in all four main outcomes and has a
potential to be scaled-up to additional 50,000
women if further contributions are received before
the end date of the Trust Fund (currently set at
October 2017).
Courtesy UN Women Liberia
Nonetheless, it has to be noted that the rate of implementation remains varied among RWEE countries
due to factors that are both internal (such as initial difficulties in establishing mechanisms that allow the
four agencies, national governments, and other stakeholders to advance jointly) and external (including
natural hazards and political unrest in some of the participating countries). Those challenges are being
addressed through a joint effort of the national teams and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC),
which is providing specialised technical expertise from a global perspective. There is an expectation that
progress will be more harmonised in the course of 2016, supported by the establishment of a
knowledge platform (hosted by Empowerwomen.org) to facilitate the exchange of lessons learned and
best practices among RWEE teams.
This report is presented in two parts: narrative and financial progress reports. It consolidates some of
the data, information and examples presented in the individual country reports1. The report has been
1 The annual narrative country reports were prepared and validated by the respective National Steering Committees and are
available as attachments to this report (Attachment 1).
8
approved by the International Steering Committee (ISC) of the programme which is composed of
representatives of the four agencies, the participating countries, and the donors.
I. Purpose
Officially launched in 2012, this five-year programme currently operates in seven countries: Ethiopia,
Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda. Recognizing that change needs to happen at
the individual, community and institutional level, the Joint Programme (JP) adopts a multi-sectoral,
integrated approach focusing on four key objectives:
(i) rural women’s improved food and nutrition security;
(ii) increased rural women’s incomes to sustain their livelihoods;
(iii) women’s enhanced leadership and participation in rural institutions and in shaping laws,
policies and programmes; and
(iv) more gender responsive policy environment for the economic empowerment of rural women.
This unique collaboration among four UN Agencies creates synergies that capitalize on each agency’s
mandate, comparative advantage and institutional strength. Thus, the programme brings together:
FAO’s specialist technical knowledge and policy assistance on food and agriculture; IFAD’s expertise in
co-financing of rural investment programmes and in improving gender relations through household
methodologies; WFP’s food assistance innovations; and UN Women’s global championship for gender
equality and strong links with women’s organizations.
At country level, national JP teams have formulated a detailed programme of work through in-depth
consultations with relevant government ministries and other key national institutions and in close
collaboration with rural organizations. In line with international principles on aid effectiveness and
accountability2, all country-specific project documents that constitute the basis for implementation are
aligned with national policies for gender equality and agricultural development; moreover, they
contribute to at least one of the outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework
(UNDAF) in their respective countries. In terms of target beneficiaries, all countries have decided to
focus on two main groups of women, based on criteria agreed after baseline assessments:
1) the most vulnerable, poorest and illiterate women, who rarely benefit from economic
empowerment programmes, and
2) women entrepreneurs with the potential to grow their businesses further and contribute to
economic revitalization and growth in their communities.
Rather than working with women at the individual level, the programme is supporting pre-existing or
newly established women’s groups that, in addition to offering mutual support, have the potential to
maximize the impact and ensure the sustainability and replicability of the activities even after the end of
the programme. From the Dimitra clubs in Niger to the self-help groups in Kyrgyzstan, to the women-led
cooperatives in Rwanda, those groups constitute the building blocks of RWEE and the reason for its
accomplishments.
2 For instance, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the Accra Agenda for Action and the General Assembly Resolution
A/RES/67/226 on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review.
9
II. Results
i) Narrative reporting on results:
The JP focuses on a set of synergies encompassing the work of the participating UN Agencies towards
the achievement of four main outcomes. This holistic approach, while securing the ownership and
leadership of national counterparts, has also allowed to broaden the scope of the programme to include
activities that, despite not being part of the initial design, respond to women’s identified needs and
request. For instance, during the reporting period some RWEE countries have worked on raising
awareness on women and girls’ rights including a focus on combatting gender-based violence (GBV),
leading to a decrease of violence in target communities. Examples would be the inclusion of a module
on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) during various
trainings organized for programme beneficiaries (Kyrgyzstan, Liberia) or the use of Dimitra community
listeners clubs (Niger) as an opportunity to discuss the potential challenges women face, including
violence.
During the reporting period, progress has been made mostly under outcomes 1 and 2 (food and
nutrition security and increased incomes). This is understandable given that outcomes 3 and 4 (on
women’s leadership and a more gender-sensitive political environment) require longer-term
interventions to achieve impact, even if initial results have been reported.
a. OUTCOME 1: Rural women have improved food and nutrition security
Courtesy WFP Guatemala
This outcome deals with promoting the productive potential of women
smallholder farmers through ensuring their access to and control over
productive resources and services critical to food security and nutrition,
and building their capacities in enhanced agricultural production,
harvesting and storage.
Output 1.1 - Rural women have increased access to and control over
resources, assets and services critical for their food and nutrition
security
Across the programme, almost 3,500 women farmers and 1,000 men
were supported by training on improved agricultural technologies and
the use of alternative farming methods such as agricultural extension
practices and integrated pest management. Other activities included
the distribution of improved seeds, fertilisers and other tools (pumps,
watering cans, etc.), and the use of demonstration plots3 (Kyrgyzstan,
Guatemala). Where appropriate, rural women were also supported with start-up tools and equipment
for better management of greenhouses (Rwanda), and with labour-saving technologies aimed at
3 A demonstration plot is a field that can be used to teach, experiment, and share ideas about agricultural practices. These plots
contributed not only to building the capacities of women beneficiaries in terms of increased and more varied production, but
also in establishing closer relationships among the members of the women’s groups, who had the possibility to decide how
benefits would be shared.
10
reducing the burden of women’s work (like the
multi-functional platforms4 distributed to three
villages in Niger or the combined shelling and
cleaning machines distributed to 15 cooperatives
in Rwanda).
This multi-dimensional support has led to an
increase in production at household level that in
some countries has even doubled5.
Courtesy UN Women Niger
Output 1.2 - Rural women have greater capacity to enhance and control local food security reserves
and their production
In order to strengthen rural women’s productive capacities, training on food processing and storage was
delivered to over 1,600 beneficiaries, of whom more than 1,400 were women. In some cases (e.g.,
Kyrgyzstan) training included home processing of vegetables produced on the women’s land plots,
which resulted in both nutritional benefits for the family, improved storage, and added value for selling
the processed goods. Where possible, the training was accompanied by the provision of equipment like
watering cans and plastic silos (Guatemala) or the construction of grain reserves aiding not only women
beneficiaries, but also the entire community (over 2,000 people in the case of Liberia).
b. OUTCOME 2: Rural women have increased income to secure their livelihoods and create wealth
This outcome focuses on creating, supporting and developing rural women’s enterprises, supporting
women’s role along value chains, enhancing their income opportunities and promoting their linkages to
high value markets.
Output 2.1 - Rural women have enhanced entrepreneurship skills and value chains to access markets
for their products Courtesy FAO Kyrgyzstan
Across the Joint Programme (JP), almost 5,200
vulnerable women received entrepreneurship training
and other business development support to help them
engage in income-generating activities. The training
sessions focused on business skills, business plan
development, and value chains, to mention a few.
When appropriate, and in most cases following a direct
request of women, the training packages also included
numeracy and literacy modules. Thanks to the
partnership established with existing associations like
the Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs (Rwanda), some
women used their newly acquired skills to provide business development services to other women.
4 A multi-functional platform is built around a simple diesel engine, which can power various tools, such as a cereal mill, and can
also generate electricity. It reduces many of the women's burdensome, exhausting and unproductive tasks (fetching water,
grinding cereals, etc.). 5 In Rwanda, the production of tomato per greenhouse hovered between 2 to 3 MT per season, while the average production of
tomato in open fields per ha varies between 0.8 MT to 1.2 MT.
11
Furthermore, recognizing the importance of access to financial services, the support provided by RWEE
also involved opening of bank accounts (Liberia, Rwanda) and the establishment of Saving and Loan
Associations (Liberia) benefitting a total of 1,684 women. Finally, to improve women’s Producer
Organizations’ opportunities to market their produce, a total of 2,874 women farmers were linked to
the Purchase for Progress (P4P) and school feeding programmes (Liberia, Rwanda).
In other RWEE countries, activities to link women’s production to markets will take place in 2016 as the
target beneficiaries progress from subsistence to surplus production.
Output 2.2 - Rural women have increased access to decent wage employment opportunities
The numerous and different activities carried out to increase women’s access and control over income
have also promoted access to decent work. For instance, as a result of business planning and financial
literacy trainings, a total of 39 women’s groups have started small businesses in Kyrgyzstan, providing
self-employment and stable income for 168 rural women and their families, with an expected overall
income of over US$ 37,000 per year. The business ideas ranged from traditional sheep raising and
handicrafts production to innovative ideas as operating an ice rink, photo services and growing flowers.
While the actual economic impact is yet to be verified, initial observations demonstrate that economic
benefits had not only better food security and nutrition outcomes, but also led to improved self-
confidence of women, increased management of resources, and decision-making on business growth
and investments. . Moreover, those interventions, in addition to guaranteeing better incomes for their
beneficiaries, are also having a positive impact on the social welfare of their families, including family
health insurance and children’s education, as demonstrated in interviews given by some of these
women.
c. OUTCOME 3: Rural women have enhanced leadership and participation in their communities and
in rural institutions, and in shaping laws, policies and programmes
This outcome promotes rural women’s participation and leadership in rural producer organizations and
local governance systems. It also involves engaging men in all activities of the JP to guarantee political
and social recognition of the role of women by the whole community.
Output 3.1: Rural women, including young women, have enhanced confidence and leadership skills to
take an active part in local governance systems Courtesy WFP Guatemala
Under this outcome representatives of local
government institutions, women’s groups, and rural
women activists were targeted to participate in
workshops and trainings on leadership, organizational
development and gender mainstreaming in local
development planning (including budget preparation).
Almost 280 women already holding leadership position
in POs attended trainings in countries like Kyrgyzstan,
Liberia and Niger; moreover, the modules were
replicated in a simplified version for over 2,000 women
from 20 target communities in Liberia.
12
Output 3.2: Rural women have greater organizational capacities to form, sustain and participate into
POs, cooperatives and unions
Different forms of support have been provided in order to develop the capacities of RWEE target
women to organize into and participate in cooperatives and producer organizations: from the assistance
to women’s groups to affiliate with formal organizations (Niger), to the open discussions on gender
participation in cooperatives (Rwanda), to the more targeted trainings for women in leadership on good
governance, equity, gender and organizational development organized in Niger and Liberia.
In total, over 1,850 beneficiaries (of whom 20% were men) were reached during the reporting period. As
a result, women hold around 90% of the top positions in the mixed POs and cooperatives working with
the JP.
Output 3.3: Rural women, including young women, have increased capacity to engage in and influence
relevant policy forums at national and regional levels
In order to facilitate networking of rural women’s organizations at sub-national and national levels, and
to create further market linkages, experience sharing and best practice exchanges were undertaken in
different countries throughout the course of 2015. In Guatemala, Liberia, Kyrgyzstan and Rwanda, RWEE
supported the participation of rural women’s representatives (624 in total) in their respective annual
national rural women’s conferences, bringing together government representatives, entrepreneurs,
women’s leaders and the private sector. This was also an opportunity to present specific needs of rural
women to government officials (mostly in the Ministry of Agriculture) in an effort to make them part of
the priority development agenda of their country. In Kyrgyzstan, this engagement became a central part
of the “17 Days of Activism for Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment”. A total of 1,874 rural men and
women (including representatives of local governments) participated in the campaign, with activities
like the screening of short videos on the situation of rural women followed by song contests, exhibitions
of the women’s groups’ produce, and public discussions, role plays and forum theatres showcasing
challenges faced by rural women and identifying ways to exercise their rights.
Output 3.4: Rural women, including young women, have enhanced awareness on their rights in a
more supportive community/local environment. Courtesy FAO Niger
During the reporting period RWEE has also
worked to promote a conducive community
environment for women’s empowerment
through initiatives aimed at securing the support
of men. In this regard, having an entry point
where to present and explain all programme
activities has proven to be an effective tool to
promote dialogue and reduce any resistance to
the greater recognition of women’s political and
social status in target communities. In Niger, sixty
additional Dimitra clubs were created in 2015
and served not only as a platform to discuss how
RWEE activities could better respond to women’s
needs, but also as a forum where potential conflicts are managed, leading to a decrease in violence in
target communities. Sensitization campaigns on women’s rights have also be organized for almost 8,000
beneficiaries: when a more direct targeting was requested to respond to specific issues that women
were facing (unfortunately often linked to domestic violence) partnerships have been established to
13
include modules on GBV response in existing training packages. In Liberia and Kyrgyzstan where, the
programme collaborated with UNFPA to create modules on SGBV and Reproductive Health to be
included in the business skills and leadership trainings, benefitting a total of 2,115 women.
d. OUTCOME 4: A more gender responsive policy environment is secured for the economic
empowerment of rural women
This outcome catalyzes legislative and policy reforms for the effective enforcement of rural women’s
land rights and their access to decent wage employment, social protection, and infrastructure. It
involves advocating with governments, parliaments and other relevant stakeholders to deliver greater
development outcomes to rural women.
Output 4.1: Policy makers and parliamentarians have enhanced capacities to effectively mainstream
gender into land, food, agriculture, nutrition and rural employment policies, laws and budgets
The four participating agencies are providing their specialized expertise to support the mainstreaming of
legislative and policy instruments closely linked to the advancement of rural women’s social, economic
and political condition. This kind of change requires a long-term engagement and that planned results
will only be achieved in the latter stages of programme implementation. Nevertheless, in 2015, RWEE
was successful in partnering with national and local institutions to lay
the ground for sustainable change. In Liberia the JP provided financial
and technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) to
improve local-level gender-responsive planning and budgeting
through the capacity building of MoA’s County Coordinators. In
Guatemala RWEE is closely working with agricultural extension
services in order to ensure the national ownership and replicability of
its actions in support of vulnerable women in remote areas. Although
the partnership with MoAs remains a priority, when appropriate the
JP supported other institutions as well: for example, in Kyrgyzstan the
programme facilitated the establishment of an inter-ministerial
working group with the aim to enhance the role of national social
protection schemes in strengthening food security. Courtesy UN Women Ethiopia
Output 4.2: Greater availability of tools and data to track progress in the economic empowerment of
rural women
As a first step towards the achievement of this outcome, some RWEE teams have decided to work on
strengthening the system of collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data in the agricultural
sector, in close collaboration with the MoA. In Guatemala, this resulted in the participation of four
public officials in the XVI International Meeting on Gender Statistics in Mexico, providing a good
example of South-South cooperation. Similarly, in Kyrgyzstan and Nepal, partnerships have been
established with the respective Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) to generate gender-responsive
statistics and data in the agricultural sector. In addition to these priority collaborations, support has
been provided – in line with national policies and following a specific request of government
counterparts – to other institutions like the National Information System on Violence Against Women of
Guatemala. The technical assistance offered by RWEE has led to the development of common indicators
14
Courtesy FAO Nepal
on SGBV that are now available for the 13 members of the SNIVCM6,
thus facilitating the process of reporting and prosecuting Violence
Against Women in the country. In 2016-2017, these efforts will be
complemented by the piloting of the “Women’s Empowerment in
Agriculture Index” (WEAI) in four additional7 RWEE countries (Ethiopia,
Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Niger). The results of the WEAI will be then
used not only to have a more robust understanding of gender
dynamics within targeted households and communities, but also as an
advocacy tool for national governments as it provides a complete
picture of the situation of women in areas like production, resources,
income, leadership and time use.
Output 4.3: An enabling environment is promoted to reflect rural women’s priorities in regional and
global policy processes
To date, no partnership has been established with regional organizations like the “New Partnership for
Africa’s Development” (NEPAD) in order to develop sustainable, gender-sensitive regional capacities,
therefore no progress was observed under this output in 2015. However, the establishment of an on-
line knowledge management system has the potential to create collaboration that goes beyond the
regional level, and will be explored further in 2016.
e. Delays in implementation, challenges, lessons learned and best practices
Despite the fact that the disbursement of the second tranche of funding has speeded up
implementation in all RWEE countries, the implementation rate remains varied, with Nepal and Ethiopia
still lagging behind the other five countries. Some of the reasons are attributable to natural disasters
and epidemics8, political unrest, but also to a governance structure that has sometimes proven to be
administratively heavy for the smooth implementation of the programme, especially considering that
before 2015 there was no dedicated staff to follow up on the JP at either the international or country
level. This is why a national coordinator has been hired in each RWEE country, with backstopping
provided by the Global Coordinator based in Rome, and the composition of the National Steering
Committee9 has been revised. This new structure is now more effective in the daily management of the
JP while maintaining national ownership. The development and approval of the operational guidance
note10 has also given the country teams a practical tool containing all different procedures and
templates specific to RWEE, therefore building their capacity to implement jointly at all levels.
From an implementation perspective, although the pace of implementation has increased in the second
half of 2015 (following the disbursement of the second tranche in April/May 2015), lessons are being
drawn to inform future joint programmes with a focus on agricultural and rural development, to make
sure gender is mainstreamed and women’s specific needs are taken into consideration.
6 Among others, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the Human Rights Office. 7 In Guatemala the WEAI was carried out in 2014. 8 Like the two earthquakes in Nepal, El Nino in Ethiopia, or the Ebola outbreak in Liberia. 9 In the initial design, the National Steering Committee was supposed to be chaired by the Resident Coordinator or the Deputy
Special Representative of the Secretary-General and a designed government representative. The new structure, much lighter
and efficient, has a government representative co-chairing with the representative of the Lead Agency. 10 Available as Attachment 2.
15
Some of the key factors for success include:
i. the importance of having a single entry point (the Dimitra clubs in Niger, the self-help groups in
Kyrgyzstan, the voluntary promoters in Guatemala, etc.) to introduce programme activities in
target areas. This has proved to be an effective tool to make sure that the initiative responds to
women’s requests, ensuring that communities are involved and supportive, and that impact is
maximized by working with the same groups of beneficiaries;
ii. the engagement of men in the design and implementation of the interventions through
awareness raising campaigns and the utilization of innovative methodologies that aim at
addressing power relationships within the communities (Dimitra, “HeforShe”) and households
(household methodologies);
iii. the access to financial services as a key factor to unleash the productive potential of poor
women for inclusive growth, equity and social justice; almost all RWEE countries have a
component on the establishment of saving groups/revolving funds;
iv. national ownership as an essential element for the future sustainability of the activities,
promoted since the very beginning of the programme through consultation with stakeholders at
the country level, alignment with national priorities, and a governance structure that facilitates
the flow of information and better coordination among national partners;
v. the potential for South-South cooperation through a knowledge management system that is
designed to draw lessons learned and disseminate them not only among the RWEE teams, but
also other stakeholders (e.g. rural women’s groups, NGOs working on rural development, other
UN Country Offices involved in activities on women’s economic empowerment);
vi. the inclusion of climate smart agricultural techniques in the training and capacity building
programmes as a way to respond to the challenges posed by climate change and to take into
account its impacts on vulnerable populations;
vii. the key role of dedicated human resources (the Global Coordinator and the National
Coordinators – see Governance arrangements) accelerates implementation and ensures
monitoring of overall JP activities for programme-wide coherence and impact.
f. Qualitative assessment of the JP’s implementation
The uneven level of progress among the seven countries is one of the main challenges that the
programme faced in 2015. This makes the overall implementation rate equal to approximately 37%,
even if some countries were successful in committing more than 80/90% of the allocated budget. It is
important to emphasize that the bulk of the funding (approx. one million USD) was received in each
country only in April/May 2015, when the agricultural season had already ended, leading to a partial or
complete rescheduling of the activities planned under outcome 1. However, all the RWEE teams have
demonstrated a good ability to respond to the various issues faced (from challenges in implementation
to external shocks) because of a governance mechanism that is now fully operational and the essential
contributions of dedicated National Coordinators.
It is relevant to note that in some cases the reported expenditures rates don’t reflect the effective level
of progress. For WFP, the status of implementation of activities in 2015 was higher than reported as a
result of the challenges in operationalizing financial contributions from the MPTF into Country Office
budgets and financial systems11. In several countries, part of the allocations was committed for activities
or suppliers but had not been spent by 31.12.2015, since the activities or services will be completed in
11 See tables n. 5 and 6 on page 28.
16
201612. With regard to IFAD, a number of contracts were signed in 2015 but payments will be processed
in 2016 upon satisfactory delivery of activities13. Further information is provided in the second part of
this document, presenting the consolidated financial report.
g. Governance arrangements
The year 2015 was pivotal in finalizing the
governance and coordination mechanisms at global
and country levels, which are ensuring that the
process of planning, allocation, and monitoring is
transparent, efficient and inclusive. The current
system in place is formed by: A NSC meeting in Kyrgyzstan – Courtesy UN Women
the International Steering Committee (ISC), composed by representatives of the four agencies,
the donors, and the participating governments, which oversees the allocation of funds and
provides strategic vision and direction to the implementing partners;
the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), offering operational support and technical advice to
the ISC, including the monitoring of country performance;
the RWEE Global Coordinator, supporting the work of the country teams and the TAC/ISC, and
regularly liaising with the National Coordinators. Recruited in August 2015 following a decision
of the ISC in January 2015, the Global Coordinator has been key in boosting the JP RWEE results
in the seven countries and in strengthening inter-agency collaboration. In addition to providing
backstopping support, the Coordinator has developed some resource materials aimed to
facilitate smooth programme implementation14;
a National Steering Committee (NSC) in each of the RWEE countries covered by the programme,
co-chaired by the designated government official and the representative of the Lead Agency15;
RWEE Country Teams established to build synergies, address cross sector matters and review
progress in the implementation of programme activities. The JP RWEE Country Team performs
the same role in-country as the TAC at the global level;
12 For instance, in Liberia approximately US$ 190,670 was committed in 2015 to order storage structures; in Guatemala, a total
of US$ 210,177 was spent on RWEE activities but from various budget lines of their active projects. 13 Considering the resources committed in 2015, the proportion increases significantly in both Niger (67.4% - contracts signed in
2015 for a total of US$152,000) and Rwanda (85% - contracts signed in 2015 for a total of US$ 265,500). 14 For instance, the operational guidance notes on the Performance Monitoring Framework and Partnership Building and
Resource Mobilization; the details of which are presented later in the report. 15 The Lead Agency coordinates activities related to the consultative process for the roll out of the programme at country level,
including the engagement with the Government and local donors.
17
the RWEE National Coordinators, coordinating overall implementation and ensuring sound
performance and progress towards the stated objectives of the JP in each country.
the Multi Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTFO), Administrative Agent (AA) of the JP, which
receives contributions from donors, and disburse and administers such funds.
This coordination structure has ensured that the views of the various stakeholders (from government
representatives to rural women groups, farmer organizations and financial institutions)16 are duly taken
into account during the decision making processes, and that the planning, monitoring and
implementation processes continue to be fully participatory.
At the global level, the TAC is assisted in its duties by different sub-committees providing specialized
technical expertise from the four agencies, such as:
- the Donor Relations Officers (DROs) group, which is facilitating the process of reviving fund
mobilization efforts and has contributed to the finalization of the updated “Partnership Building and
Resource Mobilization” guidance note;
- the Communication specialists group, working to increase the visibility of the programme through
the dissemination of communication tools like articles, success stories, brochures, and other
materials.
h. Knowledge management and sharing events
RWEE is a pilot initiative that aims to identify key lessons that could help shape future policies for
RBA/UN Women collaboration on strengthening the gender component of joint programmes/activities.
Hence the development of a knowledge management strategy is essential to build on the different
countries’ experiences to learn and make adjustments and improvements.
After careful consideration of what would be the most cost-efficient way to implement such strategy, a
collaboration has been established with Empowerwomen.org and approved by the TAC. Key features of
this partnership, which is coming at no cost, are:
− A dedicated space for the programme on the global platform: www.empowerwomen.org/cop/rwee.
The space will serve as an opportunity for the general public to get to know RWEE and for the seven
JP country teams, as well as HQ Focal Points, to exchange on best practices and challenges faced in
daily implementation. Specifically, this space showcases all relevant documents related to RWEE and
enables the programme teams to lead discussions on specific topics related to either (i) discussions:
raise awareness, debate and ask questions on particular issues linked to the JP; or (ii) queries:
receive good practices examples and case studies from RWEE countries.
− Open events and opportunities: the TAC can choose to disseminate information related to publicly
organised events (e.g. live webcast for the Commission on the Status of Women, International Day
of Rural Women, International Women’s Day, World Food Day, or local stakeholder events).
16 The list of RWEE partners in all seven countries is available as Attachment 3.
18
− News and Updates: This can include articles summarising workshops, activities and other news and
updates in 500-1,000 words.
− I am (wo)man campaign: This is a digital media campaign calling on men and women from all over
the world to share – through a photo and a personal story – what women’s economic
empowerment means to them. This provides an easy way to engage programme beneficiaries,
stakeholders and partners.
In addition to this on-line platform, other sharing events were organised throughout the course of 2015
as for example: Courtesy UN Women Ethiopia
The UN Women “Capacity Enhancement Workshop”
on RWEE Joint programme, held in Addis Ababa
(Ethiopia) on 3-6 August 2015, who brought together
project managers from six RWEE participating
countries17 and Mali (a self-starter country). The main
objective of the workshop were to (a) strengthen the
capacity of project officers to deliver activities at the
country level under the joint programme; (b) identify
and share lessons on effective data capture to inspire
the development of a data capture model; and (c) strengthen country-level reporting of results.
The RWEE Niger Lessons Learnt workshop, which took
place in Dosso, Niger, on 4-5 November 2015, bringing
together RWEE main stakeholders in-country (including
local and national governments and representatives of the
women’s beneficiaries) to reflect on what had worked in
the pilot regions where the project is implemented, before
scaling-up to other areas.
Courtesy FAO Niger
The FAO “Knowledge Share Fair” on Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment, organised in Rome
(Italy) on 7-8 December 2015, which promoted South-South exchange and learning through: i)
highlighting various experiences and achievements in the promotion of rural women’s economic
empowerment activities at country level; ii) sharing knowledge and success stories from the
implementation of activities on the ground; iii) learning from each-others’ experiences and cross-
fertilizing successful approaches and thus to increase the impact of FAO’s work; and iv) jointly
identifying concrete steps for the way forward to improve the impact of RWEE programmes by
scaling up of the best, field-tested innovations. The share fair brought together representatives from
10 countries, thereby stimulating interest in the JP in countries that are not yet participating in the
programme.
As those events proved to be a useful tool to facilitate exchange among participating countries on best
practices, lessons learned and innovative approaches to women’s empowerment, the aim is to replicate
them when and if resources become available.
17 Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, and Rwanda.
19
An update is provided in the table below on the achieved results at both the output level using the Logical framework from the RWEE
programme document. Since each country has translated the four main RWEE outcomes into activities aligned with their own national priorities
and baseline assessments, each result is listed with a reference to the country that reported it. The main source of verification for those results is
the annual progress report prepared by each of the seven countries and available in Attachment 1.
Achieved Indicator Targets
Outcome 1 Improved food and nutrition security
Output 1.1: Rural women have increased access
to resources, assets and services critical for their
food and nutrition security.
Guatemala
- 400 women in the I level received training on improved production techniques and produced a total of 380 quintals of
maize;
- 10 new species introduced in the production of 400 women to diversify their diets;
- 50 demonstration plots (maize and beans) established.
Kyrgyzstan
- 36 knap sack sprayers delivered to the members elected by women’s groups to provide plant protection services in their
villages;
- 231 women received 2-day trainings on agricultural technologies of growing vegetables and water-efficient irrigation
techniques;
- 12 drip irrigation systems installed on demonstration plots;
- 163.800 MT of wheat flour purchased to be distributed under the “Food for Training” component.
Liberia
- 20 farming groups (1,100 beneficiaries: 877 women; 223 men) in 3 counties received mixed vegetable seeds including
insecticide for pest control, protective gears for farming, cutlasses, hoes, and shovels.
Niger
- inputs (improved seeds and fertilizer) distributed to 500 beneficiaries (218 women and 282 men) in the form of 10kg of
cowpea seeds and 23.5kg of fertilizer for each beneficiary;
- 3 multi-purpose labor-saving machines installed and contributing to the alleviation of the workload of 1200 women.
Rwanda
- 482 farmers (190 women, 292 men) from 48 cooperatives assessed and coached on cooperative governance, business
planning, capitalization and zero-loss policy;
- 2 women-led groups (60 people) received 280 m² greenhouses and trained on best practices in horticulture production;
- 703 women accessed integrated services (agricultural tools, fertilizers and seeds, cash for labor, technical advice etc.);
- 974 beneficiaries (782 women, 192 men) trained in best agricultural techniques and supported with agricultural inputs for
the establishment of kitchen gardens;
ii) Indicator Based Performance Assessment:
20
- 15 combined shelling and cleaning machines distributed to 15 cooperatives totaling 12,058 members (5,762 women and
6,296 men).
Output 1.2: Rural women have greater capacity
to enhance and control local food security
reserves.
Guatemala
- 400 women received training on storage methods;
- 11 women’s organizations (400 women) received 200 watering can, 42 plastic silos, 22 fumigations pump, 9 “blue box”
(humidity detection).
Kyrgyzstan
- 231 women trained on food conservation and storage.
Liberia
- 3 community grain reserves constructed benefitting 2,000 community members (1,000w/1,000m);
- 90 MT locally procured rice available to 1,100 beneficiaries (877 women; 223 men).
Rwanda
- 974 beneficiaries (782 women, 192 men) trained on how correctly store their production to reduce post-harvest losses.
Outcome 2: Rural women have increased income to secure their livelihoods
Output 2.1: Rural women have enhanced
entrepreneurship skills and value chains to access
markets for their products.
Guatemala
- 400 women received training on maize production and produced 320 quintals of maize;
- 425 women received training on entrepreneurship skills and value chains.
Kyrgyzstan
- 1,500 women in 45 villages gained practical knowledge of working in groups and operating an effective economic activity.
Liberia
- 3,250 women entrepreneurs and women farmers received training in business management and practice including literacy
and numeracy skills;
- 1,412 women opened bank accounts and are accessing financial services (i.e. credit/loan) from the banks they are
registered with;
- 80 local facilitators received ToT training on literacy and numeracy, and business skills classes for semi-literate and illiterate
women;
- 1,750 beneficiaries (1,684 women and 66 men) are accessing financial services through 70 newly established SLAs;
- 1,124 women farmers from 18 farming groups linked to P4P programme.
Rwanda
- 1,028 women from six cooperatives (55% of membership) linked to home-grown school feeding programme;
- 722 woman producers accessed better markets for tomatoes due to better quality product;
- 114 women representing the chamber of women entrepreneurs trained to provide business development services to other
women;
- 974 women opened 24 saving accounts (1 account for each of the 24 groups).
21
Output 2.2: Rural women have increased access
to decent wage employment opportunities.
Kyrgyzstan
- 39 women’s groups started their small businesses, providing self-employment and stable income to a total of 168 women.
Rwanda
- 65 women have been employed for cleaning and sorting cereals and pulses at good wages.
Outcome 3: Rural women have enhanced leadership and participation in their communities and in rural institutions, and in shaping laws, policies and programmes
Output 3.1: Rural women, including
young women have enhanced confidence and
leadership skills to participate in local governance
Kyrgyzstan
- 155 persons, including 116 women attended a four-week leadership school;
- 15 women activists from target communities trained on gender-responsive local planning and budgeting.
Liberia
- 80 leaders from 16 women structures received a training session on leadership skills;
- 2,000 women received a simplified version of the training on leadership skills, integrated into existing adult literacy and
numeracy training curricula.
Niger
- 120 leaders of Dimitra clubs (80w/40m) received training on women’s leadership and participatory communication.
Output 3.2: Rural women have
greater organizational capacities to form,
sustain and participate into POs, cooperatives
and unions.
Liberia
- 80 leaders from 16 women structures received training on organizational development;
- 2,000 women received a simplified version of the training on OD, integrated into existing adult literacy and numeracy
training curricula
Niger
- 51 managers (40 men and 11 women) of 16 POs received training on gender and gender-sensitive organisational analysis;
- 80 women and girls received training in participatory communication, good governance, equity and gender;
- 300 persons (175 women/125 men) attended 5 sensitization sessions on how to establish a PO;
- 8 informal OPs (219 women) supported to become formal.
Rwanda
- Open discussions on gender participation and benefits in households and cooperatives facilitated in 14 cooperatives
(98w/88m).
Output 3.3: Rural women including young
women have increased capacity to engage in and
influence relevant policy forums at national and
regional levels.
Guatemala
- 8 programme participants attended a panel discussion during the International Day of Rural Women (15 October) to
express their needs to the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food.
Kyrgyzstan
- 1.874 of rural men and women, children and representatives of local governments participated in the activities of the
campaign for the 17 days of activism for rural women’s empowerment;
- 150 women attended the Third National conference on rural women.
Liberia
22
- 412 rural women leaders from 5 counties attended the National Rural Women’s Conference.
Nepal
- 9 consultations at national level and 7 at district level were held with the government, relevant Development Partners
(DPs) and relevant experts on the formulation of the GESI strategy.
Rwanda
- 54 women participated in the National Agricultural show to share lessons and experiences on agricultural technologies,
innovations and services.
Output 3.4: Rural women, including
young women have enhanced awareness on their
rights in a more supportive community/local
environment.
Liberia
- 2,250 women entrepreneurs and women farmers have increased knowledge on SGBV prevention and response;
- 115 rural adolescent girls are accessing SRH education and services.
Niger
- 60 Dimitra clubs established for a total of 1800 members (1200w/600m).
Rwanda
- 7,560 women received detailed information on their rights through 3 sensitization campaigns.
Outcome 4: A more gender responsive policy environment is secured for the economic empowerment of rural women
Output 4.1: Policy makers and parliamentarians
have enhanced capacities to effectively
mainstream gender into land, food, agriculture,
nutrition and rural employment policies, laws and
budgets.
Kyrgyzstan
- Facilitated the establishment of an inter-ministerial working group to enhance the role of national social protection
schemes in strengthening food security.
Liberia
- 5 MoA’s County Coordinators and 122 community leaders from 15 women farming groups in 5 rural counties received
training on gender, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and the roles rural women play in agriculture.
Output 4.2: Greater availability of tools and data
to track progress in the economic empowerment
of rural women
Guatemala
- Provided TA to the National Information System on Violence against Women to develop common indicators on SGBV;
- Supported the participation of 4 public officials to the XVI International Meeting on Gender Statistics in Aguascalientes,
México
Kyrgyzstan
- Supported the preparation of National Agricultural Census with improved gender-disaggregation of data.
Nepal
- Formalized a partnership with CBS and NARC to generate gender responsive statistics and to conduct evidence based
gender responsive agricultural research, respectively.
Rwanda
- Partnership established with the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda for the collection of gender-disaggregated data.
23
iii) A Specific Story - In rural Guatemala, an indigenous woman gets to learn—and lead
Throughout the course of 2015, RWEE was able to collect many success stories of women who are
having their lives changed because of the support provided by the JP: from Guatemala to Kyrgyzstan and
from food security to financial independence, RWEE is enabling and empowering rural women in the
participating countries.
Zoila’s story from Guatemala (see below) is chosen as an example; other stories can be accessed
through the following links:
http://www.fao.org/gender/gender-home/gender-news/gender-newsdet/en/c/386008/
https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/who-we-are/initiatives/rural-women-economic-
empowerment?tab=get-involved
https://www.wfp.org/stories/joint-un-initiative-empowers-rural-women-rwanda
Zoila Esperanza Morán is an indigenous Q’eqchi’ who never learned how to read or write. As the
eldest girl in a family of two sisters and a brother, she never had a chance to go to school.
“Education is not important for women,” her mother would say. And so Zoila spent her childhood
helping with chores at home, until the age of 15, when she was married without her consent.
Today, however, Zoila is the leader of a successful women’s group that works with the Joint
Programme, to improve agricultural production and food and nutrition security throughout their
community.
With training and support from the RWEE programme, women have not only been able to
increase their yields but also to market their surplus and expand their activities. For example, by
selling cooked corn, corn beverages, corn tamales and bean tamales, the group has been able to
generate enough profit to start a tomato plantation project.
Like all the women in the group, Zoila recognizes the tangible benefits of her active participation in
the programme. She has been trained in topics that have enabled her to increase and enhance her
production and income, diversify her family’s nutrition and improve their health and well-being.
But she is particularly proud of her leadership role in the group, and of the example the group has
set for women’s empowerment. “We have demonstrated to the community that women can
succeed not only by being housewives.”
It takes a family
Zoila and her husband have three boys and two girls. When she thinks of her youth, Zoila
remembers she had no plans to become a wife and mother as such young age. But her children
have turned out to be her main motivation to succeed, and she notes that it was her oldest son,
Juan Cahuec, 17, who encouraged her to participate in the RWEE programme.
Her husband, too, has been enthusiastic. “My husband has been of great support; together we
decided that my role in the community was important. He supports me when I have to go out of
24
town to acquire new knowledge”.
“I am not the only one that learns...”
As someone who never went to school, Zoila treasures the opportunity to learn through the
programme, and to pass on to others what she has learned. “The nice thing of being part of the
programme is that I am not the only one that learns, but my family and fellow women learn too,”
she says.
She notes that it is not just the women who participate in the RWEE programme who benefit, “but
other neighbors because they ask us what we do to have orchards and other crops,” adding that
“this makes me happy because now, I teach.”
Courtesy FAO Guatemala
III. Other assessments or evaluations
During the reporting period, five RWEE country teams conducted a baseline survey that aimed to collect
up-to-date data and qualitative information to guide programme implementation. Kyrgyzstan and
Rwanda had carried out these studies with other sources of finance before the transfer of the first
tranche of contribution from the Trust Fund (TF). Those studies assessed the social, economic and
literacy status of target women and their families, identified the enabling factors, constraints and risks
for the implementation and generated qualitative and quantitative baseline information that will be
used for monitoring the indicators set in the global Performance Monitoring Framework (PMF). The PMF
was developed in the second half of 2015 building on the goal, outcomes and outputs originally set in
the logical framework of the JP programme document. A total of 29 performance indicators were
developed, including 10 “core indicators” against which each country will have to report.
It is important to reiterate that in most cases those baselines are also used for advocacy work as they
give a complete picture of the status of women in target areas: for instance, in Guatemala the WEAI
My husband has been of
great support; together
we decided that my role
in the community was
important. He supports
me when I have to go out
of town to acquire new
knowledge
25
results are currently being used to strengthen institutional capacities in measuring the progress in
women’s economic empowerment and better assess rural women’s specific needs18.
In addition to the PMF, another management tool has been developed in order to strengthen
programme monitoring: an assessment form with 9 performance criteria (from relevance, to internal
coherence, to disbursement)19 that will be used by the TAC to assess country proposals covering the
period up to October 2017 (still in preparation as at 31 December 2015). The same form has been
shared with RWEE country teams to give them an opportunity for self-assessment.
IV. Programmatic Revisions
No major programmatic revision took place during the reporting period.
V. Resources
In 2015, funding of US$ 7,299,416 transferred to the seven RWEE countries on an equal basis (approx.
US$ 1,042,775 per country). In addition, US$ 289,761, which was transferred in 2014, were utilized to
create, with the ISC’s approval, the position of Global Coordinator for a period of two years, based in
Rome and hosted by WFP free of charge. In an effort to maximize cost/efficiency, the global coordinator
is the only international staff paid through the TF, with the other members of the TAC being paid by
their respective organizations. At the country level, the national coordinator is normally hosted by the
Lead Agency and works very closely with the other agencies and government counterparts.
In terms of mobilization of additional resources, during 2015 the JP RWEE country team in Ethiopia was
successful in securing additional US$ 1.5 million (of which US$ 769,861 have already been transferred to
the four agencies in-country) from the “Sustainable Development Goals Fund” (SDG-F), a multi-donor
and multi-agency development cooperation mechanism created to support sustainable development
activities through integrated and multidimensional joint programmes. The SDG Fund programme on
Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment has been developed as a separate but closely interconnected
component of the JP RWEE, and directly targets 2,000 pastoralist women with approximately 12,000
household members supported indirectly. The aim is to: i) improve food security, nutrition, social
protection, and coping mechanisms; ii) increase incomes to sustain livelihoods, and iii) create gender-
responsive policy and an institutional environment for women's economic empowerment.
The other RWEE country teams have also been encouraged to start their own fund mobilization efforts,
including the possibility to submit proposals for funding to other Trust Funds (like the Peacebuilding
Fund that has a thematic window on gender). To facilitate this process, the “Partnership Building and
Resource Mobilization” guidance note has been shared with them.
Other countries established partnerships that led to in-kind or other support: for instance, in Liberia
UNESCO provided technical assistance for the finalization of training curricula for adult literacy and
numeracy skills, while in Kyrgyzstan cooperation with a World Bank-funded project is envisaged as a
parallel funding modality, where the WB, through a local NGO, will provide agricultural inputs to the
programme beneficiaries mobilized and trained by RWEE.
18 See “Outcome 4” under the paragraph on Narrative reporting on results for more details on the role of WEAI as an advocacy
tool with the national governments. 19 The form is available as Attachment 4.
26
2. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
This chapter presents financial data and analysis of the Rural Women Economic Empowerment using the
pass-through funding modality as of 31 December 2015. Financial information for this Fund is also
available on the MPTF Office GATEWAY, at the following address:
http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/fund/RWF00.
1. Sources and uses of funds
As of 31 December 2015, two contributors have deposited US$ 9,290,028 in contributions and US$
12,538 has been earned in interest, bringing the cumulative source of funds to US$ 9,302,566.
Of this amount, US$ 8,907,307 has been transferred to 4 Participating Organizations, of which US$
3,303,737 has been reported as expenditure. The Administrative Agent fee has been charged at the
approved rate of 1% on deposits and amounts to US$ 92,900. Table 1 provides an overview of the
overall sources, uses, and balance of the Rural Women Economic Empowerment as of 31 December
2015.
Table 1. Financial Overview, as of 31 December 2015 (in US Dollars)
Annual 2014 Annual 2015 Cumulative
Sources of Funds
Gross Contributions 9,290,028 - 9,290,028
Fund Earned Interest and Investment Income 3,580 8,958 12,538
Interest Income received from Participating Organizations - - -
Refunds by Administrative Agent to Contributors - - -
Fund balance transferred to another MDTF - - -
Other Revenues - - -
Total: Sources of Funds 9,293,608 8,958 9,302,566
Use of Funds
Transfers to Participating Organizations 1,607,891 7,299,416 8,907,307
Refunds received from Participating Organizations - - -
Net Funded Amount to Participating Organizations 1,607,891 7,299,416 8,907,307
Administrative Agent Fees 92,900 - 92,900
Direct Costs: (Steering Committee, Secretariat...etc.) - 289,761 289,761
Bank Charges 103 74 177
Other Expenditures - - -
Total: Uses of Funds 1,700,894 7,589,251 9,290,145
Change in Fund cash balance with Administrative Agent 7,592,714 (7,580,294) 12,421
Opening Fund balance (1 January) - 7,592,714 -
Closing Fund balance (31 December) 7,592,714 12,421 12,421
Net Funded Amount to Participating Organizations 1,607,891 7,299,416 8,907,307
Participating Organizations' Expenditure 54,437 3,249,300 3,303,737
Balance of Funds with Participating Organizations 5,603,570
27
2. Partner contributions
Table 2 provides information on cumulative contributions received from all contributors to this Fund as
of 31 December 2015.
Table 2. Contributors' Deposits, as of 31 December 2015 (in US Dollars)
Contributors
Prior Years
as of 31-Dec-2014
Current Year
Jan-Dec-2015 Total
NORWAY, Government of 1,624,168 - 1,624,168
SWEDISH INT'L DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION 7,665,860 - 7,665,860
Grand Total 9,290,028 - 9,290,028
3. Interest earned
Interest income is earned in two ways: 1) on the balance of funds held by the Administrative Agent
('Fund earned interest'), and 2) on the balance of funds held by the Participating Organizations ('Agency
earned interest') where their Financial Regulations and Rules allow return of interest to the AA. As of 31
December 2015, Fund earned interest amounts to US$ 12,538 and interest received from Participating
Organizations amounts to US$ -, bringing the cumulative interest received to US$ 12,538. Details are
provided in the table below.
Table 3. Sources of Interest and Investment Income, as of 31 December 2015 (in US Dollars)
Interest Earned
Prior Years
as of 31-Dec-2014
Current Year
Jan-Dec-2015 Total
Administrative Agent
Fund Earned Interest and Investment Income 3,580 8,958 12,538
Total: Fund Earned Interest 3,580 8,958 12,538
Participating Organization
Total: Agency earned interest
Grand Total 3,580 8,958 12,538
4. Transfer of funds
Allocations to Participating Organizations are approved by the Steering Committee and disbursed by the
Administrative Agent. As of 31 December 2015, the AA has transferred US$ 8,907,307 to 4 Participating
Organizations (see list below). Table 4 provides additional information on the refunds received by the
MPTF Office, and the net funded amount for each of the Participating Organizations.
Table 4. Transfer, Refund, and Net Funded Amount by Participating Organization, as of 31 December 2015
(in US Dollars)
Participating
Organization
Prior Years as of 31-Dec-2014 Current Year Jan-Dec-2015 Total
Transfers Refunds Net Funded Transfers Refunds Net Funded Transfers Refunds Net Funded
FAO 340,518 340,518 1,806,351 1,806,351 2,146,869 2,146,869
IFAD 158,160 158,160 863,707 863,707 1,021,867 1,021,867
UNWOMEN 671,252 671,252 2,351,918 2,351,918 3,023,170 3,023,170
28
WFP 437,961 437,961 2,277,440 2,277,440 2,715,401 2,715,401
Grand Total 1,607,891 1,607,891 7,299,416 7,299,416 8,907,307 8,907,307
5. Expenditure and financial delivery rates
All final expenditures reported for the year 2015 were submitted by the Headquarters of the
Participating Organizations. These were consolidated by the MPTF Office.
5.1 Expenditure reported by Participating Organization
As shown in table below, the cumulative net funded amount is US$ 8,907,307 and cumulative
expenditures reported by the Participating Organizations amount to US$ 3,303,737. This equates to an
overall Fund expenditure delivery rate of 37 percent.
Table 5. Net Funded Amount, Reported Expenditure, and Financial Delivery by Participating Organization,
as of 31 December 2015 (in US Dollars)
Participating
Organization
Approved
Amount
Net Funded
Amount
Expenditure
Delivery Rate
%
Prior Years
as of 31-Dec-2014
Current Year
Jan-Dec-2015 Cumulative
FAO 2,146,869 2,146,869 969,970 969,970 45.18
IFAD20 1,021,867 1,021,867 30,562 30,562 2.99
UNWOMEN 3,023,170 3,023,170 54,437 1,601,669 1,656,106 54.78
WFP21 2,715,401 2,715,401 647,099 647,099 23.83
Grand Total 8,907,307 8,907,307 54,437 3,249,300 3,303,737 37.09
5.2 Expenditure by project
Table 6 displays the net funded amounts, expenditures reported and the financial delivery rates by
Participating Organization.
Table 6. Expenditure by Project within Country, as of 31 December 2015 (in US Dollars)
Country / Project No.and Project Title
Participating
Organization
Approved
Amount
Net Funded
Amount Expenditure
Delivery Rate
%
Ethiopia
00092000 RWEE Ethiopia
FAO 278,741 278,741 209,482 75.15
IFAD22 439,769 439,769 0
UNWOMEN 130,536 130,536 56,304 43.13
WFP 439,210 439,210 0
Ethiopia Total 1,288,256 1,288,256 265,785 20.63
20 The disbursement rate for funds allocated to IFAD does not take into account commitments. A number of contracts were
signed in 2015, against which payments are being made in 2016 upon successful completion of activities. 21 See narrative explanation for WFP’s low expenditure rates under “Qualitative assessment of the JP’s implementation” (page
15). 22
Following discussions with the Government of Ethiopia, it has been agreed that WFP will implement the activities on behalf
of IFAD in line with the harmonized mechanism for implementation of UN programmes agreed in the UNDAF. IFAD resources
have been transferred to WFP in 2016 for implementation of activities.
29
Guatemala
00092001 RWEE Guatemala
FAO 282,966 282,966 183,148 64.72
UNWOMEN 429,110 429,110 108,499 25.28
WFP 576,178 576,178 58,850 10.21
Guatemala Total 1,288,254 1,288,254 350,497 27.21
Kyrgyzstan
00092002 RWEE Kyrgyzstan
FAO 385,589 385,589 76,301 19.79
UNWOMEN 520,321 520,321 174,679 33.57
WFP 382,345 382,345 252,097 65.93
Kyrgyzstan Total 1,288,255 1,288,255 503,076 39.05
Liberia
00092003 RWEE Liberia
FAO 104,918 104,918 28,864 27.51
UNWOMEN 899,763 899,763 841,415 93.52
WFP 283,574 283,574 0
Liberia Total 1,288,255 1,288,255 870,279 67.55
Nepal
00092004 RWEE Nepal
FAO 297,474 297,474 15,999 5.38
UNWOMEN 436,822 436,822 226,865 51.94
WFP 443,478 443,478 1,283 0.29
Nepal Total 1,177,774 1,177,774 244,148 20.73
Niger
00092005 RWEE Niger
FAO 475,488 475,488 273,036 57.42
IFAD23 270,923 270,923 30,562 11.28
UNWOMEN 270,923 270,923 57,407 21.19
WFP 270,923 270,923 15,176 5.60
Niger Total 1,288,257 1,288,257 376,182 29.20
Rwanda
00092006 RWEE Rwanda
FAO 321,693 321,693 183,140 56.93
IFAD24 311,175 311,175 0
UNWOMEN 335,695 335,695 190,937 56.88
WFP 319,693 319,693 319,693 100.00
Rwanda Total 1,288,256 1,288,256 693,770 53.85
Grand Total 8,907,307 8,907,307 3,303,737 37.09
23
Commitments made in 2015 amount to a total of US$152,000 (56.1% of budget allocated to IFAD in Niger). 24 Commitments made in 2015 amount to a total of US$265,500 (85.3% of budget allocated to IFAD in Rwanda).
30
5.3 Expenditure reported by category
Project expenditures are incurred and monitored by each Participating Organization and are reported as
per the agreed categories for inter-agency harmonized reporting. In 2006 the UN Development Group
(UNDG) established six categories against which UN entities must report inter-agency project
expenditures. Effective 1 January 2012, the UN Chief Executive Board (CEB) modified these categories as
a result of IPSAS adoption to comprise eight categories. All expenditure incurred prior to 1 January 2012
have been reported in the old categories; post 1 January 2012 all expenditure are reported in the new
eight categories. The old and new categories are noted to the right.
Table 6 reflects expenditure reported in the UNDG expense categories. Where the Fund has been
operational pre and post 1 January 2012, the expenditures are reported using both categories. Where a
Fund became operational post 1 January 2012, only the new categories are used.
2012 CEB Expense Categories
1. Staff and personnel costs
2. Supplies, commodities and materials
3. Equipment, vehicles, furniture and depreciation
4. Contractual services
5. Travel
6. Transfers and grants
7. General operating expenses
8. Indirect costs
2006 UNDG Expense Categories
1. Supplies, commodities, equipment & transport
2. Personnel
3. Training counterparts
4. Contracts
5. Other direct costs
6. Indirect costs
Table 7. Expenditure by UNDG Budget Category, as of 31 December 2015 (in US Dollars)
Category
Expenditure
Percentage of Total
Programme Cost
Prior Years
as of 31-Dec-2014
Current Year
Jan-Dec-2015 Total
Supplies, Commodities, Equipment and Transport (Old) - - -
Personnel (Old) - - -
Training of Counterparts(Old) - - -
Contracts (Old) - - -
Other direct costs (Old) - - -
Staff and Personnel Cost (New) - 278,161 278,161 9.27
Supplies, Commodities and Materials (New) - 462,316 462,316 15.41
Equipment, Vehicles, Furniture and Depreciation (New) - 122,473 122,473 4.08
Contractual Services (New) 4,000 942,614 946,614 31.55
Travel (New) - 178,888 178,888 5.96
Transfers and Grants (New) - 679,843 679,843 22.66
General Operating (New) 6,524 325,352 331,876 11.06
Programme Costs Total 10,524 2,989,647 3,000,171 100.00
1 Indirect Support Costs Total 43,913 259,653 303,566 10.12
Total 54,437 3,249,300 3,303,737
______________________ 1 Indirect Support Costs charged by Participating Organization, based on their financial regulations, can be deducted upfront or at a
later stage during implementation. The percentage may therefore appear to exceed the 7% agreed-upon for on-going projects. Once
projects are financially closed, this number is not to exceed 7%
31
6. Cost recovery
Cost recovery policies for the Fund are guided by the applicable provisions of the Terms of Reference,
the MOU concluded between the Administrative Agent and Participating Organizations, and the SAAs
concluded between the Administrative Agent and Contributors, based on rates approved by UNDG.
The policies in place, as of 31 December 2015, were as follows:
• The Administrative Agent (AA) fee: 1% is charged at the time of contributor deposit and covers
services provided on that contribution for the entire duration of the Fund. In the reporting
period US$ 0 was deducted in AA-fees. Cumulatively, as of 31 December 2015, US$ 92,900 has
been charged in AA-fees.
• Indirect Costs of Participating Organizations: Participating Organizations may charge 7%
indirect costs. In the current reporting period US$ 259,653 was deducted in indirect costs by
Participating Organizations. Cumulatively, indirect costs amount to US$ 303,566 as of 31
December 2015.
7. Accountability and transparency
In order to effectively provide fund administration services and facilitate monitoring and reporting to
the UN system and its partners, the MPTF Office has developed a public website, the MPTF Office
Gateway (http://mptf.undp.org). Refreshed in real time every two hours from an internal enterprise
resource planning system, the MPTF Office Gateway has become a standard setter for providing
transparent and accountable trust fund administration services.
The Gateway provides financial information including: contributor commitments and deposits, approved
programme budgets, transfers to and expenditures reported by Participating Organizations, interest
income and other expenses. In addition, the Gateway provides an overview of the MPTF Office portfolio
and extensive information on individual Funds, including their purpose, governance structure and key
documents. By providing easy access to the growing number of narrative and financial reports, as well as
related project documents, the Gateway collects and preserves important institutional knowledge and
facilitates knowledge sharing and management among UN Organizations and their development
partners, thereby contributing to UN coherence and development effectiveness.
8. Direct costs
The Fund governance mechanism may approve an allocation to a Participating Organization to cover
costs associated with Secretariat services and overall coordination, as well as Fund level reviews and
evaluations. These allocations are referred to as 'direct costs'. In 2015, direct costs were US$ 289,761.
List of attachments
− Attachment 1: Annual Narrative Country reports
− Attachment 2: RWEE Operational Guidance note
− Attachment 3: RWEE Stakeholders and Partners matrix
− Attachment 4: RWEE Eligibility criteria