Monitoring & Evaluation Archives

The 1325 Civil Society Scorecard: A tool to measure the implementation of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), ensure stronger accountability and systematic monitoring and evaluation

GNWP, with support from Cordaid, organizes a regional training with representatives from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on impact assessment of WPS indicators and the 1325 Civil Society Progress Scorecard

August 29, 2019 by Dinah Lakehal and Agnieszka Fal Dutra Santos

What does successful implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda look like? How can monitoring, evaluation indicators, and reports be used, not just as signposts of change, but as powerful advocacy tools to strengthen implementation? How can we use monitoring data to better align local and national strategies with global objectives?

These are some of the questions the participants of the regional training on WPS monitoring and evaluation organized by GNWP, with support from Cordaid, asked themselves. The training, held in Kampala, Uganda on July 30 and 31^st 2019 brought together local and national government representatives, civil society, and young women from DRC and Burundi. Through expert presentations, collaborative discussions, and hands-on exercises, the participants strengthened their capacities to monitor the implementation of WPS in their countries. They discussed challenges, strategies, best practices, and recommendations for how to use monitoring data to foster more effective implementation.

Civil society from both Burundi and DRC had participated in the civil society-led monitoring project Women Count implemented by GNWP, with support from Cordaid, which had been held in 24 countries between 2010 and 2014.

Through Women Count, local women and women’s organizations improved their monitoring and evaluation skills and adopted locally relevant and adaptable indicators for WPS monitoring aligned with the indicators proposed by the UN Secretary-General under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1889 (2009). Since Women Count, both Burundi and DRC have come a long way towards ensuring strong monitoring and evaluation of WPS implementation. In DRC, GNWP’s partners who participated in Women Count were part of the drafting committee for DRC’s 2^nd National Action Plan. They used the skills and knowledge gained through civil society monitoring to ensure the new NAP is impactful and includes “SMART” (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) objectives and indicators. In Burundi, to address the challenge with monitoring data collection, the Ministry of Gender, in partnership with civil society, organize regular “open-door” days, during which civil society and local women can voice their concerns, and share projects and initiatives in WPS implementation.

During the regional training held in July 2019 [in Uganda], government and civil society representatives from both DRC and Burundi exchanged experiences and discussed challenges, best practices, and recommendations for effective monitoring and evaluation of WPS implementation. The participants also discussed strategies to use the data collected through monitoring and evaluation to strengthen advocacy, and accelerate WPS implementation at the local, national, and regional levels. “It is important to align our NAP objectives and indicators with other relevant frameworks, such as the AU Continental Framework on WPS, and the Maputo Protocol,” emphasized Annie Kenda from the Ministry of Women in DRC. Participants from the government and civil society from both countries also expressed their shared recognition of the significance of civil society-led monitoring. They acknowledged the importance of alternative reports, which bring distinctive perspectives of marginalized groups, such as indigenous peoples or persons with disabilities, to the table.

This exchange of experiences has brought to light the multiple challenges to monitoring and evaluation of WPS implementation that remain in Burundi and DRC. In both countries, a lack of dedicated funding slows coordination and collaboration among different actors involved in WPS implementation. The failure to disseminate NAP objectives and indicators at the local level prevents a comprehensive and accurate assessment of needs, resources, and capacities, and prevents local ownership. For instance, DRC’s 2^nd NAP includes a detailed operation plan, which allows for more robust monitoring and evaluation. However, this plan has not yet been disseminated in provinces, nor translated into local languages. The regional workshop served as an opportunity for local authorities to learn about the operational plan for the first time, which encouraged the Ministry of Women to commit to continuing its dissemination in all provinces. Another gap highlighted was the lack of communication and collaboration amongst all stakeholders responsible for WPS implementation and monitoring. To address this gap, participants recommended a detailed mapping of WPS actors and existing initiatives in both countries.

The interactive discussions and exchanges of experiences were complemented by expert presentations on developing high impact, “SMART” quantitative and qualitative indicators, monitoring data collection methodologies, and the use of the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as a reporting mechanism for WPS. “The knowledge gained through this training will support us as we update our Provincial Action Plan and accelerate WPS implementation in North Kivu,” shared Christian Mbusa Mupika from the Provincial Ministry of Women in North Kivu.

A central module of the training consisted of training the participants on how to use the 1325 Civil Society Progress Scorecard, developed by GNWP with support from Cordaid. The 1325 Civil Society Scorecard is a visual tool that allows users to track the implementation of WPS over the years by attributing a score to a range of locally adaptable indicators, based on those developed through Women Count.

The participants analyzed the indicators, provided additional feedback on their usability, and discussed ways to align them with the objectives and indicators of their Local and National Action Plans on WPS. In small working groups with their respective delegations, participants developed concrete strategies to take full advantage of the 1325 Civil Society Scorecard as a powerful visual tool for advocacy. “We will use the 1325 Civil Society Scorecard to report on progress in the implementation of Women, Peace, and Security, as well as Beijing +25, the implementation of the SDGs, and other international frameworks,” emphasized Jeannine Mukanirwa, a participant from CAFCO DRC.

Monitoring and evaluation is a critical component of the Full Cycle implementation of WPS. However, while developing locally adaptable indicators and collecting reliable data is necessary to track implementation progress, identify gaps, and address challenges, it is equally important to use the collected data to effectively conduct advocacy, raise awareness, ensure accountability and accelerate implementation in cooperation with all responsible stakeholders. Most significantly, government, civil society, local and traditional leaders, the media, and international and regional actors all play a key role in monitoring and evaluation. As Ndanziza Desiré, a journalist from Burundi and one of the workshop participants, emphasized, “The media has an important responsibility in raising awareness of WPS, but also to report on the reality on the ground.” “The 1325 Civil Society Scorecard was designed to help use the data effectively. This workshop was an important step towards improving WPS monitoring and implementation in DRC and Burundi. We look forward to continuing this work,” concluded Neema Namadamu, a member of SAFECO DRC.

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August 29, 2019

Nepali Civil Society Prepares for the Shadow Report on Implementation of NAP and other policies on Women, Peace and Security

30 August, 2018 by Prativa Khanal*

Ensuring accountability for and monitoring of the National Action Plans (NAP) on the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women Peace and Security is a challenge in many countries, including in Nepal. As Ms Bandana Rana, Nepal’s first elected Member of the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) remarked, “CEDAW can be a powerful response to this challenge, because of its strong reporting procedures. CEDAW General Recommendation No. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations, enabled government and civil society to use CEDAW as an accountability mechanism for the NAP on UNSCR 1325. It is important to remind the key stakeholders in Nepal about their obligation to implement CEDAW GR 30.”

Nepal adopted its first NAP in 2011 for the period of 2011 to 2016. The second NAP is currently being drafted. Nepal is also a State Party to CEDAW and is due to report in October 2018, during the 71st session of CEDAW in Geneva.

On August 28-29,2018 GNWP facilitated a workshop on ‘Strengthening Synergies between the CEDAW and the WPS Resolutions’ in Kathmandu, Nepal in partnership with the 1325 Action Group and Saathi. The workshop brought together representatives from government, civil society, conflict victims, indigenous group, media, international development partners, UN Women and UNFPA to discuss the importance of jointly implementing CEDAW and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) resolutions. The workshop included expert’s presentation on the latest global developments on WPS agenda; the Sustaining Peace agenda and its applicability to Nepal; CEDAW Structures and Procedures, including GR 30; and the use of CEDAW as an advocacy tool. Using a “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats” (SWOT) analysis methodology, the participants assessed the achievements and challenges of Nepal’s post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding processes including the NAP implementation; and analyzed the priorities and gaps in the government and civil society reports to the CEDAW Committee.

Some of the strengths and opportunities identified are the new Constitution and the Federal government structure and decentralization; establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) and other commissions such as on human rights, women, and Dalit; and formation of local bodies including Judicial Committees with the power to settle and/or mediate certain cases.

The participants also questioned the effectiveness of the above-mentioned mechanisms due to lack of necessary legislation as per the international law, government’s failure to provide adequate human and financial resources and failure to completely investigate even a single complaint even three years after their formation, which was identified as a key weakness. In addition, the participants expressed concerns regarding the dissolution of the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, Local Peace Committees, and Women and Children Development Office – all key structures for the implementation of Nepal’s NAP on UNSCR 1325; and the lack of ownership of the WPS agenda among certain government ministries and agencies.

The other weaknesses and threats to Nepal’s peacebuilding efforts identified by the participants are:

a) lack of proper data collection mechanisms;

b) lack of disaggregated data;

c) non-delivery of the interim relief package to some victims of torture and sexual and gender-based violence;

d) lack of intersectional approach to peace and security; and

e) failure to address the root causes of conflict are other examples of weaknesses and threats for the implementation of WPS issues in Nepal.

Following the analysis of the State Party report and civil society shadow report submitted to the CEDAW Committee, the participants commented that a number of challenges in the NAP implementation are not included in both the government and civil society reports to the CEDAW Committee. To address this gap, the participants committed to:

1) Write a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expedite the process of adoption of the second phase of the NAP with clear implementation mechanisms particularly in light of the change to a federal structure of government and dissolution of the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, Local Peace Committees, and Women and Children Development Office;

2) Disseminate results of the SWOT Analysis and the recommendations for more effective implementation of the NAP to relevant government agencies, civil society, UN and other international development partners; and

3) Submit a shadow report on Women, Peace and Security’ to the CEDAW Committee to address the gaps in the current reports.

The workshop successfully built greater awareness of the synergies between CEDAW and WPS, and commitment to ensuring joint implementation of these two important instruments in Nepal. This was reinforced by Khaga Prasad Chapagain, Chairperson, Family Planning Association of Nepal, Kapilvastu District Chapter, who said: “I am confident that the issues of the local level will be integrated into the Shadow Report on Women, Peace and Security which will help draw attention to the plight of women affected by the conflict.” Hema Pandey, Legal Officer of the National Women Commission stressed that “the mandates of CEDAW and the WPS resolutions complement to each other in scope and applicability. Thus, synergy is a must to ensure effective reporting and monitoring of the implementation of the NAP.”

The workshop was part of a broader collaboration between GNWP and Switzerland on the joint implementation of CEDAW and the WPS resolutions, aimed at raising the awareness and encouraging States parties to report on the legal framework, policies and programs they have implemented to guarantee women’s rights in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations.

More details on the workshop may also be found in Nepali media, including the Himalayan Times newspaper: https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/workshop-held-to-prepare-report-on-womens-issues/.

*The author is a Senior Program Officer at GNWP.

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September 5, 2018

Case Studies on civil society’s use of CEDAW GR 30 to solicit greater accountability to the women and peace and security resolutions

December 4, 2016 by Kelly Yzique

Since its adoption in October 2013, CEDAW General Recommendation No. 30 (GR 30) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations has been providing authoritative guidance to State parties on measures to ensure the protection, respect and fulfillment of women’s human rights before, during and after conflict. GR 30 also serves as a strong complementary reporting and accountability mechanism to UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) and the supporting resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS). Among its many important provisions, GR 30 recommends that States parties “[e]nsure that National Action Plans and strategies to implement Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions are compliant with the Convention, and that adequate budgets are allocated for their implementation.” It also calls for enhanced collaboration with civil society organizations working on the advancement of the WPS agenda. The 189 UN Members States (out of 193) that ratified CEDAW are now compelled to report on the implementation of the WPS resolutions in their periodic reports to the CEDAW Committee.

Civil society has used GR 30 as a powerful tool to demand greater implementation of the WPS resolutions. Civil society organizations now integrate their analysis of the implementation of GR 30 and UNCSR 1325 in their shadow reports to the CEDAW Committee.

Since GR 30 was adopted, the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNW) has highlighted the importance of developing practical tools to guide Member States and civil society on how to use GR 30 and USNCR 1325 complementarily to push forward the WPS agenda. The development of practical tools, such as guidebooks and case studies on the use of GR 30, was also among the recommendations discussed during a training on GR 30 held in Indonesia in December 2014, organized by GNWP in partnership with the CEDAW Task Force on GR 30, the Asian Muslim Network, and the Asia-Pacific Women’s Alliance on Peace and Security.

In 2015, the GNWP International Coordinating provided comprehensive comments to a civil society guidebook drafted by the International Womens’ Rights Action Watch-Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP). GNWP also shared two detailed reports on the use of GR 30 as an accountability mechanism to the WPS resolution in Iraq and Sierra Leone (57^th session) and Syria and India (58^th session) with IWRAW AP and UN Women consultants working on producing a CEDAW/WPS Guidebook. In October 2015, the UN Women Guidebook on CEDAW general recommendation no. 30 and the UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace, and security was launched during an event co-sponsored by GNWP.

To complement the UN Women Guidebook as well as the work of IWRAW-AP, GNWP has produced case studies on the use of GR 30 by civil society since its adoption in four countries: Azerbaijan, Colombia, India and Iraq. These case studies provide:

Country-specific information on the last periodic report to the CEDAW Committee;

Concrete examples of the use of GR 30 by civil society and its impact on pushing forward the WPS agenda at local, national, regional and global levels

Challenges encountered by civil society in their use of GR 30

Recommendations to the CEDAW Committee, civil society, national governments and the international community regarding the use of GR 30 as a complementary mechanism to UNSCR 1325.

Executive Summaries of the four case studies will be distributed during the Arria formula meeting convened on December 5, 2016 by the Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the UN. During this Arria Formula meeting, CEDAW experts, Security Council Members and other Member States will exchange views on how UNSCRs on WPS and GR 30 are mutually reinforcing. The Arria formula is intended to enhance the effectiveness of the Security Council Framework on 1325 by reporting to CEDAW on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and the supporting WPS resolutions. It also aims to generate support for a more integrative approach to the implementation of international laws and policies across the UN system.

The Azerbaijan, Colombia, India and Iraq Executive Summaries and Case Studies can be accessed here.

If you belong to a civil society organization and are interested in drafting or contributing to a Case Study on the complementary use of GR 30 and UNSCR 1325 in your country, please contact Kelly Yzique at kelly.gnwp@gmail.com.

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December 4, 2016