Management Response

: Multi Country Office for Southern Africa (South Africa)
: 2014 - 2017 , Multi Country Office for Southern Africa (South Africa) (MCO)
: Evaluation of Women's Empowerment Projects in partnership with Coca-Cola
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Multi Country Office for Southern Africa (South Africa)

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The recommendations were mostly practical and actionable. A detailed response outlines the actions that have been agreed upon with the stakeholders. The ones that were immediately actionable have been planned in the 2015 work-plan and a monitoring plan developed.

: Approved
Recommendation: With the support of the project management and monitoring system above, documentation on project achievements, lessons learned, stories, etc… needs to be prioritized and led by UN Women with strong contribution from HiH (i.e. identification of stories, identification of lessons learned at field level). These can be packaged and shared both nationally and internationally with the lead of UN Women and contribution of all partners. A needs, situation and trends analysis in the provinces needs to be conducted/consolidated whilst drawing linkages between macro and micro environments including the stakeholders involved. Emphasis should be placed on linking the analysis to not only project activities but also emerging results and possible scenarios for sustainability.
Management Response: The recommendation is partly acceptable
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
The case study documentation is already planned and will be fully implemented. Trainers will conduct needs analysis in the areas where project will be implemented and this will be consolidated. However, the depth and scope of needs analysis may be limited by time constraints. Effort will be made to utilize the technical documentation Specialist to draw linkages between micro and macro environment when writing up the case study. A comprehensive consolidation of needs analysis may therefore not be completed prior to implementation as envisaged by the consultant Hand in Hand will generate the first raw drafts of case studies through the trainers UN Women MCO will ensure the procurement of a technical service provider to document case studies through written and visual media. UN Women MCO, Coca-Cola South Africa (CCSA) and Hand in Hand Management will support the documentation particularly with regard to quality enrichment and control. UN Women MCO will manage the procurement and development of the case studies 2015/12 Overdue-Initiated
Recommendation: The project management and monitoring system needs to allow for timely gathering of information from the field; consolidation of emerging good practices from field team on implementation, and more structured facilitation of sharing of good practices amongst field team and technical support and guidance in applying the same in different locations where project is implemented. Current monthly meetings platforms, though useful, are not sufficient to align standards of delivery among field staff. Prioritization of the finalization of MIS is critical to make data readily available for different uses.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Monthly meeting will be structured to accommodate generation of lessons learnt. Reports from monthly meeting will be compiled timely and in sufficient details to allow for documentation of lessons learnt as they emerge. The information generated from monthly meetings will further inform the case study documentation and final project review for to inform not only this partnership but potential future partnerships of a similar nature. The monthly report will be shared with stakeholders such as bottling Companies as well as internal management with UN Women MCO and CCSA Hand in Hand to coordinate inputs from the field team. UN Women MCO to develop a standard template for reporting after every monthly meeting and propose attachments to be included. The monthly report will be shared with stakeholders such as bottling Companies as well as internal management with UN Women MCO and CCSA 2015/12 Overdue-Initiated
Recommendation: Hand in Hand should streamline the mapping of existing stakeholders at local levels while clearly highlighting the value they would add to the project beyond logistical support and referral of beneficiaries. UN Women should then lead efforts in engaging stakeholders at national level
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
The monthly meetings discussed above will include more substantive reporting on local stakeholders including the current role in the programme as well as potential roles they could play if fully harnessed. Where a local stakeholder shows value addition to the project, effort will be made to cement the relationship Hand in Hand in in the identification of stakeholders and preliminary assessment of their role. Further discussions with Project team on the way forward in building the relationship especially in the interest of sustainability 2015/12 Overdue-Initiated
Recommendation: Active participation of all relevant stakeholders in all project phases should be promoted. Each partner should focus in engaging stakeholders according to their own expertise with a project approach
Management Response: The recommendation is not fully acceptable
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
With the three partners, project has in the past put effort in involving the three partners. The approach un engaging the three partners can be strengthened. Further, effort will be made to provide feedback to bottling companies within The Coca-Cola Company Franchise in more structured manner by sharing reports on a monthly basis. However, it is recognized that it is not always possible to engage ‘all stakeholders’ within the constraints of time as relationship building takes time. However, critical strategic stakeholders such as government will be involved as much as they can accommodate the Project needs (considering that also sometimes gets stretched from a capacity perspective). Project will always consult government approved policies and plan to align with country priorities, inform and consult government officials and share reports with the government as required of any credible development partner. Hand in Hand: Grass-root stakeholders and other relevant stakeholder CCSA: Franchise partners and other relevant stakeholders UN Women MCO: government and other relevant stakeholders 2015/12 Overdue-Initiated
Recommendation: The MIS tool itself should be revised by UN omen with the support of the other two partners to prioritize the most relevant information considering project implementation needs and the interests of potential institutional stakeholders
Management Response: The recommendation is fully acceptable
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
This has been revised since October 2014 and revisions are being finalized. Previously, there was a challenge of backlog which was addressed through recruiting interns who supported the uploading of data. In 2015, provision has been made to have dedicated lean team to support the capturing of data into MIS as it emerges so as to avoid the possibility of creating other backlogs. Trainers had expressed concerns that they would not be able to load data due to competing priorities of meeting their individual training targets UN Women MCO and Hand in Hand 2015/12 Overdue-Initiated
Recommendation: Participation of beneficiaries in the elaboration of new training material contents should be promoted from the field level and led by HiH.
Management Response: The recommendation is partly acceptable
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Hand in Hand indicated that development of training materials is informed by feedback from beneficiaries. The gap seems to be the tracking of the changes made and documentation of the feedback for future references Hand in Hand can improve of the way the feedback is obtained, documented and considered in revising materials Hand in Hand 2016/10 Overdue-Not Initiated The training materials for the remaining phase of the current project arrangements have been developed. However, team will inform the strategies of conducting the trainings. The inputs garnered in this phase of the project will be used to enrich future materials. Should this partnership be extended, it will benefit from richer materials informed by field experience
Recommendation: At field level, communication on the mandate and less tangible role of UN Women needs to be strengthened by HiH
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
UN Women plays a critical but indirect and close to invisible role in the project including project planning, coordination, technical support for quality control, and reporting, financial management among others. A conscious effort to recognize the role played by UN Women- which can easily be lost due to its lack of obvious visibility is necessary at all levels UN Women partners; Hand in Hand and CCSA 2016/10 Overdue-Initiated This recommendation applies beyond the duration of the programme. Have an informal agreement with partners to always acknowledge other partners.
Recommendation: Promotion of knowledge sharing in the new areas, including exchange of knowledge from current and former beneficiaries and also exchange/peer learning for field staff needs to be prioritized and conducted by UN Women and HiH in an organized manner
Management Response: The recommendation is partly acceptable
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
The monthly meetings create a platform for peer learning amongst trainers. Structuring of monthly meetings to include reporting and documentation of lessons learnt is expected to augment the cross-pollination of ideas and skills among trainers. Exchange of knowledge between current and former beneficiaries is not fully possible in the remaining duration of the due to time and resource constraints considering the numbers involved. UN Women country office and implementing partner 2015/12 Overdue-Initiated
Recommendation: In order to avoid potential misuse of information during the project implementation phase and beyond, A data protection and data management agreement needs to be reached by all partners UN Women should led this.
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Currently, data is only accessible to UN Women MCO and Hand in Hand and the use of the data is restricted to ethically appropriate uses in discussion with UN Women as provided for in the Project Cooperation Agreement between UN Women and Implementing Partner. A specific communication on the database will be developed in consultation with UN Women head office to guide utilization of data within and beyond the timeframes of the project UN Women MCO with support from head office 2016/10 Overdue-Not Initiated Recommendation goes beyond project duration
Recommendation: 10. All three partner organizations at national and international levels should explore whether and how they can draw upon project specific experience more effectively to inform overall organizational learning, partnership and theory building. All project partners should explore if and how they can better continue to support together the realization of women’s rights in the country
Management Response: The recommendation is acceptable.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
The three partners were supporting the realization of human rights in the country even before the partnership was formed and it is believed that they will continue to do so even beyond the lifespan of this project whether within or outside this partnership. The experience derived from this project will strengthen the capacity of each partner in their future partnership endeavors. The planned documentation seeks to contribute making knowledge accessible for the three partners in their future endeavors. UN Women MCO CCSA and Hand in Hand 2015/12 Overdue-Initiated Subject to discussions between UN Women HQ and The Coca-Cola Company at head office level