DFID

Department for International Development

plans

Working in Partnership with

UNIFEM – United Nations Development Fund for Women

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) is the British government department responsible for promoting development and the reduction of poverty. The government elected in May 1997 increased its commitment to development by strengthening the department and increasing its budget. The policy of the government was set out in the White Paper on International Development, published in November 1997. The central focus of the policy is a commitment to the internationally agreed target to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015, together with the associated targets including basic health care provision and universal access to primary education by the same date. DFID seeks to work in partnership with governments which are committed to the international targets, and seeks to work with business, civil society and the research community to encourage progress which will help reduce poverty. We also work with multilateral institutions including the World Bank, UN agencies and the European Commission. The bulk of our assistance is concentrated on the poorest countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. We are also contributing to poverty elimination and sustainable development in middle income countries, and helping the transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe to try to ensure that the widest number of people benefit from the process of change. As well as its headquarters in London and East Kilbride, DFID has offices in New Delhi, Bangkok, Nairobi, Harare, Pretoria, Dhaka, Suva and Bridgetown. In other parts of the world, DFID works through staff based in British embassies and high commissions.

Institutional Strategy Papers Institutional Strategy Papers (ISPs) are prepared for the main multilateral development institutions with which DFID works, and are normally produced every three years. ISPs set out how we aim to contribute to achieving our White Paper objectives in partnership with each of the institutions concerned. The preparation of ISPs is a consultative process involving the institutions themselves and a range of civil society and other contacts.

Department for International Development March 1999

DFID – March 1999

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Working with UNIFEM – United Nations Development Fund for Women: Institutional Strategy Paper Contents

Page

A

Summary

1

B

UNIFEM’S mandate and strategy

2

C

Strengths and comparative advantage

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D

Challenges for the future

6

E

UK relationship with UNIFEM

6

F

Strategic objectives and action plan

7

Annex 1

UNIFEM staffing

8

Annex 2

Expenditure

9

Annex 3

Summary of Consultation Process

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This Institutional Strategy Paper is one of a series on DFID’s international development partnership with the United Nations and its agencies. It follows Working with the United Nations for International Development (March 1999) which provides an overview of DFID’s work with the UN system. Copies of this and other papers in the series are available from our Public Enquiry Point or on our website (see contact details on the back cover).

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DFID – March 1999

A. Summary A1 UNIFEM – the United Nations Development Fund for Women – plays a key strategic role in the UN in promoting gender equality in international development. It has recently been undertaking a major process of reorientation to sharpen its focus and strengthen its catalytic role within the UN family and the international community. It has been one of the quickest among the UN funds and programmes to embrace the challenge of the UN reform process. A2 The UK has provided modest support to UNIFEM since its inception. Our contribution has been stepped up in the wake of the UK Government White Paper on International Development (November 1997), which sees gender equality as an essential precondition for the elimination of world poverty. An analysis of current developments within UNIFEM, and feedback obtained from a widespread consultation process, provide a strong case for a further strengthening of DFID’s collaboration with UNIFEM. A3 The development of DFID’s relationship with UNIFEM will be linked to progress towards the achievement of three key objectives. These will be to: ● consolidate and build its strategic role in strengthening the capacity of the UN family and other partners to promote gender equality and implement a pro-poor, rights-based approach to development, within the wider framework of UN reform; ● continue streamlining its portfolio to focus on key areas of innovation and the development of new approaches, suitable for mainstream implementation by the major UN funds and programmes and other partners; ● introduce new impact assessment and lesson learning systems for measuring progress towards the achievement of internationally agreed gender equality goals, and disseminating good practice.

DFID – March 1999

A4 Particular attention will be paid to collaborating with UNIFEM in strengthening efforts towards promoting gender equality within the framework of the achievement of the international development targets. UNIFEM will also be encouraged to develop further, and extend to other UN partners, the capacity building support role it is currently developing through its relationship with the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). It should also continue to build its network of national committees, including the establishment of more of these in developing countries. A5 DFID will play an active role in working with UNIFEM to disseminate lessons learned, and promote the replication of good practice, from innovative approaches to poverty reduction, in particular through the strengthening of women’s economic capacity, bringing a gender approach into issues of governance and leadership, and promoting women’s rights.

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B. UNIFEM’s mandate and strategy B1 UNIFEM was originally set up in 1976 by the UN General Assembly as the Voluntary Fund for the UN Decade for Women (1976–85). It adopted its current name in 1985 when it became an autonomous organisation established in association with UNDP. Its mandate is to: ● support innovative and experimental activities benefiting women, in line with national and regional priorities; ● serve as a catalyst, with the goal of ensuring the appropriate involvement of women in mainstream development activities, as often as possible at the preinvestment stage; ● play an innovative and catalytic role in relation to the United Nations overall system of development cooperation. (UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/39/125) B2 UNIFEM is a small organisation, with approximately 50 professional staff, about half of whom are based in New York and the rest distributed around the world. Its funding remains modest, though its budget has almost doubled in the 1990s, from around US$10m in 1990 to more than US$20m in 19981. B3 In spite of its modest size, UNIFEM has a high profile. Since the 4th World Conference on Women at Beijing in 1995 it has strengthened its position considerably, and has been undergoing a major reform process under its current Executive Director, Noeleen Heyzer. Reform has focused on sharpening UNIFEM’s strategic vision and priorities, and putting its management systems and capacity on a firmer footing. B4 Although it had built a powerful constituency, particularly in the international women’s movement, and had a clear mandate backed by a series of key international conventions, UNIFEM was criticised in the early to mid 1990s for paying too much attention to funding an eclectic portfolio of small projects at the expense of strengthening its strategic role. It also ran into financial difficulties, running large deficits for three years from 1992–942.

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B5 The current Executive Director was appointed in 1994 with a brief to stabilise UNIFEM’s financial position and re-focus its programme. An evaluation of UNIFEM’s activities was undertaken and a new programme strategy developed, with technical assistance provided by DFID (then the Overseas Development Administration) for a policy and resources planning exercise. The new strategy is built on an ‘empowerment framework’, based on promoting women’s rights, opportunities and capacities. The strategy is focused on three priority areas of concern: strengthening women’s economic capacity; bringing a gender perspective to governance and leadership; and promoting women’s human rights. UNIFEM has adopted an ABC approach, based on advocacy, brokering, and capacity building. It has identified five core strategies to build on its comparative advantage: ● building the capacity and leadership of women’s organisations and networks; ● leveraging political and financial support for women from a range of stakeholders in the development process; ● forging new synergies and effective co-operation between women’s organisations, governments, the UN system and the private sector; ● undertaking pilot and demonstration projects to test innovative approaches to women’s empowerment; ● building an operational knowledge base to influence the mainstreaming of gender concerns into all aspects of development co-operation. B6 The new strategy is promoting a greater concentration of effort, and UNIFEM has reduced the number of projects and programmes it is funding around the world from 124 in 1994 to 91 in 1997. B7 As well as serving to bring UNIFEM’s funding programme into sharper focus, the development of the new strategy has also led to a recognition of a need to strengthen its management and monitoring systems. A results-based approach to planning is being developed, alongside a new management information system which will focus attention on outputs and outcomes and develop a scoring system. The new system is expected to be operational in 1999, and will create a direct link between resources and results, and significantly strengthen UNIFEM’s capacity to learn lessons from its catalytic work in a structured and systematic way.

Data on UNIFEM’s income and expenditure, and the UK’s contribution, is shown in Annex 2. This was in part due to an unprecedented surge in activity among partner organisations in the run-up to the Beijing conference, leading to an acceleration of spending which far surpassed UNIFEM’s forecasts.

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DFID – March 1999

B8 The Netherlands has been UNIFEM’s lead donor since 1991, with Japan and Norway being top three contributors over the past three years. New lines of funding are also being opened up, with support recently being agreed from the Turner Fund and the European Union, and an experiment underway with small-scale private sector sponsorship to promote fund raising. Norway, Sweden and Finland have all recently undertaken to increase their contributions by 30–50%. B9 The UK contribution has been modest. From 1993 to 1996 it amounted to about US$230,000 per year. This rose significantly in 1997, to US$1,022,788, about half of which was earmarked for the UNIFEM Trust Fund on Violence Against Women. In addition, DFID geographical departments have been collaborating with UNIFEM in a number of regional and country level activities, with a particular focus on the implementation of the Global Platform for Action agreed at Beijing.

DFID – March 1999

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C. Strengths and comparative advantage C1 UNIFEM’s small size is both a strength and a challenge. It is a strength in that it allows UNIFEM to operate in a responsive and flexible manner and take low-cost but strategically important risks in developing innovative approaches to promoting women’s empowerment. In recent years, UNIFEM has played a leading role, for example, in bringing difficult and sensitive issues, such as violence against women, into the development agenda, and has helped lead the way in new areas of work, such as the introduction of “women’s budgets” and the development of a gender perspective in economic and policy reform programmes. C2 Being small creates challenges in that field staff are thinly spread, overworked, and burdened with unrealistic expectations. Steps are being taken to increase its field presence, but it is recognised that a very large increase in global representation is unlikely to be achieved, and is almost certainly undesirable. Given UNIFEM’s strategic and catalytic role, the quality of its interventions is of greater importance than the quantity. C3 UNIFEM is piloting two options for increased representation, by collaborating with UNDP in placing a cadre of 15 UN Volunteer gender specialists in country offices3, and appointing a small group of gender advisers to field posts. Future decisions about staffing needs in the field will be based on the lessons learned from these. UNIFEM will also need to consider where it can best place additional personnel. Given that it is unlikely ever to have a major field presence world-wide, it will be important that staff are placed in a strategic manner to ensure that the best use is made of this limited resource. C4 A co-operation agreement has also been established with UNFPA to provide backstopping support to its cadre of Gender and Population Advisers in its eight regional Technical Support System teams. This is a promising initiative which, if successful, could point the way to a broader, and more formal, role for UNIFEM in providing this kind of support to gender specialists across the board in the UN. C5 The UN reform process, particularly the development of the Resident Co-ordinator system and the establishment of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), represents a significant opportunity for

UNIFEM to build and consolidate its influence and strengthen its role in ensuring consistency of policy and practice in UN operations. The Resident Co-ordinators are the central actors in this process, and strengthening the capacity of this cadre to translate the UN’s gender policy commitments into operational practice is a key challenge. Although an autonomous fund, UNIFEM works very closely with UNDP and, like UNFPA, works through UNDP’s administrative and financial management system. This places UNIFEM field staff in close proximity to UNDP Resident Representatives and to the Resident Coordinator system. C6 UNIFEM’s mandate is strongly supported by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and has been strengthened in the 1990s with the inclusion of clear commitments to women’s rights and gender mainstreaming in the agreements and conventions coming out of a series of high profile international conferences. The outcomes of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, and the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, all reinforced support for women’s rights and provided a firm foundation for the Global Platform for Action agreed at Beijing. C7 In common with the UN family as a whole, UNIFEM has a comparative advantage over bilateral donors and other multilaterals in deriving significant moral authority from the international agreements and conventions which provide the backing for its mandate. As a result, it has the capacity to establish a broad degree of trust and influence with developing country governments and national machineries for women’s advancement, which bilateral donors are unable to achieve to the same extent. The 4 widespread support it receives from G77 countries , including modest but symbolically significant funding contributions, suggests that it is effective in building on 5 this advantage . C8 One of UNIFEM’s biggest comparative advantages within the UN, and in the wider international community, is its strong relationship with grassroots women’s organisations and the international women’s movement.

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Three of these posts are being funded by DFID’s United Nations and Commonwealth Department (UNCD). The Group of 77 promotes economic and technical co-operation among developing countries. It was established by 77 developing countries in 1964, following the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). 5 See Annex 2. 4

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DFID – March 1999

A network of 19 voluntary national committees provides support to UNIFEM around the world. The UK committee, established in 1994, hosted the 1998 global conference of UNIFEM national committees in London. C9 Given its modest resource base, UNIFEM’s achievements in building a significant profile and network of support are remarkable. UNIFEM’s standing in civil society is an important factor in amplifying its voice within the UN family. This advantage could be further strengthened by building up its network of national committees. Most of these are currently in middle or high income countries. Establishing national committees in developing countries could bring significant benefits. C10 UNIFEM is highly regarded in the UN family, and is acknowledged as having a key strategic role. Senior figures in UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, all speak highly of UNIFEM’s contribution and express enthusiasm for the new focus which has been brought to its programme.

DFID – March 1999

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D. Challenges for the future D1 In carrying through its programme of reform, UNIFEM faces a number of important challenges. Its new strategy has done a great deal to reestablish its credibility after a rocky period in the first half of the 1990s. It is now making rapid progress towards putting its new systems into place and is keen to demonstrate and document more clearly the benefits of its renewed focus. It is also seeking to ensure that the right balance is achieved, as its funding base grows, between building up its staff presence on the ground and continuing to fund innovative projects and programmes and maintain and develop its collaboration network. D2 At the heart of this challenge is the need to arrive at a properly strategic balance between the use and distribution of resources and the core of its mandate in playing a catalytic, innovative, and influencing role within the UN system and the wider world. The distribution of staff, between headquarters, regions, and countries is as important as the total number. Similarly, the balance of expenditure between core and Trust Fund work, and between small and larger scale activities, will be of significant strategic importance.

D3 UNIFEM’s fortunes are partly a hostage to the wider UN reform process, but it has an opportunity to make an important strategic contribution to the development of the UNDAF and the Resident Co-ordinator system and ensure greater consistency in the implementation of the UN’s policy on women. It recognises that it will need to generate real lessons from the projects and programmes it funds, and ensure that these are effectively shared and disseminated. D4 Since the financial shocks of 1992-94, UNIFEM has been taking steps to demonstrate its capacity to meet its spending targets. The deficit problem was rapidly addressed, but the restructuring of spending which this required led to a significant underspend during 1995-97. It expects, however, to attain its 80% spending target by the end of 1999. D5 Continued donor support to UNIFEM is of key importance, and there is every sign that this will be forthcoming. UNIFEM is aiming to move towards a position where it can rely on a good spread of bilateral supporters, all levelling up their contributions to reasonably consistent levels. This would enable it to move forward with an assured funding level, without disproportionate funding from any one donor undermining its independence.

E. UK relationship with UNIFEM E1 The UK’s policy on international development contains a clear commitment to the removal of gender discrimination, as an essential precondition for poverty elimination, and supports a rights-based approach to development. E2 DFID’s agenda can only be effectively pursued within a framework of collaboration, both locally and internationally. Fundamental changes depend on the concerted efforts of the donor community, governments, civil society, and the private sector. This is particularly true in respect of women’s equality, which will only be achieved when real consensus is built around the normative and practical rationale for this key objective.

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E3 UNIFEM’s mandate, its highly strategic role, and its credibility in civil society, within the UN family, and among UN member states, makes it an important partner. Its willingness to embrace the opportunities offered by the UN reform process, and the rapidity with which it has been putting its own house in order, underline the case for strengthening DFID’s relationship with UNIFEM. Our direct involvement in UNIFEM’s internal reform process, through the policy and resources planning exercise, and the setting out of a rights framework in the White Paper, provide a firm platform on which to build.

DFID – March 1999

F. Strategic objectives and action plan F1 The strategic objectives of a strengthened relationship between DFID and UNIFEM will be to: ● consolidate and build its strategic role in strengthening the capacity of the UN family and other partners to promote gender equality and implement a pro-poor, rights-based approach to development, within the wider framework of UN reform; ● continue streamlining its portfolio to focus on key areas of innovation and the development of new approaches, suitable for mainstream implementation by the major UN funds and programmes and other partners; ● introduce new impact assessment and lesson learning systems for measuring progress towards the achievement of internationally agreed gender equality goals, and disseminating good practice. At the central level, we will encourage UNIFEM to continue to strengthen its relationships with the UN family, and build on the experience currently being gained through its collaboration with UNFPA in acting as a catalyst and backstopping resource for the UN’s operational funds and programmes. Other avenues for strengthening UNIFEM’s role in capacity building will also be explored. F2 We will also encourage UNIFEM to consolidate its portfolio of innovative programmes and partnerships around its three key themes, and draw out and disseminate lessons from these through the use of its new management information system. Steps will also be taken to draw these lessons across into DFID-funded activities. UNIFEM will also be encouraged to develop further its network of national committees, including the establishment of more committees in developing countries. F3 DFID operational departments will be encouraged to strengthen country level dialogue with UNIFEM and, 6 where appropriate , provide direct support to local activities. The precise nature of the relationship developed will be at the discretion of those departments, and will obviously be dependent on the presence of UNIFEM

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representation on the ground. The overall aim at the operational level will be to recognise and support UNIFEM’s leading role within the UN family in promoting gender equality. Key activities may include collaboration on country level gender analysis and support to UNIFEM in its efforts to ensure that gender concerns are properly mainstreamed into UN Development Assistance Frameworks. F4 DFID will seek UNIFEM’s active support for the achievement of the International Development Targets, both in relation to the specific targets relating to education but also in ensuring gender equity in the achievement of the whole range. This will include encouraging UNIFEM to develop its advocacy within the UN family and elsewhere of the need to ensure that progress towards these goals can be effectively planned and monitored through the improvement of statistical and participatory information systems in developing countries. A dialogue on these issues will be sought between UNIFEM and DFID’s Statistics Department F5 UNIFEM will also be encouraged to share its experience with its UN partners in developing closer links between resource allocations and results, including the development of its new management information and impact assessment systems, and encourage them to pursue actively this element of the wider reform process. F6 DFID will seek to support the achievement of these objectives by broadening and increasing the frequency of its dialogue with UNIFEM, both at headquarters and in the field, and by considering incremental increases over the next three years to its contribution to UNIFEM’s core budget. DFID will also continue to contribute, on a discretionary basis, to UNIFEM’s Trust Fund on Violence Against Women. F7 Any funding increases will be agreed against a three year programme, assured against progress by UNIFEM in bringing its new management systems into place and effectively delivering its new strategy. Commitments for each year will be determined within the framework of an annual performance review.

Funding for local UNIFEM activities will be dependent on the consistency of these activities with the objectives of DFID country strategies.

DFID – March 1999

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Annex 1: UNIFEM staffing Staffing figures in 1998 were as follows: UNIFEM HQ, New York 22 professional staff (inc. Executive Director) 1 Technical Support Services Adviser (UNFPA-funded) 1 Junior Professional Officer (funded by Netherlands) 13 general service staff

Overseas Staff Africa Region (8) 3 Regional Programme Advisers (Kenya, Zimbabwe, Senegal) 1 Gender Adviser 2 Gender, Population and Development Advisers (UNFPA-funded) 2 Junior Professional Officers (funded by Finland and Germany) Asia and Pacific Region (8) 4 Regional Programme Advisers (India, Thailand, Fiji, Jordan) 1 Gender Adviser 3 Junior Professional Officers (funded by Denmark, Germany, and Japan) Latin America and Caribbean Region (9) 4 Regional Programme Advisers (Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Barbados) 1 Gender Adviser 1 Gender, Population and Development Adviser (UNFPA funded) 3 Junior Professional Officers (funded by The Netherlands x2 and Belgium)

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DFID – March 1999

Annex 2: Expenditure DFID has significantly increased its contribution to UNIFEM over the past year or so. UK core funding support is in part assisting UNIFEM to place additional staff in the field, and the Trust Fund on Violence Against Women, to which we are also contributing, is supporting innovative approaches to linking this difficult issue into the development agenda. DFID is contributing to WomenWatch, a UN website with significant UNIFEM input, providing accessible information on key international instruments supporting women’s rights and progress with the implementation of international agreements.

Support is also being given to a UNIFEM initiative in Tajikistan which is helping move women’s involvement in peace building and conflict resolution upstream, with the direct engagement of women in central political processes in post-conflict situations. In the past, post-conflict development efforts have almost exclusively focused on supporting women through livelihood and welfare initiatives. Similar ground-breaking initiatives are being developed in Sierra Leone and Guatemala. At the country level, DFID is engaging more directly with UNIFEM and developing joint initiatives, including in East Africa and the Caribbean.

UNIFEM financial resources & UK contribution, 1990-97 (US$) Year

Income

Expenditure

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

£10,749,258 $13,561,476 $11,531,703 $11,930,253 $13,872,989 $20,309,239 $17,156,040 $18,538,355

$10,388,174 $12,941,583 $14,688,382 $17,404,629 $20,035,504 $17,080,470 $14,395,019 $13,769,614

Excess of income over expenditure $361,084 $619,893 -$3,156,679 -$5,474,366 -$6,162,515 $3,228,769 $2,761,021 $4,768,741

UK contribution

UK rank among donors

– – – $223,381 $232,558 ($230,000) $230,769 $1,022,788

– – – 9 10 n/a* 14 5

* UK contribution not shown separately in UNIFEM annual report N.B. Accounts shown in annual reports do not distinguish between staff and programme costs

Top three donors by year, 1990–97 Year Lead donors

1990 Finland $1.3m Norway $1.2m Canada $1.2m

1991 N’lands $2.0m Finland $1.4m Norway $1.4m

1992 N’lands $2.2m Norway $1.5m Canada $1.3m

1993 N’lands $2.6m Norway $1.3m Canada $1.2m

1994 N’lands $2.8m Norway $1.2m Canada $1.1m

1995 N’lands $5.2m* Japan $1.7m Norway $1.4m

1996 N’lands $2.9m Japan $1.5m Norway $1.4m

1997 N’lands $3.9m Japan $2.3m Norway $1.8m

* The 1995 contribution from the Netherlands included a one-time additional sum of $3m.

Contributions from the Group of 77 developing countries, 1996 and 1997* Year No. of contributors Total contribution

1996 26 $156,337

1997 24 $178,580

* G77 contributions prior to 1996 are not shown separately in UNIFEM annual reports

DFID – March 1999

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Annex 3: Summary of Consultation Process Date

Means of consultation

Persons/organisation consulted

Sept.14–18, 1998

DFID mission to New York

Executive Director and staff, UNIFEM Associate Administrator and staff, UNDP Executive Director and staff, UNFPA Deputy Director and staff, UNICEF Deputy Director, UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) Members of UNIFEM Consultative Committee Representatives of women’s rights organisations based in New York

Sept. 1998

e-mail consultation to review current DFID relationship with UNIFEM at the field level

DFID Social Development Advisers

Oct/Nov. 1998

e-mail and mail consultation and review of draft ISP with DAC member states, and UK-based women’s organisations

Gender specialists in DAC member states and sample of UK women’s organisations, NGOs, and gender consultants

Oct. 1998

internal review of draft ISP with DFID stakeholders

Directors, Chief Advisers, and Department Heads

Oct. 1998

review of draft ISP by UNIFEM

UNIFEM Executive Director and Staff

10 Nov. 1998

consultation meeting at DFID with UNIFEM Executive Director and representatives of 20 UK based women’s organisations, NGOs, and researchers

UNIFEM Executive Director, representatives of UK based women’s organisations, NGOs, and research institutions

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DFID – March 1999

DFID’s relations with UNIFEM are managed by: Social Development Division DFID 94 Victoria Street London SW1E 5JL UK Telephone: 0171 917 7000 Fax: 0171 917 0197 email: [email protected] DFID’s Headquarters are located at: DFID 94 Victoria Street London SW1E 5JL UK DFID Abercrombie House Eaglesham Road East Kilbride Glasgow G75 8EA UK

Website: www.dfid.gov.uk email: [email protected] Public enquiry point: 0845 3004100 From overseas: +44 1355 84 3132

3/99 1.5K Produced for DFID Information Department by Stairway Communications ISBN 1 86192 034 2