Mid-Term Review of the Norwegian Action Plan for Women's ... - Norad

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The Action Plan states that “Norway will utilise the opportunities it has through representation onboards” to promote WRGE (MFA 2007a:38). This channel of influence, of course, is only open insofaras Norway is actually represented on the boards.Recent NorwegianUN organisation board representationUNDP 2007-2010UNICEF 2004-2006UNFPA 2004-2006ILO 2002-2005MFA representatives emphasised that representation on the board represents the form of influencewhich is most in line with the ideals of multilateralism and the organisational democracy of the UNorganisations. Norway influences policy-making in these forums through statements (sometimes jointstatements with other donor countries) and through informal communication. In a joint guideline forNorwegian board representation in UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA written in 2007, the MFA states thatNorway will emphasise the importance of a more targeted commitment towards female participation indevelopment, women’s formal rights and economic opportunities, gender mainstreaming andincorporation of WRGE in the strategic plans of the UN organisations. 3UNICEF and UNDP are two of the organisations where Norway has played an active role in boardmeetings. Based on the documentation provided by Norwegian statements and joint statements whereNorway is represented, 4 it can be concluded that Norway has been proactive in pushing gender issueson the general agenda of the UN organisation, and critical and constructive in calling for a rights-basedapproach and better reporting quality in those forums specifically concerned with WRGE issues (e.g. UNIFEM,or the meetings of Gender Equality Evaluations). Some issues have repeatedly been discussed in theNorwegian statements. In Norwegian statements to UNDP board meetings, for example, WRGE hasalso been linked to a renewed commitment to gender mainstreaming in the UN organisation, whichshould be seen in light of the criticism put forward in the 2005 Evaluation of Gender Equality andGender Mainstreaming in UNDP. Another recurring theme has been how linking WRGE issues to arights-based approach can be a controversial issue in the UN system, given the sensitive politicisedrhetoric around human rights. Still, Norway has been vocal in their advocacy of woman’s rights ashuman rights, and called for a rights-based approach to programming. Norway has championed a moreexplicit stance on sexual and reproductive rights, issues where there is a lack of geopolitical consensus.Norway’s visibility on these issues is in line with one of the key principles of the Action Plan, namelythat “Norway will play a proactive as well as supporting role in the fight against all forms ofdiscrimination on the basis of gender, including in areas that are controversial” (MFA 2007). It is also inline with the ambition of the Minister of International Development Erik Solheim, as stated in thepreface of the Action Plan: “Norway will be a fearless champion of women’s sexual and reproductiverights” (:7). However, White Paper No. 11 (2007-2008) ‘On Equal Terms’ (MFA 2008a), stressed that aclear message must sometimes be articulated in a soft-spoken fashion to have the intended effect. Thisis not least the case with UNICEF, where a strong US donor presence has posed some challenges forNorway’s commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, given the conservative social policies of theBush administration (2001-2009). One way of exerting influence in this climate has been to activelypromote a closer cooperation on a country level between UNICEF and UNFPA, the latter organisationhaving a more comprehensive and less constrained practice concerning sexual and reproductive issuesin the activities.3 Letter: “UNICEF, UNDP og UNFPA årsmøter 2007 – fellesinstruks”; From the UN Section (Ø Lyngroth; E Schwabe-Hansen) to the Minister of Environment and International Development; Saksnr.: 07/03854-13; 24.05.2007.4 See Annex: Document list of Norwegian statements to UN organisations’ board meetings.22
Personal commitment and informal channels of influenceSeveral MFA representatives interviewed in this review have stressed the importance of the personalcommitment that is being shown by individuals located in strategic locations in the MFA bureaucracy.The capacity of key people is decisive when the principles of an Action Plan are to be put into practice.These pertinent observations highlight the balance between appropriate procedures and structures, onthe one hand, and the individual agency of the officers in charge of UN relations. Moreover, severalinformants noted that it was not only through formal statements, letters and agreements that thisinfluence was exerted; ongoing informal communication between MFA representatives andrepresentatives of the various UN organisations was instrumental in following up on important policyareas, such as WRGE.Recruitment of Norwegian experts to UN agenciesEven though pressure on the UN system to recruit Norwegian expertise is not regarded as ideal, as itcould be said that it bypasses the organisation’s own internal procedures and organisational democracy,it is still being used on occasion by the MFA. This strategy can even be a means to enforce a strongerfocus on WRGE in the UN system. Funding of JPOs and APOs, for example, can be used as anadditional bonus when particular UN funds and programmes show a commitment to employ qualifiedNorwegian expertise through their internal recruitment mechanisms.From 2007 to 2009, the MFA funded an Associate Professional Officer to the Gender Equality unit ofILO; and from 2007-2009 a Junior Professional Officer to the Gender Unit in UN-Habitat. UNDP’s2008-2011 Strategic Plan was supplemented by a Gender Equality Strategy (GES) 2008-2011. Theresponsibility for the GES was given to the Gender Team at UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy.The Gender Team assigned a Task Force to assist them in this work. Norway funded one expert ongender issues to this Task Force. The members of the Task Force attended three working groupmeetings and some of the expert group meetings, and offered the Gender Team expert advice.3.4.1 Reporting on WRGEFor the MFA to pursue a coherent strategy on WRGE issues in relation to the UN system, it isimportant for the MFA that the UN organisations have reporting procedures in place which thoroughlydocument their activities and results on WRGE issues back to the donor countries. Norway states clearrequirements in their Letters of Allocation on particular areas of action. If the MFA is to be able to holdthe UN organisation accountable on these issues, it follows that the reporting of the UN organisationmust be specific enough to detail the progress made on particular WRGE issues. In all of the UNorganisations reviewed, the key document in this regard is the annual report of the UN organisation. Inaddition, financial audits, bilateral and multi-donor consultations and reports from the executive boardscan assist MFA officers in this process. In some cases, for instance in their communication withUNICEF, the MFA has criticised the lack of gender-sensitive data in some of these reports.There is, in other words, no separate reporting to Norway on WRGE issues. However, some of theorganisations have in recent years prepared thematic reports on WRGE. These are relevant to the MFArepresentatives responsible for assessing Norway’s strategy on WRGE in the UN system. When askedwhether there were procedures in place to ensure that the reporting of the UN organisation wasthoroughly reviewed to make informed decisions about the WRGE policy of the following year, MFArepresentatives ensured that sufficient information was being gathered.It was not possible, however, for this Review Team to document whether routines are in place to ensurethat reporting from the UN organisations is being reviewed and incorporated into the advocacy workthat Norway does in multilateral forums. This might be the result of (i) a lack of routines or (ii) a lack ofdocumentation of existing routines. In the first case, this would entail that whether or not reportingfrom UN organisations stands in a reciprocal relationship with Norwegian responses and statements inboard meetings relies on individual officials and their commitment to actively engage with these reports.In the second case, this would mean that these routines might well exist, but that documentation ofthese routines for an external reviewer would be impossible. The Review Team recommends that the23
Page 1 and 2: Norad Report 14/2009 DiscussionMid-
Page 3 and 4: Mid-Term Review of the Norwegian Ac
Page 5 and 6: AbbreviationsAMORDCDCMFLIDGBSGEGEAP
Page 7 and 8: attract staff, and governance syste
Page 9 and 10: Norad has improved its own staffing
Page 11 and 12: 1 Introduction1.1 Background8 March
Page 13 and 14: 1.3 Methods and data collectionThe
Page 15 and 16: Example 1: Angola - women’s polit
Page 17 and 18: 2007c). If WRGE is not included in
Page 19 and 20: 3 To what extent has Norway changed
Page 21 and 22: One of the main points on this agen
Page 23: Extra budgetary contributions to UN
Page 27 and 28: internal evaluation, such as the 20
Page 29 and 30: However, there are also debates on
Page 31 and 32: Moe than 50 % of the Gender budget
Page 33 and 34: Another interpretation of such find
Page 35 and 36: The review was carried out autumn 2
Page 37 and 38: 6 Has Norway improved the organisat
Page 39 and 40: One could also consider strengtheni
Page 41 and 42: The Evaluation Department did devel
Page 43 and 44: The GEAP has been in operation for
Page 45 and 46: the environment and climate, energy
Page 47 and 48: Concluding remark: Making a differe
Page 49 and 50: Norad (2009f), Gender reviews - Sta
Page 51 and 52: Annex 1: Terms of ReferenceOppdrags
Page 53 and 54: Kvinners økte økonomiske deltakel
Page 55 and 56: Gjennomgangen gjøres i løpet av 2
Page 57 and 58: influence on the policies of UNFPA
Page 59 and 60: MFA also plans to make financial co
Page 61 and 62: country under auspices which bridge
Page 63 and 64: Policy marker Gender and EqualityPM
Page 65 and 66: Bilateral aid coded with policymark
Page 67 and 68: 410 - General environmental protect

Mid-Term Review of the Norwegian Action Plan for Women's ... - Norad

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