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Monitoring Mechanism for

Implementation of National

Action Plan for Women of

Afghanistan (NAPWA)

By

Dr. D. Lakshmi Rani

Consultant-MOWA/GEP

Sep-Nov, 2011

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Chapter 1

Introduction

(Developments since 2002, ANDS- Gender equality strategy, NAPWA)

Afghanistan has always been treating men and women equally. This is evident from the fact that the country had signed CEDAW on Aug 14, 1980. By signing this convention, Afghanistan had made a preliminary and general endorsement of the convention and agreed to undertake a careful examination of the treaty to determine her position towards this convention. But unfortunately, due to three decades of conflict in the country, Afghanistan was not able to ratify and implement it. In the year 2001, UN sponsored agreement was signed in Bonn, Germany, by major Afghan factions. That clearly sketched the road map to development, including elections to the parliament and provincial government bodies. In 2004, the new constitution was approved. According to this constitution, at least 68 of those elected (two per province, with 34 provinces) should be women, giving them about 25% of the seats. The top two women vote- getters in each province earn seats. For the upper house, half of the president’s 34 appointees are to be women. The constitution clearly says that men and women have equal rights and duties before the law. In the year 2007, the country drafted its national development strategy with the support of several donors. This document, clearly spells out strategies to address special concerns of women and bring them on par with men. The strategy analyses the situation women in aspects of health, education, economy- work & poverty, legal protection & human rights, leadership & political participation and security ; it concludes that Kabul has far more opportunities and resources for them than other parts of the country. The rural areas are further more backward compared to the urban ones. The participation of women in education and employment activities is almost zero in certain provinces. This is largely due to the impact of restrictions imposed on them during the Taliban regime. Now serious efforts need to be made to break those behavior patterns, in order to bring women to mainstream development activity. Same is the case with women’s access to justice. In order to change the socio economic situation of women, holistically, the document laid down eight strategies. They are

a) Policy b) Macro processes and mechanisms c) Ministry level implementation d) Strengthening of technical resources on gender e) Sub national implementation f) Engagement of NGOs, civil society and international community g) Public education and advocacy h) Strengthening of MOWA roles

Afghanistan addresses all its commitments such as MDGs 2,3, &5( universal primary education, promote gender equality & empower women, improving maternal health), constitutional guarantees and Beijing Platform of Action. It is making efforts to implement UN Resolution 1325 and the environment for women to participate in development, easier and more secure than before. One of the ways in which this document addresses this disparity is by building capacities of men and women on equal terms. Gender has

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been accepted as a cross cutting strategy for development with 3 gender specific benchmarks. These are as follows:

1. Benchmark 1- By 2013, all of the 13 gender benchmarks of AC/ IANDS, including the five year priorities of NAPWA shall have been fully implemented

2. Benchmark 2- By 2013, the gender commitments within all sectors of NADS shall have been fully implemented

3. Benchmark 3- By 2013, a majority of government entities shall have acquired the basic capacity to implement the gender equity strategy of ANDS

The plan identifies specific measures to address pressing issues of women in the areas highlighted above, viz., health, education, economy-work & poverty, legal protection & human rights, leadership & political participation and security. 1

Institutional mechanism was seen as a remedy to the above situation. Ministry for Women’s Affairs (MOWA) was established as a national machinery for the advancement of women, with the mandate to coordinate, monitor, and advise the government apparatus on appropriate ‘serves a primary link of the government to the country’. There were efforts in various other ministries to form gender units, gender focal points and women’s shuras. Some ministries even drafted gender policies and strategies. Gender budgeting unit established at the Ministry of Finance is noteworthy among them. But there seemed to be a need to establish a structured mechanism to work together with clear lines of coordination, reporting and activities to carry-out from time to time. Inter ministerial and inter –agency bodies that initiate, coordinate, and monitor gender- equality measures such as inter-ministerial working group on gender and statistics and the NGO coordination council were set up. ANDS created the working group on Gender, Cross Cutting Consultative Group on Gender, Technical Advisory Group for Women and Children as one of the sub-working groups within the legal reform working group, and Sub Working Group on Vulnerable Women, all of which have been contributing to keep gender high in the agenda of macro development processes. The parliament also established a women’s committee that reviews and actively influences the contents of proposed policies from a gender perspective and discusses policy options on issues affecting women. There is need to establish a formal coordination mechanism among all these bodies with a group that informs them about the

1 ANDS (2007)., Gender Equity- 1387-1391, Volume II, Cross-cutting issues, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, pp 9.

According to a study, out of 943 projects implemented, 56% were implemented in Kabul. About 36% of them were implemented for one day! 45.7% of them had only 33participants. These projects were implemented by 109 donors and included those from practical office skills development to legal awareness and projects with a thematic orientation such as the environment, art and culture, and local administration. The study concluded that little real attention was paid to women, the number of participants was small, and the projects were temporary, short term, or implemented one time only. The assistance and projects were concentrated in Kabul and only a small amount of funds and assistance had been channeled to private or civil society organizations.

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implementation pattern/ impact of various programs that have a bearing on women’s rights and entitlements in the country. These are being implemented by various ministries, with the support of international agencies. The strategy clearly shows the way to implement programs as being its best, if their planning and execution were both participatory and engaging women in enough numbers as both implementers and beneficiaries. Gender equity was considered both an outcome and prerequisite to good governance.

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Chapter 2 Rationale’(Kabul conference, NPP and M&E)

The Kabul Conference was held on 20 July 2010 in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Hosted by the Government of Afghanistan and co-chaired by the United Nations, the conference was envisioned by the Government as a renewed commitment to the Afghan people. The Government presented an Afghan-led plan for improving development, governance and security, including priority programs to enhance service delivery. The Government put forward a credible, realistic and “do-able” national agenda, underpinned by priority programs and reform initiatives. These aim at producing tangible results for the Afghan people. In order to enable the Government to implement its prioritized agenda, renewed emphasis was placed on the need for sustained and coherent capacity-building support at national and at sub-national levels. It was expected that donors will align their programs behind the plans and commit to the principles of aid effectiveness. The plans and the concrete outcomes of the conference were to be prepared through the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) and its standing committees. The United Nations also co-chaired the JCMB. The Kabul Process is built upon deep and broad international partnerships. National priority programs were drafted thereafter and the international donor community pledged their support to provide technical and financial resources to implement them. They even agreed to transfer 50% of the total financial investment in the country to the government bodies to handle and spend. Participants reiterated the centrality of women's rights, including political, economic and social equality, to the future of Afghanistan, as enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. They commended the mainstreaming of gender into all priority programs and reiterated their commitment to assist all national ministries and sub-national government bodies in implementing their respective responsibilities under the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA), and to ensure that all training and civic education programs contribute to concrete advancements in its implementation. In addition, the Government of Afghanistan, over the next six months, was to identify and prioritize NAPWA benchmarks for implementation within each cluster; and develop a strategy to implement the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law (EVAW), including services for victims. Participants committed to respect and prioritize the fulfillment of the rights of Afghan children, and to invest in girls’ and boys’ education, protection and healthcare. All the ministries were grouped into clusters;

Security: (Peace and Reintegration); Human Resource Development: (Skills Development and

Labor, Education for All, Higher Education, Women

Affairs, Capacity Building for Health);

- Infrastructure Development: (National Regional

Resource Corridor, Extractive Indus-tries, National Energy

Program, Urban Development);

- Private Sector Development: (Trade Facilitation and

SME, E-Afghanistan);

- Agriculture and Rural Development: (Water and Natural

Resource Management, Comprehensive Agriculture, Rural

Access, Strengthening Local Institutions);

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- Governance: (Economic and Financial Re-form, Transparency and Accountability, Efficient and Effective Government,

Local Governance, Justice for ALL, Human Rights).

Having recognized the rights of and value in investing in women of Afghanistan, MOWA NPP was drafted to build this resource and make women who comprise about 50% of Afghanistan’s population productive and assets of the nation. This program was built to address the challenges thrown up by various assessments that were conducted prior to the Kabul Conference. One of them was the national Risks and Vulnerability Assessment (2007-8) confirmed that a consistent pattern of relative deprivation or women exists across all dimensions of individual and social development. According to this assessment, their life expectancy was only 44 years, illiteracy was 88%, labor force participation rate was only 47% and GDP per capita income of US$402, which was 1/3rd of that of men. One Afghan woman died every 29 minutes and those who survived, suffered violence and abuse both within and outside their homes. This realization paved the way for this program that created spaces for women to participate in decisions that affect their lives and realize their rights as citizens of Afghanistan. Promotion of women’s advancement was perceived as a national priority and a viable strategy to nurture healthy and educated children for the future. National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan(NAPWA) was the mode chosen to operationalize the policy framework, on May 19, 2008 to promote women’s empowerment and bring about gender equality. It prioritizes six areas of concern that are critical to the advancement of women as analysed in the ANDS. To these six areas were added constituency building and capacity building, in order to enable women and men from grassroots to participate in the planning and execution of their programs. Since the adoption of NAPWA in 2008, MOWA had conducted three rounds of briefings for action in partnership with the Ministry of Finance(MoF), resulting in the identification of a) NAPWA areas of concern to be supported by the international community, b) Specific actions to be pursued by ministries to facilitate NAPWA implementation, and c) Assignment of one MOWA department to each of the six areas of concern of NAPWA. Directors of MOWA were all mandated to master their assigned areas of responsibility and coordinate with line ministries to ensure that NAPWA is integrated into their core business. DOWA at provincial level were also provided with orientation on what NAPWA was supposed to accomplish. Women’s council forums were assisted in specific areas for priority action to facilitate NAPWA implementation. Several efforts were made to build capacities of selected ministries, civil society groups and government commissions to play their roles effectively in this cause. Implementation of NAPWA by various ministries There were efforts by all ministries to implement this action plan in their own ways, but with varying shades of commitment. Some, like health, education and rural development were more committed than the others. Hence an effort was made again, to map the initiatives of various ministries and influence their programs. The objectives of this exercise were as follows: Objectives: the overall objective of the assignment was to improve the technical capacity of the M&E unit of MOWA to adopt effectively the role of overseeing the implementation of ANDS benchmarks and ensure an efficient integration of gender specific respective into this initiative. The key objectives were: a) Facilitate the establishment of an efficient and effective M&E unit at MOWA as a long term oversight body for achieving the overall objective

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b) Set up a sustainable mechanism of M&E for mainstreaming gender into the functioning of the line ministries for achieving the main goals of ANDS other major policies of the government c) Build the capacity of the staff of M&E Unit to ensure sustainability of the interventions; develop relevant knowledge based products( training manuals, checklists, indicators, etc., )for complementing the above initiatives

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Chapter 3 Methodology

Secondary review: A consultant was hired for a period of two months. She reviewed the relevant documents that reflect commitment of the government of Afghanistan towards empowerment of women. The genesis of this action plan and efforts of various ministries to implement it were understood.

Meeting with ministries: Twelve ministries were visited and meetings were held with their respective Directors of Planning and international relations. Specific concerns of these ministries and challenges they face in implementing this action plan were learned. While, some were very proactive such as MRRD, MoE, MoPH, there were the others who were considering to change their programs such as MAIL. Some others such as MoJ, MoHE, Transport, Commerce and Industry claimed to have done all that they required to do. All of these ministries except the transport ministry had a gender unit. Many of these ministries had drafted a gender strategy to engender their respective programs. Three of them, namely, MAIL, MoPH and MRRD had gender policy each, as well. It was observed that the functions of these gender units were not uniform everywhere. Their roles and capacities varied from one ministry to the other, depending on the commitment and enthusiasm of the leadership within the ministry.

Draft log frames on all eight areas: the first six were contributed to, by various stakeholders in this effort. They included GIZ, UNDP, and the others. The consultant added some more content in some areas and restructured them in certain others. The areas, seven and eight were totally her contribution. When she tried to work with the M&E team, and asked them to visualize a future for women and compare it with the present situation, it was evident that they could not think in terms of the log frame. They only threw up issues and could not classify them into categories. Their understanding of advocacy and networking was very meager. Then the consultant worked alone on the capacity building theme as well.

Sl no

Area components Indicators of change

Security 30% of personnel at all cadres are women All tools and approaches to recruitment, training modules and procedures engendered Enhanced capacities of police & defense personnel to address VAW

Empowered women, more women and safer public and private spaces for women across the country

Legal protection and human rights Reformed legal framework, harmful practices criminalized Increased access to justice Law enforcement agencies reformed Police strengthen women’s participation in justice sector Special efforts to impart

Number of women seeking justice at various levels Number of women’s forums contributing to restoration of women’s rights Number of laws reformed Anecdotes of women protesting against injustice

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legal education& women’s rights to all age groups

Leadership and political participation

Comprehensive capacity building and leadership strategies adopted and implemented Eliminating violence against women in all spheres Increased participation of women in leadership and political spheres

Number of women in decision making roles at all levels, Number of women in leadership and management

Economy, labor and poverty Increased access of women to education, vocational training, promotion of women’s economic empowerment, employment policy promoting women’s work

Enhanced participation of women in employment/ self employment, number of women accessing credit, Impact of women’s economic empowerment on standard of living

Health Women’s emotional, social and physical wellbeing More women in the health sector, better services at all levels for women including family planning, Increase of access to health facility National capacity development strategy, reproductive health strategy, health education and behavior change communication

Increased number of women health workers in rural areas/ higher levels Number of young girls and women accessing services at all levels Anecdotes of positive behavior change on issues Increased involvement of men in accessing/ promoting FP services Reduced maternal deaths Reduced birth rate

Education Efforts to promote equal access and retention of boys and girls in schools, enhancing age at marriage Program promoting increased number of schools and female teachers in rural and urban areas Promoting women’s access to decision making roles in the system & access to scholarships/ distance learning opportunities for higher education

Equal boys and girls graduating from schools, infrastructure addressing their special needs Enhanced female teachers and better quality teachers, participating in international workshops etc Lady teachers’ unions addressing their special challenges

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Constituency building Networks participating in all drafting committees and planning meetings, critiquing government documents Action groups formed and campaigns launched Participation of civil society groups

Number of committees that networks participated in Number of NGOs in each groups & issues addressed Number of civil society groups participating in the committees

Capacity building Training modules for all levels of government staff on gender mainstreaming Women’s rights based education program for all stakeholders Technical resource base on gender Implementation of NAPWA

Evident from all government procedures and annual assessment reports of personnel Changes in various stakeholders( behavior and capacities) Effectiveness of mechanism and progress in implementation

Detailed log frames are available in the handbook in annexure 1

These log frames were shared with all the twelve ministries. They incorporated in their new plans, aspects of the log frame that were relevant to them. There seemed as though there was no uniformity in the duration of strategic program among all ministries. Unless the Director- Planning and International Relations, writes formally to all of them, they will not be sharing their perspective plans. Another interesting fact is that there is no uniform structure to these plans. Unless these aspects are streamlined, M&E would not be an easy process.

Draft log frames were quite broad and some of the ministries such as MAIL, felt that their specific areas of intervention were not adequately captured in the thematic areas. But as they had a very clear strategy and policy, they could incorporate many more interventions, more accurately addressing women’s rights in agriculture. It is therefore very essential that the enriched log frames are received and compared with whatever has been shared with the line ministries.

Besides the output, objective, outcome or impact indicators that are included in the matrices, there are a set of project/ program level indicators that are very broad and all encompassing.

These are as follows:

� Engendered security policies in place & Engendered security programs in place in all provinces

1)policy makers oriented on UN SC resolution 2) security policies reviewed for engendering 3) security policies redrafted with UNSCR 1325 etc.,

4) programs incorporating these changes such as guidelines & procedures issued 5) programs implementing them- toilets, lights, numbers of women in forces, decision making roles etc.,

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� Women’s participation as employees at all levels in security sector

1) Women applying for these positions in large numbers 2) Women being recruited and trained on par with men 3) Creating an enabling environment for them to work- men accepting them/ toilets at work place

etc 4) Engendered training programs for recruits so that they learn to cope with one another’s special

needs & challenges 5) All women’s police stations & army camps, special measures for addressing civilian issues by

these stations • Enhanced mobility of women all over the country in secure environment : Streets are safer

for women- transport/ lights, friendly police stations at short intervals, help line, Behavior change among men- accepting women moving around freely & their self reliance Women are taught to protect themselves and their self confidence is built

1) At least 25% of provinces meet these expectations 2) At least 50% of the provinces & districts meet these expectations 3) At least 50% of all villages in these districts meet these expectations 4) At least 75% of all villages in these districts meet these expectations 5) All the villages in all the provinces meet these expectations

� Equal number of women and men judges at all levels in courts

1) Qualified women are given incentives to join the judicial system 2) Special provisions are made to accommodate women in courts at all levels 3) Both men and women begin to see merit in engaging women lawyers and approaching women judges- filing cases 4) Programs accommodate all women’s courts and promote seeking justice as a right( combating the taboo) 5) All communities seek legal support voluntarily and system processes cases faster and in a humane manner

� Increased number of women seeking justice at all levels

1) Grassroots NGOs and government programs educating communities on seeking legal support for women

2) Women seeking justice in 25% of the provinces 3) Women seeking justice in 50% of the provinces 4) Women seeking justice in 75% of the provinces 5) Women seeking justice in all provinces

� Engendered training modules in place for all law enforcement officers, public officials and related stake holders

1) Experts for all of the above empanelled 2) Content for the training modules collated

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3) Training modules designed 4) Training programs conducted for 50% of the stakeholders 5) Training programs conducted for all the stakeholders

All stakeholders sensitized on women’s rights over time

1) Effective sensitization programs in place 2) At least 25% of all stakeholders sensitized 3) At least 50% of all stakeholders sensitized 4) At least 75% of all stakeholders sensitized 5) All stakeholders sensitized

� Reduction in number of women victims of violence and armed conflict

1) CBOs and NGO teams establishing system in each community to record incidence of violence and armed conflict

2) At least 25% of the districts reporting reduction in incidence of violence & armed conflict( CBOs & NGOs)

3) At least 50% of the districts reporting reduction in incidence of violence & armed conflict(CBOs & NGOs)

4) At least 75% of the districts reporting reduction in incidence of violence & armed conflict(CBOs & NGOs)

5) All districts reporting reduction in incidence of violence & armed conflict(CBOs & NGOs)

• Engendered laws in place 1) All laws are studied through a gender lens 2) Experiences of people on judgments given are collated 3) Consultations are held around those documents/ papers 4) Revisions of sections/ clauses drafted 5) New bills are submitted to parliamentarians

� Engendered policies and decrees promoting women’s rights in place

1) 50% of the ministries have gender policies/ strategies 2) All ministries to have gender policies/ strategies 3) These policies are implemented in all departments of the ministry 4) All new policies being drafted are done in collaboration with the departments so that they are

gender fair/ insensitive 5) All policies are geared to promote women’s rights as well

� Clear evidence of restoration of women’s rights in conflict situation/ workplace/ domestic violence

1) Anecdotal evidence from communities of certain provinces about mitigation of situation in favor of women at home/community/workplace

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2) Case studies from at least 25% of provinces about mitigation of situation in favor of women at home/ community/ workplace

3) Case studies from at least 50% of the provinces about mitigation of situation in favor of women at home/ community/ workplace

4) Case studies from at least 75% of the provinces about mitigation of situation in favor of women at home/ community/ workplace

5) Case studies from all provinces about mitigation of situation in favor of women at home/community/ workplace

� Education on women’s rights as an integral part of all urban and rural development programs all over the country

1) 50% of the provincial programs including addressing of women’s rights in rural and urban development programs

2) All provincial programs including addressing of women’s rights in rural and urban development programs

3) At least 50% of the rural communities and all urban communities receiving programs on women’s rights effectively

4) All communities receiving programs on women’s rights along with mainstream development programs

5) Women’s rights becoming integral part of rural and urban development programs

� Standards set and maintained in half way homes, rescue homes and shelters for women victims of violence

1) Committees established for setting standards including officials of the government and NGOs 2) Standards drafted by these committees 3) Standards approved by the government 4) Resources allocated and orientation of implementing teams to these standards 5) Stringent punishments for officials not keeping standards

� Enhanced participation of women in political parties

1) Women aware of their constitutional rights in 50% of the provinces 2) Women aware of their constitutional rights in all provinces 3) Women participating in meetings and rallies 4) Women members in 50% of political parties 5) Women members in all political parties, office bearers too

� Leadership roles by women at provincial and national level, increased numbers

1) At least 25% of the provinces and national level women’s positions filled 2) At least 50% of the provinces and national level women’s positions filled 3) At least 75% of the provinces and national level women’s positions filled 4) Women contesting elections from non reserved constituencies 5) Women outnumbering men in provincial and national level positions

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� Ratio of men and women in power at various levels by province , moving towards equality

1) At least in 10% of the districts, equal number of men and women are in power 2) At least in 25% of the districts, equal number of men and women are in power 3) At least in 50% of the districts, equal number of men and women are in power 4) At least in 75% of the districts, equal number of men and women are in power 5) In all districts, equal number of men and women are in power

� Increase in number of day care centers in urban and rural areas

1) Women express need for day care centers, in networks 2) Informal day care centers established in rural and urban work areas 3) Budgets are allocated for new day care centers 4) Most urban and rural work areas have day care centers 5) All district towns have day care centers in urban and rural areas

� Percentage of women employers, self employed women by province increased over time

1) At least 25% of employers/ self employed in the province are women 2) At least 50% of the employers/ self employed in the province are women 3) At least 25% of the employers/ self employed in all provinces are women 4) At least 50% of the employers/ self employed in all provinces are women 5) More than 50% of the employers/ self employed in all provinces are women

� Male & female per capita income increased over time

1) Male per capita income increased by 25% 2) Male & female per capita income increased by 30% 3) Male and female per capita income increased by 50% 4) Male and female per capita income increased by 60% 5) Male and female per capita income increased by 75%

� Increase in participation rate of women and men in labor force , personal business, agricultural products and services

1) At least 25% increase in participation in the province are women 2) At least 50% increase in participation the province are women 3) At least 25% increase in participation all provinces are women 4) At least 50% increase in participation in all provinces are women 5) More than 50% increase in participation in all provinces are women

• Child labor reduced by sex and age 1) Child labour reduced in 5 provinces 2) Child labour reduced in 15 provinces 3) Child labour reduced in 20 provinces 4) Child labour reduced in 25 provinces 5) Child labour reduced in all provinces

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• Child labour reduced by age and sex 1) Child labour reduced among children below 10 years 2) Child labor reduced among children below 14 years in worst forms 3) Child labor eliminated among children below 14 years in worst forms 4) Child labor reduced in children below 14 years in hazardous sectors 5) Child labor reduced in children below 18 years

• Percentage of chronically poor women and men reduced by province/ year 1) Chronically poor women & men reduced by 25% 2) Chronically poor women & men reduced by 50% 3) Chronically poor women and men reduced by 60% 4) Chronically poor women and men reduced by 75% 5) No chronically poor women and men

• Reduction in the number of poor , eligible for cash transfers by province 1) Reduced by 15% 2) Reduced by 30% 3) Reduced by 45% 4) Reduced by 60% 5) Reduced by 75% • Ownership of land and houses by women increased over the years 1) Ownership of land and houses by women increased by 10% in next 2 years 2) Ownership of land and houses by women increased by 20% in following 2 years 3) Ownership of land and houses by women increased by 40% in following 2 years 4) Ownership of land and houses by women increased by 50% in the following 2 years 5) Ownership of land and houses by women increased by 60% in the following 2 years

• Life expectancy for men and women increased over time in a province 1) Life expectancy for men and women increased by 5 years each in 5 years 2) Life expectancy for men and women increased by 7 years each in 10 years 3) Life expectancy for men and women increased by 10 years each in 15 years 4) Life expectancy for men and women increased by 12 years each in 20 years 5) Life expectancy for men and women increased by 15 years each in 25 years

• Adult male/ female sex ratio increased by province 1) Adult male/ female sex ratio increased by 10% in a given province 2) Adult male/ female sex ratio increased by 15% in a given province 3) Adult male/ female sex ratio increased by 20% in a given province 4) Adult male/ female sex ratio increased by 20% in a given province 5) Adult male/ female sex ratio increased by 25% in a given province

• PCM among children and underweight among adults reduced by province over time 1) PCM among children and underweight among adults reduced by 10% each in a province

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2) PCM among children and underweight among adults reduced by 20% each in a province 3) PCM among children and underweight among adults reduced by 30% each in a province 4) PCM among children and underweight among adults reduced by 35% each in a province 5) PCM among children and underweight among adults reduced by 40% each in a province

• Fertility rate reduced by province over time 1) Fertility reduced by 5% in 3 years 2) Fertility rate reduced by 10% in 3 years 3) Fertility rate reduced by 12% in 5 years 4) Fertility rate reduced by 15% in 5 years 5) Fertility rate reduced by 17% in 5 years

• Number of hospital deliveries increased by province 1) Number of hospital deliveries increased by 10% in the province 2) Number of hospital deliveries increased by 15% in the province 3) Number of hospital deliveries increased by 20% in the province 4) Number of hospital deliveries increased by 25% in the province 5) Number of hospital deliveries increased by 30% in the province

• Prevalence of anaemia, TB reduced by sex 1) Anemia has educed among women by 10% 2) Anemia has reduced among women by 15% 3) Anemia has reduced among women by 20% 4) Anemia has reduced among women by 25% 5) Anemia has reduced among women by 30%

• Increase in gross enrolment rate of girls/ women at all levels 1) Girls’ and women’s enrolment increased by 15% at all levels 2) Girls’ and women’s enrolment increased by 30% at all levels 3) Girls’ and women’s enrolment increased by 50% at all levels 4) Girls’ and women’s enrolment increased by 75% at all levels 5) Girls’ and women’s enrolment doubled at all levels

• Increase in gross retention rates of girls/ women at all levels of education over time, by province 1) Girls’ retention rates in primary increased by 50% in all provinces 2) Girls’ retention rates in primary increased by 100% in all provinces 3) Girls’ retention rates increased by 30% in high schools in most provinces 4) Girls’ retention rates increased by 50% in high schools in most provinces 5) Girls’ retention rates increased by 75% in high schools in all provinces

Each of these indicators are graded into levels of accomplishment ( 1-5) with specific characteristics, so that they can be compiled at the provincial level/ national level. That process would help the data collectors to understand the level of progress under each theme better and explain the reasons for it.

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One can set targets for a given time period and work towards that. If there are delays in accomplishing them, they can be explained and process reviewed. Benchmarks set forth in ANDS can also be included in this monitoring process. Instead of a consultant determining these stages and grades, it would be better to do it by consensus so that all the people involved in implementation of NAPWA agree on these. In order to get this consensus, I suggest that a workshop be organized with line ministries where they present their respective log frames and incorporate these indicators in them. Then the graded indicators are worked upon jointly with members of MOWA, in planning the monitoring system and conduct of the exercise. They all agree on a calendar and adhere to it. Reporting formats are agreed upon.

Ministry of Justice is already reporting on six of them. It is worth reviewing both process and product.

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Chapter 4

Analysis of gender policies, strategies

Among the 12 ministries that have been visited, ministry or rural development, agriculture- irrigation and livestock shared their gender policies. These are tailor made for their respective programs and mandate. Ministry of public health has a gender strategy.

Ministry of Justice, Education and Higher Education and Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs & Disabled have engendered their programs. They neither have a strategy or a policy.

Ministry of transport and ministry of commerce & industry have specific programs for women. They consider special needs of women, while planning and implementing programs, they think.

Ministry of Economy & Ministry of Foreign Affairs do not implement programs. Ministry of Economy monitors programs that other ministries implement while Ministry of Foreign Affairs, works with the donor agencies, which fund programs of these line ministries. Ministry of Economy approves proposals of NGOs that work along with line ministries, implementing programs at the community level.

This policy seems to be the backbone of all development activity as it enables development to reach the door steps of both urban and rural population. It is proposed that MOWA participates jointly with these teams in the following efforts

• mapping of villages & gozars

• mobilizing women’s groups and linking them to networks • training programs for public sector workforce to be engendered • ensure that women get recruited in equal number of jobs as men at all levels

• Lady students to participate in equal numbers in internship programs and • They are to work in teams of boys and girls

• Develop a structure for audit with gender focus

Sub national governance policy of MRRD has very affirmative provisions to empower women at the grassroots level.

• Specific percentage of seats are reserved for women

• It supports gender based budgeting initiative of MOWA • Proposes to delay marriage of girls

• Promotion of civil society organizations, consultations with shuras, jalsas and jirgas • Provinces, districts to recruit employees on merit basis & involve civil society in M&E

of local self government performance

• They all are to participate in planning, monitoring & budgeting exercise • Internship program for university students are on

• Provision for audit of performance of people & programs

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Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock too proposes a gender policy. Highlights of its provisions and features are as follows:

MOWA can influence the following: • Gender disaggregated data on hours of work and output in various sectors

• Estimation of their labor’s worth & contribution to total income • Promote decision making in farming and household

• Promote participation in planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects & programs( identification of beneficiaries etc)

• Special efforts to enhance their self esteem and self worth, address traditional obstacles at community level

• Sharper tools to measure and modules to build capacities of all personnel

Ministry for Rural Reconstruction and Development is yet another ministry that acknowledges the potential and commitment of women at household and ministry level. This ministry too has its gender policy with the following features.

Although, both MRRD and MAIL work for rural communities, catering to about 70% of the rural population, both the ministries have proposed separate structures at the provincial and district level. Both

This policy appreciates the responsibility of women at household level and makes provisions for their access & control of resources/ opportunities for self reliance

• Responsible for food security & nutritional status of members • Should be primary targets for capacity building • Access to all ‘inputs’- land, capital labor & markets and not welfare recipients • Enhance their technical and management skills

• Their jobs are more labor intensive & all through the season- weeding

• Ownership of land/ implements and finances • Institutional level changes in mindset of officials, behavior change and systems for

joint decision making at all levels of the ministry

• Promote equitable rural development among rural women

• Fosters social and economic development

• Infrastructure, human capital, access to income & economic development, credit • Representation of women in rural forums & beneficiaries

• Addressing specific needs of women • Active participation & engendering in all aspects of project cycle promoting decision

making • Male advocates & partners in this process • Community development councils and district development assemblies

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the ministries have multi ministerial initiatives that are routed through these respective ministries. Ministry for Rural Development has an institute to provide technical know- how and capacity building support, the Afghanistan Institute for Rural Development(AIRD) that would house the resource center. There is a provision to engender all the tools, assessments, training modules etc., in the resource center within the institute. It is in the interest of all the personnel and beneficiaries to follow a common structure and strategic plan period/ structure to draft the plan as it will streamline the process of planning, execution, and evaluation.

Ministry for Public Health has shared its gender strategy. This strategy has the following features.

This ministry has a wide mandate, encompassing all aspects of health (& nutrition) of all age groups of the human life cycle.

• Reproductive health (maternal and newborn/infant health, birth spacing/family planning)

• Child and adolescent health (including integrated management of childhood illness [IMCI])

• Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) • Public nutrition • Communicable (tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and avian influenza) and Non-

communicable (diabetes, heart disease, etc) diseases • Disability • Mental health • Disaster relief • Personal hygiene and environmental health • Access to quality medicine (a cross-cutting issue) • Gender-based violence (a cross-cutting issue)

All these aspects of health have been addressed with a gender perspective and alongside there is a lot of effort to enhance the number of lady health providers at all types of health facilities from village to tertiary centers. Only director -reproductive health has shared the revised log frames. It is important to meet the others as well.

• Gender perspective to all MoPH programs including a focus on gender-based violence and mental health, and to implement gender-sensitive activities.

• all administrative policies and procedures of the MoPH are gender equitable and are sensitive to the needs of women and men

• Work to ensure that Women and men have equal access to health services that are free of discrimination and that address gender-based violence.

• Create gender-sensitive indicators for all health programs, monitor them, and evaluate programs

accordingly. These are all in number of events organized only.

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The gender unit that was attached to the directorate of Reproductive health has been upgraded to a department. There is need for two more technical staff and one director be assisted by an administrative assistant. There is confusion about placing of the department. At the moment it is with the Administrative Deputy Minister. It is likely to be shifted to the Technical Deputy Minister.

These staff need to be trained in gender budgeting. Many tools to assess aspects of gender and health need to be developed. Training modules for health personnel on human rights and gender need to be developed. The HR department needs to engender the policies and procedures. There is need to work with Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled as well.

Agents of gender mainstreaming at the national level

• Gender task force that works with line ministries, international organizations (HSSP&JICA) and UN agencies(WHO and UNFPA)

• Gender mainstreaming task force that is led by MOWA- Director gender unit from here participates in it.

• Inter ministerial gender task force headed by gender directorate of civil service commission.

Structure and positioning of the gender unit/ directorate

It is evident from the analysis of the above strategies/ policies that there is no uniform structure and reporting system to gender unit/ directorate. Some units such as in MRRD are reporting to the minister with focal points in each department, while in MoPH they are reporting to the administrative deputy minister; in still others, to the director – planning and international relations. Not all of them have teams at the district level. Some of them have but not gender focal person at that level. There needs to be a comprehensive structure at the village/ ward level, to be federated at the district level and further at provincial level. All the line ministries should have a gender person among their teams at all these four levels.

Although many programs are multi ministerial initiatives, there is one nodal ministry for each of these programs that implements and monitors besides being responsible for the program outcomes and impact. Although MAIL and MRRD implement programs for the benefit of 70% of the population, there is no convergence in the structure, as it appears from the gender policy. MOWA is present is all provinces and all districts. Hence, it can participate in joint monitoring and evaluation processes all over the country.

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Chapter 5

Lessons, recommendations and way forward

Strategic plans

The strategic plans of all ministries vary in the frequency of monitoring and monitoring schedules in a calendar year. The structure of their strategic plans, also vary. In some cases, the time period is also not in line with the others. Hence it is important to streamline all these aspects before a monitoring plan is chalked out.

As mentioned earlier, some ministries do not have a strong gender focus, as yet. MOWA is mandated to monitor implementation of NAPWA on the eight themes, along with the line ministries, who hold the responsibility to implement those themes. MoE monitors development programs at the grassroots level; viz., NGO work as well. There are 20 people in the team that monitors NGO interventions within the MoE. MoFA monitors the implementation of ratified conventions and streamlines project proposals of various donor agencies. If these two ministries are influenced in terms of the content of their projects, gender can be mainstreamed easily into the interventions of all ministries. In other words, representatives from both these groups should be present in the national level taskforce meetings to review implementation of NAPWA.

Capacity building in project/ program management

This is the requirement of all ministries at all levels of the ministry. The government officials and other personnel need inputs and both in terms of skills and techniques in keeping with their level of functioning and nature of job. It is advisable to develop two types of modules. One for managers and directors while the other for lower cadres. There is also a need to include sessions on all the eight themes of NAPWA by eight experts, who should form the technical team within MOWA. This module would include monitoring and evaluation as well. MoE was mentioning about a commission that they are establishing to streamline and check quality of the capacity building programs that are being organized in various ministries and other institutions.

Resource center

All the ministries that have drafted gender strategy/ policy have mentioned about a resource center. MRRD has proposed its center within the AIRD. These centers would also record lessons learned from the field and build knowledge products for dissemination from time to time. I suggest that the eight experts work closely with this center and contribute to the quality of learning. Instead of restricting it to rural development, it should cover all aspects of learning. They should also work closely with universities and draw up proposals for dissertations by students. These projects also can be undertaken by students opting for the internship program that is promoted by the sub-national governance policy.

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This resource center can develop into a learning organization.

The Ministry for Women’s Affairs, GoA, has already an approved M&E System. It follows a logical sequence in structure and mechanism, although it has not been tested in the field. It prescribes a way to go about monitoring the implementation of NAPWA by MOWA, in collaboration with all the other ministries of the government. As per this mechanism, the definition of ‘monitoring’ is as follows:

““Monitoring, coordination and reporting are the collaborative efforts of all ministries and international community which assumed the priority action of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and a main part of the London Conference. Based on London Agreement and ANDS, The Ministry of Women Affairs, other concerned ministries and responsible organizations for monitoring and coordination have been agreed upon specific indicators which insure standard implementation of the NAPWA, therewith a specific information system will be developed in order to support these indicators.”

It has been established that M&E informs the program besides enabling one to measure the change that the program has brought about. It creates spaces for all stakeholders to participate in this process. This has been explained with several case studies from all over the world.

Building a learning organization Since 1994, CARE Zambia has promoted the concept of a ’learning organization’ in order to encourage more innovative and adaptive learning, especially among CARE staff members. CARE pursues seven major strategies, which are considered benchmarks or ’building blocks’ for a learning organization: �thriving on change �encouraging experimentation �communicating success and failure �facilitating learning from the surrounding environment (i.e. from communities and beneficiaries) �facilitating learning from staff through training and group learning �rewarding learning �promoting a sense of caring CARE promotes various initiatives as part of the process of becoming a learning organisation, which have important implications for project monitoring and evaluation. Staff receive training in using participatory approaches and methods, and work together with communities and beneficiaries in learning how to plan and monitor project activities, analyse results and use information to modify activities. In the Livingstone Food Security Project (LFSP), CARE Zambia staff established and trained community based teams – known as village management committees (VMCs) – to design, implement and monitor community-driven development activities. In the LFSP project, local participants identify different levels of wealth and different categories for ranking wealth in each village. The information provides staff and VMCs a basis for tracking changes experienced by individual households in each wealth or well-being category over time. Hence, capacity building and institutional learning not only takes place at the project level among field staff, but also at the community level. This is important for monitoring the impact of project activities and determining actions to overcome challenges. Source: Ward 1997

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Monitoring helps all stakeholders to understand the field realities, against the plans made at the launch of the project/ program. It also helps them to understand their specific roles and contributions they need to make to achieve its objectives.

“Implementation of NAPWA is to be evaluated every three years by MOWA and its effects would be evaluated by an external entity once in every five years”. This is the prescription of the approved M&E mechanism of NAPWA. It has to be assessed in light of the field realities and costs involved in conducting these processes.

Structure and mechanism of M&E

This is a four tier mechanism across 18 ministries; national, provincial, district and village/ city level

Horizontally there should be a system to monitor the engendering process in all directorates of each ministry.

The changes observed should be collated among the teams at each level and reported to district level presence of DOWA/ DOWA/ national level MOWA.

These observations on systems and behaviour change should be reported to the committees at the national level- all these groups already exist. There is ANDS secretariat as well. It needs to be seen, if another inter ministerial committee is required to be established, as prescribed the M&E mechanism. Duties and responsibilities of the M&E directorate are as given in the M&E mechanism. They can be tried out and then decided. Any mechanism is best accepted when it is tried out and operational challenges are addressed.

a) Gender Mainstreaming Task Force

b) Task force managed by M o F A

Situation analysis

Design policies

Evaluation

Implementation Design program

Resource allocation

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c) Technical Advisory Group for Women and Children

d) Cross Cutting Consultative Group on Gender

e) Parliamentary Women Committee

15 ministries other than MoFA & MoE ( through gender units)

Provincial directorates of all these ministries through DOWA and INGOs ,

At village level or urban settlement level Beneficiary population

Technical experts on all eight themes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8DOWA 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

GMTF MoFA Task

Force

Tech Advisory group for

Women and Children

Cross cutting

consultative group

on gender

Parliamentary

Women

committee

Ministry for Women’s Affairs

Technical Deputy Minister Director ( planning

international

relations)

M o Economy, resource center and CSO

(capacity building & monitoring of all

ministries’ program on gender

component)

Gender units of other ministries

through their technical Deputy

Ministers

M&E Directorate

INGOs, UN Agencies, trade unions, women entrepreneurs etc., at district level

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Tier 1- Monitoring & Evaluation at village/ ward level

There are CSOs and people’s representatives as spelt out in the sub national governance policy. There are also field workers of the grass root NGOs in these places. There are also target beneficiaries. All these people can record benefits reaped by target population, events organized, minutes of the meetings held, names/ signatures of those present and participating in these events. If field workers from among district teams of line ministries are allocated villages/ wards, then they too can participate in monitoring the programs. These cadres, certainly need to learn how to observe for vested interests among implementers, how to include different beneficiaries each time monitoring is carried out etc., they need to be given tools and an orientation. Evaluation too should include all these stakeholders. They contribute in a big way to learning opportunity for all stakeholders

Tier 2- Monitoring& Evaluation at district level

Here, all village level data is collated and analyzed. Besides that, the NGO personnel such as project officers, 1 government employee from DOWA, one gender focal person from district team of line ministry/ ministries ( in case of multi ministerial initiative), one from institution working on the theme such as school teacher/ judge/ policeman/ trade union member or employer/ transport provider/ etc., monitor the project at district level to complement the efforts of village/ ward level teams. They collect certain data on higher indicators from a sample. If there are elected representatives, they are also included for one or two visits. The observations are certainly presented to him/ her. This data is coded and collated at the district level and sent to the provincial level. The meetings for sharing progress on implementation of NAPWA with directors of various ministries can happen at national level.

Developing an evaluation framework for tracking project impacts over time A participatory impact assessment approach was used to evaluate the Northern Region Rural Integrated Programme (NORRIP) in Northern Ghana. It assessed the impact of local capacity building on access to improved water supply and sanitation services by using an evaluation framework known as the Village Development Capacity Index (VDCI). The VDCI framework was developed by an external evaluation team commissioned by NORRIP after intensive consultations with different project stakeholders, including village representatives. This index attempts to rank communities in the project area in terms of their performance on poverty indicators and on village development capacity indicators. Data was collected through interviews with households and key informants, focus group discussions, and field observation. Rural residents provided feedback on collected data. The major stakeholders – who include village representatives, implementing agencies, the donor and other allied agencies – participated in the process of allocating scores (ranging from one to five) on each of these indicators to the villages under study. The scoring process facilitated dialogue and consensus building among the various stakeholders, with village representatives providing feedback on the findings of the VDCI scoring exercise. Scores on the VDCI for each village can then be used by monitoring teams to track changes and impacts over time to assess progress. Source: Gariba 1995; Jackson 1995

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Tier 3- Monitoring at provincial level

At this level, gender officer from all line ministries(who are responsible for the program) & MoE and one from sub national governance, gender officer from DOWA, representatives from UN agencies, INGOs, implementing NGO, are all better equipped and informed than at the lower levels. They not only analyze the data that comes from the districts, but also administer tools to a chosen sample on provincial level outcome/ impact indicators. They may include people from academic institutions (specialists in relevant subjects) government institutions and elected representatives, once in a year to review the project/ program. It is important to include at least one representative from each line ministry. Any anecdotes quoted should be included.

Tier 4- Monitoring at national level

Largely this exercise is a desk work, comparing performance of provinces on various parameters. Surveys or consultations may be held at central locations with district & provincial team members along with the representation of CSOs & NGOs, to supplement the learning. Representative from Ministry of Economy should be included in this exercise. It would be thus useful to have sharp tools to assess change at outcome/ impact level. The tools should be such that they inform the teams on bench marks and MoFA’s MDG targets etc., Anecdotes and case studies should also be recorded at this stage. Any unintended outcome should be carefully recorded.

These reports can be shared with parliamentarians and GMTF members. They can inform policy and further fine tuning of program designs, across sectors. Strategic decisions on selection of provinces and regions can be made based on these reports. They can also inform strategic plans of various donors and UN agencies.

PM&E as an internalized process for project planning and management The Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP), a non-governmental organization promoting natural resource management, works collaboratively with village communities in rural Gujarat in developing a watershed management program. The program integrates a participatory planning and monitoring component, which includes the following broad sequence of steps: �Village extension volunteers engage farmers in discussions to identify their priority concerns, which become key variables for information gathering. �Farmers are encouraged to make 'ground maps' of their fields which serve as base line and impact study maps, showing before/after conditions of soil and water conservation treatments. �These 'before' and 'after' maps are collected, followed by intensive discussions among farmers regarding the findings and inconsistencies in data collected. �Presentation of findings leads on to a discussion of alternative technologies. For instance, experiments may be carried out to compare different types of soil and water conservation techniques. �Generation of technology and production strategies, which are then adapted to village, circumstances. This approach encourages farmers to become more reflective and conscious about different strategies for improving productivity and managing scarce resources. PM&E becomes an internalised process for local communities who use this approach in order to make decisions regarding production, investment, and technology choice. In this context, participatory monitoring is linked to project planning and management, leading to decision-making and identifying alternative action strategies. Source: Shah, Hardwaj, and Ambastha 1993

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Media coverage

It would be meaningful to cover the monitoring exercises in the local news for wider coverage. If the most popular news paper covers the results of this exercise, at regular intervals of time ( every quarter), it would draw attention and interest of the common man.

Participatory monitoring & evaluation

This aspect of program management has been appreciated in almost all the government documents ranging from ANDS to all policies and strategies. But each ministry is working separately on a number of issues. There are some projects and programs being implemented jointly by two or more ministries, but one of them is holding the responsibility for it. There is immense scope and opportunity in working towards joint M&E. This is evident from the interest shown by all ministries visited. All of them readily agreed to include NAPWA components & indicators. Those drafting policies have involved MOWA. In order to set the process into motion, it is important to carry out certain activities. All these are included in the recommendations. There are many examples of these experiences the world over.

Understanding project impacts and processes: what stakeholder perspectives revealed in Kenya Participatory evaluation of the Makueni Community-Based Nutrition Project (MCBNP) was undertaken in order to investigate stakeholder perceptions of the project. An external evaluation team facilitated the process, which looked at project outcomes, project benefits, potential negative impacts on diverse groups, and how various groups felt about the project and their suggestions for improvement. The key participants of the participatory evaluation exercise included donor representatives, government officers, project field staff, nutrition-related community organisations and their members, as well as non-project community members. The participatory evaluation exercise demonstrated that focusing mainly on project impacts only revealed a partial view of a project that seemed so successful: a conventional nutrition rehabilitation center was transformed into a community-based nutrition project, using participatory approaches and methods to plan and implement programme activities. However, looking more closely at different stakeholders’ perspectives showed that there were several areas for further improvement related to the process of project implementation, namely: �increased equity in terms of who benefited from project activities; �maximising existing resources and capacity building for project sustainability; �more participatory decision-making procedures; �meeting unmet expectations of different stakeholders; �clarifying confusion over the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders in project management. The participatory evaluation exercise not only helped highlight significant and problematic issues based on stakeholders’ perspectives, but it also allowed different participants to reflect, compare, and learn from each other’s experiences and perceptions. In turn, people are better able to assess the process of project impacts and suggest what they would do differently to modify the current process. Source: Cornwall, Gashigi, Kabutha, and Sellers 1997; Cornwall 1997

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This fourth generation evaluation highlights the importance of context social political and value system- in the evaluation process. In summary, the main arguments, generally made for participatory approaches to monitoring and evaluation ( drawing on Abbot and Guijt 1997, Feurstein 1986, Rugh 1992, Sommer 1993) are

• Enhanced participation, especially of beneficiaries, in M&E helps improve understanding of the development process itself

• Increased authenticity of M&E findings that are locally relevant

• Improvement of the sustainability of project activities, by identifying strengths and weaknesses, for better project management and decision making

• Increased local level capacity in M&E, which in turn contributes to self reliance in overall project implementation

• Sharing of experiences through systematic documentation and analysis based on broad based participation strengthened accountability to donors

• More efficient allocation of resources Thus one way of imparting technical skills to the non professionals in project management, si by involving them in M&E. Initially tools can be given to them and collected data and observations are compiled, reports drafted along with them. Eventually, they learn to develop tools, draft proposals and negotiate for funding. Participatory monitoring and evaluation, sees merit in participation depending on the direction from which it is being initiated. Some are driven by the internal teams and sometime times by the external ones. However, it is good to have a combination of ‘bottom up’ and ‘top down’ methods.

’Four generations’ of project evaluation (Guba and Lincoln) First generation evaluation emerged in the 1900s and may be characterised as measurement-oriented. It is associated with the tradition of educational research and scientific management in business and industry. Tests were commonly used to measure the progress of students in schools or to determine the most productive methods to make working environments more efficient and effective. The role of the evaluator was generally technical – to provide and apply tools or instruments for measurement. Second generation evaluation focused more on description and led to program evaluations. This tradition of evaluations emphasised the achievement of objectives and the analysis of program strengths and weaknesses, which were utilised to guide refinements and revisions. The role of the evaluator became essentially that of describer, although earlier technical functions were also retained. Third generation evaluation included judgment as an integral part of evaluation. Judgment required that the program objectives themselves be taken as problematic; hence, goals and not simple performance were subject to evaluation. The development of standards against which the judgment can be made assumed prominence. Consequently, evaluators also assumed the role as judges and helped 'clients' (decision makers for whom the evaluations were ultimately geared) determine standards for judgment. Fourth generation evaluation refers to the most recent evolution in evaluation practice. Its key emphasis is on evaluation as a process of negotiation, incorporating various stakeholders more centrally into the evaluation process. Fourth generation evaluation takes into account stakeholders' consensual and competing claims, concerns, and issues. It recognises that peoples' diverse perspectives and interests are shaped in a major way by their particular value systems, which in turn are influenced by their specific physical, psychological, social and cultural contexts. Through negotiation, fourth generation evaluation helps identify a course of action for stakeholders. The evaluator plays a role primarily as a facilitator or 'orchestrator' in the negotiation process with stakeholders, who participate in the design, implementation and interpretation of the evaluation as full partners. Adapted from Campos and Coupal (1996) and Guba and Lincoln (1989)

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Recommendations

1) Collect all the strategic plans that have been engendered. Analyse them and organize a workshop with all line ministries to streamline the M&E mechanism, tools and structure of strategic plans

2) Work with MoFA on formats / templates of donors and for data collection on ratified conventions.

3) Streamline the structure of gender units in all ministries as per the agreed structure. All of them will report to technical deputy minister in their respective ministries. Have a common ToR and build a virtual taskforce on NAPWA, including the district and provincial level staff.

4) Prepare a good training module for directors and project managers on project management. Include resource persons from the UN and INGOs. Include eight thematic experts on NAPWA themes from MOWA. These have to be professionals only. A simpler one for data collectors at lower level.

5) Train all the senior staff and then the juniors on two separate modules. 6) Work with Ministry of Economy on all proposals for grassroots NGOs. Engender them on the

themes of NAPWA. Develop M&E system for them.

Challenges and opportunities

1. Human resource is a scarce commodity in all ministries. It is essential to engage with donors and UN agencies for this purpose till such time that the government officials are trained. But this activity should begin at the earliest. Admin and HR procedures, guidelines can be centrally engendered and applied to all ministries.

2. Monitoring NAPWA would require that a common M&E mechanism is developed with all 18 ministries and one common calendar. At the moment, people are following varying schedules of M&E.

3. CSO and MOWA develop tools along with M&E experts from all line ministries on all these indicators. Although it is a laborious job, once it is done, it can be used for entire NAPWA implementation.

A 'bottom–up, top–down' strategy of M&E that begins with farmers The Vietnam Sweden Mountain Rural Development Program (MRDP) is an integrated rural development program that seeks to regenerate green productive uplands in Northern Vietnam, while promoting sustainable and secure local livelihoods. The underlying principle of the MRDP is that ’people are willing and capable of taking responsibility for their own development’. Based on this underlying premise, the MRDP established the Management Information and Learning System (MILS) which is designed to facilitate the exchange of information and experience between participating organizations at different management levels (farmer, village, commune, district, province and ministry). However, what is unique about MILS is the central role local farmers occupy in project planning, monitoring, review, and documentation of all program activities included in the MRDP. The process of planning, monitoring, and evaluating program activities begins at the farmer and village level. Information and experience generated at the local community level is then communicated up to the next level, which allows for a continuous ’bottom-up, top-down’ dialogue between different management levels. MILS helps provide useful information and understanding between management staff at all levels which allows for more effective project planning and implementation that is responsive to local needs and experiences. Source: Vietnam Sweden Mountain Rural Development Program, Management Information and Learning System, Province Level Training Document No.1

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References:

ANDS( 2007)., “ Gender Equity”, Volume II, Cross cutting issues, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Estrella, M., and Gaventa, J., (no date). “Who counts reality? Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation: A literature Review, IDS Working Paper 70.

MOWA (2010). “Monitoring and evaluation system”, Department of Coordination and International Relations, MOWA, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.