Fund Dates

• Start Date: 01 December 2021
• End Date: 31 December 2023

Reports

Key Documents 

JP Tunisia Promoting Women and Girls's Leadership - Standard Adminstrative Agreement

JP Tunisia Promoting Women and Girls's Leadership - Memorandum Of Understanding

JP Tunisia Promoting Women and Girls's Leadership - Programme Document

Overview

By focusing on the empowerment of women and girls when designing COVID-19 responses, stakeholders hope to curb some of the greater health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic in local households and communities.

Joint programme action not only increases the resilience of local communities—especially the most vulnerable, marginalized, and hard-to-reach women and girls—to prevent and limit the spread of COVID-19 and limit its spread, but partners also offer technical support to mitigate the socioeconomic fallout (including all forms of GBV) and leverage health and wellbeing outcomes.

Fund Scope

Gender inequalities in Tunisia are related to the status of women and these have been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, Tunisian officials have recorded a decline in women’s inclusion and participation in education, health, and politics, and the country ranks low in women’s economic participation. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and deepened pre-existing inequalities in Tunisia, while also exposing cracks in the social, political, and economic systems—these adversely affect marginalized and vulnerable communities the most. Lockdown measures have led to confinement and isolation, which has mental health effects, and led to a spike in gender-based violence (GBV). Furthermore, women have been fundamental in helping to manage the health crisis both publicly and privately. In Tunisia, they make up the bulk of frontline health workers with 64% of nursing staff being women in direct contact with patients, as well as taking on the bulk of caregiving tasks for sick familiy members.

The programme will capitalize on UNDP and WHO experience in entrepreneurship, inclusive growth, women’s socio-economic empowerment, social protection for vulnerable and marginalized groups, green jobs, and health services. Stakeholders will also capitalize on the comparative advantage of UN Women in eliminating gender-based violence and improving gender equality and empowerment indicators. Aligned with national and global priorities and Tunisia’s strategic framework, programmatic action will build on past results and scale-up the following initiatives:

• Addressing GBV in Tunisia, providing vulnerable women and girls access to better services and access to economic opportunities economically.
• The ‘Azima Determination’ project, which is part of a Tunisian national campaign to prevent COVID-19 that addresses the consequences of the rapid spread of the virus and shares ways that citizens can lower their risk of infection.Addressing GBV in Tunisia, providing vulnerable women and girls access to better services and access to economic opportunities economically.
• Supporting the ‘National Action Plan to respond COVID-19’ to ensure essential health services at the community-level are provided to women and girls throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The programme takes an inclusive approach in programme design, implementation and to ensure no one is left behind. Main beneficiaries of the project are women and girls, older people, people living with disabilities, those living and rural communities, plus survivors of GBV and those poorly represented in decision-making positions.

Theory of change

The proposed joint programme takes a three-pronged approach in addressing the negative socio-economic and health consequences of COVID-19 in Tunisia. At the individual level, women and young women receive information on rights and available services, financial support, and skills development for generating income, and how to take on leadership roles in community-level health campaigns.

At the community-level, community members, including rural women, the elderly, people with disabilities, men and boys, will have greater awareness of health protocols and available supplies and services (including the vaccine) through a nationwide, community-level health campaign that promotes women’s and girls’ leadership and rights, transparent and equitable access to COVID-19 response services, and essential health services in pilot areas. Meanwhile, at the institutional level, the capacities of local officials will be improved so COVID-19 response and recovery policies and plans are gender-responsive, rights-based, inclusive, and transparent.

The joint programme is based on the three underlying assumptions of political will and commitment, improvements in information/knowledge sharing for behavioural change, and context-relevant, multi-level prevention and response initiatives—all of which inform overall impact, outcomes, and outputs.

Governance

Joint Programme Steering Committee

Comprised of representatives from the United Nations, donors, national and local governments, health and private sector officials, the Committee is the main oversight body for the joint programme, responsible for making consensus-based recommendations, including providing strategic direction and guidance to ensure that objectives are met, progress is achieved against set targets, and risks and issues, are adequately addressed.

Administrative Agent

Recipient Organizations receive funds through the Administrative Agent, the MPTF Office. The Administrative Agent is responsible for the receipt, administration and management of contributions from donors, disbursement of funds to Recipient Organizations, and consolidation and dissemination of progress reports to donors.

Participating UN Organizations

Programme implementation is the responsibility of each Participating UN Organization. Each organization is programmatically and financially responsible for resources received.

Focus

Cross-organizational and industry collaboration is imperative to joint programme design, implementation, and success. Leaving no one behind by targeting the most vulnerable, marginalized, and hardest to reach women and girls, is woven across the architecture of all programme initiatives.