Mid-Term Review of the UN Trust Fund Strategic Plan 2021-2025

In 2020, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UN Trust Fund) developed a five-year Strategic Plan 2021-2025, which set out its vision, mission, and strategic approaches for the period. In August 2023, a mid-term review (MTR) was commissioned by the UN Trust Fund to take stock of results and learnings and to guide decision-making for the remaining two and a half years of the Strategic Plan implementation. The review applied a participatory and inclusive methodology, incorporating gender and human rights-based approaches and involving: 

• 81 respondents engaged a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including 61 external participants
• 22 Key Informant Interviews conducted to gather in-depth insights
• 5 In-depth validation interviews to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness of findings
• 8 Focus Group Discussions was facilitated for collective dialogue and diverse perspectives. 
• Over 70 documents were analyzed as part of the desk review 

The review identified 9 main recommendations and 33 sub-recommendations, emphasizing the UN Trust Fund's relevance and effectiveness in addressing compounded crises, backlash, and shrinking spaces for civil society. It highlighted the Fund's critical support to civil society organizations and women’s rights organizations in crisis contexts, professionalism, and its value for money, while also noting opportunities in strategic communication, partnerships and dissemination of knowledge, and in meeting the high demand of funding which is exceeding resources available to the UN Trust Fund. To provide a concise overview, a summary of the mid-term review findings is developed to highlight the core findings from the MTR and progress during the first half of the implementation of the Strategic Plan.