UNICEF 2019 - 2025 Thematic support

The contribution is a support to the implementation of the last year of the CP 2015-2019 as well as the first year of the new CP 2020-2024. Since the start of the CP 2015-2019, important results have already been achieved, the context in Mali has changed in a significant way and new strategic direction has been provided at the global level. The CP for 2020-2024 was developed during 2019 and adopted in early 2020. Taking into account that Sweden has a strong strategic partnership with UNICEF on a global level, it is relevant to document the global objectives and theory of change. The impact statement of UNICEF’s global Strategic Plan, 2018–2021, is ’Realizing the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged’. This envisaged impact will be contributed to through five Goal Areas: (a) Every child survives and thrives; (b) Every child learns; (c) Every child is protected from violence and exploitation; (d) Every child lives in a safe and clean environment; (e) Every child has an equitable chance in life. These five global goal areas have been further defined through 25 outputs, 8 change strategies, 4 enablers and two cross-cutting areas (humanitarian and development nexus and gender integration) for which UNICEF is fully accountable. The change strategies give insight on how UNICEF works;   (a) Programme at scale; (b) Gender-responsive programming; (c) Winning support for the cause of children from decision makers and the wider public; (d) Developing and leveraging resources and partnerships for children; (e) Harnessing the power of business and markets for children; (f) United Nations working together; (g) Fostering innovation for children; (h) Harnessing the power of evidence as a driver of change for children. In Mali, the new vision of the CP 2020-2024 is that children and adolescents, both girls and boys, especially the most disadvantaged, deprived and hard-to-reach and those affected by crises, live and participate in resilient communities, enjoying a protective, nurturing and supportive environment that allows them to unlock their full potential throughout their lives. UNICEF has opted to build their CP 2020-2024 based on the life cycle of the child. UNICEF has defined bottle necks and theories of change. The vision will be achieved if: (a) more children aged 0 to 5 years and their mothers and caregivers have access to and use quality basic social services; (b) communities are child-friendly and engaged and nurture children’s early physical, emotional and cognitive development; (c) more children aged 6 to 12 years are enrolled in schools with adequate water and sanitation and a protective environment that champion high-quality learning and respond to increased social demand for diversified education options; (d) more children aged 6 to 12 years benefit from integrated health, nutrition and protection services allowing them to thrive and succeed in school and beyond; (e) more adolescent girls and boys aged 13 to 18 years have access to high-quality learning to boost their employability and are engaged in communities that promote child-friendly behaviours and protect them from violence; (f) young girls and boys and their communities have increased skills and space to demand their rights and participate in decision-making and have enhanced capacities for civic engagement, peacebuilding and social cohesion; and (g) social services are more gender-responsive, more integrated and better tailored to the needs of girls and boys at different stages of their lives. The life-cycle approach recognizes the intersectoral and mutually reinforcing nature of the key results for children (KRC); a more robust approach to early childhood and to the second decade; the empowerment of adolescents and the positioning of girls as key actors of change; and the linking of humanitarian and development programming while building community resilience will bring about innovative strategies for results at scale. The above has been translated to a transformative agenda through three key windows of opportunity, supported by two cross-cutting programme components: (a) The early years (0–5 years), focusing on health, nutrition, birth registration, water and sanitation, protection and early learning for school readiness; (b) The formative years (6–12 years), facilitating successful transitions, with an emphasis on safe and inclusive quality education and the prevention of violence and exploitation; (c) The second decade (13–18 years), focusing on adolescent empowerment, skills development, well-being, the promotion of child-friendly behaviours and the prevention of violence and exploitation; (d) An enabling environment for community resilience through active participation in social service management, monitoring and social protection; (e) Programme effectiveness. As mentioned above, Sweden is supporting three components of the CP 2015-2019 and has decided to continue supporting the same thematic areas of the CP 2020-2024. The theories of change for each component in the CP 2020-2024 are described below, highlighting the behavioural changes to be achieved. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) The WASH component of the CP 2020-2024 aims to ensure that communities, families, women and children in Mali, in particular those in rural and semi-urban areas as well as those affected by humanitarian crisis, have access to sustainable drinking water and sanitation services and practices adequate hygiene and environmental behaviours. To achieve this change, UNICEF WASH focuses on two main results; 1) By 2024, the most vulnerable communities, families, women and children in rural and semi-urban areas as well as those affected by humanitarian crisis have new means and services to sustainably access drinking water and basic sanitation 2) By 2024, schools and health centres have adequate water and sanitation infrastructure as well as improved hygiene conditions, especially the most vulnerable in rural and semi-urban areas as well as those affected by humanitarian crisis. The main actors that have been identified in the theory of change to have key roles to play include the private sector, the decision makers and the financial and technical partners. The private sector is needed to support the government and the communities with sufficient technical and financial resources, the decision makers are needed to provide strategic direction and coordination and financial and technical partners are needed to support the scaling up of service provision and capacity building. At component level, seven change strategies have been identified; production of data and evidence, strengthening the multi-sectoral approach, developing innovative financing mechanisms and public private partnerships, strengthen institutional capacities as well as those of local authorities, strengthen communities with a gender approach in the decision-making process and management of WASH, stimulate the demand of sanitation and a clean environment while developing the local WASH market for service provision and, finally, integrate humanitarian, development and social cohesion approaches while developing climate resilient WASH services. At this level, the role of women is specifically highlighted with respect to decision-making while gender aspects such as specific WASH needs of women and girls have been integrated in the implementation, follow up and analysis. Child protection The Child protection component of the CP 2020-2024 aims to ensure that children and adolescents, girls and boys, in vulnerable areas, including in humanitarian situations, are better protected against violence, exploitation and traditional practises. The Child protection component focuses on three main results; 1) By 2024, adolescents, girls and boys, benefit from an integrated and evidence-based system that protects from sexual and physical violence and exploitation and that is adapted to regional contexts and both humanitarian and development needs. 2) By 2024, adolescents, girls and boys, are equipped to protect themselves against gender-based violence, child marriage and FGM and to evolve in a social, legal and policy environment that is favourable to gender equality and autonomy of girls. 3) By 2024, all children, including those living in humanitarian contexts, receive birth certificates at birth and all children and adolescents that are victim, witness or in conflict with the law benefit from a fair, equitable and gender sensitive justice system that is adapted to contextual needs. The draft theory of change and draft strategic paper for the child protection component highlights all actors that play a key role in the lives of children, starting with the children and adolescents themselves. The community and the parents are given a particular attention, including how inter-generational dialogue can be promoted. Similarly, linking the traditional protection system and the modern justice system is emphasized. Overall, an integrated system to ensure protection is needed. The change strategies that are included mainly address the capacity of the above-mentioned actors and systems. Expanding the partnerships and increase resource mobilization is also included as a main change strategy. The strategic paper further explains that corporate social responsibility can be a lever and a way for UNICEF to diversify financial resources.    Social inclusion The social inclusion component aims to ensure that all children live in a socio-economic environment that favors their ability to exercise their fundamental rights and that offers equitable chances to realize their full potential. The following three key results have been defined; 1) By 2024, the local and national state structures have sufficient technical capacity to use and analyze data on poverty in the process of elaborating public policies and during the implementation of social protection programs. 2) By 2024, the local and national actors have increased capacity to conceive, coordinate and implement integrated social protection systems and inclusive policies. 3) By 2024, the local and national actors are better equipped to raise, allocate and manage public resources that better supports children. Also in the social inclusion component, a range of actors are required to reach the impact and outcome objectives. Similar change strategies as for the global theory of change are identified for this component in Mali. The main difference is that the focus is rather on implementing the existing program rather than scaling up and the community and civil society engagement is given more importance than collaborating with the private sector and “harnessing the power of business and markets for children”.