Annual Review: October 2020 - September 2021

Title: Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW)
Programme Value £ (full life): £18,957,608	Review date: 10/11/2021
Programme Code: 204531	AMP start date: 10/11/2016	AMP end date: 01/10/2024

Summary of Programme Performance

Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Overall Output Score	A	A	A	A	A
Risk Rating	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

DevTracker Link to Business Case:	Business case
DevTracker Link to results framework:	Logframe

A. SUMMARY AND OVERVIEW

Description of programme

The WOW programme is FCDO’s flagship central programme on women’s economic empowerment (WEE), implemented by PWC, working in consortium with CARE, BSR, Social Development Direct and the University of Manchester. WOW aims to improve women’s access to more secure, safer and better paid work opportunities, improved working conditions, and build partnerships to deliver sustainable solutions that can also be scaled. It was designed to deliver commitments made in the Economic Development Strategy (2017) and the Strategic Vision on Gender Equality (2018). WOW was designed to work across three components to facilitate a step change in WEE:

Partnerships with corporates to improve economic opportunities and outcomes for women in supply chains including improving the visibility of women in supply chains, such as through data mappings.

A responsive helpdesk to support HMG to integrate WEE into economic development programmes so they reach a larger number of women and improve global knowledge on how to deliver results for women and girls.

The WOW Fund to demonstrate catalytic impact and advance the global evidence base on best practice and what works to advance WEE. The Fund has focused on unpaid work and care, informal work, and land tenure security in relation to WEE.

Reflecting the success of WOW, a two year, £6.1m, extension to the original business case was approved in January 2020 and announced at the UK-Africa Investment Summit. This expanded WOW’s original target of reaching 300,000 women with improved economic opportunities, to reach a further 100,000 women in Africa. However, the economic impacts of Covid-19 led to reductions in FCDO’s budget, and the main contract for WOW was not amended to reflect the increased ambition and budget. As the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) was temporarily reduced FCDO prioritised protecting the helpdesk and one of the WOW Fund grantees, and closed the majority of its business partnerships early. Final decisions about WOW’s future are pending the outcomes of FCDO’s business planning progress, following the 2021 Comprehensive Spending Review. Options for the future of this project are discussed in Section B.

The seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy has forced the UK government to take tough but necessary decisions, and as announced in 2020, the UK has now moved to a target of spending 0.5% of GNI as Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021.

Following a thorough review, the FCDO’s programme budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against a challenging financial climate of COVID. Throughout the business planning process, the FCDO has strived to ensure that every penny of the ODA spend brings maximum strategic coherence, impact and value for taxpayers’ money.

The move to 0.5% has resulted in changes to this programme, which is being adapted and will continue. This Annual Review reflects that the programme had to refocus resources and so is having to deliver against a new plan with new results targets. As a result, the findings of this Annual Review reflect on a programme in transition.

The UK remains a world leader in international development, not only through the impact of these financial allocations but also through the creation of the FCDO, integrating diplomacy and development to deliver greater impact. We will return to our commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income on ODA when the fiscal situation allows.

Summary supporting narrative for the overall score in this review

The programme has scored an A as it has met or exceeded all output targets, only one of which was adjusted following the FY21/22 budget that was allocated in April. This review covers the period from October 2020 to September 2021. The programme has had many successes this year, despite fluctuating and reduced budgets.

WOW established new phased partnerships with 3 corporates which made meaningful progress in their initial phase before further cuts resulted in their closure; across all partnerships WOW has reached 97,820 women to date. However, the depth of impact for each woman will vary, as will the amount of benefit that can be attributed to WOW.

The helpdesk produced a widely promoted guidance note on women’s economic empowerment and climate change which was used by both FCDO’s gender team and the COP Unit Negotiations team, thus successfully influencing UK policy in the run up to COP26. Through the WOW Fund, the grantees continued to deliver through the challenges of Covid-19, reaching 40,159 women - over ten times the amount expected.

As the majority of partnerships with business were closed early or not scaled, WOW will not be able to reach its outcome target of 300,000 women; new targets will be agreed during the next reporting year. WOW has continued to influence the private sector and explore new ways of working. In the last quarter of this year, a partnership with Business Fights Poverty has enabled WOW to build on its work on WEE and climate change for a business audience. WOW occupies a unique position in FCDO, being a source of expertise on women’s economic empowerment and climate change with connections to UK businesses with global supply chains. Alongside a strong helpdesk offer that ensures FCDO’s economic development portfolio continues to deliver results for women, WOW should consider a future model that maximises use of its unique selling points, and how it can complement existing and proposed programmes.

Major lessons and recommendations for the year ahead

Lessons

There is ongoing demand from the private sector for support to help women in their supply chains. WOW was able to capitalise on this to form new partnerships in the first half of the reporting year, and could have scaled up these partnerships if funding had been available. In the absence of other similar initiatives to WOW in the UK, this demand remains. (Output lesson 1.1)

Scenario planning to help inform decision making about which projects to prioritise was a useful exercise when dealing with long-term uncertainty. However, the optimism bias of the team and FCDO meant that the minimum viable product scenario was still higher than the actual outcome. Teams in this position should explore more difficult and uncomfortable scenarios to be ready for a wider range out outcomes. (output lesson 5.1)

The helpdesk model which provides drawdown support to country offices and HMG teams remains popular, with demand exceeding the resources available over the reporting year. The benefits of a flexible helpdesk resource are evident, as the helpdesk was able to secure experts on topics including WEE in Cote D’Ivoire; green and inclusive growth in Mozambique; gender and disability aspects of financial services provision; and inclusive agricultural investments in Tanzania. As FCDO considers options for redesigning its central economic development programming, a flexible resource like this is a useful case study for the ‘make vs. buy’ debate. (output lesson 3.1)

WOW’s partnership with BFP has revealed a real interest from companies in how climate change and WEE can be tackled simultaneously. There is a real opportunity to act quickly and work with frontrunners to shape the gender-responsiveness of the huge number of private sector commitments on achieving net zero. (output lesson 1.2)

WOW has successfully adapted to shifting budgets and priorities since March 2020, which means it will be well placed to adapt again, if necessary, to best serve FCDO priorities as outlined in the forthcoming International Development Strategy. Changes to the way WOW operates are inevitable following the changes to the programme this year. By taking account of both lessons learned and aiming for more strategic alignment with new FCDO priorities, WOW can effectively reposition to deliver on new FCDO priorities and contribute to the UK’s economic development objectives.

Recommendations

FCDO SRO and WOW should continue to explore higher and lower resource scenarios, including through scoping and researching with country offices where they feel WOW’s links to UK business supply chains could add value in their business plans. Depending on the outcomes of the resource allocation round, expected March 2022, FCDO SRO should revise the ToC, logframe, VFM approach, and risk register, and may need to complete a business case addendum and contract extension.

Depending on the outcome of the resource allocation round and future model for WOW, the programme could consider undertaking a mini re-mobilisation period ahead of the next financial year, completing by April 2022. WOW could undertake scoping work to identify the best partners ready to kick off new work immediately in the next financial year, and reinvigorate its old networks. Whether this recommendation is necessary will depend on the outcome of recommendation 1, as in a lower resource outcome, the best use of remaining funding could be to focus on dissemination and legacy building.

The helpdesk budget should be prioritised in 22/23 to ensure that flexible drawdown support on WEE is once again widely available to the organisation as teams develop plans following the 2021 Spending Review. The helpdesk has a significant offer to contribute to the Economic Cooperation and Growth Department’s (ECGD) offer on green and inclusive growth advice to the country network.

FCDO SRO should develop a dissemination plan by end December 2021 to ensure that learning from all output 1 and WOW Fund project are effectively cascaded through the organisation. Work has begun with Promundo planning to present to FCDO on the WOW-funded project in November. This links to the ECGD minimum offer on WEE output to collate case studies of what works.

Working closely with FCDO and HMRC, WOW should continue to investigate the retroactive applicability of VAT guidance and whether there is a route to reclaim and redeploy funds already spent over the life of the programme. The timeframe for this decision will depend on HMRC’s response time. FCDO SRO should ensure other programmes in the same position take the same approach through regular engagement with the relevant SROs.

B: THEORY OF CHANGE AND PROGRESS TOWARDS OUTCOMES

Summarise the programme’s theory of change, including any changes to outcome and impact indicators from the original business case.

WOW’s Theory of change (ToC) was revisited in detail this year to better capture all the routes it uses to achieve impact. The below graphic shows the revised model, which displays the actual impact pathways WOW has found to influence WEE, including working with data providers, business initiatives and work at the household level. All of these were absent from the Business Case’s original ToC.

The proposition from the original ToC, that progress across multiple entry points is needed to bring about empowerment for women working in supply chains, holds true. Evidence indicates the impacts of Covid-19 are worse for already disadvantaged groups, including women, young people, the less educated and informal workers, According to World Bank analysis, ‘Who on Earth Can Work from Home?’ 2020, http://conference.iza.org/conference_files/worldbank_2020/viollaz_m8017.pdf and unpaid carers who are predominantly women. Therefore, supporting women’s economic empowerment, so women have more choice and agency and can fulfil their full economic potential, remains key to growing economies. However, one of the ToC assumptions that negative changes to the market economy would not affect the potential for WOW to contribute towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5 and 8 has been disproved. It will therefore be difficult to identify positive progress at impact level, as the pandemic has seriously rolled back progress for women in many parts of the world – for instance, McKinsey have estimated that female job loss rates due to COVID-19 are about 1.8 times higher than male job loss rates globally. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/covid-19-and-gender-equality-countering-the-regressive-effects

There were no changes made to outcome or impact indicators this reporting year, to avoid nugatory work ahead of an anticipated programme re-design. The revised ToC is useful to identify possible pathways through which WOW will continue to advance WEE. For example, the WOW helpdesk’s interventions to improve HMG programme design will remain relevant as ECGD considers options for its new economic development programming model. Additionally, the UK’s continued focus on combating climate change could be incorporated in WOW, reflecting the increased climate commitments being made by companies, and the potentially transformational role WOW could have if it worked with companies to make sure these policies combatted gender equality in tandem.

Describe where the programme is on/off track to contribute to the expected outcomes and impact. What action is planned in the year ahead?

From May 2021 onwards, WOW had to close most of its ongoing projects, therefore, there has been a dramatic change in WOW’s value for money assessment over the year. The programme has spent approx. £7.1m (including VAT) to date. Much of this spend has been investing in building relationships with the 9 corporates and 3 grantees, which has resulted in reaching 97,820 women to varying degrees of depth, with a further 100,000 women who may potentially benefit from WOW’s contributions to corporate partnerships. This works out at a crude figure of £67 per women reached, or £34 if also including the potential 100,000. Stopping this work early before the programme was able to capitalise on its investment and reap the results of long-term change and broader reach means that the programme will not be able to reach its headline target of 300,000 women with its remaining contracted budget (£10.2m contracted out of £18.9m approved budget).

Beyond its headline reach target, the programme has continued to drive change and impact at a systemic and firm level. The entire cost of the programme includes work that is contributing to global public goods through its research, evidence and lessons. For example, this year WOW’s research lead has presented WOW’s findings to several private sector networks, enhancing its reach and Royal Holloway College, University of London drew on WOW’s reporting to inform its own research project on the effects of the pandemic on Cambodian women garment workers which received funding from UK Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Research Fund.

Progress against WOW Outcome and Impact Indicators

WOW’s made good progress this year as shown in the table below, but it’s important to note that since June 2021 all work to meet these outcome targets (with the exception of 1.3 – helpdesk) has been ended or seriously scaled back. A breakdown by indicators is given in the following table.

Projects WOW started or influenced may continue without WOW’s involvement, so the end targets may be reached, but WOW no longer has formal relationships with these companies and therefore will not be collecting data to track progress. Future annual reviews should refer to public reports published by companies and examine if it is possible to see where WOW has made a contribution to larger goals – recognising that this will not be fully attributable to UK aid spending.

Impact: WOW contributes to increasing the number of women that are employed in higher productivity jobs, have access to improved working conditions or better roles in supply chains.	Impact Indicator: WOW contributes to SDG 5 and 8 through advancing women's participation and equal opportunity in the world of work	Too early to report progress, plus assumption that “Negative changes in the market or economy (such as recession, political instability, natural disaster) do not affect the potential for contribution towards SDG 5 and 8” has been disproved. It will be difficult for WOW to find evidence of positive progress against SDG5 and SDG8 targets, when the pandemic has had such a negative effect on both gender equality and economic development.
Log Frame indicator	Y4 target	Y5 (programme end) target	Achieved to date & comment
Outcome 1.1 Women with improved access	Number of women who have improved access to higher productivity and higher return jobs and /or more diversified roles and /or improved working conditions in supply chains due to WOW interventions	240,000	300,000	WOW has reached 97,820 women through partnership activities: Marks and Spencer: 11,573 women impacted by changes to HR systems and policies; 32 women progressed to more senior roles to date. Better Cotton Initiative: 33,571 women now have the opportunity get trained by the 32 (2 women) producer unit managers and 205 (12 women) trained field facilitators. This work also reached 17,631 men farm workers (this figure not counted). BCI are continuing this work without WOW. WOW Fund grantees: 40,159 women engaged through the WOW Fund core (28,540) and COVID response activities (12,070) The Body Shop: 200 women reached through a pilot who are benefiting from increased recognition and reward of their unpaid care contributions, enhancing their autonomy and decision-making power in their community. Twinings: 12,317 workers in tea supply chain stand to benefit from 150 management members and 550 workers who were trained. Twinings are continuing this work without WOW. FairTrade’s partnership has the potential to impact a further 100,000 women because the gender standard for tea which WOW contributed to has been approved, and this covers many women globally (this figure not counted). This indicator is now off-track because no more partnerships will be scaled and work on these partnerships to reach women has stopped.
Outcome 1.2 Strategic integration of WEE in global value chains	Number of partnerships (with companies/ business initiatives) supported by WOW that are improving visibility and/or reducing barriers and/or creating opportunities and/or improving conditions for women in global supply chains.	5	7	This year WOW has supported two further actions: Building on WOW’s partnerships with The Body Shop and Primark on unpaid labour, WOW developed a business focused playbook to increase business action and dialogue on unpaid care in supply chains. WOW contributed to and advised on Fairtrade’s new gender standards within tea, which have been approved and are were signed off in March 2021 They will be implemented globally from October. This indicator is now at risk. WOW has the potential to continue to influence private sector, but through indirect research, or by re-connecting with earlier partners.
Outcome 1.3 Integration of WEE in DFID and HMG programming	Number of DFID & HMG programmes reporting plans for improved design or to reach higher number of women beneficiaries	20	35	28 HMG programmes have reported plans for improved design or to reach higher number of women beneficiaries. This indicator is on track and the target will likely be exceeded.
Outcome 1.4 WOW Fund grantees contribute to WEE knowledge	WOW funded grantees generate new knowledge and/or influence practice in the areas of: •Improving conditions of informal workers; •Recognising, reducing and redistributing unpaid care work; •Improving tenure security for WEE	WOW grantee projects show evidence of engagement, response and/or commitment from relevant government or institutional bodies, or civil society organisations, or other stakeholders to advance WEE in their respective thematic area	WOW grantee projects show evidence of uptake, changes in practice amongst relevant stakeholders, or of new campaigns, partnerships or other initiatives established to support improvement in WEE for the relevant thematic area.	The grantees have produced strong evidence of engagement, response and commitment from relevant parties: Promundo has secured government buy-in in Rwanda and South Africa. In Rwanda, the 17-session Bandebereho curriculum has been officially approved by the Rwanda Biomedical Center; it is branded with the Government of Rwanda logo and includes a forward from the Director of the Maternity, Child nand Community Health Division. In South Africa, the eight-session ‘MenCare 50:50 Project: Men Sharing Care Work’ curriculum has received accreditation from the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA), an education and training quality assurance body. In addition, service providers trained on the curriculum are eligible for continuing professional development (CPD) points. WIEGO has successfully built its civil society network through establishing HomeNet International, whose members include 36 homebased workers (HBW) organisations from 20 countries, representing over 600,000 HBW. In a joint statement, WIEGO, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), HomeNet South Asia and HomeNet South East Asia called on brands to extend a one-time Supply chain Relief Contribution to all garment workers in their supply chains during the Covid-19 crisis. As a global partner of the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), WIEGO contributed to the CCC's publication, "Fashioning Justice: A call for mandatory and comprehensive human rights due diligence in the garment industry," that the CCC submitted to the EU. One significant success with newly engaged partners was achieved when the CCC integrated key asks and HBW-related language from their Platform of Demands into this publication. The project’s communications team promoted the ‘Homeworkers in Global Supply Chains: A Platform of Demands’ to the European Commission in the context of the proposed legislation governing Sustainable Corporate Governance in Global Supply Chains. SEWA Bharat produced 3 articles published on the International Institute for Environment and Development’s (IIED) website on land tenure activities in Patna. The have collaborated with the ‘Main Bhi Dilli’ campaign for the 2041 Master Plan for Delhi, which has improved their connection to government representatives. An interactive toolkit was also successfully developed and disseminated in collaboration with the organisation ‘Social Design Collaborative’, to spread awareness on Delhi’s Master planning process. SEWA has successfully campaigned for better drainage, electricity, and water service provision for their female HBW members, engaging with local government to do so. This indicator is on track with some evidence of uptake and changes in practice already apparent. However, WOW will not be able to capture further results or claim attribution except in the case of SEWA, as funding has stopped to the other grantees.

Justify whether the programme should continue, based on its own merits and in the context of the wider portfolio

As a major source of WEE expertise for FCDO, WOW is an important part of ECGD’s plans to support inclusive growth, being the only programme with a targeted focus on women’s economic empowerment and using a supply chain lens. WOW’s helpdesk remains in high demand and relevant to the context of the FCDO’s new operational design. Access to a wide range of experts on WEE will help contribute to the UK’s economic development portfolio continuing to deliver results for women. Flexibility of the drawdown model is cost effective and allows access to a wider range of experts than in-house expertise alone could at this cost.

WOW has already met one of the headline targets identified in its business case, mapping women’s work in supply chains for at least 3 global commodities (output level) and is on track to achieve another - impacting at least 35 FCDO economic development programmes through the helpdesk (outcome level). Despite being on track to achieve many of its outcomes, from April 2021, the majority of WOW’s partnership work was closed early without fully achieving the agreed targets. It is now unlikely that WOW will reach its headline target of 300,000 women with its existing budget and contractual timeframe.

To ensure WOW continues to be good value for money despite the disruption to its workplan, the programme should be reconfigured to ensure it can deliver maximum impact once the upcoming resource allocation round has been completed. Depending on the outcomes, WOW will need to pursue either:

a lower budget scenario with a focus on maintaining the helpdesk offer, and promoting learning, disseminating good practice for women and business; and influencing the private sector. Or,

a higher budget scenario with a time extension which could involve a combination of (a) and more ambitious ideas, potentially including action research pilots; enhancing WOW’s focus on green growth and WEE intersections; building on WOW’s previous work on unpaid care; or a challenge fund mechanism to work with companies.

Summary recommendation 1: FCDO SRO and WOW should continue to explore higher and lower resource scenarios, including through researching with country offices where they feel WOW’s links to UK business supply chains could add value to their business plans. Depending on the outcomes of the resource allocation round, expected March 2022, FCDO SRO should revise the ToC, logframe and risk register, and may need to complete a business case addendum and contract extension.

C. DETAILED OUTPUT SCORING

Output Title	WOW pursues effective partnerships with companies to improve women’s participation in supply chains
Output number:	1	Output Score:	A
Impact weighting (%):	30	Weighting revised since last AR?	N/A

Indicator(s)	Milestone(s) for this review	Progress
1.1.1 Number of companies / initiatives implementing agreed WOW partnership activities to address issues related to WEE in apparel, agri-food and personal care or other agreed supply chains	9 Partnerships with early closure are ended responsibly.	Met expectations 9 partnerships implementing agreed WOW partnership activities. This year 3 new partnership agreements were signed and initial scoping/research activities and/or initial implementation activities were carried out with Bestseller, Olam and Unilever. All partnerships were closed with a responsible exit methodology.
1.1.2 Number of learning products, resources, public document and tools produced and disseminated and/or events led by WOW to support information sharing, industry uptake and/or building the evidence base on WEE reaching targeted stakeholders -e.g. companies, policy makers, relevant academics and donors	18	Moderately exceeded expectations 21

Briefly describe the output’s activities, and provide supporting narrative for the score.

This output has scored an A overall to reflect that WOW signed up three new partnerships through a period of incredible uncertainty, and produced slightly more learning products than expected. Following a significant increase to the annual allocated budget, agreed in November 2020, WOW was able to respond to demand from existing and new partners and take forward phased projects. However, following the FY21/22 budget allocation in April 2021, WOW had to terminate early, or not move forward from phase 1, in the case of 8 of its 9 partnerships.

Indicator 1.1.1 – Met Expectations. WOW formed 9 partnerships with the ambition to reach 295,200 women. Although WOW is no longer able to drive progress in these partnerships, positively, in many cases, the companies are building on the work WOW started. Twinings are continuing to deliver training on gender-based violence with a WOW consortium partner; Bestseller are rolling out the digital training which WOW co-created in their factories; FairTrade has used the technical inputs from WOW as they improve their gender standard, impacting thousands of women farmers.

WOW is in the process of planning a convening of M&S suppliers, and wider industry stakeholders with an interest in Women’s Leadership, to share the insights and lessons from the longest running pilot. This would be a Bangladesh led event, and management of it is dependent on having relevant technical resource capacity. Due to COVID-19 restrictions this will most likely be a virtual event, and timings will depend on how the industry continues to be affected by COVID-19 infections.

Annex 1 has details of the activities and steps undertaken for each partnership to ensure WOW exited responsibly as they were closed and did not put women at risk. Across all partnerships WOW gave early notice that the partnerships may be affected by cuts to allow the partners to plan. WOW supported two partners (BCI, Twinings) to make the case for internal funding to continue the projects as part of the closure. Newer partners (Olam, Bestseller, Unilever) had been set up during a period of uncertainty with a natural break clause which enabled a responsible exit, and FairTrade’s partnership had been on a long-term pause from which it was officially closed; all four were open to future collaboration if the possibility arose. The furthest progressed projects (M&S, The Body Shop) were completed to an accelerated timescale, with a focus on capturing endline results and transferring insights. Original plans to scale these partnerships were not taken forward as part of the responsible exit.

Indicator 1.1.2 – Moderately Exceeded Expectations – Four additional learning products and/or events were produced and organised, and a significant amount of dissemination activities were conducted of the two key reports published last year (‘Hidden in plain sight’, and ‘Building back equitably’). Building on WOW’s work with The Body Shop and Primark on unpaid labour, the team produced a toolkit to increase business action and dialogue on this topic. Initial drafts were tested via a business dialogue in March with existing WOW partners and new companies like Unilever. WOW ran a 50-minute session at the annual BCI ‘Implementing Partner Symposium’ on why and how to take gender into account when driving change - 121 attendees participated.

In the last quarter of this year, a partnership with Business Fights Poverty (BFP) has enabled WOW to build on its work on WEE and climate change for a business audience. WOW has developed a toolkit for businesses which explores how companies can deliver on both women’s economic empowerment commitments and environmental commitments in an integrated way that creates value. This will be launched at BFP’s CoP26-linked event on 4 November, with speakers planned to include L’Oreal, IFC and Aviva. This could potentially provide a model for WOW’s future work with businesses. Note this product is not counted in the results as it is not yet complete.

Assess the VfM of this output compared to the proposition in the Business Case, based on performance over the past year

The output was delivering good value for money and on track to reach targets. However, progress has now been disrupted and endline targets will not be met. Specific relevant indicators from the VFM framework are:

Economy/Cost savings: In-kind and in-cash contributions from partners. Target: 5 days per partner:

Twinings: 8 days

BCI: 5 days

M&S: 5 days

The Body Shop: 5 days

Fairtrade: 2 days

Primark: 1 day

For the most recent partnerships that were only active for Jan-March 2021:

Olam: 2.5 days

Unilever: 1.5 days

Bestseller: 1.5 days

Flamingo: 1 day

Efficiency: Average WOW Team days spent per prospective partner. 7.68 days (no target), up from 6.56 days last year.

Effectiveness: The indicator for effectiveness is whether women involved in the project endorse the impact and describe the value observed. Some evidence of this was provided through the M&S project, but it has not been systematically collected across partnerships due to disruptions to implementation.

Equity: by targeting women, WOW is already trying to reach a disadvantaged group. WOW has developed profiles of some of the women reached. In the M&S project, one profile is of a 27-year-old garment worker who is now a trainee supervisor in a factory in Dhaka, who will soon become the seventh female supervisor in the factory of 4,600 workers (60% women). Through the profile we learn she lives in a suburb, is a single parent who also is the sole provider for her household which includes her own parents, and left school aged 10. This demonstrates the intersecting identities of the kinds of women reached by WOW.

Describe any changes to this output during the past year, and any planned changes as a result of this review.

The target for indicator 1.1.1 was revised down from 10 following the April 2021 budget decision, and a qualitative target about responsible exit was added. FCDO and WOW agreed that the qualitative target would be measured with reference to FCDO guidance for early programme closure; the assessment in this review is based on reporting from the implementing partner, which included feedback from some partners. The change this indicator reflected progress to date at that point and was done in acknowledgment that no further partnerships would be developed from that point. Indicator 1.1.2 was revised up from 13 to reflect the expectation based on work completed to date.

As part of the reconfiguration being done under summary recommendation 1, FCDO SRO should consider if this output should be closed as WOW is no longer seeking partnerships in the same way.

Progress on recommendations from the previous AR (if completed), lessons learned this year and recommendations for the year ahead

Recommendations from the previous AR

Summary recommendations 1,2 and 3 related to this output. WOW successfully implemented a flexible and phased approach with potential partners, hence it managed to sign three new partnerships this year. Scenario planning for different budgets was undertaken to help the programme plan – unfortunately this was over-ambitious, and the actual budget was below the minimum viable scenario that the programme developed. Summary recommendation 3 was partially completed as WOW undertook a review into its learning, but delayed decisions about resource meant that it never developed these into a learning plan.

Output lessons

1.1 There is ongoing demand from the private sector for support to help women in their supply chains. WOW was able to capitalise on this to form new partnerships in the first half of the reporting year, and could have scaled up these partnerships if funding had been available. In the absence of other similar initiatives to WOW in the UK, this demand remains.

1.2 WOW’s partnership with BFP has revealed a real interest from companies in how climate change and WEE can be tackled simultaneously. There is a real opportunity to act quickly and work with frontrunners to shape the gender-responsiveness of the huge number of private sector commitments on achieving net zero.

1.3 A phased approach to partnership was an effective way to deal with uncertainty and protected the programme’s reputation with new partners during a time of uncertainty. Programmes with single year budget timescales trying to work with external partners should make use of phased approached with clear break points to ensure expectations are clear on both sides.

1.3 Engagement with WOW partners post-closure has waned, showing that there does need to be a hook (policy or monetary) to ensure ongoing engagement. Future FCDO plans to work with the private sector should be cognizant of the fact that buy-in from the private sector can be facilitated by a programme offering, like WOW, Business Innovation Facility or the Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility.

Output recommendations for the year ahead

1.1 Depending on the outcome of the resource allocation round and future model for WOW, the programme could consider undertaking a mini re-mobilisation period ahead of the next financial year, completing by April 2022. WOW could undertake scoping work to identify the best partners ready to kick off new work immediately in the next financial year, and reinvigorate its old networks. Whether this recommendation is necessary will depend on the outcome of recommendation 1.

Output Title	WOW pursues effective partnerships with companies to improve data and information on women’s work in the supply chain
Output number:	2	Output Score:	A
Impact weighting (%):	20	Weighting revised since last AR?	N/A

Indicator(s)	Milestone(s) for this review	Progress
2.1.1 Number of partnerships (with companies/business initiatives) with improved collection and reporting of gender-disaggregated data in their supply chain as a result of WOW recommendations influence	3	Met expectations 3 (achieved 2020)
2.1.2 Number of country level supply chain mappings conducted (through deep dive cases)	3	Met expectations 3 (achieved 2020)

Briefly describe the output’s activities, and provide supporting narrative for the score.

The indicator has scored an A overall because, despite budget constraints limiting the ambition to increase the numerical targets, the research element of WOW was able to produce toolkits and research that contributed to the output title. There is also growing evidence about the impact of WOW’s existing research.

Sedex have publicised WOW’s research on the invisibility of women workers in global value chains and the impacts of Covid-19 in their Gender Data Report and associated new article. Researchers at Royal Holloway College, University of London gave WOW feedback that the ‘Building Back Equitably' report offered “one of the fastest reviews of the impact of Covid 19 on garment and agricultural workers.... we drew on the report to frame our own research project on the effects of the pandemic on Cambodian women garment workers, which was awarded funding by UKRI/GCRF in Autumn 2020”.

The WOW research lead drew on and promoted findings from ‘Building back equitably’ in a special webinar presentation organised by the Society for Advancing Socio-economics (SASE) in February 2021. SASE is an international academic association, and the webinar had 120 registered participants. WOW also presented at two of the FCDO-funded Vulnerable Supply Chain Facility programme’s knowledge exchange series.

Indicator 2.1.1 – Met expectations. WOW was unable to take forward planned partnerships with companies to improve their supply chain data due to budget constraints, so no revised targets were set, and no progress was made.

Indicator 2.1.2 – Met expectations. The delayed plans for undertaking a mapping with Twinings were cancelled following the budget cuts. WOW conducted pilot research in collaboration with Flamingo to understand the potential to adapt existing production and Global G.A.P (the agriculture standard setting organisation) certification systems to enhance gender visibility. The research focused on the Kenyan green bean supply chain, but illustrates the potential to scale up gender visibility in small-scale export agriculture across a wider range of crops, locations and companies. Recommendations were provided to Flamingo to support them scaling up gender visibility in these contexts. This work was presented by the WOW research lead at a smallholder webinar for all Ethical Trade Initiative members in April 2021.

Assess the VfM of this output compared to the proposition in the Business Case, based on performance over the past year

With limited progress on this output this year, the VFM has not changed. Work WOW undertook in the past continued to drive conservations with the private sector at no further cost. WOW undertook initial research phases, but was unable to capitalise on these as hoped by scaling these into implementation partnerships.

Economy: The major input from WOW is staff time from the research team and partners. Flamingo and Twinings team members contributed in-kind time to enable the research undertaken by WOW. WOW’s research team also used several events hosted by others to share the findings, saving WOW resources necessary to organise events with large audiences.

Effectiveness: Evidence of the research effectiveness continues to grow as the core reports are used and referenced by wider stakeholders.

Efficiency: This was limited by the tight resources which did not enable WOW to develop initial pilot research into further partnerships.

Equity: WOW’s research has involved discussions with rural and urban women, and the recommendations from the data research stand to benefit the most disadvantaged (and invisible) women the most.

Describe any changes to this output during the past year, and any planned changes as a result of this review.

Tentatively planned activities with new partners signed between December 2020 and March 2021 were not able to be taken forward from April 2021 after the budget was lower than anticipated. Therefore, limited activity has taken place. No changes were made to the logframe targets, reflecting this inertia. The logframe would have been updated following the learning review, but given the continuously high level of uncertainty, this was not feasible.

Going forward, this output’s relevance should be reviewed as part of wider configuration of the programme – it may make sense to close it.

Progress on recommendations from the previous AR (if completed), lessons learned this year and recommendations for the year ahead

Progress on recommendations from the previous AR

WOW continued to invest in research pieces that drive action and commitments from the private sector (recommendation 2.1). Due to operating on tight budget, WOW did not explore contracting different kind of research partners (recommendation 2.2).

Output lessons

2.1 Pilot research into the gender aspects of the Global G.A.P. standard illustrated the potential to scale up gender visibility in small-scale export agriculture across a wider range of crops, locations and companies. WOW’s research report gives an overview of Global G.A.P certification systems and their implementation in Flamingo's green bean value chain in Kenya; examines possible amendments in the Flamingo system to enhance collection and recording of gender data and information; and provides recommendations to Flamingo and related actors for future scaling up of gender visibility in small-scale agriculture.

2.2 There is a benefit to collaborating with established private sector networks like ETI and BFP to reach a wide, interested audience with WOW’s lessons and insights. In a low budget scenario, collaborations with organisations like this could prove a cost-effective way to reach and work with wide audiences.

Output recommendations for the year ahead

2.1 As part of summary recommendation 1, the relevance of this output should be considered.

Output Title	WOW providing effective knowledge, advice and support for delivering WEE through DFID and HMG programmes through a Helpdesk
Output number:	3	Output Score:	A
Impact weighting (%):	20	Weighting revised since last AR?	N/A

Indicator(s)	Milestone(s) for this review	Progress
3.1.1 % of helpdesk queries delivered receiving positive feedback from the support recipient (regarding satisfaction, responsiveness and timeliness)	80%	Met expectations 80%
3.1.2 Percentage of help desk support requestors that report positive change related to improved confidence, knowledge or 'know how' on issues related to WEE.	80%	Moderately exceeded expectations 83%
3.1.3 Number of ‘targeted guidance’ documents produced and proactively disseminated to improve information sharing and knowledge about best practices on WEE	3	Met expectations 3

Briefly describe the output’s activities, and provide supporting narrative for the score.

This output has scored an A because the feedback from helpdesk users was as expected, both in terms of the quality of the helpdesk service, and the anticipated impact of helpdesk products. The numerical expectations for indicator 3.1.3 were met, and the Guidance was of excellent quality and had a wide impact. The volume of queries completed was smaller than previous years due to budget pressures across the programme which meant pausing the helpdesk for periods of the year. 15 queries have been approved during the reporting period, with 6 of these still being completed.

Indicator 3.1.1 – Met expectations. During the period the Helpdesk delivered 9 queries, received feedback from 5 with an average scoring of 4.1 out of 5.

Indicator 3.1.2 – Moderately exceeded expectations. 83% of Helpdesk users reported increased awareness and/ or confidence in applying knowledge to improve WEE outcomes.

Indicator 3.1.3 – Met expectations. On Earth Day, the UK WOW Helpdesk published a two piece guidance note on the intersection between Women’s Economic Empowerment and Climate Change as well as the Net Zero Economy. The guidance was launched during a presentation and discussion with an internal HMG audience of around 65 people. The links to the report were shared in the UNFCCC newsletter by Head of Cross Cutting Issues, UNFCCC Negotiations Team, COP Unit. There was good engagement on Twitter, with a total of 20 retweets and 24 likes on WOW programme's tweets, and 13 retweets and 19 likes on the tweet from the COP 26 twitter account. This is higher than average for the @wowprogramme Twitter. An Earth Day blogpost about the guidance was published on consortium partner SDD's website, with the blog shared on LinkedIn.

Assess the VfM of this output compared to the proposition in the Business Case, based on performance over the past year

The WOW helpdesk continues to demonstrate excellent value for money. The major cost of inputs are the fees of technical experts which continue to follow rate bands set by FCDO and any rates above an agreed ceiling are specifically approved by WOW SRO. Relevant indicators from the VFM framework are:

Economy / cost savings: 100% of helpdesk consultant rates were within the agreed rate brackets negotiated as part of the VFM framework (target 90%).

Effectiveness: Average cost of Helpdesk support per FCDO/HMG programme that reports plans for improved design or to reach a higher number of women beneficiaries - £9,327 (down from £10,738 last year).

Efficiency: the logframe indicators reflect the quality of WOW’s work based on feedback.

Equity: The helpdesk continued to develop the intersectionality of its outputs, considering the differentiated impact on women with disabilities, elderly women or other socially excluded groups where it was appropriate and relevant to the query.

Describe any changes to this output during the past year, and any planned changes as a result of this review.

The ability of the helpdesk to deliver was limited to due budget constraints, particularly from April 2021 onwards. Requests were prioritised by the SRO. However, no changes were made to the output indicators as they are in percentage terms, rather than absolute numbers. These output indicators should continue unchanged.

Progress on recommendations from the previous AR (if completed), lessons learned this year and recommendations for the year ahead

Progress on recommendations from previous AR

Output recommendation 3.1 suggested that the SRO should continue to promote the helpdesk internally, including with major flagship programmes and platforms, and reengage with the country network to ensure WOW’s expertise can be drawn on as FCDO moves to implement the outcomes of the spending review. This was partially done, but given the spending review only covered one year, many country offices were not in a position to plan long-term programmes so outreach has been limited. Recommendation 3.2 suggested that WOW should continue to refine the priorities for the helpdesk: the SRO continued to have oversight and prioritise incoming queries over the reporting year.

Output lessons

3.1 The helpdesk model which provides drawdown support to country offices and HMG teams remains popular, with demand exceeding the resources available over the reporting year. The benefits of a flexible helpdesk resource are evident, as the helpdesk was able to secure experts on topics including WEE in Cote D’Ivoire; green and inclusive growth in Mozambique; gender and disability aspects of financial services provision; and inclusive agricultural investments in Tanzania. As FCDO considers options for redesigning its central economic development programming, a flexible resource like this is a useful case study for the ‘make vs. buy’ debate.

3.2 The centrally led targeted guidance pieces have a wide benefit. The helpdesk’s major contribution to central FCDO policy on WEE has been through its targeted guidance pieces. The third targeted guidance has been widely used by HMG in the run up to COP, including by the COP Unit in the Cabinet Office.

Output recommendations for the year ahead

3.1 The helpdesk budget should be prioritised in 22/23 (and potentially beyond) to ensure that flexible drawdown support on WEE is once again widely available to the organisation as it develops plans following the 2021 Spending Review. The helpdesk has a significant offer to contribute to the Economic Cooperation and Growth Department’s offer on green and inclusive growth advice to the country network. (Summary recommendation 3).

Output Title	WOW pursuing effective partnerships and initiatives that respond to DFID priorities from UNHLP agenda through the WOW Fund
Output number:	4	Output Score:	A+
Impact weighting (%):	20	Weighting revised since last AR?	N/A

Indicator(s)	Milestone(s) for this review	Progress
4.1.1 WOW fund grantees deliver project activities as per the agreed workplans which contribute towards improving unpaid care work, informal work and land tenure	On average, WOW grantees score at least Green (i.e. score above 80% as per the WOW RAG rating) in implementing the annual workplan	Met expectations Green – average of 90.6% Promundo, 100% - Green WEIGO, 75% - Amber SEWA Bharat, 97% - Green
4.1.2 Number of women reached by interventions supported through WOW fund grants with increased awareness, information and/or knowledge on issues related to unpaid care work, informal work and land tenure that expand economic opportunities/ choices	3,714	Significantly exceeded expectations 40,159 women. Of which: - 24,349 women have been directly reached through WOW Fund core activities - 3,666 women have reached indirectly through Promundo by contributing to continuation of the training via matching fund - 12,144 women have been engaged through COVID response activities

Briefly describe the output’s activities, and provide supporting narrative for the score.

This output has scored an A++ because the total number of women reached has significantly exceeded the expectations, and achievements have been delivered on as expected as per the September 2020 workplan, despite the partners being impacted by budget cuts from May 2021 onwards.

Indicator 4.1.1: met expectations.

Promundo’s project with WOW has now come to an end in August 2021 having made significant progress towards the redistribution of unpaid work and care in the project’s target communities in Rwanda and South Africa. Two curricula, known as Program P, have been developed/adapted with a strengthened focus on unpaid care work and WEE, and approved by Government in Rwanda and South Africa. In Rwanda, one entire district has taken the project to scale. There is full commitment from national and district policy makers to take the program to scale nationally.

WIEGO’s partnership with WOW ended in August 2021 having achieved a lot for women home based workers in Africa and South East Asia. In February 2021 the International Working Group, with WIEGO, HNSA, regional networks, and emerging platforms, facilitated the virtual launch of HomeNet International, the HBWs global network. Thirty-six HBWs organizations from 20 countries became the first affiliate members to join the global network representing more than 600,000 HBWs. Over 300 people attended the virtual launch and first Congress, including 80 HBWs delegates, with the remainder being observers, speakers, and the technical support team. The Congress took place over five hours with 14 different languages interpreted.

SEWA Bharat has made good progress this year towards the project’s overall goals whilst navigating the acute difficulties presented by Covid 19 in Delhi and Patna. The project launched housing finance and livelihood regeneration loans, which were provided with financial literacy and digital training modules. WOW’s partnership is ongoing to March 2022.

Indicator 4.1.2: Significantly exceeded expectations:

Promundo reached 1,599 women (3,012 total people) through participation in gender-transformative Program P sessions in Rwanda and South Africa. A total of 286 service providers were trained in Rwanda and South Africa of which 163 were women, and of which 135 reported that they have the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to implement the curriculum. Promundo, with WOW fund contribution, and matching funds from other donors trained an additional 314 service providers, and reached an additional 7,332 men and women through the programme, where 3,666 were women.

WEIGO has reported reaching 167 women through the trainings designed for HBW and leaders. Hundreds more women will indirectly benefit from membership of HomeNet International.

SEWA: SEWA has through is core activities reach a total of 22,448 women informal workers. Of which:

21,788 women informal workers were supported to improve their awareness and participation infrastructure improvements in six settlements in Delhi (4), and Patna (2).

559 additional women were supported through their work under ‘Tenure services’, which improved their access and participation to securing various tenure services (e.g. provision of residence endorsement certificates; provision of piped water supply connections with meters)

101 women reached through work on housing finance, improving their knowledge and access to housing loans.

SEWA provided emergency relief to its members to ensure they did not fall into poverty. This is a foundational aspect of economic empowerment, as reflected in the revised Theory of Change. Since Covid-19 began, SEWA has reached 4,800 women with masks; 7,270 women with ration kits and 32 home-based workers were employed at SEWA’s social enterprise Ruaabto, who produced a total of 8,443 masks for their communities. 5,540 women were reached this reporting year.

Assess the VfM of this output compared to the proposition in the Business Case, based on performance over the past year

The output remains good value for money. The relevant indicators from the VFM framework are:

Economy/Cost savings: Amount of savings from contributions from grantees (both in-kind and in-cash contributions): WIEGO: 58,640 (£70,429 last year); SEWA Bharat: est. £30,885 (£37,095 last year); Promundo: est. £25,000 (£266,313 last year, significant increase due to the expansion of the programme, funded by other donors). Target of increased savings year on year has not been met as result of the pressure on their budgets and subsequent cuts.

Efficiency:

Team days spent per grantee: 18.17. This decreased from 19.43 last year reflecting streamlined processes and better understanding of reporting expectations.

Efficiency and timeliness of processing grantees’ invoices and reviewing reports received from grantees – 100%

Effectiveness: WOW funded grantees generate new knowledge and/or influence practice in the areas of i) Improving conditions of informal workers; ii) Recognising, reducing and redistributing unpaid care work; iii) Improving tenure security for WEE. 45 knowledge products produced, (increase of 14).

Equity: By targeting informal and homebased workers, both the SEWA and WIEGO projects have worked with women likely to be in less secure employment circumstances. The WOW Fund therefore makes an important contribution to the equity of the whole project, as women reached in supply chains (i.e. through output 1) are likely to have much more secure employment.

Describe any changes to this output during the past year, and any planned changes as a result of this review.

After budgets were allocated within FCDO at the end of April 2021, it was not possible for WOW to meet its funding commitments to all three grantees. From May 2021, all three partners were advised to close operations and wrap up activities early. In June 2021, the programme budget was increased slightly, so the project with SEWA Bharat was able to continue with a shortened timescale, with a closure date brought forward by 3 months to March 2022. No changes were made to the logframe indicators.

Going forward, the indicator for 4.1.1 can remain as is, as it will reflect only the progress of SEWA. The target for 4.1.2 should be revised up to reflect that progress to date has been better than expected, and include plans to reach women between August 2021 and March 2022. Once SEWA’s project completes at the end of this financial year, this output should close.

Progress on recommendations from the previous AR (if completed), lessons learned this year and recommendations for the year ahead

Progress on recommendations from previous AR

Recommendation 4.1 was that “Once FCDO’s budget position is known, FCDO SRO should revisit the plan that WOW developed for use for the unallocated grant funding recognising that the context has changed”. Given that there was no scope to spend this unallocated funding, this recommendation was not actioned.

Output lessons

4.1 WOW’s future partnerships with civil society need to be proportionate to the funding grantees receive. FCDO demands a high level of reporting and accountability of small organisations, but offers minimal support to meet this standard. WOW was exception in this in that it coached grantees closely. Providing this kind of support in tandem with the grants helped funding to flow to frontline women’s organisations, who can reach the most vulnerable women workers.

4.2 Promundo’s project found that public service providers are capable of delivering gender-transformative programming with quality and fidelity, given the right support. Service providers could facilitate participatory and impactful gender-transformative group sessions, with little or no previous gender facilitation experience. However, they often require additional refresher trainings and support to be able to effectively implement.

4.3 A key finding from WIEGO’s project was that in Ethiopia and Kenya, as is the case in various countries across Africa, the concept of home-based work is only just emerging, and most workers instead view themselves as micro-entrepreneurs or producers. This makes mapping/identification of these workers and their links to supply chains a challenge. The researchers found that individual home-based workers and small self-help groups of homebased workers were difficult to track through formal research methods. There is limited data about these groups and, when approached by researchers unfamiliar to them, they are reluctant to share information for fear of compromising their livelihood. Instead, tracking individuals or groups of home-based workers through informal networking turned out to be an alternative method in these two countries.

4.4 As there is a global shift to do more virtual work, it is essential that women are equipped with digital skills. Both the SEWA and WIEGO projects have had to adapt and include a greater focus on digital skills given the travel restrictions in place over the life of the projects. SEWA has adapted its housing finance module to include financial and digital literacy components.

Output recommendations for the year ahead

4.1 FCDO SRO should develop a dissemination plan by end December 2021 to ensure that learning from all projects is effectively cascaded through the department. Promundo are arranging to present on the WOW-funded project to FCDO in November, and FCDO Rwanda have been connected to the relevant point person in country to monitor the sustainability of the WOW Fund intervention. (Summary recommendation 4)

Output Title	WOW delivers good value for money (VfM) as per the WOW VfM framework.
Output number:	5	Output Score:	A
Impact weighting (%):	10	Weighting revised since last AR?	N/A

Indicator(s)	Milestone(s) for this review	Progress
5.1.1 WOW delivers good value for money (VfM) as per the WOW VfM framework.	Annual VfM targets met as per the WOW VfM framework	Met expectations. WOW has met the majority of the annual targets within its VfM framework, with valid explanations for the missed targets (see table below).

Briefly describe the output’s activities, and provide supporting narrative for the score.

Overall output score – A – Met expectations.

The WOW VFM framework has 27 indicators. Of these, 16 have targets: 13 targets were met or exceeded, and 3 targets were not met. The ones which were not met are below:

Area	Milestone	Target	Justification for missed target
Economy - Overall Expenses	100% of expense claims compliant with FCDO’s expense policy for WOW	100%	98.32% - calculated by subtracting the value of credits given back to FCDO for billing errors as a percentage of the total value of expenses submitted. This is a minor variance and errors were corrected in the reporting year.
Economy – cost savings	Amount of savings from contributions from grantees (both in-kind and in-cash contributions)	Increased savings year on year	As discussed in under output 4, all three grantees have reduced savings this year, which reflects their reduced budgets and tight resources.
Efficiency – accuracy of forecasting	Number of months in the year where % variance between forecasted and actual spending is maintained at 5% or less	10	4 months. There have been multiple variances recorded, which are due to: unpredictable changes to lockdown rules which prevented activities from taking place as planned; estimated exits costs being higher than actuals; and FCDO’s fluctuating budget allocation.

Given that the first target was missed by less than 2%, and the other two missed targets were influenced by factors beyond the programme’s control, this output has broadly met expectations during an exceptional year.

VFM has been discussed throughout this report. VFM has been disrupted due to FCDO budget cuts, but WOW has still been able to demonstrate robust financial management, a strong equity focus and efficient and effective products and interventions. For instance, 100% of agreed milestones were delivered within or below the agreed budget, surpassing the target of 90%. Additionally, WOW benefitted from 39.75 pro bono days from senior members of staff from WOW alliance partners. Under the equity measures of the VFM framework, WOW produced profiles of women reached by the M&S partnerships – discussed under output 1.

Assess the VfM of this output compared to the proposition in the Business Case, based on performance over the past year

This light touch, internal monitoring of value across the programme represented a cost-effective way of measuring VFM across WOW, and holding the supplier to account for those figures. However, in the future, WOW team and FCDO SRO should consider if this detailed level of VFM monitoring is proportionate to activities and spend.

Describe any changes to this output during the past year, and any planned changes as a result of this review.

No changes were made this year. The entire VFM framework should be revisited to align with the new WOW logframe following the programme’s reconfiguration. FCDO PRO should check the latest guidance on VFM monitoring, and if it is still recommended track this with an output in the logframe.

Progress on recommendations from the previous AR (if completed), lessons learned this year and recommendations for the year ahead

Progress on recommendations from the previous AR

The recommendation for the SRO to set up an Advisory Group for WOW has not been completed due to unforeseen demand on staff time due to the coronavirus pandemic and DFID-FCO merger. Due to continuous high demand on staff time, this recommendation will not be taken forward.

Output lessons

5.1 Scenario planning to help inform decision making about which projects to prioritise was a useful exercise when dealing with long-term uncertainty. However, the optimism bias of the team and FCDO meant that the minimum viable product scenario was still higher than the actual outcome. Teams in this position should explore more difficult and uncomfortable scenarios to be ready for a wider range out outcomes.

Output recommendations for the year ahead

5.1 FCDO PRO should confirm if it still best practise to have a VFM indicator in the logframe; and revise the VFM framework to suit the new programme outputs. (Part of summary recommendation 1).

D: RISK

Overview of risk management

The overall risk rating for WOW remains at moderate, but the team should consider if this can be revised down once the logframe has been updated. WOW’s risk appetite is ‘cautious’. Risks have been actively managed by FCDO, who update programme risks on a bi-monthly basis as part of the monthly delivery plan update, and the current primary risks to the programme are considered each month. WOW’s risk register was independently reviewed by ECGD’s Risk Lead in the Delivery, Operations, Learning and Advisory team. This provided a useful challenge function and helped to make the risks clearer and more relevant to the programme. WOW has maintained its own comprehensive risk register which captures all identified risks for the programme. It includes risks around programme delivery, programme selection, learning and FCDO related risks.

Some risks this year were beyond the programme’s control and had to be tolerated. For example, WOW pre-emptively flagged the risk of harm to women working on tea estates in India if the gender-based violence training delivered there was not completed due to budget cuts. This risk was almost realised, but Twinings independently contracted BSR, a consortium partner of WOW, to continue this training directly, which meant that potential for harm was avoided. This mitigation however was outside of WOW’s control.

The reputational risk to FCDO was been heightened this year as WOW has not able to honour commitments it had made to private sector partners or the WOW fund grantees. Mitigation has not been enough to fully protect against the impacts of this, which could affect how willing organisations are to partner with UKAid funded programmes in the future. For instance, one grantee said they would never work with FCDO again during exit discussions.

A safeguarding incident was raised this year. This was dealt with effectively by WOW implementing staff and recorded with the Safeguarding Investigations Team at FCDO. The case was closed by FCDO SRO in November 2021 since the project it related to was no longer continuing.

E: PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT: DELIVERY, COMMERCIAL & FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Summarise the performance of partners and FCDO, notably on commercial and financial issues, and including consideration of VfM measures of economy and efficiency.

WOW has continued to be an adaptable and responsive programme partner, excellent at responding to rapid and changing requests and circumstances. Deliverables are always on time and to excellent standard, in terms of both required reporting outputs like quarterly reports, as well as research, thematic or evidence pieces coming from the output 1&2 teams or the WOW helpdesk. The helpdesk consistently receives strong feedback from users on the quality of the content produced. For this year only, the June quarterly report and September annual report were combined with a submission date of 3rd September to reduce the reporting burden on WOW grantee partners as their projects closed.

In response to reduced budgets and a major reduction in active workload, meetings between FCDO and PWC were shifted from bi-weekly to monthly from August 2021 and combined with the helpdesk sub-meetings to streamline engagement. The WOW team leader left her post in February 2021 and has not been replaced on a like for like basis given the level of uncertainty with the programme. A potential successor has been identified for when there is enough clarity about the role to issue a job description. FCDO and WOW will keep under review the best time to recruit for this post.

Financial forecasting variances have fluctuated this year, with an average of variance of 6.27% – this is due largely to the unpredictable nature of closure costs and shifting FCDO budget allocations (see diagram). Ahead of the start of the new financial year, the WOW team developed a number of budget scenarios for Y4 from April 2021. This included a “minimum viable programme” scenario, programme closure, and pausing the programme for a year. Following the announcement of cuts this meant the team was well prepared to take decisions on prioritisation, despite the outcome falling between an estimated minimum viable budget and pausing option.

This year PWC reviewed its application of VAT to WOW’s grant funding. After consultations with FCDO’s VAT experts, it was agreed that all of WOW’s outputs should be outside the scope of VAT. Work is ongoing to agree how to account for and reclaim this expenditure and return it to the programme’s budget.

Summary recommendation 6: Working closely with FCDO and HMRC, WOW should continue to investigate the retroactive applicability of VAT guidance and whether there is a route to reclaim and redeploy funds already spent over the life of the programme.

Due to Covid-19 related travel restrictions, no monitoring visits were taken by FCDO over the reporting year. Delivery chain maps were updated this year following the reduction in the number of partners that WOW collaborated with(see annex 2) – though many of these partners have been stood down since the budget confirmation in April 2021.

Discussion on VFM has taken place throughout this report.

The WOW programme is delivered through a consortium, with a head contract held by PWC. PWC remain compliant with the Supply Partner Code and Terms and Conditions. The programme’s last budget complies with open book accounting requirements and identifies profit. PWC continue to score highly on the SRM scorecard update in March 2021 (78 – exceeding performance). PWC’s average score is 69%, indicating that WOW is one of the higher performing contracts of this key supplier.

Date of last narrative financial report	Annual Report - August 2021	Date of last audited annual statement	4 June 2021

Annex 1 – Responsible Exit Activities for Output 1 Partnerships

Partnership	Responsible exit activities
M&S	This partnership was ended after the pilot and not scaled. WOW undertook detailed endline MEL activities to see what insights can be learned, involving some limited FGDs and KIIs to inform M&S, WOW and FCDO of what worked well. Exit assessed to be responsible as women received full set of training and HR tools were handed over to factories.
BCI	Final project wrap-up and light-touch learning was completed as part of the exit activities. WOW helped BCI to mobilise internal stopgap funding and engaged with BCI's external fundraising team on long-term funding opportunities for gender programming. Exit judged to be responsible as BCI were able to continue with the project.
Twinings	WOW provided virtual light-touch support to the estates and a scaled-down follow-up training session. Phone sessions with each estate, sharing resources and liaising with local NGOs working on the topic was completed. With limited resources, WOW was able to transfer knowledge and plans to the implementing partner selected independently by Twinings to continue the work WOW started. Exit judged to be responsible as detailed handover was facilitated. Though the reviewer notes there could have been real exposure to harm for women in these projects (who had just received intro training to concepts about GBV and reporting sexual harassment), if Twinings had not agreed to self-fund the remaining work.
The Body Shop	This partnership was ended after the pilot and not scaled. Closing out project more efficiently than originally intended, primarily focused on the endline survey which gathered good data on the project’s impact. Exit judged to be responsible as initial pilot round was completed and results data collection was prioritised.
Fairtrade	Partnership had already been paused but WOW engaged to let them know of official closure and Fairtrade indicated they would be happy in the future to collaborate again with WOW. Exit judged to be responsible because by not restarting elements of the programme earlier in the year, WOW prevented Fairtrade from being exposed to bearing the cost.
Olam	Partnership adopted a phased approach so Olam were aware of the situation. Agreed the work could be picked up again in the future if the possibility arose. As one of the partnerships set up with an easy breakpoint, this exit is judged to be responsible.
Bestseller	Partnership adopted a phased approach so Bestseller were aware of the situation. WOW Alliance Partner BSR picked up the relationship and agreed to scope the possibility of collaborating on the rest of the planned partnership with Bestseller. As one of the partnerships set up with an easy breakpoint, this exit is judged to be responsible.
Unilever	Partnership adopted a phased approach so Unilever were aware of the situation. Agreed the work could be picked up again in the future if the possibility arose. As one of the partnerships set up with an easy breakpoint, this exit is judged to be responsible.

Annex 2 – WOW Delivery Chain Mapping (updated June 2021)

Output 1,2 and 3
Funder	Tier 1 partner	Tier 2 partner	Tier 3 partner
FCDO	PwC UK	BSR	Consiglieri

Kshitij

Knowlens

Dynamic Arts Production

SEWA

IdEA

DLR

Individual consultants (various)

CARE International	CARE Bangladesh

Individual consultants (various)

SSDirect	Individual consultants (various)

WGI	Individual consultants (various)

University of Manchester	N/A

PwC India	Individual consultants (various)

SureChain	Individual consultants (various)

Individual consultants (various)	N/A
Output 4
Funder	Tier 1 partner	Tier 2 partner	Tier 3 partner
FCDO	PwC UK	SEWA Bharat	Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS)

SEWA Delhi

SEWA Bihar

SEWA Grih Rin / Sitara

Mahila Housing Trust

Individual consultants (various)

WIEGO	HomeNet South Asia

Individual consultants (various)

Promundo-US	RWAMREC

Sonke Gender Justice

Individual consultants (various)