TRANSFORMING PROMISES INTO PROGRESS: HOW GOVERNMENT AUDITING CAN LEAD THE WAY IN TACKLING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

In the current landscape of Development Cooperation, public finance reform is often viewed through the lens of fiscal compliance. This is becoming more evident as the paradigm shifts from Official Development Assistance (ODA) towards Development Financing, and budget credibility makes its way back to the centre of development conversations.  

Against this background, as the dust settles on the CSW70 call for action on Gender-based Violence, there is urgency in moving from paper promises to budgetary reality… 

Gender‑based violence (GBV) emerged at the CSW70 as a central barrier to women’s access to justice, with governments urged to eliminate discriminatory laws, expand survivor‑centred justice systems, and address both longstanding and emerging forms of violence – including femicide, conflict‑related sexual violence, trafficking, harmful practices, economic abuse, and the rapidly growing threat of technology‑facilitated violence. High-profile speakers stressed that structural discrimination, conflict dynamics, and digital platforms jointly fuel impunity, with Amina Mohammed warning that “militarization and conflict are driving a surge in violence against women and girls,” while the Council of Europe noted that online abuse is “increasing in scale and severity” and remains “largely underreported and under‑prosecuted.” Calls for stronger, better‑resourced institutions featured prominently; as Jan Beagle stated, “Ending gender‑based violence, including cyberviolence, is fundamental for women and girls to live free from fear,” underscoring the need for coordinated, multisectoral action, survivor‑centred accountability, and justice systems that genuinely work for all women and girls. 

Global GBV indicators remain alarmingly high, with 1 in 3 women worldwide experiencing physical and/or sexual violence and 35% affected by partner or non‑partner violence. Lifetime exposure affects 840 million women, while 640 million have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Annual IPV prevalence reaches 316 million women, and 263 million have suffered non‑partner sexual violence. Lethal violence remains severe, with 85,000 femicides in 2023, 60% committed by intimate partners or family members. The economic cost of GBV – estimated at US $1.5 trillion (around 2% of global GDP) – underscores its systemic impact. Africa mirrors or exceeds these global levels: 28.85% of Sub‑Saharan African women experience IPV annually, and in several conflict or climate‑affected contexts, more than half of women face IPV in a single year. Region‑wide averages remain high across physical (30.58%), emotional (30.22%), and sexual violence (12.6%). 

Within this continental context, PALOP‑TL countries display a wide but concerning spectrum of GBV prevalence, in several cases aligning with or surpassing broader African patterns. Timor‑Leste stands out with 34.6% lifetime IPV and 59% partner violence, markedly above Africa’s 28.85% benchmark, and reporting 7,000+ GBV justice‑system cases a scale comparable to high‑prevalence African hotspots. São Tomé & Príncipe (IPV 26.3–27.9%) aligns closely with the Sub‑Saharan average, while Angola shows approximatively 25% lifetime physical violence and around 25% IPV, slightly below the regional average, but still high. Mozambique, with 16.4% IPV, but 13,626 recorded GBV cases in a single year, reflects significant administrative caseloads despite lower survey prevalence. Cabo Verde’s 7.8–10.9% IPV places it notably below both the PALOP‑TL and African averages. In contrast, Guinea‑Bissau lacks IPV data, but shows extreme levels of harmful practices with 45% FGM and 25.7% child marriage, signaling structural GBV vulnerabilities not captured through IPV surveys.  

Overall, PALOP‑TL country data reveal higher‑than‑average IPV in Timor‑Leste, mid‑range prevalence in Angola and São Tomé & Príncipe, significant data gaps in Guinea‑Bissau, high case volumes in Mozambique, and comparatively lower prevalence in Cabo Verde – illustrating the diversity and unevenness of GBV exposure across the region relative to continental trends. 

To help addressing these challenges, UNDP multi-country programme to boost Public Finance Management in the PALOP-TL countries (Pro PALOP-TL PFM programme) has partnered in December 2024 with the Organisation of Portuguese-speaking SAIs (OISC | CPLP) to support SAIs of Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste plan and deliver a coordinated performance audit on Gender-based Violence covering the six countries (ACVBG). As results emerge from the coordinated performance audit on GBV being carried out by these Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) , a story worth telling unfolds. It is a narrative where the clinical precision of auditing meets the urgent necessity of protecting the most vulnerable, aiming for change at governance outcomes. The audit’s consolidation workshop delivered in February 2026 in São Tomé proved that those SAIs are not just checking boxes, when auditing the fight against Gender-Based Violence; they are retooling the machinery of government for justice. 

The transition from field data collection to the analytical framework during the São Tomé’s workshop has provided a clear, evidence-based perspective on the state of GBV governance across the PALOP-TL region. The data collected by the audit teams reveal a significant decoupling between high-level policy design and the administrative machinery required to execute it. While the six countries covered have demonstrated worthy political will by establishing formal national legislations and plans, the audit highlights a persistent challenge in moving these frameworks from the sphere of aspirational intent to operational delivery.

Based on data collected by the audit teams, our analysis identifies a delivery gap where the institutional GBV referral pathway/chain, from initial police and health response to judicial protection, frequently lacks the necessary operational protocols and specialized human resources. In practice, this means that even where robust laws exist, the access to justice and service journey for a survivor often encounters structural bottlenecks. As the discussions have highlighted these are not merely execution faults, they represent a fundamental need for deeper institutional alignment to ensure that policies are not just formal and existent, but functional. 

Words don’t change policy, Budgets do!!! 

This disconnect is most pronounced in the domain of fiscal commitment, characterized by what the audit teams identify as budgetary fragmentation. A common thread across the PALOP-TL is the challenge of translating gender-responsive policies into dedicated, earmarked line items within national budgets. In many instances, GBV initiatives get limited budget allocation or remain unfunded mandates, where insufficient and poorly targeted resource allocation constrains governments’ ability to maintain essential services like shelters or specialized legal or psychological aid. From an audit perspective, the absence of a clear budgetary link to policy objectives suggests that while the protection of women and girls  is a stated priority, the financial architecture required to sustain that protection has yet to be fully integrated into the core of public financial management. 

Furthermore, the audit has identified a critical information asymmetry arising from fragile data management systems. Across Angola, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and, São Tomé and Príncipe, the lack of integrated, digitized data prevents a comprehensive understanding of policy impact. Currently, data insights are often fragmented or manually tracked, creating a barrier to effective oversight and re-victimization prevention. This data fragility makes it difficult for policymakers to calibrate their interventions based on empirical evidence. By highlighting the structural challenges raised from implementation decoupling, budgetary fragmentation, and data “silence”, this first-ever PALOP-TL audit provides the technical evidence required to move the conversation forward. These SAIs are not merely documenting a shortfall; they are providing a roadmap to ensure that the government’s institutional response is as robust as the legal promises it has made to its citizens in each of the six countries. 

The added value of UNDP partnership… 

A compelling takeaway from the São Tomé workshop was the high-level synergy achieved between the technical oversight of the Supreme Audit Institutions, SAIs, and the specialized support from the UNDP Pro PALOP-TL and Global Gender Teams. This partnership proved essential when audit teams encountered a complex bottleneck regarding the adequacy of national legal frameworks. A key question arose: Does a domestic violence law meet international obligations in fighting GBV? 

The technical evidence provided by the UNDP/ProPALOP-TL gender equality and GBV experts allowed the audit teams to move beyond a narrow compliance check towards a more holistic evaluation of state accountability. At that critical juncture of the audit, it was critical for the teams to understand that, although Domestic Violence laws are essential, they often fall short in effectively addressing the broader systemic aspects of gender-based violence. Their analysis demonstrated that relying solely on private-sphere statutes creates a governance gap that may leave the state negligent by omission in public or community settings. 

By integrating this expert knowledge, the audit teams were able to refine their criteria to advocate for a comprehensive GBV legislation. Such a framework is not a mere semantic preference, but a vital governance tool that harmonizes definitions across criminal, labour, and family codes. It establishes universal controls, such as standardized protection orders and survivor-centred protocols, that apply regardless of whether the violence occurs at home, in the workplace, or in the community. 

Additionally, through a successful partnership between UNDP Pro PALOP-TL multi-country PFM programme (funded by European Union) and SAI Brazil (TCU), at least four of the six audit teams are composed of women auditors that have been exposed to the TCU’s fellowship ProInter on leadership skills for women in SAI. This fellowship brings together leadership training with UNDP gender equality enabling tools, such as gender-responsive budgeting, EQUANOMICS and Gender Seal for Public Institutions. 

This collaboration between the UNDP’s gender expertise and the SAIs’ mandate for public sector oversight represents a new frontier in accountability. It ensures that the audit does not just count activities but evaluates whether the legal and institutional architecture is robust enough to meet international due diligence standards. By aligning audit criteria with these global benchmarks, the partnership has ensured that the final recommendations will offer a sophisticated, evidence-based roadmap for legal and structural reform. 

Visualizing the path forward: Radar-VBG coordinated performance audit… 

Recognizing that the technical complexity of audit reports can sometimes hinder their accessibility to non-specialists, the Pro PALOP-TL programmee introduced the Radar-ACVBG as a transformative tool for transparency. This digital interface serves as a strategic bridge between rigorous data analysis and public communication, allowing for the distillation of dense findings into an intuitive, evidence-based overview of national performance – a type of a balance score card. 

The Radar evaluates nine core components across three critical pillars of governance: 

– Policy effectiveness: Analysing the breadth of the legal framework and the quality of inter-institutional articulation. 

– Resources and capacities: Assessing the adequacy of fiscal allocations and the efficiency of budgetary execution. 

– Monitoring and transparency: Evaluating the quality of data management and the accessibility of information to the public. 

The introduction of the Radar acknowledges a fundamental reality: across many jurisdictions, reporting on gender-based violence has historically been characterized by information fragmentation. By presenting data through a visual tool, it becomes possible to identify areas of strength as well as structural weaknesses in a government’s response. For instance, a country might show high performance in policy design, but a significant contraction in budgetary execution, immediately highlighting to policymakers and civil society where the implementation bottleneck lies. 

This approach moves away from a pass-fail mentality toward a more nuanced, longitudinal evaluation of progress. It turns a snapshot audit into a living roadmap for reform, allowing for an automated and systematic tracking of how recommendations are integrated into the state’s machinery over time. By transforming audit forensic evidence into a clear, visual call to action, the Radar-ACVBG ensures that the path toward gender equality is not just a promise on paper, but a measurable and transparent journey toward institutional excellence. 

Crucially, the Pro PALOP-TL programme will leverage this tool to advocate for a deeper, more integrated interaction between Supreme Audit Institutions, parliaments and civil society organizations. The programme’s vision is to move beyond the traditional siloed approach to oversight. By providing legislatures and civil society with an evidence-based tool used by auditors, we are empowering them to join forces with SAIs. This synergy ensures that audit findings are not just technical observations but are used as a platform for coordinated social advocacy, transforming a snapshot audit into a living instrument of continuous accountability. Evidently, the approach can be used in donor coordination and with development partners. 

Scaling impact: Looking for systemic accountability!!! 

The coordinated efforts of the PALOP-TL nations offer a vital case study for the international community on the evolution of public sector oversight. The Coordinated Audit on Gender-Based Violence represents a new frontier in accountability, one that moves the dialogue from high-level rhetoric to the granular reality of national budgets. By treating gender equality as a core component of fiscal and administrative performance, we are demonstrating that SAIs are indispensable allies in achieving global development goals. 

The optimism generated during the São Tomé workshop is grounded in a transition from documenting institutional shortfalls to providing a data-driven blueprint for reform. Through the sustained advocacy of the Pro PALOP-TL programme, this initiative is designed to be shared across diverse international forums as a replicable model for evidence-based governance. A central pillar of this advocacy is the promotion of a close, integrated interaction between SAIs, parliaments and civil society. We are moving towards a regional ecosystem where auditors and citizens join forces, ensuring that audit findings are not merely technical records but catalysts for coordinated social demand. 

As we prepare to disseminate these consolidated findings throughout 2026, our focus remains on ensuring the governments’ accountability engine is calibrated to detect and correct the structural failures that allow violence to persist. By integrating the technical rigor of the Radar-ACVBG with a collaborative monitoring model, the six participating nations are setting a new benchmark for transparency. This effort ensures that accountability is not a solo act, but a shared institutional commitment to ensuring that every promise made to women and girls is a promise kept.