This report presents the findings of the final review of the project ‘Empowering Communities to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls’ (VAWG) implemented by UN Women, UNICEF, and UNFPA in Mannar, Sri Lanka (From September 2020 to February 2023). This project used a combination of social norms and behavioural change, and livelihoods-strengthening interventions to prevent and respond to VAWG. The review objectives were:

1. To assess the extent to which the programme has achieved its output-level results.
2. To examine the relevance and effectiveness of the project’s implementation strategy and
efforts in jointly implementing the programme.
3. To identify good practices, lessons learnt and recommendations from the programme, and how the programme has met the expectations of project teams and the beneficiaries.

Evaluation Questions
This review intended to answer the following overarching evaluation questions:
1. Relevance: To what extent has the project addressed the needs identified in its design?
2. Effectiveness To what extent has the project implemented its outputs to target beneficiaries?
3. Efficiency: How efficiently was the project implemented and delivered quality outputs against
what was planned (including official amendments)?
4. Sustainability: How likely would the project's benefits continue after donor funding has been
withdrawn?
5. Human Rights-based and Gender-responsive Approach: To what extent has the project
applied a human rights-based and gender-responsive approach and identified and engaged the most marginalised groups?

Review Methodology
This review adopted qualitative and quantitative research approaches. It used a quantitative survey which interviewed 30 beneficiaries randomly selected from all divisional secretariat (DS) divisions where the project was implemented. This involved using a structured survey questionnaire based on the evaluation questions and sub-questions. The qualitative research component used a case study method where the ‘whole of project system’ in a selected divisional secretariat (Mannar Town DS division) was examined to provide an in-depth picture of the intervention. A total of 186 UN Agency staff, government stakeholders, implementation partners, and beneficiaries (purposely selected based on their demographic features, roles, and types of involvement) were interviewed through semi-structured Focus Group Discussions and in-depth interviews. It also involved a comprehensive review of programme documents.