FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

BUILDING ALLIANCES FOR LOCAL ADVANCEMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT – CAPACITY BUILDING (BALADI CAP) QUARTERLY REPORT

PERIOD: APRIL 1, 2018 – JUNE 30, 2018

Submitted to: USAID/Lebanon

Cooperative Agreement Number: DFD-A-00-09-00141-00

Associate Cooperative Agreement Number: AID-268-A-13-00002

Grantee: Counterpart International

Ann Hudock, Executive Vice President [email protected]

COUNTERPART INTERNATIONAL 2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 301 Arlington, VA 22202 Tel: (703) 236-1200 CONTENTS

Contents ...... 2 Acronyms...... 3 Executive Summary ...... 7 Political and Security Context ...... 9 Task 1: Conduct Benchmark Assessments of Selected CSO Partners ...... 14 Task 2: Provide Technical Assistance to Selected CSO Partners ...... 16 Task 3: Civic Engagement for Democratic Governance ...... 32 AFDC ...... 33 AGIS ...... 34 For Development ...... 35 QSC ...... 36 RMF ...... 38 Task 4 - Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI) ...... 42 Lebanese Association for Rural Development (LRD) ...... 47 Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI) ...... 48 Al-Shouf Cedar Society (ACS) ...... 48 American University of Beirut – Nature Conservation Center (AUB-NCC) ...... 49 Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) ...... 51 ARABIA GIS ...... 52 Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP) ...... 53 SKOUN ...... 54 Soins Infirmiers et Developpement Communautaire (SIDC) ...... 55 Achievements ...... 56 Challenges ...... 57 Way Forward ...... 57 Success Stories…………………………………………………………………………………………….60

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 2 ACRONYMS

12M/24M 12-month/24-month ACS Al-Shouf Cedars Society AFDC Association for Forests, Development and Conservation AGIS ArabiaGIS AMEP Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan AOR Agreement Officer’s Representative AUB American University of Beirut AUB-NCC American University Beirut - Nature Conservation Center BALADI CAP Building Alliances for Local Advancement, Development and Investment – Capacity Building BRD Beyond Reform and Development CAC Center for Active Citizenship CAD Computer-Aided Design CBC Capacity-Building Component CDDG Center for Development, Democracy and Governance CDR Council for Development and Reconstruction CEDG Civic Engagement for Democratic Governance CEI Civic Engagement Initiative CLA Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation COE Center(s) of Excellence COP Chief of Party CSO Civil Society Organization DPNA Development for People and Nature Association ESFD Economic and Social Fund for Development FHNL Forum for the Handicapped in North Lebanon FLY For Lebanese Youth GEC Grant Evaluation Committee GE/FE Gender Equality/Female Empowerment GIS Geographic Information System

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 3 HO Home Office ICT Information and Communications Technology I-DVOCATE Influencing Decision-Makers to Stop Violations and Organize Community Actions towards Environmental Engagement IP Implementing Partner ISO Intermediate Support Organization IT Information Technology IWSAW Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World JCD Jeunesse Contre la Drogue JE Junior Expert KMP Knowledge Management Portal LAU Lebanese American University LAU/IWSAW Lebanese American University - Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World LCRI Lebanon Community Resilience Initiative LEDA North North Lebanon Local Economic Development Agency LFPCP Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace LOP Life-of-Project LRD Lebanese Association for Rural Development LRI Lebanon Reforestation Initiative LTA Lebanese Transparency Association Mada The Mada Association M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MOU Memorandum of Understanding MPOC Municipal Public Outreach Committee MRO Municipal Reception Office MSI Management Systems International MBS Municipal Budget System MRS Municipal Revenue System N/A Not Applicable NSSF National Social Security Fund

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 4 NUPAS Non-U.S. Organization Pre-Award Survey OCA/CAT Organizational Capacity Assessment/Capacity Assessment Tool OJT On-the-Job Training OWS Orphan Welfare Society-Saida PBL Problem-Based Learning PIRS Performance Indicator Reference Sheets PTP Public Training Program PwC PriceWaterhouseCoopers Q and A Questions and Answers QSC Quick Solutions Company RDFL The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering RFA Request for Applications RFP Request for Proposals RMF Rene Moawad Foundation SE Senior Expert SHEILD Social, Humanitarian, Economical Intervention for Local Development SIDC Soins Infirmiers et Developpement Communautaire SMART Indicators Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, Time-Related Indicators SP Service Provider STTA Short-Term Technical Assistance SWM Solid Waste Management TFL Teach For Lebanon TL T.E.R.R.E. (Tentons Ensemble de Réaliser un Rêve pour nos Enfants) Liban TOR Terms of Reference TOT Training-of-Trainers TTAP Tailored Technical Assistance Program USAID United States Agency for International Development USforISWM University Support for Participatory Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan and Practices USG United States Government VPS Vetting Program System

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 5 WLF White Land Foundation WSM Women Engaged in Sex for Money YNCA Youth Network for Civic Activism YTD Year-to-Date Y4/Q4 Year 4/Quarter 4 Y5/Q1 Year 5/Quarter 1 Y5/Q2 Year 5/Quarter 2 Y5/Q3 Year 5/Quarter 3

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 6

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During this Year 5/Quarter 3 (Y5/Q3) reporting quarter, the BALADI CAP team has maintained ongoing momentum in program implementation toward enabling long-term sustainability and scaling up of project results. The team has focused its efforts on completing critical tasks under each of its three components during this transition into the final phases of project implementation.

Under the Capacity Building Component (CBC), BALADI CAP has initiated its last training cycle to Cohort 5 civil society organization (CSO) partners. A launching event was conducted, benchmark assessments finalized, action plans designed and approved, and training implementation started in June.

On a parallel track, Cohort 2 CSOs received their 24-month (24M) post-benchmark assessment results, which reflected resounding success and overachievement in meeting their capacity-building goals as per their designed action plans. This effectively concludes the implementation of the capacity-building cycles for Cohort 1 and 2 CSOs, with Cohorts 3, 4 and 5 remaining to complete implementation of their respective capacity-building programs, which the BALADI CAP CBC team is actively undertaking. It is expected that all CBC capacity-building activities will be concluded by December 2018. The remaining two months of implementation for this activity (January-February 2019) will allow the CBC team to conduct additional field visits focused on backstopping, trouble-shooting and consolidating gains made by all CSOs partners that have benefited from the program in one way or the other through the five years of project implementation.

Preparations for the final CBC sustainability activities were also started during this quarter, including “peer to peer” training, which kicked-off during this quarter with a workshop for the selected CSOs. Preparations for the Training-of-Trainers (ToT) component were also completed with the recruitment of a Senior TOT trainer and development of an agreed upon training plan. In addition, further planning and preparations continued for the early 2019 National Conference on CSO Accountability and Governance led by a Steering Committee of leading civil society experts and advocates.

Under the Civic Engagement for Democratic Governance (CEDG) municipal capacity-building component, the Intermediate Support Organization Service Providers (ISO/SPs) have moved from their initial preparatory work and trainings to producing required deliverables and outputs. “For Development” has already completed 68% of its total training targets. Quick Solutions Company (QSC) has progressed to the installation of financial management, budget preparation, complaints systems and websites to targeted municipalities. ArabiaGIS (AGIS) has finalized data migration and cleaning, and has initiated the installation of new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in their targeted municipalities. The Association of Forests, Development and Conservation (AFDC) has moved from trainings, data collection and visual mapping into the actual preparation of risk profiles, and preparedness, mitigation and response plans. The Rene Moawad Foundation (RMF) has also moved full speed ahead with its intervention sub-elements: municipal bylaws, organizational structures, financial management systems, municipal strategic plans, and municipal outreach and advocacy activities. It is expected that all SPs will conclude their interventions before December 2018, except for RMF, which may need to continue implementation through February 2019. The communication and coordination system that BALADI CAP has put into place to avoid confusion and redundancy in the scheduling of trainings between the ISO/SPs is proving very successful in terms of centralizing communication and coordination. This has kept attendance of training workshops at an exceptionally high-level during the second year of

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 7 implementation of the CEDG component, as evident from the overall number of unique trainees, under CEDG, which have already exceeded life-of-project (LOP) targets.

The Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI) component has also achieved significant milestones during this reporting quarter. Advocacy grantees, Lebanese Reforestation Initiative (LRI), Skoun, Soins Infirmiers et Developpement Communautaire (SIDC), Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) and Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP), have successfully concluded activity implementation on- time and with resounding success as per their respective grant advocacy objectives. Al-Shouf Cedars Society (ACS) and American University – Beirut (AUB) are expected to conclude in July. LRD is planned to conclude in August and AGIS in September. Overall, BALADI CAP’s advocacy grants have achieved some important legal and legislative breakthroughs working with the National Parliament, relevant ministries and municipalities. The model has generated a positive response, as evidenced by the substantial number of grant applications received for the Cycle 2 grants solicitation.

In parallel with the close-out of Cycle 1 grants during the current quarter, BALADI CAP has succeeded in issuing three follow-on sub-grants to CEI’s ISOs and six sub-grants to new Cycle 2 CSOs. In addition, BALADI CAP issued five micro-grants under its Request for Applications (RFA) 10 during this quarter, which will again assist graduating CSO partners to consolidate gains realized under the BALADI CAP capacity-building program and further improve their institutional capacities.

Also under CEI, BALADI CAP has started bolstering the capacities of its newly established advocacy networks and resolving challenges identified during the initial “formation” phase of establishing the networks. BALADI CAP has recruited two senior-level short-term technical assistance (STTA) experts in networking and advocacy to work with the three respective network members in finalizing their common visions, mission statements, advocacy plans and internal charters toward developing a stronger buy-in, more equal participation and increased engagement in implementing joint initiatives among network members.

Overall, this has been a quarter of ongoing achievement and transition from activity implementation into the planning and preparation for long-term sustainability and scaling-up of project results, as more fully detailed in the below narrative.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 8 POLITICAL AND SECURITY CONTEXT

First Parliamentary Elections in Nine Years

The parliamentary elections were held on May 6, 2018, after nine years of postponement, with a 49.2% turn-out in voting, which was down from 54% when the last legislative elections were held. A new electoral law was enacted that was based on proportional representation, which allowed thousands of Lebanese living abroad to vote for the first time. No noticeable security incidents were reported. The elections did, however, have a negative impact on BALADI CAP implementation, as CSOs and municipalities were very preoccupied with participating in and preparing for the elections. As such, BALADI CAP’s partners lost some momentum on their CEI grant implementation and CEDG capacity- building interventions, which was followed by the month of Ramadan, Eid, and the summer, which traditionally results in a slowdown of activities in Lebanon. BALADI CAP had anticipated this potential impact and has been employing extra efforts to keep all ISO/SP and grantee work plans on track despite these external delaying factors.

Cabinet Formation Delay

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was nominated by the newly elected Parliament to form the next cabinet. Consultations are still ongoing, allowing time for negotiating an agreement between all major political factions on Cabinet membership.

Syrian Refugee Crisis

With around one-half million Syrian refugees in Lebanon living in extreme poverty, the refugee crisis, which is entering its 7th year, is becoming more political and untenable. Lebanon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has ordered a freeze on residency applications for UNHCR staff because of allegations that the agency is hindering the return of Syrian refugees to their country by “spreading fear”, which the UNHCR vehemently denies.

With more than a million Syrian refugees still residing in camps throughout Lebanon, the government is struggling to cope with the strain of a population that is a quarter of the size of Lebanese citizens. This is inflicting a heavy toll on public services and flooding the employment market with cheap labor, thereby causing bitter resentment and impediments to economic growth for the Lebanese. Communities hosting refugees are also suffering from the overuse of water, electricity and other vital utilities and public services, as well as an increase in environmental and natural resource degradation.

BALADI CAP includes three program components implemented through the following tasks: • Task 1: Capacity Assessment of USAID Selected CSOs • Task 2: Capacity Building of Assessed USAID Selected CSOs (CBC) • Task 3: Civic Engagement for Democratic Governance (CEDG) • Task 4: Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI)

Table 1 provides a breakdown of task activities during the Y5/Q3 reporting period. Tasks are taken from the BALADI CAP Year 5 Annual Work Plan Chart. The table lists only activities that pertain to the current quarter. A “P” indicates planned activities (within this quarter or previous ones that however

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 9 were not implemented then and as a result were planned for this quarter), an "I" indicates implemented activities and an "X" indicates planned activities that were not completed during this reporting period, as the narrative sections that follow explain more fully.

TABLE I: BALADI CAP YS/Ql TASKS, AS PLANNED IN YS ANNUAL WORK PLAN

Tasks and Sub-Tasks 18-April 18-May 18-June

Liaise and coordinate with key counterparts p Implemented X Complete Recruitment of BALADI CAP T earn Implemented I Task I: Conduct Benchmark Assessments of Selected CSO Partners Cohort 5 1.2.1: Conduct OCA/CA T Benchmark Assessments Implemented I I I Task 2: Provide Technical Assistance to Selected CSO Partners Sub-Task 2.1: Provide Trainin2, Coachin2, On-the-Job Traininf! and Mentorinf! Cohort 2 2.1.3 Periodic On-the-lob Trainimi and Mentorimi p p p Implemented I I I Cohorts land 4 2.1 . I Standard and Specialized T raininfs p p p Implemented I I I 2.1.3 Periodic On-the-lob Traininf and Mentorinf p p p Implemented I I I Cohort 5 2.1 . I Standard and Specialized T raininfs p p Implemented I I 2.1 .2 Coachinf visits p p p Implemented I I I 2.1.3 Periodic On-the-lob Traininf and Mentorinf p p Implemented X X' Sub-Task 2.2: lnstitutionalizinf! Chanf!e Cohorts land 4 2.2.1: Customization and Training on Policies and p p p Procedures Implemented I I I 2.2.2: Board Aoorovals on Policies and Procedures p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 2.3: Post-Benchmark Assessment Review Cohort I Post-Benchmark Assessment Review - 48M lmolemented I I I Cohort 2 Post-Benchmark Assessment Review - 24M lmolemented I I I Sub-Task 2.4: Provide CSO Partners with Access to Information and Resources Cohorts 2,l,4,5

1 The activities under this sub-task will be launched in the next quarter.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) /0 Tasks and Sub-Tasks 18-April 18-May 18-June

2.4.1: Resources provided durini site visits p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 2.5: lmt,lement Community of Practice Re2ional Meetin2s Cohorts 3,4,5 (Cohorts I and 2 can be invited) 2.5.1: 5 Communities of Practice Regional Meetings p scheduled Implemented I I Sub-Task 2.6: Ensurin2 Sustainability of CBC Outcomes 2.6. I: TOT Traininis for Alpha+ and Alpha CSO staff p p Implemented X x2 2.6.2: Peer-to-Peer Trainings p p Implemented I I 2.6.3: Fundraising and Proposal Writing Trainings p p p Implemented I Task 3: Civic Eneaeement for Democratic Governance Sub-Task 3.1: Sub-Award to Service Providers 3.1.2.2: Monthly Coordination Meetings between BALADI p p p CAP and SPs/lSOs Implemented I I Xl Sub-Task 3.2: Tailored Technical Assistance to SALAD/ and Non-BALADI Municipalities {CEDGITTAP) 3.2.1: Standard and Specialized Traininl!s p p p Implemented I I I 3.2.2: Coachinl! p Implemented I I I 3.2.3: On-the-job Trainini and Mentorini p p p Implemented I I I 3.2.4: Communities of Practice p Implemented X4 3.2.6: Gender Mainstreaming Survey p p Implemented I I Sub-Task 3.3: Public Trainin2 Pro2rams to SALAD/ and Non-SALAD/ Municipalities {CEDGIPTP) 3.3.1: Standard and Specialized Traininis p p p Implemented I I I 3.3.2: On-the-lob Traininl!s and Mentorinl! p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 3.4: Technical Assistance to Non-SALAD/ CAP CSOs 3.4.1: Specialized Traininl!s p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 3.5: Civic En2a2ement and Public Outreach 3.5.2: Creation of Public-Municipal Outreach Committees p p p Implemented I I I

2 BCAP has selected a Senior Training-of-Trainers (TOT) trainer to implement part of the sustainability mechanism. Given the time needed to complete the recruitment and administrative hiring process, it is anticipated that this activity will start during Y5/Q4. 3 Planned to take place in the first two weeks of July 2018. 4 Preference was to give more time for trainings and OJT s to municipalities during this quarter, which are time-consuming, particularly given the unavailability of many municipality representatives who were engaged with the parliamentary election, with the Community of Practice sessions deferred to next quarter when they should have more time for participation.

BALADICAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) II Tasks and Sub-Tasks 18-April 18-May 18-June

Sub-Task 3.6: In-Kind Grants to Tarf!eted Municipalities p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 3.7: Sustainability of CEDG Results (Capacity p p p Building of CSO/ISO Service Providers) Implemented I I I Task 4: Civic En2a2ement Initiative Sub-Task 4.1: SALAD/ CAP Coordination with ISOs p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 4.2: ISO Activities and Traininf!S p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 4.3: ISO Contract Renewal Implemented I I Sub-Task 4.4: Continuous Update of Online Sources to p p p Assist Issue Networks Implemented I I I Sub-Task 4.5: SALAD/ CAP Coordination with CSOs p p p Implemented I I I Sub-Task 4.6: Implementation and Close Out of Cycle I Grants Implementation of CEI Grants p p p Implemented I I I Close out of Cycle I CEI Grants p Implemented I Sub-Task 4.7: Micro-Grants to Cohort II CSOs Micro-Grants Issued p p p Implementation I I I Sub-Task 4.9: RFA for Cycle 2 of CE/ CSOs 4.9. Submission of Final Application, Negotiation and Award p Implemented I I I Reportin2 Tasks Quarterly Financial Accrual Reports p Implement I Enter Data into MIS, AT+, and TraiNet Systems p Implement I Quarterly Reports p Implement I

Liaise and Coordinate with Key Counterparts

For this quarter, the BALADI CAP COP has not met with BALADI Implementing Partners (IPs), as such meetings have not been requested by the respective USAID AORs (Agreement Officers' Representatives).

The BALADI CAP COP has met with representatives of ESFD (Economic and Social Fund for Development), a fund at the Lebanese Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), funded by the European Commission. The meeting took place on May 30, 2018 at the BALADI CAP offices, in which the activities that BALADI CAP is implementing at the municipal level were discussed, since ESFD will be launching similar activities with municipalities at the Litani River basin soon.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) 12 Staff Recruitment for the BALADI CAP Team

BALADI CAP has hired as its Vetting and Archiving Specialist. will be primarily responsible for processing the increasing number of vetting requests as per USAID vetting requirements. In addition, will be supporting the BALADI CAP team in electronic as well as hard copy archiving of project documents, in preparation for the close-out phase of the project.

, BALADI CAP’s Senior Organizational Development Specialist, has resigned from her position as of June 30, 2018. , BALADI CAP’s Organizational Development Specialist, will continue implementation of the remaining trainings, OJTs and coaching sessions conducted under the CBC component, with support from the COP.

BALADI CAP has hired five STTA associates to assist in carrying out specialized trainings and related technical support tasks for BALADI CAP. was contracted again to assist CEDG municipalities in providing answers on specific issues of administrative law, organizational development and financial management raised by CEDG municipality partners through BALADI CAP’s hotline and Communities of Practice online message boards/chat rooms.

In addition, was contracted to provide trainings on fundraising to BALADI CAP CSOs and ISOs. was contracted to provide trainings on Lebanese Labor law. was contracted to provide Training-of-Trainer sessions for the selected BALADI CAP Peer-to-Peer trainers. was contracted to provide trainings on Social Media and Communications. will also be providing OJTs to six selected CSOs to assist them in producing their communication plans, as per their action plans under the CBC component.

Currently, all full-time positions under BALADI CAP are filled, and the project is not announcing any new vacancies.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 13 Task 1: Conduct Benchmark Assessments of Selected CSO Partners

Task 1 Innovation – Comprehensive OCA/CAT Tool

During this Y5/Q3, the BALADI CAP CBC team completed all LOP benchmark assessment targets. All 51 BALADI CAP CSOs have received their benchmark assessments and action plans.

In addition, 24M and 48M benchmark assessments have been completed for RMF, Caritas and all Cohort 2 CSOs. The overall results were excellent in terms of each partner achieving their respective action plan targets.

Having now used its amended Organizational Capacity Assessment/Capacity Assessment Tool (OCA/CAT) across all 51 CSOs, BALADI CAP affirms that the modifications, adaptations and innovations that have been integrated into the tool have made it more comprehensive and inclusive in terms of its evaluation of CSO capacities and the various sizes of CSOs to which it can be applied.

The outputs/deliverables sheet, which is in the implementation manual that accompanies the OCA/CAT tool, has ensured the systematic and consistent administration of the tool across all CSO partners by all BALADI CAP staff, specifically when it comes to setting institutional capacity baselines and measuring progress across organizations at different time intervals.

Sub-Task 1.2: Conduct Benchmark Assessments

1.2.1: Cohort 5: Conduct OCA/CAT Benchmark Assessments

During this reporting quarter, BALADI CAP has conducted six baseline benchmark assessments for Cohort 5 CSOs/SPs, including Dar Al Amal, Oum El Nour, the Committee of Employee Women Union, Institute for Social Work and Development, Home of Hope, The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering, and Quick Solutions Company (QSC). These final CSOs bring the total number of CSOs benefiting from BALADI CAP capacity development assistance to 51. BALADI CAP had initially planned to conduct only five benchmark assessments, however, the addition of QSC to the pool of Cohort 5 CSOs came after MSI’s decision to drop For Lebanese Youth (FLY) due to a perceived conflict of interest. QSC is an ISO/SP under CEDG that is responsible for the installation of electronic complaint systems, websites and financial management systems for selected municipalities. By concluding these remaining six benchmark assessments, BALADI CAP has successfully met the required benchmark assessments target for the program.

1.2.2: C3, C4 and C5: Conduct Gender Mainstreaming Survey

BALADI CAP’s Senior Gender Expert, , has updated and revised the methodology to conduct the Gender Mainstreaming Survey for Cohorts 3, 4 and 5 in the upcoming quarter. A gender mainstreaming training is planned to take place during the month of July 2018, which will precede the

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 14 Gender Mainstreaming Survey, so that respondents have a clear understanding of the survey questions, terminology, concepts and issues based upon lessons learned from implementation of the previous two Gender Surveys. The results of this new survey will help guide the BALADI CAP team in designing appropriate and specialized gender mainstreaming interventions, as well as tailoring ongoing coaching, mentoring and OJT assistance for CSO partners as resources allow.

Sub-Task 1.4: Develop Action Plans

1.4.1: Cohort 5: Develop OCA/CAT Action Plans

BALADI CAP has finalized action plans for all Cohort 5 CSOs following the baseline benchmark assessment exercise. The action plans include prioritized areas that the CSOs have selected to focus on during the remaining10-month capacity-building cycle. The evolving appreciation and request by CSOs for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) assistance is evident across the action plans, where all the CSOs have collectively requested M&E assistance under this component. This is a result of extensive efforts by BALADI CAP under the previous cohorts to highlight the importance of this discipline to the CSOs’ success and proper implementation of donor-funded projects. By concluding these remaining Cohort 5 action plans, BALADI CAP has successfully completed and met the target for LOP action plans under BALADI CAP’s Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMEP).

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 15 Task 2: Provide Technical Assistance to Selected CSO Partners

Task 2 Overview - Sustainability and Scaling Up

During this YS/Q3 quarter, BALADI CAP has finalized all required capacity-building assistance to Cohort 2 CSOs and is continuing the capacity-building cycles for the remaining Cohorts 3, 4 and 5.

It is expected that capacity-building deliverables (i.e., policies, procedures, strategic plans, communication plans, etc.) will be finalized by September 2018. By December 2018, the BALADI CAP team will start measuring compliance and achieving the target of 26 CSOs that are in compliance with all policies and procedures developed by BALADI CAP.

During this quarter, the BALADI CAP team has also started to prepare for the institutionalization and sustainability of skills and capacity achieved within targeted CSOs, as well as the scaling up of CBC outcomes through the formation of a core group of BALADI CAP trainers/graduates who will be able to sustain and replicate CBC's impact at the national level.

The BALADI CAP capacity-building model has proven to be effective and relevant to beneficiary organizations, in support of USAID objectives, as indicated in BALADI CAP's Mid-Term Evaluation Report. Its highly flexible and adaptable tools and methodology, developed and finetuned over the past years of BALADI CAP implementation, have proven to be the leading donor-funded CSO capacity-building model in Lebanon.

Sub-Task 2.1: Provide Training, Coaching, On-the-Job Training and Mentoring

BALADI CAP Exceeding on Indicators

Table 2 below provides a summary of M&E targets that BALADI CAP has already exceeded in meeting one year before program closure. The numbers below indicate BALADI CAP's success in overachieving on required outputs related to the three components of the program, most specifically the outputs related to its capacity building interventions.

Table 2: BALADI CAP Exceeding on IO Indicator Targets out of 33

Indicator LOP Achieved Target by YS/Q3 I. Number of CSO partners serving as Intermediary 4 8 Support Organizations (ISOs)

2. Number of CSO and ISO partner organization staff that 4,721 5,227 receive capacity-building training (total) 3. Number of CSO and ISO partner oreanization staff that 639 914

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) /6 receive capacity-building training (unique) 4. Number of CSO/ISO capacity-building training events 92 110 provided s. Number of CSO and ISO partner organizations that 53 54 receive a capacity assessment (usine OCA/CAT tool) 6. Number of municipality partners' staff and council 187 764 members that receive capacitv-buildine trainine (uniaue) 7. Number of municipality partners' staff and council 810 1,819 members that receive capacitv-buildine trainine (total) 8. Number of municipality partners that receive a capacity 35 39 assessment (usine MCAT tool) 9. Number of entities, governmental, non-governmental and 54 68 private sector organizations that have been engaged in public debate and consensus building around the pre- identified issues. I 0. Number of advocacy erants awarded 18 21

Tables 3 and 4 provide a snapshot of the total number of trainings conducted and trainees receiving assistance under BALADI CAP through the current quarter, as compared to the LOP target under the three BALADI CAP components.

TABLE 3: BALADI CAP TOTAL TRAINEES AND UNIQUE TRAINEES PER COMPONENT - YS/QJ

Component/Cohort/Visit Type Recurrent (Non- Unique (New) Trainees # of Visits Unique) Trainees

Female Male Total Female Male Total Capacity Building Component (CBC) Cohort I 10 I I 15 10 25 Independent M&E Review 2 I I 3 3 6 OJTs 6 7 5 12 Finance 2 3 3 6 M&E 2 4 4 Advocacy 2 2 2 Benchmark Assessment 2 5 2 7 Post Benchmark Assessment 24 M I 3 2 s Post Benchmark Assessment 48 M I 2 2

Cohort 2 49 4 3 7 86 45 131 Independent M&E Review 8 16 6 22 OJTs 28 34 13 47 Finance 7 10 s IS M&E 9 11 I 12

BALADICAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) 17 Advocacy 7 11 3 14 Organizational Development 5 2 4 6 Benchmark Assessment 12 3 I 4 34 23 57 Post Benchmark Assessment 24 M 12 3 I 4 34 23 57 Action Plan visit I I 2 3 2 3 5

Cohorts 3 and 4 IOI 31 23 54 206 109 315 OJTs 94 11 8 19 121 67 188 Finance 28 3 3 6 44 18 62 M&E 27 4 2 6 37 15 52 Advocacy I I 2 3 Organizational Development 38 4 3 7 39 32 71 Standardized Training Workshops 7 20 15 35 85 42 127 Finance 2 5 8 13 25 29 54 M&E 2 4 4 8 26 9 35 Specialized training (Fundraising workshop) 2 11 3 14 29 9 38 Community of Practice I 5 5 10

Cohort 5 7 19 9 28 20 11 31 Benchmark Assessment 6 19 9 28 19 11 30 Benchmark Assessment 6 19 9 28 19 11 30 Action Plan Visit I I I

Civic Engagement for Democratic Governance (CEDG) Total CEDG 103 24 45 69 108 216 324 OJT and Mentoring 83 15 26 41 70 151 221 AFDC 7 8 11 19 13 25 38 QSC 24 5 6 11 18 28 46 RMF 52 2 9 11 39 98 137 Coaching Missions 14 I 5 6 14 25 39 ArabiaGIS I I I 2 BALADI CAP Tearn 13 I 5 6 13 24 37 Troubleshooting and Backstopping 2 5 5 BALADI CAP Tearn 2 5 5 Standardized Training Workshops 4 8 14 22 24 35 59 AFDC I 3 3 9 9 For Development 3 8 11 19 24 26 50

BALADI CAP AssociateCooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) /8 TABLE ◄ : CBC- COHORTS I, 2, 3, 4 ANDS BALADI CAP TOTAL TRAINEES-YS/Q3 ANDYTD fm1l '\ll,:J.ifi~~ ~ltZ.;-.·r,::,;r.ll-- ~ K~;;a~~~-~... - I~ 1EmllJ-,.- ,.... -~.. lEElfl• -~···. \Tlffl'.n I.""'"" • u~ -L~r:11 ~ iS"= ;;r,:r.JI -L~r,,, mihl Introductory Meetings 0 0 0 35 42 47

Benchmark and Post-Benchmark Assessment Visits 20 58 36 103 325 276

Action Plan Visits 2 3 3 45 63 49 Coaching Missions 74 98 129 OJT and Mentoring Visits 128 162 85 883 1,215 939 • Finance 37 57 26 289 341 361 • Organizational Development 43 41 36 269 401 340 • Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) 38 52 16 185 278 149 • Advocacy 10 12 7 94 116 48 • Communication 8 7 5 • External 10 16 21 • Gender Mainstreaming 22 43 12 • Fundraising 6 13 3 Troubleshooting and Backstopping 38 41 39 Independent M&E Review 10 19 9 78 105 134 Partner Close-Out 8 6 9 Total 160 242 133 1264 1895 1622

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) /9 2.1.1 Cl, C4 and CS - Standard and Specialized Trainings

During this reporting period, BALADI CAP delivered six training workshops for Cohorts 3, 4, and 5 CSO partners with an emphasis on M&E, Financial Management and specialized topics. The workshops were followed by intensive coaching, OJTs and mentoring by BALADI CAP senior technical specialists. Cohort 5 CSOs joined Cohorts 3 and 4 CSOs on the first specialized training on fundraising, and are expected to come together on various other training topics initially planned only for Cohorts 3 and 4.

M&E Data Collection - 2 Standardized Training Workshops

BALADI CAP conducted two training workshops on M&E data collection on April 26 and 27 to a group of 35 M&E Officers. The workshops aimed to enrich participants' knowledge of data collection techniques and tools. This is the fifth M&E training workshop delivered by BALADI CAP to Cohort 3 and 4 CSOs. The workshop included exercises on scenarios for several data collection techniques, such as focus group discussions, key informant interviews and questionnaires/surveys. The BALADI CAP trainer video-taped the data collection scenarios/role playing in order to help participants identify major challenges and the most common mistakes that data collectors can encounter. Consequently, participants argued that the training session not only improved their technical skills when conducting interviews but also increased their training and oversight skills on how to provide technical guidance to other data collectors. Such expertise will allow CSOs' staffs to manage data collection exercises through external data collectors that, with time, can reduce the burden of data collection.

'The M&E trainingtaught me how to design the main goal of a project,then get the outcomes and outputs that I want to achieve. You can track your progress and evaluate everything happening. You become organized.If it wasn't for BALADICAP providing this opportunity,I wouldn't have known what M&E is and how to includeit in our projects." - Business Support and M&EOfficer, Berytech Foundation

Fundraising - 2 Specialized Training Workshops As part of a series of specialized training workshops, BALADI CAP conducted two fundraising trainings on June 20 and 21. The purpose of these trainings was to strengthen the CSO's fundraising capacities and hence their financial sustainability. Twenty-five participants attended the training workshops. Our partner CSOs are now able to set and implement effective fundraising strategies using the tools and techniques they acquired during the workshop. Consequently, their future financial and institutional sustainability will be enhanced due to funds raised using these strategies. "I reallyappreciated this, especiallythe focus on how to seek creativefundraising solutions, not just relyingon grants",an attendee commented.

Lebanese CSOs' need for having diverse funding resources is evident and critical for their survival given the fluctuating availability of international donor grants. Finding "creative fundraising solutions" is the key to their continuity in the long run, which BALADI CAP training focused on in an attempt to solve one of their biggest concerns.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) 20 Procurement – 2 Standardized Training Workshops Two Procurement training workshops were conducted on the 28th and the 29th of June. By learning the basics of the procurement process, CSOs will be able to purchase their needed services and products in a systemic and well-controlled manner. This will strengthen their position as transparent organizations. The total number of attendees was 41, which was composed of 25 females and 16 males.

Through the training and the questions addressed by the participants, BALADI CAP noticed that local organizations in Lebanon apply the procurement process, tools and forms robotically for the purpose of complying with donors’ requirements without a clear understanding of the purpose and objective of each form and tool within the general procurement cycle.

Accordingly, attendees, especially those with basic procurement experience, were very interested in knowing the objective behind each procurement tool and template and what each form should include to effectively manage spending at their organizations, achieve value for money and produce a complete procurement documentation.

“This is an essential workshop to learn about procurement process and tools. The material provided by BALADI CAP through training, the web portal and policies are helpful to review and apply the learned procurement principles. Thank you BALADI CAP for another clear and efficient training.”

Figure 1: Procurement Training Workshop

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 21 2.1.2: C2 and C5 Coaching Visits

Cohort 2: BALADI CAP will conduct coaching sessions for Cohort 2 CSOs during the upcoming quarter (Y5/Q4) to discuss with each CSO’s management and Chair of the Board the achievements and progress made under their respective action plans. Coaching sessions, scheduled initially to take place in the Y5/Q2 quarter, are now rescheduled to take into account the results of the 24M post-benchmark assessments as a final input into the CSO close-out report.

Cohort 5: BALADI CAP conducted a launching event on April 23, 2018 to Cohort 5 CSOs, as an alternative to individual coaching visits. The meeting introduced CSO leadership to the methodology and results- driven approach of BALADI CAP’s CBC component. The launching event, which included representatives of newly-joining CSOs, provided attendees with a vision and detailed methodology of BALADI CAP’s capacity-building program for years 5 and 6, so they gain a better understanding of the requirements, commitments and benefits of the program.

Figure 2: Launching of Cohort 5 Capacity-Building Cycle

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 22 2.1.3 Cl, Cl, C4 and CS: Periodic On-the-Job Training and Mentoring

BALADI CAP's CBC team of specialists continued their intensive schedule of field visits to Cohorts 2, 3, 4 and 5 CSOs bringing the total number of number of field visits to 167, averaging SS visits per month. The purpose of Cohort 2 field visits was to ensure that the implementation of BALADI CAP policies is on track by closing any highlighted gaps. The M&E team was able to finalize all Cohort 2 policies that were in progress during the YS/Q2 quarter and is currently following up on their implementation.

Visits to Cohorts 3 and 4 focused on the customization of policies and procedures and rolling them out across our partner CSOs. As planned, the M&E team initiated its Cohorts 3 and 4 interventions and is currently working on developing CSO M&E plans.

Cohort 5 OJTs have just started. In the coming quarter, CBC team specialists will be working with CS CSOs to customize their relevant policies and procedures during the same quarter.

Sub-Task 2.2: Institutionalizing Change

2.2.1: Cl, Cl, C4 and CS: Customization and Training on Policies and Procedures

BALADI CAP's team of technical specialists is working simultaneously on rolling out the M&E policies and procedures for Cohort 2 CSO partners, as well as the customization and training on M&E, financial management and organizational development policies and procedures for Cohorts 3, 4 and 5 CSOs.

Annex I of this quarterly report provides details on each set of policies and procedures developed for each CSO partner. The (H) symbol is used to indicate progress made during YS/Q3. In summary of Annex I, BALADI CAP has completed its work on institutionalizing change for Cohorts I and 2 CSOs, and has now started the institutionalization process for CSOs under Cohorts 3 and 4. Cohort 5 customization and training on policies and procedures will kick-off and be finalized in the upcoming quarter since their relevant interventions were prioritized and selected taking into consideration the shorter duration of the capacity-building cycle of Cohort 5, compared to previous cohorts.

"At first, we were mind-boggledwith the hundreds offorms that we had to fill out, but we quicklyrealized that all can be put into a mechanismthat willfacilitate every person'swork from the top management to the forest guards. Everyonebenefitted from the new skillsthat made their work much easier,especially a~er all processeswere tailoredbased on ACS'sunique businessneeds usingthe SharePointapplication." Director of Al Shouf Cedar Society

2.2: Cl, Cl and C4 Board Approvals on Policies and Procedures

Cohort 2 CSO partner boards have approved all the policies and procedures under the organizational development, financial management and monitoring and evaluation pillars.

Under Cohorts 3 and 4, newly developed policies and procedures have been approved by some of our partner CSO boards (progress is shown in Annex I), while the rest are expected to be approved in the upcoming YS/Q4 quarter. BALADI CAP's Finance Manager started independent M&E visits for Cohort I and 2 CSOs during this quarter. Due to the time restrictions due to a heavy workload on processing grant payments during this

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 QuarterlyReport /8, Year 5, Quarter3 (April-June 20/8) 23 quarter, BALADI CAP was not able conclude this exercise and will be reporting on the compliance of all Cohort 2 CSOs in the upcoming Y5/Q4 Quarterly Report.

Sub-Task 2.3: Post-Benchmark Assessment Review

2.3.1: Post Benchmark Assessment Review

C2 Post Benchmark Assessment Review – 24M and C1 Post Benchmark Assessment Review – 48M BALADI CAP conducted 24M post-benchmark assessments for all Cohort 2 CSOs and 48M benchmark assessments for RMF and Caritas under Cohort 1. All CSOs have shown significant improvement in all key areas following BALADI CAP assistance. Results of the post-benchmark assessments are detailed in Annex 2 of this report.

Sub-Task 2.4: Provide CSO Partners with Access to Information and Resources

2.4.1: C2, C3, and C4 Resources Provided During Site Visits

As part of the BALADI CAP practice of sharing all capacity-building training course curricula and resource materials with its CSO partners, all content related to training materials, technical tools and resources is now available on the BALADI CAP website (baladicap.com) and accompanying Knowledge Management Portal (KMP), also known as the Resource Library. All training materials are now available on the KMP and are easily accessible to the public. In addition, the BALADI CAP team is providing all materials related to tip sheets, policies and procedures to CSO partners during OJT field visits so that the CSOs have the resources necessary for self-learning and to implement the institutional changes required within their respective organizations.

Sub-Task 2.5: Implement Community of Practice Regional Meetings

2.5.1: Community of Practice Regional Meetings

Community of Practice 1: Peer-to-Peer Training Program

The Community of Practice titled “Peer-to-Peer Process Initiation” took place on the 27th of June. It introduced the CBC sustainability approach to partner CSO chairpersons and directors whose employees will play a critical role in implementation. The sustainability approach to BALADI CAP’s capacity-building component is composed of four main elements: - Peer-to-Peer Training - Training-of-Trainers - Centers of Excellence - National Conference on CSO Accountability and Governance

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 24

Figure 3: Launching Peer-to-Peer and ToT Trainings

The Community of Practice has provided a forum for the BALADI CAP team to introduce its CBC sustainability strategy, receive feedback from CSO leaders and start the implementation of the sustainability track with maximum buy-in from stakeholders.

Attendees were very engaged in the suggested sustainability track and very much committed to its implementation. There was a sentiment of pride, given that their inexperienced staff that they hired 2-3 years ago now have a chance to become trainers at the CSO and national levels.

There were some concerns pertaining to leadership ability to convince senior staff, or even juniors, to transfer knowledge to staff of lesser seniority. CSO leaders argued that they might be perceived as a first step to rendering the trainers “dispensable” to the CSO.

BALADI CAP and the attending CSO leaders agreed upon: 1) the methodology and argument of getting staff buy into the P2P process; 2) logistical requirements to make the step a success and 3) the role that CSO leadership should play in encouraging and following on the implementation on the new model.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 25 Sub-Task 2.6: Ensuring Sustainability of CBC Outcomes

BALADI CAP has launched its activities aimed at sustaining its interventions under the CBC component. Two fundraising training workshops took place during the month of June, in addition to a Community of Practice to launch the Peer-to-Peer training program. The Peer-to-Peer training program aims at spreading the technical knowledge and expertise that the BALADI CAP program has fostered within its CSO partners, and ensuring that this information and these skills are made available and transferred to other staff within the same organization and nationally. The elements of the CBC sustainability and scaling up plan are detailed below:

• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) training sessions: These include the transfer of knowledge and skills within each of the targeted CSOs and between CSOs under BALADI CAP and other CSOs. The Community of Practice (mentioned in section 2.5 above) discussed with attendees the concept, methodology and mechanisms under which P2P is to take place. The actual implementation of P2P within CSOs will start during the first week of July 2018. • Trainings of Trainers (TOT): The TOT exercise, which is planned to continue for 4-5 months starting in July 2018, will create a pool of national trainers that will be able to carry on the methodology, practices, policies and procedures of BALADI CAP’s capacity-building model and further enhance its sustainability. As a result, a strong pool of professional trainers on the BALADI CAP model will be created, and will be able to replicate and apply the model nationally. • Centers of Excellence (COE): BALADI CAP partners will identify and select CSO partners that have done an exceptional job in implementing BALADI CAP policies and procedures, or who have demonstrated a high level of innovation or expertise in adopting best practices, which will be considered as model COEs. The implementation of the COE approach entails visits by potential trainers to these centers. The visits are planned to showcase the COEs’ exceptional application of these innovations, policies, procedures and best practices in day-to-day operations so that other CSOs may see how they could be replicated or adapted in their own organizations. These visits are expected to start in September 2018, after the P2P and TOT processes have taken off. • CSO Accountability and Governance National Conference: BALADI CAP is planning a national conference on CSO Accountability and Governance, which is planned to take place in February 2019. Its purpose is to bring together CSO practitioners, lawmakers, donors, academics, and students to discuss significant issues and innovations impacting CSO governance and development in Lebanon. More importantly, it is intended to provide a forum for leading experts and CSO organizations to share lessons learned and their own successful experiences to serve as a stepping-stone that will inspire and generate discussion on the best ways to support the continued growth and development of the civil society sector. The conference is being designed to provide “thought leadership” when it comes to best accountability and governance practices within the Lebanese CSO sector, and to discuss a road map to future improvements within the sector. These kinds of forward-thinking discussions are necessary given the ongoing threats and current state of affairs that continues to challenge the sector. BALADI CAP has formed a conference Steering Committee composed of CSO directors, academics and CSO professionals to help guide and inform continued planning and preparation for the conference. The first meeting of the Steering Committee took place in May 2018.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 26

Figure 4: First Meeting of the Steering Committee for the National Conference on CSO Accountability and Governance.

Sub-Task 2.7: Utilize Digital Means and Social Media

2.7.1: Social Media Platforms Expanded and Regularly Updated

Website and KMP Portal During this quarter, BALADI CAP has continued its ongoing efforts to expand the information and resources available on its website and KMP. The website and KMP were updated daily with new content and information from project activities, newly uploaded training resources, and testimonials from partners and beneficiaries on the results and impact of BALADI CAP interventions. It now also includes all CEI advocacy and awareness campaign videos.

The video list on our YouTube channel includes advocacy campaigns by grantees and partners such as: SKOUN’s Campaign to Protect First Time Drug Users from Jail; SIDC’s advocacy campaign “Supporting the Rights of Vulnerable Women”; SKOUN’s awareness campaign on “Do You Know What To Do If You Get Arrested For Drug Use?”; LFPCP Advocacy Videos on “the Law of Metrology in Lebanon”, “Food Safety” and “the Right and Responsibilities of the DNA Decree No 625”; AUB Nature Conservation Center’s video on University Support for Integrated Solid Waste Management Plans and Practices and LRI advocacy campaign I-DVOCATE project which calls for the protection of forestry land against violations.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 27 All training curricula and materials under CBC, CEI and CEDG are being uploaded onto the KMP, which continues to be an important resource library for CSOs and municipalities. The latest uploads include under the municipal section: a Q and A with on Municipal Issues; Preparation of Salary Scales for Employees in Municipalities; Using Social Media in Municipal Work; Management of All Kinds of Fixed Assets in Municipalities, and Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in Municipal Work. Other recently uploaded resources include: Performance Monitoring Indicators; Data Collection; Logical Framework Approach; Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and Results Framework.

Also during this quarter, BALADI CAP worked to facilitate and promote peer-to-peer exchanges between the partners, as well as provide web-based technical assistance and an online forum for the exchange of information and the discussion of ideas and experiences through “Chat Rooms” created under the Communities of Practice webpage of the BALADI CAP website and KMP.

The BALADI CAP team created discussions based on their observations during visits and trainings with partners and came up with discussions such as “Are CSOs’ lack of internal capacity stopping civil movements from achieving their objective”, which saw a number of interesting chats on the subjects. The discussion on “Advocacy Tools” solicited 21 comments. More than 25 partner participants chatted on the four main civil society discussions facilitated by the team during June. A major municipal discussion provided answers from a senior municipal expert to more than 30 questions submitted by municipality partners, all posted on the “chat rooms” and hotline mechanisms provided for under the KMP.

The BALADI CAP team has worked diligently on expanding and improving these communication platforms as a means to provide new ways for its partners to engage with each other, share knowledge and lessons learned, support networking and advocacy, and promote collaboration and partnership on issues of common interest.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 28

Figure 7 provides an example of a real-time Q and A, which was submitted by one of the municipalities and replied to by BALADI CAP’s Senior Municipal Expert on organizational development and financial management. The question is related to the position classification (grade) of the “Cashier” Position within the municipality of Tannourine.

Figure 5: Snapshot of BALADI CAP’s website

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BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 29

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Figure 7: Answer to a question by Tannourine municipality as it shows in the chat rooms.

Figure 8 provides an example of the CSO chat room where BALADI CAP’s partner CSOs are discussing issues and challenges of advocacy and fundraising through the BALADI CAP KMP. This is one of more than 23 “comments” received from our CSO partners on this topic.

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Figure 8: A CSO Chat Room on topics including advocacy and fundraising for BCAP CSOs

The KMP has become a strong online resource and point of reference for municipalities and CSOs to engage in professional discussions pertaining to issues of capacity, advocacy, governance, and related “hot” issues impacting partners under BALADI CAP’s three components. It is anticipated that these chat rooms will provide a forum for even further engagement by participants and trainees as BALADI CAP’s P2P and TOT trainings start taking place. It is also planned that a specific chat room will be created as a point for exchanges of ideas among the members of the Steering Committee in the continued planning and preparations for the National Conference on CSO Accountability and Governance in the upcoming quarter.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 31 Social Media Channels

Facebook page (April 1 – June 30, 2018)

• Likes/Fans: Increased 427 Likes from 2,455 to 2,882 Page likes/fans. The number of people liking BALADI CAP’s Facebook pages continues to increase (double the increase from last quarter). • Post Viewership/Likes: From April 1 to June 30, 2018, 44 events (an average of 14.6 events per 22 working day/month) were posted on Facebook with a breakdown of visibility as follows: o Likes: 4,286 o Clicks: 18,987 o Viewership/Reached: 78,547

The number of Facebook clicks increased substantially from 11, 590 to 18,987, signifying higher levels of viewership and readership. Viewership/reach has tripled since last season from 78,547 to 239,774. This increase is primarily attributed to the shift from reporting on trainings and visits by BALADI CAP team with partners, to impact and result-based posts, which is reflected in stories like the Ehmej Composting post that reflects the impact of BALADI CAP’s intervention on creating an Environmental-friendly community. Our highest “Like” rating was for the post “Grant Signing with Arabia GIS and North LEDA to improve transparency and access to information in ten municipalities in Akkar”, which reached 440 Likes within 3 days from posting and 7,214 people reached.

Newsletters Two e-newsletters were produced during this quarter. BALADI CAP website posts are linked to articles on the e-newsletter to increase traffic on the website and make the newsletter more interactive. The e- newsletter is also being posted on Facebook and is available on the BALADI CAP website.

Task 3: Civic Engagement for Democratic Governance

Task 3 Overview – Exceeding AMEP Targets for Municipalities

The implementation of CEDG has moved from the ISO/SP initiation phase to the implementation/service delivery phase. TTAP municipalities have shown various levels of commitment to organizational development and change. Municipal staff always ask questions of “what’s in it for me”. Despite that, all ISOs/SPs are pushing hard towards implementing all activities under their contracts within the agreed upon deadlines. BALADI CAP continues to work with 37 Lebanese municipalities as compared to its target of 35.

At the PTP level, BALADI CAP’s CEDG team has already trained 55 municipalities out of its targeted 70 municipalities.

Conversely, BALADI CAP is finding challenges in working with CSOs under the CEDG component, as CSOs in remote municipalities (such as Akkar, in the South, and in Bekaa) do not have a complete understanding of the potential opportunities for participatory engagement and increased outreach between CSOs and municipalities. BALADI CAP is trying to convene a Community of Practice for CSOs to reiterate the vision, methodology and expected results under this component. However, we are facing challenges with attendance rate, as we do need the majority of CSOs to attend and participate in discussions to gain a greater awareness and build interest. For now, we have decided to postpone this Community of Practice until the Fall of 2018, B so we can have time to raise -awareness of the benefits of these activities and the potential A opportunities that are possible for our CEDG CSOs to properly advocate for important issues Q impacting their communities with their newly elected municipal boards, in hopes of generating 32 greater interest and attendance by the Fall. Sub-Task 3.1: Sub-Award to Service Providers (ISOs/SPs)

Sub-Task 3.2: Tailored Technical Assistance to BALADI and Non-BALADI Municipalities (CEDG/TTAP)

Sub-Task 3.3: Public Trainings Program to BALADI and Non-BALADI Municipalities (CEDG/PTP)

Sub-Task 3.4: Technical Assistance to Non-BALADI CSOs

Sub-Task 3.5: Civic Engagement and Public Outreach

Sub-Task 3.6: In-Kind Grants to Targeted Municipalities

Note: The below will address all CEDG Sub-Tasks 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6, all combined under each of the ISO/SPs, to avoid redundancy and allow for a smooth reporting on each ISO/SP’s progress and overall CEDG progress.

BALADI CAP has organized regular coordination meetings with all ISOs/SPs in order to ensure smooth and timely implementation of all its sub-component activities. More than eight meetings were conducted during this quarter aimed at identifying the obstacles and difficulties faced by ISOs/SPs in their work with municipalities, and designing the appropriate mitigation measures, while also ensuring effective implementation of the ongoing project activities.

BALADI CAP is also coordinating technical visits to the municipalities, as a means of ensuring consistent communication, minimizing confusion among municipalities, and avoiding potential conflicts in training schedules. As such, visits were scheduled with the CEDG ISOs/SPs in the field to cross-check and reference ongoing training schedules and activities. For the coming Y5/Q4, the COP will be visiting most municipalities in order to receive their feedback on the progress of work being conducted in each municipality.

AFDC

AFDC is implementing the disaster management capacity-building element with municipalities. During this quarter, 22 of the 24 municipalities participating in this component have established Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) committees, approved and signed by the municipal councils. AFDC conducted a third workshop on Emergency Action Planning for the municipalities located in North Lebanon. An OJT on Risk Profiling has also been conducted for these 22 municipalities.

The training workshop on Emergency Action Planning for seven municipalities in North Lebanon took place on April 5, 2018. Similar to the previous two workshops (in Y5/Q2), this workshop targeted the committees responsible for handling disaster planning and management, which were formed within each municipality for this purpose. The workshop’s main objective was to improve participants’ knowledge of existing risks and hazards in their areas, introduce them to the concept of disaster risk reduction and management, and discuss preparedness measures to manage disasters and emergencies that may happen in their regions. At the end of the training, the participants had learned the “Problem Tree Analysis” technique in order to identify the problems that might be faced within their municipal areas concerning possible disasters, determine probable results caused by each problem, as well as identify possible solutions through the “Solution Tree” Technique. In addition, participants were able to perform SWOT

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 33 analysis on the problems that they had identified, hence transforming weaknesses into strengths using resources and opportunities, while taking into account external factors.

Figure 9: AFDC training workshop on Emergency Action Planning to CEDG municipalities.

All through this quarter, AFDC has been compiling and preparing the Risk Profiles for all concerned municipalities. These profiles include a detailed risk analysis, resource assessment and relevant visuals. They also started their third set of OJTs on the “Preparation of Mitigation Plans” for the municipalities whose risks were assessed and documented. The aim of this latest OJT is to train the DRR committee members on the development of mitigation plans, including preventive measures and timeframes, as well as prioritizing and identifying risks and hazards that might threaten their communities. Five OJT visits were conducted. The remaining are expected to finish during the first month of the following quarter.

Two municipalities, Bebnine and Barr Elias, have not yet approved the creation of these committees due to the unwillingness of their two presidents to do so. Follow-up with those municipalities is still ongoing in an effort to resolve this issue and resume work.

AGIS

In the previous quarter, fifteen municipalities had been selected for the implementation of the GIS capacity-building element under CEDG. However, one of these municipalities, Bickfaya, withdrew, as the municipality is currently working with the University of Balamand to build its GIS database and the

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 34 university will not be able to provide BALADI CAP with the requested data within the project’s scheduled timeframe. For this reason, AGIS selected Kherbit Kanafar as a replacement municipality. This decision was based on the data availability in each municipality, namely: the quality and format standards for the GIS or CAD (Computer-Aided Design) files that need to be submitted.

During this quarter, AGIS conducted two main activities with the selected municipalities: (1) data collection; and (2) data conversion and building the geodatabases. AGIS team members requested the municipalities to provide GIS data either in GIS format or CAD files. As for the tax database data, an exported excel file in a predefined format was required to be imported into the GIS platform and read as a tax layer. The data from all 14 selected municipalities has been already gathered and conversion is completed for the majority of them. The remaining conversions, in addition to the data collection from Khirbit Kanafar, will be completed during July 2018. BALADI CAP still expects to see installed GIS systems in the 15 targeted municipalities by the end of September 2018.

For Development

During this quarter, For Development conducted six trainings for TTAP, PTP, and CSO partners, despite the fact that a slow-down of activities had occurred due to two major obstacles. These were the Lebanese parliamentary elections that took place at the beginning of May 2018, and the holy month of Ramadan (May 15 – 15 June 2018). The municipalities were deeply involved in the elections and hence were not capable of participating in activities for around three weeks prior to these elections. Moreover, the official working hours were reduced during the month of Ramadan and employees were not willing to participate in any trainings. During this quarter, For Development conducted three trainings for TTAP municipalities: one on Feasibility Studies and two on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

The objective of the Feasibility Studies training was to introduce the basic principles and concepts of feasibility studies to municipal board members. Particularly, participants were able to acquire introductory concepts on market studies, technical sustainability, and financial sustainability, in addition to how complete final studies would look like. Participants, especially those with no previous knowledge in feasibility studies, were very interested in recognizing the importance of conducting such studies and how acquiring some minimal knowledge in this area could lead to concrete improvements in their community development efforts.

Trainings on PPPs were conducted in collaboration with the Higher Council for Privatization and Partnership (HCPP) and were provided for the first time in Lebanon to municipalities. The objective of these trainings was to familiarize municipal presidents and board members with the PPP Law 48, which was enacted on September 7, 2017. Specifically, the participants learned the mechanisms that would allow the Lebanese private sector to provide public services to the Lebanese, as part of reducing the financial burden on the public treasury through providing detailed definitions of partnerships and types of partnerships, as well as the benefits of partnerships to the public sector.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 35

Figure 10: For Development training workshop on Public Private Partnerships for CEDG municipalities.

For Development conducted two trainings targeting exclusively non-partner municipalities (PTP municipalities) during this quarter. These covered the topics of Feasibility Studies and Municipal Human Resource Management. While the training on Feasibility Studies was explained under the TTAP trainings section above, the objective of the Municipal Human Resource Management training was to introduce to these municipalities the laws that govern municipal employees and municipal workers, and how these should be implemented in day-to-day work. The interest of the participants in this training was highly shown through the increased number of questions that were addressed to the trainer and the discussions that took place.

For Development also conducted one training to non-BALADI CAP CSOs during this quarter. This training covered the topic of Municipal Law and aimed at presenting the law that governs the workings of Lebanese municipalities to the CSOs. The main objective behind this training was to familiarize the CSOs with the municipal law, particularly their rights within the municipalities, as well as their obligations towards them. A good knowledge of the municipal law will allow CSOs to advocate for various activities and rights.

QSC

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 36 After conducting the needs assessment for 31 municipalities, and based on the results obtained, the list of municipalities that will benefit from the services provided by QSC has changed. Thus, an amendment to the agreement between QSC and MSI has been conducted specifying the new number of municipalities under each sub-element as follows:

- Eleven (11) municipalities to benefit from the installation of a website and email addresses. - Sixteen (16) municipalities will benefit from trainings on automated financial management systems (Municipal Budget System (MBS) and Municipal Revenue System (MRS)). - One municipality and one Union of municipalities will have installed new automated financial management systems. - Sixteen (16) municipalities will have installed automated complaints systems.

Based on the above, QSC has completed the installation of the two automated financial management systems. In addition, QSC has installed seven (7) out of the sixteen (16) complaints systems. The installation will be followed by OJTs to train employees on how to operate these systems.

Also during this reporting period, QSC conducted a training on Financial Management Applications on April 12, 2018. The objective was to provide participants with the know-how on the use of the automated financial management applications in the municipalities concerning municipal budgets. In particular, the training focused on the preparation of the municipal budget, as well as the calculation of municipal expenditures and municipal revenue.

As for the websites, QSC has finalized their design and has been collecting the data that is going to be included in each municipality’s website. The latter task has proven to be a challenge, since the majority of municipalities do not have a person capable of writing the text (material) that needs to be displayed on the websites. This will be mitigated through RMF’s expert, who is currently working with municipalities on collecting information to write their annual reports, as well as improve communications on the various media and social media channels. This information will be provided to QSC and uploaded on the relevant websites.

In addition, the QSC team has conducted a series of 15 OJTs related to MBS and MRS, as a follow-on to the following activities:

- Website installation: the OJTs under this sub-element aimed at discussing website design and collecting the relevant data that each municipality wishes to post on its respective website. - Municipal Budget Systems: the OJTs aimed at training municipal employees who prepare the budgets on the correct usage of the automated budget systems. - Municipal Revenue Systems: the OJTs aimed at training municipal employees who work on the revenue systems to use the automated systems present in the municipalities.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 37

Figure 11: The Quick Solutions Company team conducting an OJT on website design in the municipality of Al Chiyyah.

RMF

RMF is introducing a new era in municipal capacity-building through BALADI CAP. Its interventions cover 34 partner municipalities under three main pillars: (1) Organization Development and Financial Management, (2) Strategic Planning for Local Development, and (3) Advocacy and Outreach/Communication. Field coordinators, junior experts (JE) and senior experts have all been mobilized to achieve the set objectives.

As part of building the internal capacity of BALADI CAP’s partner CSOs during this reporting period, RMF provided a second internal training on organization development and financial management to newly recruited JEs, over three full days. In addition, a half-day training aimed at providing precise guida onnce municipal budget preparation was also conducted to the JEs. RMF’s senior expert provided both training sessions.

-RMF - Municipal Organizational Development and Financial Management Sub-Element

Municipal Bylaws: RMF’s JEs followed up with concerned municipalities regarding their newly drafted bylaws. Among the major challenges faced while working on the updated bylaws was the new salary scale for public employees issued lately by the Lebanese government. It is taking time for RMF experts as well as municipalities to understand the implementation of the new law in municipal administrations.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 38 One of these bylaws (Youneen) has been completed, revised by senior experts, and approved by the municipality. The remaining municipalities are still in the process of combining all needed information to finalize their deliverables in terms of human resource bylaws and job descriptions. This sub-element is planned to be finalized by end of Y5/Q4.

Figure 12: RMF team conducting an OJT on budget preparation in the municipality of Mishmish

Budget Preparation: Twenty-two (22) municipalities have requested assistance in municipal budget preparations within their action plans. During this quarter, JEs launched their OJTs with these municipalities to help them in the preparation of their municipal budgets. During this reporting period, JEs provided trainings to eleven (11) municipalities. RMF is conducting budget preparation trainings in coordination with QSC, the latter of which is providing trainings on the MBS, so that overlap does not take place. A meeting took place at BALADI CAP to agree on coordination mechanisms between the two SPs.

RMF-Strategic Planning for Local Development Sub-Element

Based on the limited time and resources available during the implementation of BALADI CAP, and in order not to mislead the municipalities on the expected results of this sub-element, the BALADI CAP team has agreed with the RMF team to change the terminology of “strategic plan” to “strategic municipal outlook”. A detailed document has been developed for this purpose and was submitted to the municipalities during field visits in order to clarify the objective of this outlook, its expected final results, in addition to the steps that will be taken to attain it.

During this quarter, 34 OJT visits were conducted by RMF’s senior expert on strategic planning to the presidents of the municipalities to explain the process of the strategic planning exercise. A detailed questionnaire, as a tool for data collection, was provided to the municipalities to be filled during later visits. Filling this questionnaire is being conducted by the JEs through coaching visits with the presidents of the municipalities, some municipal board members, in addition to some employees. The first draft of

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 39 the strategic municipal outlook is being prepared simultaneously as each questionnaire is completed. It is also expected that the implementation of this sub-element will come to a conclusion by the end of Y5/Q4.

Figure 13: The RMF Strategic Planning expert conducting an OJT on strategic municipal outlook in the municipality of Al Jdeideh.

RMF-Advocacy and Outreach/Communication Component

Nine meetings have taken place with the presidents of the twenty-six (26) targeted municipalities to introduce the concept of MPOC (Municipal Public Outreach Committee) and MRO (Municipal Reception Office), as well as their importance and benefits. During these visits, a draft of a municipal decision to establish an MPOC and /or MRO was submitted to the president in order to facilitate the decision-making in establishing them. The establishment of the MPOC is still facing some pushback from presidents of municipal councils who are resistant to having an institutionalized mechanism that would require them to maintain communications with the local community, as opposed to monopolizing communications through the person of the president him/herself.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 40 Figure 14: The RMF Communication expert conducting a visit to explain the municipal public outreach committee in the municipality of Tannourine.

Communities of Practice

No Community of Practice meetings took place this quarter due to the intensity of trainings/OJTs provided by the five ISOs/SPs. BALADI CAP preferred to wait until the ISOs/SPs were able to establish good working relations with the municipalities and allow them to focus on getting implementation underway before adding additional meetings. This was in part due to the initial feedback on training fatigue that was received as part of the Mid-Term Evaluation preliminary findings.

Gender Mainstreaming Survey

The Gender Mainstreaming Survey for the CEDG partner municipalities was redesigned in such a way as to take into consideration lessons learned from the CSO Gender Mainstreaming Surveys conducted under CSO Cohorts 1 and 2, and to further fit the realities and context of municipal work in Lebanon. Filling of the questionnaire has started with the municipalities. This should be completed during this quarter and the data will be sent to the gender expert for analysis.

Sub-Task 3.7: Sustainability of CEDG Results (Capacity-Building of CSO/ISO Service Providers)

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 41 CEDG ISO/SPs are already part of the BALADI CAP CBC training cohorts (except for For Development). RMF has completed a four-year training cycle with BALADI CAP and now is compliant on financial management, organizational development and M&E fronts. QSC has just started its training under Cohort 5 CSOs and is scheduled for the preparation of financial management and M&E policies and procedures. AFDC is a Cohort 2 beneficiary of BALADI CAP and has become compliant with BALADI CAP policies and procedures. Furthermore, AFDC has recently won a micro-grant to strengthen its internal administrative capacities to achieve higher efficiencies in management operations. AGIS is a Cohort 4 CSO under CBC and it already has an ongoing grant under CEI component. AGIS has won an additional grant under CEI Cycle 2 grants. AGIS is undergoing capacity-building on human resource management and financial management with BALADI CAP technical specialists.

At the end of all capacity-building activities, CEDG ISOs/SPs (with the exception of For Development) will have sharpened their organizational and financial management skills and will be able to 1) receive direct funds from USAID; and 2) sustain their operations in the long run, as planned under the CEDG and CBC design.

Youneen Municipality in the Forefront of the Drive to Modernize Lebanese Municipal Administration

Despite having a 1 to 2 ratio of Syrian refugees to local population (10,000 Syrian refugees for 20,000 Lebanese citizens), Youneen is the first village among BALADI CAP beneficiaries to approve a complete overhaul of its organization structure, job descriptions, compensation policies and procedures, and all related human resource rules and regulations. The new organizational structure and human resource bylaws provide the municipality with the administrative capacity it needs to face ongoing challenges. Youneen, a Shiite Bekaa village with an annual budget of USD $1.8 million and 11 staffers, is one of 34 municipalities undergoing an overhaul of their organizational structures to improve their administrative efficiency, streamline their processes and enhance transparency of their financial operations. While BALADI CAP is providing the support and technical assistance, RMF is spearheading implementation through a dedicated team of senior experts in organizational development and Lebanon’s Administrative Law code. Through this intervention, RMF is also building its own capacity to become a future national service provider of organizational development and financial management services to Lebanese municipalities.

Task 4 - Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI)

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 42

Task 4 Overview – Advocacy Reaching High -Levels of Government

During this Y5/Q3 quarter, BALADI CAP has:

1) Closed most of CEI Cycle 1 grants and is following up on closing -out 2 grants in July, 1 grant in August, and 1 final grant in September 2) Issued 6 additional CEI Cycle 2 grants 3) Issued 3 new additional follow -on grants to CEI ISOs and closed their Cycle 1 grants 4) Issued 5 micro -grants to strengthen the institutional capacities of CBC Cohort 2 CSOs 5) Continued implementation of 2 USG Priority Fund grants 6) Initiated process of advocacy network strengthening by starting to focus on network expansion, visibility and sustainability mechanisms.

BALADI CAP’s CEI component has also become a model for advocacy among donor-funded projects. BALADI CAP has been able to show real engagement with Directors General of Ministries, Ministers, Parliamentarians and Presidents of municipal councils to achieve desired policy change. Three Ministers were engaged with BALADI CAP grant projects (Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Economy and Trade, and Ministry of Justice.)

BALADI CAP has also been able to measure the attainment of advocacy objectives through specific M&E indicators that could provide solid measurement of success or failure of any advocacy campaign.

During this quarter, most of CEI Cycle 1 grantees completed the implementation of their planned activities. Four remaining grantees are expected to finalize implementation in July/August/September 2018. BALADI CAP’s CEI team signed new grant agreements with six organizations with a total value that comprise the second cycle of the CSO advocacy grants under the three issue networks. Cycle 2 organizations that have been awarded CEI grants are: 1) Dar El-Amal; 2) Soins Infirmiers- et Developpement Communautaire (SIDC); 3) The Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP); 4) Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA); 5) North LEDA; and 6) Arabia GIS (AGIS). Additionally, the three CEI ISOs finalized the implementation of their Cycle 1 sub-agreements and signed their follow-on Cycle 2 sub-agreements amounting to nearly in total, and kick-started the implementation of their activities.

Sub-Task 4.1: BALADI CAP Coordination with ISOs

During April and May, the three ISOs concluded their activities under their first Cycle 1 agreement with BALADI CAP and started preparing for the follow-on Cycle 2 sub-agreements.

BALADI CAP’s CEI team continued coordination with the ISOs to monitor timely implementation and ensure proper closure of the first phase and a smooth transition to the second phase. All three ISOs are

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 43 conducting effective financial and programmatic reporting by submitting monthly and quarterly reports and proper financial invoices.

On May 15, 2018, BALADI CAP organized a workshop entitled “Strengthening Advocacy Networks Established under BALADI CAP” gathering the ISOs and CSOs of the three networks (Human Rights, Environment Protection and Solid Waste Management, and Accountability and Good Governance). The workshop introduced the new elements of the ISOs’ work and network-building plan for the year to come which were incorporated into their follow-on sub-agreements based on the lessons learned and the Collaborative, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) approach adopted by BALADI CAP. The workshop was also an opportunity to introduce the new grantees to their respective networks and ISOs, specifically Dar Al Amal, Beyond Reform for Development (BRD) and North LEDA. Following this workshop, the three ISOs initiated meetings with their CSO members to break the ice with new members, discuss the work plan for the coming year and agree on the way forward.

Figure 15 CEI Network Strengthening Workshop.

Sub-Task 4.2: ISOs Activities and Trainings

As most of the ISO activities were successfully implemented under their first agreements, the three ISOs dedicated this quarter to effectively planning for the coming year based on the lessons learned and the recommendations received from member CSOs. Accordingly, some activities (i.e. trainings) under the Human Rights and the Good Governance networks were rescheduled to take place during the second phase, since the three ISOs will widen their networks to welcome new grantees and additional CSOs members.

Through this approach, and with BALADI CAP support, the ISOs are building the capacity of a larger pool of existing Lebanese CSOs in the areas of advocacy within the existing networks.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 44 In addition, BALADI CAP’s Network Specialist, , (recently recruited as STTA) and the three ISOs met with their CSO members to work on their mission and vision statements which will be further developed in upcoming sessions to create by-laws and network charters. This action comes as part of BALADI CAP’s mission to further build the capacities of the established networks and equip them with the necessary tools and mechanisms to optimize the chances of their sustainability.

Sub-Task 4.3: Renewal of ISO Contracts

On May 16 and 17, 2018, BALADI CAP’s CEI team signed three grants with the three ISOs, namely T.E.R.R.E. Liban, Nahnoo and the Institute of Women Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW) at the Lebanese American University (LAU). The new grants, with a total value of , will inaugurate phase two assistance to support the advocacy efforts of the Lebanese CSOs and are planned to end in mid-January 2019.

The grantees will be supporting the existing networks through: 1) creating organizational structures and charters for the three networks; 2) developing policy papers; 3) improving communications with local communities; 4) strengthening advocacy capacity of the networks as a whole and of individual CSO members of each network; and, 5) enhancing chances of network sustainability through providing networks with national visibility.

During the month of June, the ISOs submitted their work plans for the period of May 17, 2018 – January 16, 2019. The ISOs also initiated meetings with their corresponding CSO members to discuss the work plans and kick-start the implementation of their respective grant activities.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 45

Figure 16: IWSAW LAU agreement signing.

Sub-Task 4.4: Continuous Update of Online Sources to Assist Issue Networks

The three ISOs are continuously updating their websites to feature the CSO member activities. As the CEI Cycle 2 has kick-started, the ISOs will be closely following-up with the grantees to receive updates on their projects. The ISOs will also be in the process of recruiting their communication specialists and advocacy experts who will be assisting them in increasing the visibility of their websites and promoting their networks to the wider public. During this reporting quarter, BALADI CAP has started to engage CEI network members through its Communities of Practice “chat rooms” in discussions about issues of sustainability and fundraising. The initial response was good. Through the increased communication budgets allocated to ISOs through their new contracts, the BALADI CAP team will be following closely on improved network communication and the synchronization between CSO websites and ISO web-portals, as well as ensuring effective coordination and uploading of relevant information for BALADI CAP’s website and KMP.

Sub-Task 4.5: BALADI CAP Coordination with CSOs

BALADI CAP’s CEI team is closely monitoring and following-up with all CEI CSO grantees through (1) weekly phone calls and e-mails; (2) monthly visits/OJTs; (3) monthly milestone reports; and (4) quarterly technical reports. These ongoing mechanisms enable close coordination and communication that provides

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 46 real-time feedback and immediate troubleshooting by the CEI specialists in the event of any problems or concerns that arise, which has allowed for more effective and successful implementation of all CEI grants.

Sub-Task 4.6: Implementation and Close-out of Cycle 1 Grant

Lebanese Association for Rural Development (LRD)

During this quarter, LRD delivered a set of awareness sessions on sorting from origin and solid waste management targeting nine (9) out of the fourteen (14) municipalities selected under this project (the remaining five municipalities will be targeted in the next quarter). All in all, LRD conducted 28 sessions reaching a total of 1952 beneficiaries (1383 Lebanese and 569 Syrian refugees). In addition, LRD reached out to 500 school students within 5 different schools in Akkar and more than 100 university students in one university. It is expected that LRD will target an additional 300 university students in two different universities during the summer semester.

As part of its awareness campaign, LRD produced brochures/pamphlets and distributed them to their beneficiaries. LRD also developed the composting brochure to be distributed to more than 150 households in an attempt to promote the composting technique within these households.

LRD succeeded in meeting with 25 decision-makers, including parliamentarians, mayors and other key stakeholders with whom they shared the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Guidebook and the advocacy plan for the SWM project produced under the BALADI CAP grant. These meetings resulted in raising awareness on SWM issues and promoting waste sorting for decision-makers who play a major role in implementing any SWM and waste sorting project in Akkar.

LRD, together with its advocacy champions, launched and implemented a social media campaign to promote SWM best practices, highlight advocacy activities, and disseminate daily tips and information aiming to sensitize citizens and introduce behavioural change at the community level.

To ensure increased visibility of the grant, LRD created a Facebook page called “AKKAR A7LA” (Akkar is more beautiful) whereby they posted the brochures and more than thirty (30) daily tips in the form of “Did you Know” in order to trigger citizens interest and raise their awareness on solid waste management. LRD was able to reach a total of 12,798 citizens and receive 2,700 Page Likes. To date, the project was covered by more than 14 online web articles, including MTV, Al-Dyar, Lebanon Files, Tripoli News, and one radio station, Al Fajr Station (100.7). Following their request for a no-cost extension, LRD will continue the execution of their grant through August 2018, where it is expected that LRD will be able to show quantitative evidence of improved sorting from the point of origin and of recycling of solid waste in fifteen villages in Akkar, as a result of raised awareness and other project activities. The project is scheduled to conclude in August 2018 after receiving the no-cost extension.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 47 Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI)

Figure 17: LRI Closing Event in the presence of advocates, municipal guards and municipal representatives of the three villages Ehmej, Kherbet Rouha and Baadaran.

LRI concluded their BALADI CAP-supported grant entitled “Influencing Decision-Makers to Stop Violations and Organize Community Actions towards Environmental Engagement” during a closing ceremony that took place on April 28, 2018.

More than 45 stakeholders, including representatives of partner CSOs Arz Ehmej and ACS, as well as citizens from the villages of Ehmej, Baadaran, and Kherbet Rouha, attended the event. The twelve-month project was aimed at advocating to the three municipalities of Kherbet Rouha (Rashaya), Baadaran (Shouf), and Ehmej (Byblos) into classifying their forestlands and establishing mechanisms for improved forest protection.

Thanks to LRI’s advocacy efforts, the three villages (with around 27,000 residents) now have classified forest lands that are protected from animal or human violations. The classified forestlands/zones are now protected by newly employed municipal forest guards who are tasked with the reduction of violations on forests, namely illegal cutting, intentional fires, and overgrazing.

LRI has assisted locals in establishing in each region a citizen committee to advocate for community engagement activities, such as training, workshops and field trips, to raise awareness on the importance of the newly protected zones.

Al-Shouf Cedar Society (ACS)

ACS has also concluded the majority of its activities aimed at reducing the amount of organic waste as a percentage of total waste generated in three villages. The result was planned to be achieved through a combination of awareness-raising sessions to locals, designing “doggy bag” boxes and training of

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 48 restaurant owners on its benefits and use, and the construction of pilot composting units in targeted villages.

Figure 18: ACS Community meeting on composting at Ehmej.

During this quarter, ACS conducted its final solid waste sampling in the three targeted villages, Ehmej, Batloun and Kfarms’houn, to measure the results of its interventions. The various project activities have to a large extent achieved the project specific objectives. The target of achieving a 20% decrease in the percentage of organics in the waste stream was almost achieved in Batloun with a reduction of 19.6%. In Kfarmashoun, the result achieved almost doubled the target with a reduction of 49.5%. Whereas in Ehmej, the sampling resulted in a 12.7% reduction.

Since the implementation of this project, ACS succeeded in promoting the techniques of composting units and the concept of “doggy bags” through awareness-raising workshops, hands-on trainings, household visits, and effective advocacy mechanisms with respective municipalities. ACS was able to introduce a behavioral and mindset change in the three targeted villages (with around 9000 residents).

American University of Beirut – Nature Conservation Center (AUB- NCC)

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 49

Figure 19: AUB/NCC Town Hall meeting to announce the results of damage assessments and chart mitigation measures.

AUB/NCC has concluded its advocacy project after being granted a one-month extension. During the implementation of their project, AUB-NCC faced a number of challenges which affected the timely implementation of project activities. The reasons for the delays varied, including challenges with AUB administration, weather conditions during the winter season, holidays which affected the availability and responsiveness of the citizens during data collection, as well as the political situation during the time of parliamentary elections. The cumulative effect of the delays required AUB-NCC to request amendments to their activities so they would be able to effectively close-out their grant, as part of a requested no- cost extension in April 2018. Given the difficulties and delays encountered at the beginning of their project in completing their baseline assessment survey, AUB-NCC was unable to conduct their final end-of-year assessment, as initially planned in their proposal. The end-of-year assessment was crucial to measure the change achieved, in comparison with the baseline, following the activities implemented throughout the project period. As this activity was not completed, AUB-NCC was unable to provide data on the reduction of solid waste management in the targeted villages or the increase in sorting – impacting their ability to meet two of their M&E indicator targets.

On May 26, 2018, AUB-NCC organized an inter-municipal event in Baawerta to discuss solutions to environmental challenges facing the targeted municipalities based on the findings of the baseline and damage assessment activities conducted during the period of the grant. The one-day event, which also aimed at sharing the results of the assessment with the public and targeted municipalities, was attended by citizens and municipal members from Aabey, Aramoun, Baawerta, Bennay, Bsatine and Kfarmatta

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 50 municipalities who took part in the project. The event was the culmination of its thirteen-month project which included intensive data collection activities, door-to-door interviews, in addition to water, health and air assessments.

Despite the various challenges and the deviations of the initial activities, the project, which ended on June 21, 2018, was able to achieve a number of promising research results that can be built upon in the short and long runs.

Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA)

LTA has concluded their advocacy project entitled “Youth for Participatory and Accountable Municipalities” that engaged youth in advocating for participatory budget development at the municipal level. The project empowered local youth to effectively advocate for the implementation of good governance practices.

Figure 20: Youth Committees implementing their advocacy campaign on women’s empowerment. The project allowed for a shift in behavior and operations within the municipalities of Majdal Anjar (Bekaa), Chouaya (South) and Nimreen (North), and pushed towards increased public demand for institutional change through the adoption of a participatory budget. The established Youth Committees in the three regions allowed youth to directly engage with their municipalities and rendered advocacy efforts more organized and sustainable. The Youth Committees based their advocacy on the results of a needs assessment that reflected the genuine needs of the citizens and prioritized municipal projects. Targeted municipalities agreed to consider incorporating the recommendations of the Youth Committees in their next budgets. The Youth Committees’ advocacy campaigns addressed diverse topics, including women’s empowerment, education, and youth physical well-being.

The project’s final event will take place in Beirut on July 6, where all Youth Committees will meet and display their initiatives along with representatives of their respective municipalities. Each Youth Committee will present the recommendations that were proposed as a result of the project and the municipal actions that have been made in this direction.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 51 ARABIA GIS

Figure 21: AGIS launching their “Baladati” portal during an event in Jezzine in the presence of municipal and community leaders of 5 targeted municipalities

ArabiaGIS is implementing an advocacy project in partnership with Sakker el Dekkene (SeD), entitled “Baldati (my town): “An Open and Social Web-City”. The project is based on developing an online platform to engage citizens and municipalities through information-sharing and interaction between authorities and their communities. The platform provides a centralized site for municipalities to publish full information concerning their institutions, and for citizens and civil society activists to monitor municipal operations. The project is being implemented in partnership with the Union of Jezzine municipalities and targets the following municipalities: Jezzine, Roum, Bkassine, Haytoura, and Qaytouli.

On May 19, 2018, AGIS and SeD organized a launching ceremony for the online municipal platform: BALDATI - An Open Web City - at the Serail of Jezzine. The ceremony highlighted the platform’s role in ensuring transparency and accountability at the municipal level and the importance of citizens’ engagement and active participation. AGIS concluded a series of outreach activities to promote the platform and encourage more citizens to sign up and become active members during this quarter. The project is scheduled to close on time in September 2018, when all outreach activities that revolve around the new platform have concluded.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 52 Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP)

Figure 22: Closing Ceremony of LFPCP Project of “Building a Rule of Law Society”. The event took place at Lebanese Parliament Library in the presence of 5 Lebanese MPs.

LFPCP has successfully concluded its advocacy project “Building a Rule of Law Society” during a closing event that took place on June 12, 2018, within the premises of Lebanese Parliament. The project aimed at designing implementing decrees for three Lebanese Laws namely the “Food Safety” law, the law of “Protection of Confidential DNA Information for Lebanese Citizens” and the law of “Measurement and Scaling System in Lebanon Metrology”.

The three sets of decrees and decisions were produced to strengthen implementation of the three laws and will affect the lives of nearly all Lebanese citizens, especially when it comes to the quality of food and metrology. Significant advocacy efforts were exerted through studies, awareness-raising campaigns and in-depth discussions with members of parliament and ministers from different parliamentary blocks to enrich the content of decrees and decisions. LFPCP has exceeded its targets and designed nearly sixteen (16) implementing decrees. It is planned that LFPCP follows up the enactment of the decrees during the eight months to come under its new Cycle 2 grant under BALADI CAP.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 53 SKOUN

Figure 23: Skoun Press Conference on Results of their Advocacy Project

SKOUN’s advocacy project concluded successfully on June 26, 2018, exceeding its set indicator targets. The project entitled “Reinforcing the Legal Rights of People Who Use Drugs in Lebanon” advocated for the application of the principle of treatment as an alternative to prosecution. The project increased awareness and understanding of Articles 183 and 194 of the Law on Narcotics - which stipulate that an accused person can ask to be referred to treatment at the time of arrest and during investigation and prosecution. The project also advocated for increased access to fair trial practices for people arrested for drug use. As a result of Skoun’s advocacy, Lebanon’s Minister of Justice, Salim Jreissati, sent a copy of the circular he had issued on April 20, 2018, right after a conference organized by Skoun under BALADI CAP, in which he reminded judges to utilize the referral procedure. The specificity and novelty of the circular is that it mentions Article 194 of the Lebanese Narcotics Law, which states that the Public Prosecutor can halt proceedings against a person arrested for drug use and refer them to the Addiction Committee.

In practice, there have been, so far, a very small number of cases referred to the Drug Addiction Committee from Public Prosecutors. The circular thus opens the door to granting the right to treatment to the person as soon as they are arrested instead of waiting for the case to reach tribunals, which can take years and ultimately defeats the purpose of treatment.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 54 State Prosecutor, Samir Hammoud, also issued a circular that was announced during the final press conference, the latter of which took place on the “International Day Against Drug Abuse”. The circular binds all Public Prosecutors by Article 194 and allows them the possibility of referrals from the police station. State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud requested that Skoun be in charge of training other Public Prosecutors on the referral mechanism and has asked Skoun to introduce them to the work of the Drug Addiction Committee. The two circulars amount to a real policy shift that will have future repercussions on the work of Internal Security Forces, judges, CSOs working in this domain, and ultimately drug addicts. It is planned that SKOUN will receive a follow-on grant from BALADI CAP amounting to to establish Standard Operating Procedures for the Drug Addict Committee, pending- USAID approval. Soins Infirmiers et Developpement Communautaire (SIDC)

Figure 24: SIDC final closing event.

SIDC’s advocacy project concluded successfully on June 6, 2018, achieving all of its set results and indicator targets. The project addressed stigma and discrimination against women who are engaged in sex for money (WSM) in seven social/healthcare service centers. The project’s general goal was to enhance the institutional practices, policies, and programs related to the rights of this vulnerable group of women at different institutions. SIDC also raised awareness about the rights of WSMs and aimed at improving documentation of cases of abuse or violation of the rights of these vulnerable women.

Seven centers offering health and social services to vulnerable women started adopting the new policies in Sin El-Fil, Bourj Hammoud, Daoura and Naba’a believing that having such policies will ensure that the rights of vulnerable women will be protected, thus encouraging them to seek services without fear of

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 55 being discriminated against. Moreover, having written policies will ensure that all staff at the center will follow high standards while offering services to their visitors.

According to the workers in the social field, the main source of violations against the beneficiaries, particularly marginalized women, is from the community. However, this project has shown that many violations, stigmatization, and discrimination, originate from the service providers themselves.

Sub-Task 4.7: Micro-Grants to Cohort 2 CBC CSOs

Five micro-grants in the amount of each have been issued to the following CSOs: YNCA, AFDC, Skoun, LRI and Akkarouna. The approved and signed grants, which are planned to start implementation on July 1, 2018, aim to strengthen the institutional capacities of BALADI CAP Cohort 2 CSOs through the application of adopted policies and procedures, as well as learned skills and knowledge during their capacity-building program under BALADI CAP. The majority of activities under the grant applications have a strong IT component. This indicates a realization by BALADI CAP CSOs that the next phase after designing policies and procedures is to reduce administrative inefficiencies that could be a result of increased reporting requirements, as per the newly installed accounting, procurement and human resource systems. The five micro-grants will close by December 2018.

Sub-Task 4.8: USG Priority Fund

BALADI CAP has continued the implementation of its USG Priority Fund. All vendors were selected and cleared through USAID’s Vetting Program System (VPS). There remain two procurement orders to be implemented, one pertaining to the purchase of mattress covers after Halbawi was rejected by VPS. The other pertains to the installation by Mess of internal communications systems. The team is working diligently to finalize the last two procurements within the next reporting period.

ACHIEVEMENTS

CBC Component: • Launched capacity-building activities for Cohort 5 CSOs • Finalized Capacity-building cycle for Cohort 2 CSOs • Initiated planning for the graduation ceremony of Cohorts 2, 3, 4, and 5 to be held in October 2018 • Initiated CBC sustainability activities, including ToT and P2P Community of Practice, and planning for the National Conference by the Steering Committee • Initiated all remaining Gender Mainstreaming Surveys for Cohorts 3, 4 and 5 CEDG Component: • Resumed AFDC activities after a pause during the previous Y5/Q2 reporting period related to their inability to work within certain municipalities (i.e. weak internal communication and coordination between municipal staff and board members on BCAP activities, preoccupation with parliamentary elections, lack of cooperation in forming the Disaster Risk Reduction Committees).

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 56 • Launched all RMF activities full-scale for all three sub-elements • Initiated installation of financial management, websites and emails, and electronic complaint systems in targeted municipalities under the QSC grant • Started data conversion and data migration to AGIS GIS systems in targeted municipalities • Completed more than 65% percent of targeted trainings CEI Component: • Closed six out of nine grants under Cycle 1 CEI grants • Signed six additional grants under Cycle 2 CEI grants • Completed existing ISO sub-agreements and issued three follow-on ISO sub-grant agreements for continued development of CEI networks • Initiated intensive advocacy capacity-building to all CEI grantees, in cooperation with specialized STTA advocacy expert • Initiated network-building activities for all three CEI advocacy networks, in cooperation with specialized STTA networking expert • Issued five new micro-grants Communications: • Substantially increased traffic on BALADI CAP’s website, KMP and Facebook platforms • Increased frequency of posting on events on Facebook at a rate of 1 posting every 2 working days • Successfully initiated online Communities of Practice chat rooms for CSOs and municipalities • Started a municipal hotline and chatroom that answers questions on critical municipal issues in less than a week, while it could take up to 3-6 months to be handled through regular Ministry of Interior channel. • Updated website photos, slides, testimonials, and related communications

CHALLENGES

• Maintaining ongoing momentum in implementation during slow-down due to summer vacations and festivals

WAY FORWARD

• Finalize all CBC CSO deliverables by September 2018 • Follow up diligently on all grant implementation and closures

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 57 • Monitor ISO/SP work so that contracts finalize on time and within budget • Further bolster BALADI CAP’s website and KMP, and start discussing sustainability mechanisms for the KMP itself • Intensify preparations for BALADI CAP’s National Conference on CSO Accountability and Governance in coordination with the Steering Committee

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 58 USAID LEBANON FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SUCCESS STORY BALADI CAP Intervention Places Al Shouf Cedar Society at the Top of Reserves in the Mediterranean Basin

Protected areas and forest reserves of the Mediterranean basin will look to duplicate Lebanon’s Al Shouf Cedar Society’s successful internal management structure by the MedForVal network, which manages most of the ecological sites in the Mediterranean basin. They now consider ACS a pioneering partner because of their technological advancement in automating the management of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, which is the most extensive protected ecosystem in the Mediterranean region of the Middle East.

Covering about 5% of the country, the Reserve is by far the largest protected area in Lebanon, and one of the largest reserves in the Mediterranean region. It includes land covering nine villages with a staff of almost 100 employees between permanent and seasonal staff.

With such a large team covering a huge protected area, ACS discovered many gaps in the actual management of the Reserve. “We did not have proper financial management, nor an organigram that reflects each employee’s role and job description. The system was poorly organized and had many cracks. We did not know where to start from, nor how to go about it, but we were certain that things needed to change to reflect the importance and size of the Reserve.”

From that poor state of affairs three years ago, ACS achieved the most advanced management setup around the Mediterranean. The BALADI CAP program helped bring about this shift by setting up the policies and procedures with which ACS would eventually build a complete and comprehensive advanced management system. Through BALADI CAP’s interventions that focused on Financial Management, Organizational Development and Monitoring and Evaluation policies and procedures, ACS was able to take its internal practices to another level in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The mapping Community advocates from Kherbet Rouha – that BALADI CAP provided for every position, in addition to specifying job Rachaiya mapping their forest land for responsibilities, were the key that allowed for the introduction of automated classification prerequisites systems and ensured their positive impact. The tools and forms that are now used on a daily basis became the base that ACS has used to differentiate itself in its sector, through ensuring sustainable internal practices and guaranteeing operational continuity.

“At first we were mind-boggled with the hundreds of forms that we had to fill out. But we quickly realized the potential of a mechanism that will facilitate every person’s work from the top management to the forest guards and rangers, who all benefitted with new skills that made their work much easier especially after everything was tailored based on ACS’s unique business needs on the SharePoint application.” BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 59

USAID LEBANON FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SUCCESS STORY

USAID SUPPORTS LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO PROTECT THEIR FORESTS Kherbet Rouha, a small town with a big forest in the heart of the Bekaa Valley, is adamant in having their forest officially classified as “Forest Land”. A team of green advocates worked closely with the municipality to energize the environment committee to both protect and manage their forest. In January 2018, a forest guard was appointed, which was a first step toward providing protection for the forest. In March and April, the committee sent an official request to have their forest recognized at the government level.

“Protecting the forest of Kherbet Rouha is my major priority. Preserving God’s treasure to us is our duty,” said Mohammad Al Tasseh, the head of the municipality of Kherbet Rouha.

Kherbet Rouha is a town in the Rachaiya District of Lebanon known for its huge forestry land that covers 1,437 hectares, around one third of its total area. Community advocates trained on “How to Organize Advocacy Campaigns” is 32 years old and a resident of Kherbet Rouha, who works as an employee at the municipality. is known for his activism, specifically toward the environment.

Today, and the environmental advocates of Kherbet Rouha are awaiting the classification of their forestry lands after successfully convincing their municipal council of the need for this environmental protection. The green team of advocates did not stop there though, as they have worked closely with the municipality to activate their municipal environmental committee to better protect and manage their forest. And now, with a hired forest guard, every citizen of the town has become aware of the need to protect the forest to prevent any kind of violation.

“This land is our home and our dignity. We will try as much as possible to preserve this land to guarantee our existence and push the new generation to preserve it as we did. We hope to convince people of our achievements and be able to push other villages to imitate us,” said .

Community advocates from Kherbet Rouha – From May 2017 - May 2018, the I-DVOCATE project funded by USAID, Rachaiya mapping their forest land for through the BALADI CAP program, cooperated with three local communities classification prerequisites in Lebanon to stop violations on forest lands. The project was able to activate the work of the environmental committee, appoint a forest guard in the villages of Kherbet Rouha, Ehmej and Baadaran, request the classification of forest lands, and strengthen the municipalities’ relationships with the forest protection authorities.

BALADI CAP Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-268-A-13-00002 Quarterly Report 18, Year 5, Quarter 3 (April – June 2018) 60