Quarterly Project Progress Report Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation Phase II July-September 2015 UNDP-JAPAN Partnership Fund TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. BASIC PROJECT INFORMATION….………………..………………………...…..….2 2. SUMMARY …………….……………………………………………..………….…....3 3. KEY RESULTS…………………………………….…………………………………....4 4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING ………………..…….....................19 5. RISKS/ CONSTRAINTS/MITIGATION MEASURES……………....……..…….…….20 6. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ……………..………...……..……….………………..21 7. KEY EXPECTED OUTPUTS IN THE NEXT QUARTER………..………………..……22 ANNEX: ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS………………..…………………….23 1 Quarterly Project Progress Report STEP II PROJECT Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation Phase II July-September 2015 1 Basic Project Information Project Title: UNDP Project ID 00090901 Project Duration 3 years (January 2015-December 2017) Reporting Period July-September 2015 Total Approved Project Budget 813,740 USD Participating UN agencies - Implementing Partners/ Prince of Songkla University, Southern Border National collaborating agencies Provinces Administration Centre. Office of the National Security Council, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior International collaborating agencies - Donors CPR/TTF (Conflict Prevention and Recovery) JAPAN-UNDP Partnership Fund TRAC 1.1.3 UNDP Contact officer 1. Wisoot Tantinan, Programme Specialist 2.Naruedee Janthasing, Senior Project Manager Project website http://step.psu.ac.th/ Project Objectives: The STEP II Project’s overall objective is “to foster a resilient society in the southern border provinces of Thailand through expanding participatory planning and sustainable livelihood activities, a holistic approach to justice, and progress towards [a] peaceful society.” Within Thailand’s development context, the project seeks to integrate peace building and conflict prevention elements in order to achieve the following specific objectives: To broaden peace processes with inclusive participation of all peace networks. To enable vulnerable groups to access effective legal services and receive quality legal protection from key duty bearers To empower key communities in need with skills and resources to successfully establish and manage community development initiatives based on locally appropriate and sustainable practices that contribute to improved human security and social cohesion. This project consists of three outputs: Output 1 (Broader participation in peace processes through strengthened capacity of local 2 peace networks and through better access to information) aims to support and broaden the peace building process (horizontal peace building). Output 2 (Vulnerable groups empowered to access justice with support of key institutions and networks) seeks to ensure that vulnerable people can access legal assistance and that a holistic approach to justice is applied to assist those affected by the conflict. Output 3 (Local communities more resilient, with stronger social cohesion, through the improvement of livelihoods) seeks to build social cohesion through inclusivity and participation in community livelihood projects. STEP II expands its small grants programme from STEP I, focusing on three following aspects: 1) Livelihoods and community development 2) Holistic legal empowerment 3) Participatory planning with local authorities, in a minimum of eight communities/sub- projects 2. Summary From July to September 2015, the activities to broaden peace processes with inclusive participation of all peace networks have produced great results. The Institute of Peace Studies (IPS) and its partners achieved key goals which included (1) Development of Local media for broadened communication on peace in the Deep South through various activities to promote three components of knowledge (i.e. peace process, Melayu language, and communication) (2) Promotion and dissemination of alternative media to enhance communication networks and encourage access to information by extending more accessible spaces for information about the Deep South vis-à-vis discourse on the existing peace process (3) Establishment of Academic Learning Center on Community Peace in three provinces (Safety Net: Kampong Damai) which aims to open political, democratic, and safety space for people to participate in peace building in potential communities in the three southernmost provinces. (4) Building the capacity of local leaders to exercize a firm command on positive peace components (i.e. justice, equality, and autonomy) with the expectation that local leaders will recognize the importance of participating in the peace-building process and feel empowered to do so. (5) Conducting trainings and workshops under the auspices of various organizations on the peace process for local communities and fleshing out peace networks (6) Promotion of Insider Peacebuilders’ Platform (IPP), which for years has been a platform for NGOs/CSOs to meet on a regular basis and discuss peace and conflict in the Deep South, in order to develop a joint roadmap to settle the conflict peacefully. IPP also encourages all parties to establish a safety zone for the fragile peace through close collaboration with academic institutions and civil society organisations in the region. The activities to empower vulnerable groups to access justice in this reporting period continue to focus on the development of an Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) Manual. The College of Islamic Studies (CIS) collected data on ADR practices in Kelantan state in Malaysia and Aceh in Indonesia for comparative studies. After the data was collected and an ADR prototype drafted, a focus group of eminent scholars, 3 local community leaders and religious leaders enumerated and categorized dispute resolution mechanisms, with special attention paid to the divergence of social and religious backgrounds of local people in the region, that may be compatible with the social context of Deep South. The ADR manual is expected to be finalized by December 2016. Another key activity to promote access to justice in this reporting period was supporting Heart Support Group (Duay Jai), an NGO located in Songkhla working to empower families (Women and children) of detainees charged of national security offences in the Deep South. The STEP II project initiated discussion with Duay Jai with the aim of providing a small grant to the group in order to facilitate its aims, i.e. empowerment of detainees’ families on access to justice, to provide legal aid to the detainees through capacity building activities, and to support the detainees’ families through various activities including family visits. In addition, July to September was a productive period for local community projects supported by small grants; the eight local community groups selected by the small grant committee have made significant progress in starting up their project. Most of them have sacrificed their time and energy to move their project forward based on each group’s specific needs and skills. Some have manufactured their products and begun selling them at local markets. Others are still in the process of obtaining health certificates for their factories. As the capabilities of community-enterprise management or project implementation of each local community group are at different levels, some projects have moved slowly and while others more quickly. However, despite these discrepancies, all of them have been consistently supported and advised by the consultants according to their needs. Additionally, the involvement of local government agencies in development of the aforementioned livelihood-improvement projects was augmented. Various local government agencies such as Sub-district Administrative Organisations, Non-Formal and Informal Education (ONIE), District Livestock Development Office, Provincial Public Heath Office, and Provincial Community Development Office have been invited to provide assistance and consultation to local community groups. The involved local governments have demonstrated responsiveness and accountability to local communities, and this participation has built a positive relationship between the two which will further strengthen cooperation and trust among them. To connect all local community groups, a platform called “Small Grantees Meeting” was established to provide an opportunity and a comfort zone to local community groups through which they may present their projects’ progress and share experiences and lessons learned while running their projects. This will help foster social cohesion between Buddhist and Muslim communities and promote sustainable livelihood development. 3. Key Results This section covers key achievements from 1 July to 30 September 2015 based on the following three outputs of the STEP II Project: Output 1: Participation in peace processes are broadened through strengthened capacity of local peace networks and better access to information. In this quarter, there was a change of director of the Institute for Peace Studies (IPS), an implementing partner. Asst. Prof. Dr. Bussabong Chaijaroenwatana, the Director 4 of IPS, has been appointed as the Dean of Faculty of Management Sciences and has been in the position since the 1st of October 2015. Assistant Prof. Dr. Wichai Kanchanasuwon has been appointed as the new director of the IPS. He obtained a B.A. in Policy and Administration from Thammasat University in Thailand, an M.P.A. in Political Science from Texas Southern U., U.S.A., and a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of North Texas, U.S.A. Even though there