DRC) INTEGRATED GOVERNANCE ACTIVITY (IGA) – QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2021 Quarter Two: January 1 – March 31, 2021
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC) INTEGRATED GOVERNANCE ACTIVITY (IGA) – QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2021 Quarter Two: January 1 – March 31, 2021 This publication was produced by IGA under Contract No. AID-660-C-17-00001 at the request of the United States Agency for International Development. This document is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the author or authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. Government. Program Title: Integrated Governance Activity (IGA) Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID DRC Contract Number: AID-660-C-17-00001 Contractor: DAI Global, LLC Date of Publication: April 30, 2021 This publication was produced by IGA under Contract No. AID-660-C-17-00001 at the request of the United States Agency for International Development. This document is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the author or authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. Government. CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 2 ACTIVITY OVERVIEW / SUMMARY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 SUMMARY OF RESULTS TO DATE 7 EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT STATUS AND/OR PLANS 10 ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS 13 INTEGRATION OF CROSSCUTTING ISSUES AND USAID FORWARD PRIORITIES 33 STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION AND INVOLVEMENT 45 MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES 46 MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING 46 SPECIAL EVENTS FOR NEXT QUARTER 48 HOW USAID IGA HAS ADDRESSED A/COR COMMENTS FROM THE LAST QUARTERLY OR SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT 48 FINANCIAL SUMMARY 48 ANNEXES 49 ANNEX A. COMMUNICATIONS & OUTREACH MESSAGES 49 ANNEX B. TECHNICAL MATERIALS 49 ANNEX C. SUCCESS STORIES 49 USAID.GOV IGA QUARTERLY REPORT – Q2 FY2021 | 1 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Accelere Access-Reading-Accountability-Retention AMALDEFEA Association des Mamans pour la Lutte Contre la Délinquance Féminine et l’Encadrement des Enfants Abandonnés ANAPECO National Association of Parents and Pupils of the Congo (Association Nationale des parents et Elèves du Congo) CARG Conseil Agricole Rurale de Gestion (Rural Agricultural Management Advisory Group) CBO Community-based Organization CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy CNONG National Council of NGOs (Conseil National des ONG) CO Contracting Officer CODESA Comité de Développement de l’Aire de Sante (Community Health Committees) COGE Comité de Gestion (Management Committee) COP Chief of Party COPA Comité des Parents (Parents’ Committee) COPACO Confédération Paysanne au Congo) (The Peasant Confederation) COREF Comité d’Orientation de la Reforme des Finances Publiques (Financial Reform Steering Committee) CSO Civil Society Organization DCOP Deputy Chief of Party DPS Divisions Provinciales de Santé (Provincial Health Division) DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo EPSP Primary, Secondary, and Professional Education ETD Decentralized Territorial Entities IE Impact Evaluation IGA Integrated Governance Activity IPM Minimum Personal Tax IPS Inspection Provinciale de la Santé (Provincial Health Inspectorate) LIFDED Women's League for Sustainable Development (Ligue des femmes pour le développement durable M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MEL Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning MELP Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan ODEP Observatoire de la dépense publique (The Public Expenditure Observatory) PBG Programme de Bonne Gouvernance (Good Governance Program) PEA Political and Economic Analysis PICAL Participatory Institutional Capacity and Learning PIRS Performance Indicator Reference Sheets PPP Public Private Partnership TIP Trafficking in Persons USAID United States Agency for International Development USAID.GOV IGA QUARTERLY REPORT – Q2 FY2021 | 2 ACTIVITY OVERVIEW / SUMMARY TABLE 1: USAID IGA ACTIVITY OVERVIEW ACTIVITY NAME: Integrated Governance Activity January 09,2017 Activity Start Date: January 08, 2022 Activity End Date: Name of Prime Implementing Partner: DAI Global LLC AID-660-C-17-00001 Contract Number: Name of Subcontractors/Sub awardees: Mobile Accord, Inc. (GeoPoll), Integrity Reporting Period: January 1 – March 31, 2021 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Integrated Governance Activity’s (IGA) quarter ended with the tragic and sudden death of long time Chief of Party, Toby Vaughan, on March 26. Condolences were received from colleagues on the project and representatives of its many partners, the USAID Mission Director and U.S. Ambassador to DRC, and from the very many with whom he had crossed paths over the last 40 years within the Congo, as well as his family and friends from the U.S. and elsewhere. During this time, the project continues to combine its achievements in terms of helping its partners become more self-reliant, transparent, and accountable. Part of the impetus for this has come from the need to increase revenues through an expanded and more efficient tax system to finance projects proposed in the Local Development Plans that each decentralized territorial entity (ETD) prepared, meaning the initiative is coming from within communities. This is coupled with training for tax collectors to make them more efficient and customer-friendly and improved financial management will strengthen the finances of the ETDs. Important innovations in this respect are the creation of financial management support teams consisting of officials who have achieved good results in their own ETDs in Sud-Kivu and Haut Katanga/Lualaba. Work during the quarter contributed to many important USAID objectives. There is inevitable overlap between them, but the listing below illustrates how USAID IGA is contributing to each one. ANTI-CORRUPTION Throughout the management of local services to which USAID IGA has contributed, transparency, combined with a program to strengthen the voice and power of civil society is one of the main objectives. There can be little doubt that transparency and citizen oversight inhibit corruption. Multiple tools are used to achieve this, including participatory budgeting and the installation of joint community/ETD USAID.GOV IGA QUARTERLY REPORT – Q2 FY2021 | 3 committees to oversee public expenditure and strengthening of the oversight committees in schools and health centers. Workshops to encourage taxpayer awareness were held in the Commune of Bipemba, Mbuji Mayi, the Commune of Vulamba, Butembo; Commune of Bagira, Bukavu; and the Commune of Dibindi, Mbuji Mayi, and the Secteur of Kabala, Kasai Oriental. Joint civil society and public sector workshops to discuss ways of increasing revenue were held in the Commune of Kimemi, Butembo, the Commune of Kadutu in Bukavu, the Chefferies of Kaziba and Ngweshe and the Chefferie of Bayeke, Lualaba. Training in the field of public financial management, aimed at ensuring that all receipts are auditable and properly accounted for, took place at the Chefferies of Bayeke, Lualaba and Ngweshe, Sud-Kivu and the Secteur of Lufuba, Lualaba. Meetings to discuss how drugs were priced in health centers were held in the Communes of Nganza, Ndesha and Kalemba, Kananga and Likasi. SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability has many components; one is financial strength under which the ETD or facility has a reasonable expectation of regular revenues. Two aspects of USAID IGA’s work are devoted to this objective. The first is the strengthening of finances through the identification and collection of new revenues. Many of these objectives were shared in the workshops referred to above in terms of raising tax awareness. Workshops to strengthen finances were held in the Communes of Bipemba, Mbuji Mayi; Vulamba and Kimemi, Butembo; and Kadutu, and Bagira, Bukavu; as well as the Chefferie of Kaziba, Sud- Kivu. The royalties received from mines located within the boundaries of the ETDs has made a huge difference in eleven ETDs. USAID IGA established a system whereby recipient ETDs prepare local development plans, annual investment plans, and participatory budgets to ensure that the funds received are fully accounted for and the ETDs finances have a strong and sustainable footing. The second is improvements in financial management. This was also covered in the workshops listed above, as well as a new idea for Health Centers to establish a revolving fund that can be used for repairs and maintenance. Musienene Health Zone, Butembo pioneered this approach. Workshops held in the four neighboring health zones helped to advance this concept more widely. Another goal was for the USAID IGA systems and events put in (such as participatory budget events) to be affordable for the partner (whether ETD, health center or school) without external assistance. This is a firm principle of USAID IGA as it manages its workshops with minimal overheads and pays only extremely moderate out-of-pocket expenses (such as the transport allowance given to participants of $5.00) – an unpopular decision with participants, but one that is sustainable. Aligned with the previous goal is the third principle which is to establish systems put in place by USAID IGA that are managed without external expertise. Increasingly, officials are being used as trainers, in workshops on school auditing and other activities. During the quarter these workshops occurred in Katoka Commune, Kananga, Bakwa Kalonji Chefferie, Kasai Oriental, and Likasi. Local non-governmental USAID.GOV IGA QUARTERLY REPORT – Q2 FY2021 | 4 organizations (NGOs) facilitated workshops, for example, two CODESA training workshops with health centers