Fostering Accountability and Transparency (FACT) in Zambia Quarterly Report January 1 to March 31, 2018 A community school in Chief Sandwe receives tree seedlings Submission Date: April 30, 2018 Submitted by: Belma Ejupovic, Vice President-Programs Agreement Number: Counterpart International AID-611-14-L-00001 2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 301 Arlington, VA 22202 USA Submitted to: Tel: 571-447-5700 Edward DeMarco, USAID Zambia AOR Email: [email protected] This document was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development, Zambia (USAID/Zambia). It was prepared by Counterpart International. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AOR Agreement Officer’s Representative ART Anti-Retroviral Treatment COMACO Community Markets for Conservation COP Country Operational Plan (PEPFAR) CRB Community Resource Boards CSPR Civil Society for Poverty Reduction CSO Civil Society Organization DAC District Advocacy Committee DDCC District Development Coordinating Committee DEBS District Education Board Secretary DESO District Education Standards Officer DHMT District Health Management Team ESSP Education and Skills Sector Plan FACT Fostering Accountability and Transparency GRZ Government of the Republic of Zambia HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ICT Information and Communications Technology LAG Lobbying and Advocacy Group LWA Leader with Associates Award MCH Maternal and Child Health MoGE Ministry of General Education NAPA National Adaptation Program of Action NDP National Development Plan NHC Neighborhood Health Committee OD Organizational Development PCSC Parent Community School Committee PEPFAR President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief PODA Participatory Organizational Development Assessment PTA Parent Teacher Association REFLECT Regenerative Freirian Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques RFA Request for Applications RICAP Rise Community Aid Program 7NDP Seventh National Development Plan SMAG Safe Motherhood Action Group TALC Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign USG United States Government USAID United States Agency for International Development WECSZ Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia WFC Women for Change ZANEC Zambian National Education Coalition ZINGO Zambia Interfaith Networking Group ZOCS Zambia Open Community School 2 | P a g e TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................2 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................4 1.2 Program Description/Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Summary of Key Accomplishments during Reporting Period ............................................................ 7 II. PROGRAM AND ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS .......................................8 2.1 Implementation Status ........................................................................................................................ 8 Objective 1: Strengthen capacity of local CSOs to enhance delivery and oversight of public service delivery in the education, health/HIV, sustainable rural livelihoods and environment sectors ............... 8 Objective 2: Improved engagement between citizens and government service providers in the education, health/HIV, sustainable rural livelihoods and environment sectors to improve service delivery………………………………….. .............................................................................................. 12 III. PROGRAM PRIORITIES FOR NEXT QUARTER ............................................................. 17 Objective 1: Strengthen capacity of local CSOs to enhance delivery and oversight of public service delivery in the education, health/HIV, sustainable rural livelihoods and environment sectors ............ 17 Objective 2: Improved engagement between citizens and government service providers in the education, health/HIV, sustainable rural livelihoods and environment sectors to improve service delivery …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17 IV. INTEGRATION OF CROSSCUTTING ISSUES ............................................................... 18 4.1 USAID Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy ......................................................... 18 V. COLLABORATING, LEARNING AND ADAPTING ....................................................... 18 5.1 Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing with other USAID Activities ............................................... 18 5.2 Collaboration and Coordination with other Key Stakeholders ....................................................... 19 5.3 Program Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 20 5.4 Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................................ 20 5.5 Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (MELP) Update ............................................................... 21 5.6 Adaptive Management ....................................................................................................................... 21 VI.AGREEMENT MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................. 21 6.1 Management/Administration ............................................................................................................. 21 6.2 Financial Management ....................................................................................................................... 21 Annex A: FACT CSO Partners ................................................................................................... 23 Annex B: FY18 Indicators Performance Table ......................................................................... 24 Annex C: Success Stories ............................................................................................................ 28 3 | P a g e I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During this quarter, FACT partners continued to contribute to broaden civic space for citizen participation through several interventions. Notable among these was the discussion on decentralization and the opportunity that it presents for enhanced citizen and civic organization participation. Rise Community Aid Program (RICAP) conducted targeted trainings and community sensitization in the four wards in Kafue district, a key priority district for decentralization in Lusaka province. In recognition of RICAP’s contribution, they were elected as ex-officio on the four Ward Development Committees (WDC). The organization has managed to influence the inclusion of youth and persons with disability on the committees to ensure equal representation. The WDCs represent the lowest decision-making body at district level. In the same period, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) continued partnering with key government ministries to monitor and enhance citizen participation in national level policy framing and implementation. This has resulted in the agreement to design and administer a score card that will be rolled out twice a year to examine the state of implementation of the citizen participation and enabling governance environment as a key element in the successful implementation of the 7NDP. The score card presents civil society, government and other stakeholders an immense opportunity to monitor and track progress on the implementation of the 7NDP with respect to level and depth of citizen participation, something that has been a concern over the years. Through its capacity strengthening activities, FACT completed Participatory Organizational Development Assessments (PODA) with four partners, Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC), Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC), Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), and the Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASD). A media training was also conducted for all FACT partners to explore the opportunities for media engagement, broaden CSO visibility as a channel for capturing diverse audiences and broaden their civic education outreach work. During the training, partners developed clear action plans, with COMACO, RICAP and Zambia Inter-Faith Networking Group (ZINGO) expressing a desire for additional support to help them create robust relationships with various media agencies and better media outreach activities. FACT will follow up with the partners next quarter. FACT continued to build its external relationships as a way of strengthening the influencing work and better understanding of the contextual environment in which accountable governance is pursued. Notable under this period is the engagement on the social accountability strategy of the Ministry of Health, sharing experiences with other like-minded organizations, and creating better links with other USAID projects. There is more heightened understanding of FACT’s work, and how it might support similar social accountability initiatives within Zambia. 4 | P a g e 1.2 Program Description/Introduction In September 2014, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-611-14-L-00001, under the Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement No. DFD-A-00-09-00141-00, to Counterpart International (Counterpart) to implement the Fostering Accountability and Transparency (FACT) in Zambia program. FACT is a 5½-year, $6.4 million program that