Tunisia Resilience and Community Empowerment Activity 2019/2020 Annual Performance Report September 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020
Submission Date: October 30, 2020
Agreement Number: 72066418CA00001 Activity Start Date and End Date: SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 to AUGUST 31, 2023 AOR Name: Hind Houas
Submitted by: J. Patrick Folliard-O’Mahony, Chief of Party FHI360 Tanit Business Center, Ave de la Fleurs de Lys, Lac 2 1053 Tunis, Tunisia Tel: (+216) 58 52 56 20 Email: [email protected]
This document was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development.
July 2008 1 CONTENTS
Acronyms and Abbreviations ...... 3 Executive Summary ...... 1 Project Overview ...... 3 Ma3an’s Purpose ...... 3 Context ...... 4 Year 2 Results...... 6 OBJECTIVE 1: Youth are equipped with skills and engaged in civic actions with local actors to address their communities’ needs ...... 7 Big picture analysis 7 Results analysis 8 OBJECTIVE 2: Enhanced capabilities to prevent and counter violent extremism ...... 16 Big picture analysis 16 Results analysis 17 OBJECTIVE 3: Tunisian communities have sustained mechanisms and processes for collaborative action ...... 20 Big picture analysis 20 Results analysis 21 Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning ...... 25 Monitoring ...... 25 Quantitative data collection and visualization 26 Qualitative data collection 26 Evaluation...... 27 Social Network Analysis Baseline 27 Capacity for Resilience Baseline 28 Learning ...... 29 What Ma3an Partners tell us 29 Sharing the Learning 30 Comparison of Actual Expenditures with Budget Estimates ...... 32 Annexes ...... 33 Annex 1A: Tunisia VE Assessment Key Findings Brief ...... 33 Annex 1B: Tunisia VE Assessment Report ...... 33 Annex 1C: VE Community Snapshots...... 33 Annex 2: Community Support Activities (Phase 2 Communities) ...... 34 Annex 3: Proposed Community Support Activities (Phase 3 Communities) ...... 35 Annex 4: Performance Management Plan ...... 37 Annex 5: Covid-19 Contributions of Ma3an Youth and Partners ...... 37 Annex 6: Year 2 USAID Learning blog Posts ...... 37 Annex 7: Year 2 Success Stories ...... 37
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
AO Agreement Officer AOR Agreement Officer’s Representative CLA Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting CNLCT Commission Nationale de la Lutte Contre le Terrorisme CONECT Confédération des Entreprises Citoyennes de Tunisie CRA Community Resilience Activities CRC Community Resilience Committee CSA Community Support Activity CSAP Collaborative Stakeholders Action Planning CSL Community Service Learning CSO Civil Society Organization CSR Corporate Social Responsibility CYM Community Youth Mapping GOT Government of Tunisia IACE L'Institut Arabe des Chefs d'Entreprises IREX International Research and Exchange Board L2D Learn to Discern LP Local Partner MEL Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning P/CVE Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism PIS Professional Insight Day PPD Public Private Dialogue PPI Partner Process Interviews PYD Positive Youth Development RFA Request for Applications SFCG Search for Common Ground SNA Social Network Analysis SOLVE Solutions to Violent Extremism TOT Training of Trainers USAID United States Agency for International Development VE Violent Extremism VScan Vulnerability Scan Y1 Year 1 Y2 Year 2 Y3 Year 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Ma3an project partners with Tunisia’s national and subnational government, civil society, and local communities to create sustained mechanisms and processes for collaborative action to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE). In Year 2 (Y2), Ma3an worked across 33 Tunisian communities to build the capacity of youth, civil society, and local authorities to develop and implement locally-led and context-specific P/CVE solutions that confront the causes of violent extremism (VE), and create alternative options and narratives for youth vulnerable to radicalization.
In Y2, Ma3an adapted programming to contend with the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, political uncertainty with several changes of government, and acts of VE, including the March 2020 suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Tunis. Throughout quarters 2, 3 and 4, in response to COVID-19, Ma3an adapted to the Government of Tunisia (GoT) mandated nationwide curfews, bans on public gatherings, transportation, and travel restrictions, and the closure of schools, mosques and businesses by pivoting to delivering approximately 60% of Ma3an programming virtually, and delivering other capacity building activities in larger spaces with reduced numbers of participants wearing face masks and social distancing. Notwithstanding these challenges, Ma3an achieved several Y2 performance targets.
In Y2, Ma3an equipped youth with the skills required to collaborate with civil society and local authorities to mitigate youth vulnerability to radicalization and extremism in their respective communities. In the process, Ma3an developed youth agency and leadership while tapping into youth assets and potential and their desire to support the most vulnerable youth at risk in their community. Specifically, in 12 target communities, partnering with 11 local civil society organizations (CSOs), Ma3an engaged 360 marginalized youth to complete community youth mapping activities to identify and prioritize community-based vulnerabilities to extremism and radicalization and brought together 520 stakeholders in 12 collaborative stakeholder action planning (CSAP) workshops to identify P/CVE solutions to address vulnerabilities. These workshops catalyzed ideas for implementing 36 to 48 local P/CVE solutions in 12 target communities. Ma3an is also completing additional community support activities in Phase 2 communities by refurbishing 12 safe community spaces that provide opportunities and services for youth, including youth centers, outdoor spaces such as parks, and sports, cultural, and recreational spaces, while ensuring spaces and infrastructure are accessible to persons with disabilities.
In Y2, Ma3an also selected 16 new local partner CSOs in target communities in Tunis, Ben Arous, Medenine, Gafsa, Tataouine, and Kasserine governorates and prepared the Ma3an capacity building tool that, starting in Year 3 (Y3), will be used to build local CSO capacity to deliver P/CVE programming. In Y2, 55 Ma3an Youth Mentors engaged 600 youth in 42 face-to-face and online activities and more than 179 mentoring sessions, exceeding the Y2 target number. Cohort 1 Youth Mentors built momentum as their events and trainings gained credibility and popularity among youth in five target communities. The increased referrals for youth mentoring sessions also led to Ma3an exceeding the target number of mentoring sessions. Throughout its interventions, Ma3an aimed for inclusion and gender parity achieving a near balanced ratio of male to female representation in 105 events to date. Over 40,000 Ma3an Facebook members now engage with youth across Tunisia contributing to growing a culture of youth civic participation and community engagement.
In Y2, in collaboration with USAID, the Ma3an team modified programming to increase focus on building the capacity of local actors – both state and non-state partners at the national and sub-national level – to prevent and counter VE through activities that generate and share knowledge and understanding of the threat of VE and build and strengthen relationships and networks among P/CVE actors. Recognizing the need for P/CVE
Page 1 of 37 efforts to be contextualized, Ma3an completed two primary analytical products in Y2: (1) the Violent Extremism Drivers and Dynamics Assessment that focused on a broad analysis of the VE context, dynamics, drivers, and responses across Tunisia; and (2) the Violent Extremism Drivers and Dynamics Community Snapshots which examined how drivers and dynamics manifest in 10 target communities. These two products (found in Annex 1B-C) will inform and guide future Tunisian P/CVE interventions. This analysis drew on secondary data from 145 resources in addition to primary data from 42 Key Informant Interviews with P/CVE experts or stakeholders including in Ma3an target communities. The analysis focused particularly on data that covers key recent developments – including the start and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic – to ensure that Ma3an’s own P/CVE programming and that of the partners it is supporting is responsive, targeted, and appropriate to the current context in Tunisia. In addition, Ma3an began preparations for its capacity building support to the Commission Nationale de la Lutte Contre le Terrorisme (CNLCT), Ma3an’s GoT institutional partner. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and political developments in Tunisia resulted in postponing to the beginning of Y3 the consultations with the CNCLT to prioritize Ma3an’s capacity building support to the Commission, including developing and implementing a capacity building plan for the 48 CNCLT local representatives, a P/CVE toolkit, and opportunities for knowledge and expertise exchange with other P/CVE actors.
In Y2, Ma3an continued its work to ensure Tunisian state and non-state actors and communities have sustained mechanisms and processes for collaborative action in P/CVE. In the past year, notwithstanding severe economic deterioration due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ma3an continued to enhance the knowledge and skills of public and private sector actors to support local community-based P/CVE activities through corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. In Y2, Ma3an held ten CSR workshops attended by 205 participants. Ma3an has also intentionally tried to link CSR to other community collaboration and sustainability efforts in Ma3an communities. Ma3an also leveraged the use of social media to raise awareness of the importance and relevance of CSR in Tunisia’s business community and produced six videos that were posted on Facebook that explained CSR values and principles and the benefits accruing to companies adopting CSR, as well as the positive impact it can have on the community. These videos reached close to 80,000 people. In Y2, Ma3an also promoted Public-Private Dialogues (PPDs) as an important tool for advancing the sustainability of Ma3an’s community-based P/CVE model by holding five PPDs attracting 119 participants.
Page 2 of 37
PROJECT OVERVIEW Ma3an’s Purpose Ma3an’s purpose is to work with Tunisia’s national and subnational government, civil society and local communities to prevent and counter VE. Ma3an’s support to the GoT is anchored in the CNLCT, in order to create sustained mechanisms and processes for collaborative action for P/CVE.
Ma3an (meaning ‘all together’ in Arabic) works in 33 communities across Tunisia (see Figure 2) to build the capacity of youth, civil society, and local authorities to combine efforts to develop and implement locally-led and context-specific activities. These activities are designed to confront the causes of VE and create alternative options and narratives for youth vulnerable to radicalization and VE.
Ma3an is a five-year (2018-2023) project funded by USAID and implemented by FHI 360 in collaboration with IREX and local implementing partners in Ma3an communities.
Ma3an’s proposed revised objectives are in Figure 1, Figure 1. Ma3an Objectives (Revised in Y2) and the revised Theory of Change states: IF Ma3an (in partnership with the Government of Tunisia) equips youth and Tunisian state and non-state actors -with the knowledge, skills and practices- to contextualize and collectively confront what makes communities and individuals susceptible to drivers and dynamics of violent extremism, THEN these Tunisian actors, especially youth, will be capable to design, implement and sustain locally-led efforts that serve to mitigate the drivers and dynamics of violent extremism.
Figure 2: Map of Ma3an implementation communities
Page 3 of 37
Context The Y2 implementation context was significantly affected by three key developments and trends affecting Tunisian communities: COVID-19, violent extremism, and political developments. This section summarizes those trends, how implementation of Ma3an activities was impacted, and how our team adapted to them.
COVID-19: In the past year, Tunisians’ struggles and dissatisfaction with the economic, social, and political affairs were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, towards the end of Y2 Q2, the Tunisian National Security Council put measures in place to respond to the growing COVID-19 global pandemic, including a nationwide curfew, bans on public gatherings, transportation and travel restrictions, and the closure of schools, mosques, businesses, and restaurants. With the COVID-19 pandemic-related health and safety restrictions in place by late March, our staff began remote work and effectively pivoted to implement some key events and trainings virtually in the third quarter of Year 2. Ma3an Youth were also actively involved in the COVID-19 response in Ma3an communities, undertaking independent initiatives to raise awareness and mitigate the impact of the pandemic by activities like making masks and distributing equipment to help medical personnel do their work; their activities are detailed in Annex 5. FHI 360 also invested significant resources to streamline administrative actions to facilitate processing requests at multiple levels and updated internal policies to try to mitigate administrative and banking related delays. As the number of infections began to drop, the Tunisian government announced in May that restrictions would begin to ease and on June 8, 2020, the government issued an order lifting all COVID-19 restrictions and the nationwide curfew.1 As restrictions were eased in relevant Ma3an communities, Ma3an conducted trainings in larger spaces with a reduced number of participants who wore face masks and kept a safe distance from one another. Ma3an’s in-person activities resumed starting in July 2020. However, it should be noted that September and October brought evidence that COVID-19 is not abating in Tunisia and we therefore anticipate that it will continue to impact Ma3an activities and timelines in the foreseeable future.
Violent extremism continues to be a threat in Tunisia. Although Tunisia has seen a relative decline in domestic attacks since 2015 when national acts of terror reached a peak of 81 total deaths,2 the VE threat remains and continues to evolve in Tunisia. Lone-wolf attacks have been increasingly common in Tunisia in recent years, particularly in urban areas. For example, the March 2020 bombing near the United States Embassy in Tunis and other attempted or actual attacks this year have been unclaimed and deemed as “isolated” incidents. Most recently, a knife attack in Sousse on September 6, 2020 by three assailants (all of whom were killed) left one police officer dead and another wounded but has also not been tied to a specific group.3 The VE Assessment (2020) conducted by Ma3an in Q4 of Y2 (see Annex 1B) examined the current drivers and dynamics of VE at both the national level and in selected target communities and the responses by government and non-government actors to prevent and counter VE. With Ma3an’s shift in Y2 to focus more explicitly on P/CVE, our activities are aiming to address and mitigate the drivers and dynamics of VE in 33 of the Tunisian communities considered to be most vulnerable to VE.
Political developments within increasing dissatisfaction with the state. During the second year of Ma3an, socioeconomic disparaties and a lagging economy fueled Tunisian citizens’ dissatisfaction with the state and the political establishment that is running it. This rising dissatisfaction was exacerbated by and is impacting a number of key changes in the political scene in Tunisia described below. For Ma3an, the political changes led to some delays due to turn over and uncertainty preventing decisions and actions from the project’s national level government counterparts. We mitigated these delays as best as possible by maintaining close contacts with government contacts and working closely with USAID to ensure that we were following up with new government appointees as soon as they were in place. Some delays, however,
1 “Levée progressive du confinement en Tunisie,” BBC, May 4, 2020. 2 “Specter of jihadism continues to haunt Maghreb.” 3 “Tunisia: Policeman and three militants dead after 'terrorist' attack,” BBC News, September 6, 2020.
Page 4 of 37 were unavoidable related to the civic engagement activities and the P/CVE capacity building activities with the CNLCT. ▪ Many voters turn to a President from outside the established political system: At the start of Y2, the presidential election brought to power Kais Saied, an outsider whose campaign was driven by the funds and efforts of youth supporters. Young people – many of whom have felt disengaged from the political system - were the cornerstone of his campaign and were drawn to Saied’s promises to lead the country openly and honestly and help Tunisia recover from the stagnation it has fallen into due to the elite’s failure to deliver concrete electoral promises and their preoccupation with political conflicts. President Saied won with 72.71% of the vote, including 90% of the votes of young people.4 The relatively high voter turnout for this election - reaching 55% in the second round - was a potential sign that some hope was being restored in the political process and that young people are ready to act and take initiative to bring about changes they believe in. However, the parliamentary elections that followed saw a drop in voter turnout and the ensuing political instability has negatively impacted public trust and satisfaction with the political system. ▪ A fractured Parliament and a series of unstable Cabinets: The 2019 legislative elections involved a voter participation rate of just 41% and resulted in a fractured parliament in which no party or list received more than 20% of the vote. 5 This fragmentation directly affected the dynamics between the heads of the Presidency, the Cabinet, and the Parliament in Tunisia. The divisions in Parliament made it difficult for parties to form alliances and to form a consensus on the choice of the Prime Minister. As a result, in less than one year, Tunisia has seen four different individuals either nominated or selected to form a government, which entailed months of negotiations and political maneuvering while the country struggled through a public health crisis and deteriorating economic conditions. After the legislative elections, Youssef Chahed’s government became a caretaker government until the designation of a new head of government. After months of negotiations and the failed nomination of Habib Jemli by the Ennahda party, the President designated Elyess Fakhfekh after fragile political alliances were secured and formed a government. While Fakhfekh’s government was able to successfully control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, in July 2020, Prime Minister Fakhfekh resigned after facing accusations from political parties and CSOs that he has been involved in companies working with the government without declaring it. President Said nominated Hichem Mechichi, the former Interior minister, who declared his intention of forming an independent technocrat government. The new government was approved in early September despite continued reservations and concerns by political parties.6 Tensions over the year have increased public mistrust of government, political parties and official institutions; if politicians continue to fail to meet the needs and expectations of Tunisians, especially youth, “there is a significant risk that citizen disillusionment could worsen [and this] could present a dangerous opening for militant recruitment and the cultivation of support networks, especially in historically marginalized areas.”7
4 “Tunisia presidential election: Kais Saied declared winner,” Al Jazeera, 2019. 5 “Winners and losers of Tunisia’s parliamentary elections,” Brookings Institute, 2019. 6 “Tunisian Parliament approves third government in less than a year,” Al Jazeera, 2020. 7 “The Insurgency in Tunisia’s Western Borderlands.”
Page 5 of 37
YEAR 2 RESULTS Ma3an reflected on its progress and lessons from its first year at the start of Y2, and considered the current needs and priorities of its beneficiaries and partners – particularly USAID and the CNCLT - and the evolving realities on the ground, including a series of terrorist attacks in 2019 that highlighted VE as a key threat facing communities in Tunisia. At the same time, the role of partner Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in Ma3an was ending which presented an opportunity for Ma3an to reconsider the design of activities previously led by SFCG. As a result of this process, and based on guidance and inputs from USAID, Ma3an identified the threat of VE as the primary focus of its interventions and revisited its Theory of Change, Results Framework (Figure 3), and the design of its activities to anchor them in preventing and countering VE. The most significant changes occurred in Ma3an’s second Objective which shifted from focusing on community vulnerability mitigation to specifically addressing vulnerability to radicalization and extremism and the VE threat. The process of reflecting on Ma3an’s purpose and how its different objectives and results contribute to P/CVE is ongoing and Ma3an is in the process of further refining and reframing its design to ensure that activities across objectives contribute to addressing VE as we go into Y3 of implementation. Throughout this section, we outline how Ma3an’sobjectives and results are contributing to its P/CVE purpose and the progress we have made towards it.
Figure 3: Ma3an Results Framework (revised in Y2)
Each Objective report includes a big picture analysis that articulates how the various Ma3an activities have contributed to the objective, followed by a results analysis, some activity highlights, and graphs extracted from our monitoring database that give an idea of the reach. To facilitate reading we have included some symbols to guide the reader. They are:
Data highlight Insight/Learning Activity highlight
Page 6 of 37
OBJECTIVE 1: Youth are equipped with skills and engaged in civic actions with local actors to address their communities’ needs Big picture analysis Ma3an’s first Objective is designed around a principle that guides Ma3an’s work – one that is grounded in Positive Youth Development and supported by its own experience – that youth are a core partner in the community’s efforts to identify and respond to its challenges and to progress and thrive. This objective also integrates learning from research and programming on P/CVE that has highlighted the value and benefits from involving youth – whose marginalization and exclusion contributes to their vulnerability to VE - in P/CVE efforts, particularly in leadership roles, in ways that “[capitalize] on youth assets and potential, [promote] a sense of belonging and [provides] opportunities for positive contribution to the community, [supports] youth leadership and participation, and [builds] the skills of young people.”8
In Y2, Ma3an continued its progress on the Community Resilience process, a youth-led process through which 360 youth were trained and supported in Year 1 (Y1) to identify and prioritize issues in the community through the CYM activity, discussed and collaborated with 520 stakeholders to identify solutions for these issues in CSAP workshops, and will support and lead implementation of these solutions through the Community Resilience Activities (CRAs). In Y2, Ma3an organized 12 CSAP workshops and started preparations for implementing 36 to 48 CRAs in its 12 Phase 2 communities. This process equipped vulnerable youth with a wide range of practical life skills and tools, fostered a sense of trust and responsibility, and increased connections to supportive networks of key officials and community leaders, all of which prepare them to undertake future youth-led initiatives and civic actions to address community challenges and mitigate the threat of VE. One such youth-led method that Ma3an piloted in Y2 is the Idea Sprints which harnesses the collective intelligence of the youth in the target community to generate ideas that can impact challenges within their community. This method has thus far been positively received by participating youth who appreciated that it provides them with a tool to identify the real day-to-day issues, design actions to address them, and mobilize available resources and connections to implement these actions. The CSAP workshops in the Phase 2 communities demonstrated the positive transformation that participating youth have undergone. Prior to Ma3an, it was rare to see youth engaged and actively participating in community service or even leading a discussion with local officials, whereas in the CSAP, the youth were leading discussions with local officials and clearly advocating for youth issues. Following the sudden breakout of the pandemic, many of the Ma3an youth proved that they are active actors in their community and valuable partners who could work with their peers and other actors to respond to the emerging challenges that COVID-19 brought. Annex 5. Shares the stories of some of the Ma3an youth who have taken initiative in their communities to respond to COVID-19. Recognizing the value of peer support and exchange and to ensure that opportunities and benefits from Ma3an reach a wider segment of youth, Ma3an has: (1) built the capacity of youth who have benefited from Ma3an or similar projects to form a network of mentors who are sharing the knowledge and skills they acquired with over 600 youth through storytelling activities that equip youth to share their experiences and perspectives and the Learn to Discern (L2D) training which equips youth with tools to detect and fight disinformation and hate speech, both of which are approaches (storytelling and alternative narratives) that Ma3an is also using under Objective 2 to prevent and counter VE; and (2) created a platform for Tunisian youth to share leadership and training opportunities and events and connect with other youth who share their interests; the “Chebeb Ma3an” Facebook group also allows Ma3an to engage with youth outside of its target communities, to keep abreast of the ongoing debate and perspectives of youth in Tunisia, and contribute to growing a culture of civic participation and community engagement.
8 Further details on the value of youth involvement and leadership in peace and security and P/CVE specifically is outlined in the USAID-funded CVE Reference Guide for Local Organizations that was created by FHI 360 based on a thorough research of learning and knowledge products developed by different P/CVE actors globally. Link: https://www.cvereferenceguide.org/youth-involvement
Page 7 of 37
Another important level in Ma3an’s approach to build youth skills and spur them to action is through its civic engagement activities. In Y2, Ma3an conducted consultations and worked closely with GoT counterparts to identify their needs and define its role in supporting civic engagement in Tunisia. This preparatory work allowed Ma3an to design its civic engagement approach which it will launch in Y3 and which will amplify Ma3an’s efforts to build youth skills and support them to lead community-driven development and address issues that increase vulnerability to VE.
Moreover, Ma3an continued progress on core youth-serving activities such as the Community Support Activities (CSAs) through which Ma3an, after consultation with youth and stakeholders from both Phase 2 and Phase 3 communities, is creating or supporting 30 (12 Phase 2 and 18 Phase 3) spaces that provide opportunities and services for youth, including youth centers, outdoor spaces such as parks, and sports, cultural, and recreational spaces. In addition, Ma3an continues its support of the Community Resilience Committees (CRCs), a network of local actors committed to supporting youth and community development, and who have facilitated Ma3an activities in the community such as the CYM and the CSAP. To capitalize on their engagement, Ma3an is now working with the CRCs on a capacity building plan that will help them to identify vulnerabilities in their communities and implement tailored actions to address them.
Drawing on learning from Y1, Ma3an prioritized capacity building for local implementing partners to ensure that they have the organizational and technical knowledge and skills they need to effectively engage and support youth and local actors to lead Ma3an’s interventions and other community development efforts. Accordingly, Ma3an tested in Y2 the CAP 2.0 tool that includes a participatory process to assess an organization’s capacity in youth programming. Results analysis Result 1.1: Community members, particularly vulnerable groups, demonstrate an enhanced level of engagement, trust, and agency Under this result, Ma3an is providing young people with safe and welcome spaces in their communities, is identifying and building the capacity of local partners to support these youth, building their skills and willingness to engage in their community through CYM, and giving them access to information and opportunities through Chebeb Ma3an – all of which equip and prepare them to take action to address issues in their community, including those that make them vulnerable to VE.
Implement Community Support Activities Figure 4. CSAs in Phase 2 Communities In Y2, Ma3an continued its preparations to complete the CSAs in its 12 Phase 2 communities (see Figure 4 and Annex 2 for details). Despite some delays, (including as a result of COVID-19 restrictions which put implementation on hold), implementation of CSAs in Phase 2 progressed throughout the year. Ma3an inaugurated the Kairouan North and Nasrallah CSAs in Y2 and will inaugurate the remaining ten Phase 2 CSAs in Y3 (October 2020). However, although the process of identification of the Phase 2 CSAs was participatory and involved community stakeholders including youth, the slow pace of implementation of the CSAs caused frustration among the community actors and negatively influenced their level of engagement.
Page 8 of 37
US Ambassador and USAID Administrator Attend Inauguration of Ma3an Community Support Activity in Kairouan On February 17, 2020, USAID Administrator Mark Green, US Ambassador Donald Blome, and Tunisian Under- secretary for Youth Affairs Adbelkadous Saadaoui, inaugurated a new football field in the youth complex of Kairouan North in the presence of the Presidency of the Government representatives, senior local officials, and members of the various clubs at the youth complex. The football field is one of 12 sports and cultural centers rehabilitated by Ma3an as part of its community support activities. A second site, a multi-sport field at the youth center in the municipality of Nasrallah was also inaugurated by Hind Houas, USAID representative, and the First Delegate of Kairouan.
In Y2, Ma3an also selected 16 Phase 3 target communities and identified 18 new CSAs in close consultation with the local authority representatives, CSOs, and youth who met with Ma3an team and shared their experience on the issues and opportunities in the community and the difficulties faced by youth.
Sixteen new local partners in Phase 3 communities In Y2, Ma3an selected the 16 new Phase 3 communities located in Tunis, Ben Arous, Medenine, Gafsa, Tataouine, and Kasserine. The final list of selected communities involved careful consideration of the level of socio-economic vulnerability and the nature and extent of the VE threat, in addition to recommendations by local officials, the inputs of the PM Office, and approval by USAID. To accommodate these different inputs and the extent of the need identified, USAID and Ma3an decided to increase the number of Phase 3 communities from 13 to 16. Ma3an launched a Request for Applications (RFA) for Phase 3 community local partners and organized five online bidders’ orientation sessions for the six governorates of Gafsa, Kasserine, Medenine, Tataouine, Ben Arous, and Tunis. As a result, Ma3an selected and proposed for USAID approval the 16 local partners who will lead implementation of Ma3an activities in Phase 3 communities.
Develop the capacity of local partners in Phase 2 and 3 communities In Y2, Ma3an launched its capacity building process for local partners and piloted the Capacity Assessment Tool CAP 2.0 with four local CSO partners. Through this process, Ma3an guides local partner teams to assess their capacities, the efficiency of their systems, and the relevance of their services to the segments of the community they serve (for example, youth) and encourages partners to identify activities they could lead to advance youth participation and contribution and, by doing so, contribute to decreasing their vulnerability to the pull of VE.
Particularly notable in the CAP 2.0 approach is its participatory nature and its focus on building partners’ capacity to work with youth. The assessment process allowed youth to share their ideas on how the CSO can tailor their activities to effectively and positively impact their lives. Including vulnerable youth in the capacity assessment exercise not only improved their understanding of the way CSOs work but also highlighted for them how they could work with CSOs on civic actions and contributing to their community.
Engage 840 youth in Community Youth Mapping In Y2, Ma3an completed the CYM activity in12 marginalized communities and partnered with 11 local CSOs to engage 360 marginalized youth; the remaining 480 youth will be added in Y3 in Phase 3 communities. Youth mappers from each community were selected to present their findings to stakeholders from public officials to prominent private sector actors to CSOs and other peers during the CSAP workshops. This built
Page 9 of 37
the confidence of youth and demonstrated their commitment to serving their communities and their great capacity to working with the stakeholders.
Ma3an followed the youth mappers’ engagement after the conclusion of CYM and the CSAP workshops. Despite the challenging conditions they faced during the COVID-19 crisis, the youth mappers led many initiatives on the field to support the efforts of the community members to combat the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic including but not limited to collecting donations, raising public’s awareness, conducting surveys and analyzing results based on the knowledge they acquired from the CYM trainings. Many youth mappers choose to expand their networks within their communities, previously built during the CYM fieldwork, through forming coalitions and partnerships with local CSOs and local authority representatives, and active stakeholders. These alliances helped the youth mappers to build trust and relationships with adults, to connect to positive role models, and to engage in their respective societies in order to confront local issues arising in their communities.
Before youth started taking initiative, local authorities and civil society weren’t coordinating – each institution was working alone. But youth involvement brought the two groups together. We gave them a reason to unite. Ma3an gave me a lot of contacts and connections with different youth, NGOs, businesses, and local authorities. This is the same network I’m working with today. Ma3an also supported me to become a better public speaker and helped me to talk with people different than me. […] People all over Fernana now know me and other Ma3an youth. Sabrine, Ma3an Youth, Fernana Jendouba
For more on Sabrine’s story see Annex 7 for the success story entitled: “Ma3an Youth Connect Local Authorities” and Civil Society: Tunisian Youth Lead COVID-19 Response (Vol. 5)”
Ensure 10,500 total unique users of a Ma3an community Facebook group that will advertise youth resources and opportunities for community engagement In Y2, the Chebeb Ma3an Facebook group showcased youth-focused opportunities on a weekly basis. Chebeb Ma3an shared 75 youth engagement opportunities and introduced “Ma3an Tips”, a series of nine short motion-action videos covering themes highlighted by youth mappers and/or youth mentors. Ma3an shared scholarship, fellowship, and training opportunities to its community, launched the 7keyet Ma3an podcast, and conducted an assessment campaign for the second time online. Offline activities on the ground led to an increased level of engagement, increases in generated content, and increases in the number of new members. All these indicators increased each time an offline event happened including CSAP workshops, on-the-ground clean-up and other youth-led campaigns, CSA launches, and Ma3an Training of Trainers (TOTs). In Y2, Chebeb Ma3an Facebook group reached close to 2400 members and successfully continues to promote youth engagement as shown in Figures 5 and 6 below.
Figure 5. Total number of Chebeb Ma3an members Figure 6. Chebeb Ma3an members’ engagement
Page 10 of 37
Result 1.2: Inclusive community groups are mobilized to develop tailored responses to specific community vulnerabilities, specifically drivers of extremism and instability By mobilizing local key stakeholders from Phase 2 communities in the CSAP workshops, Ma3an developed tailored responses to community vulnerabilities and shocks. The CSAPs meaningfully engaged youth, youth service providers, local authorities, CSOs, and prominent public and private sector actors in each of the 12 communities. The CSAPs provided a safe platform for the community representatives to share their views and perceptions regarding the community stresses and the drivers leading to youth engagement in violent and deviant behaviors. For example, on several occasions, the youth mappers enriched the discussions with evidence from their data collection on the socio-economic, cultural and political stresses and shocks identified by the youth and community stakeholders they surveyed. Municipal council members, local media, youth center directors, and other stakeholders built a solid understanding of youth priority needs and identified vulnerabilities that push youth to engage in risky behaviors such as dropping out of school and engaging in unlawful activities. By the end of the 12 CSAP workshops, Ma3an had baskets of ideas for CRAs collectively developed by local actors in the 12 communities.
The CSAPs served to create positive linkages and networks among youth and adult actors. Consequently, these connections were further strengthened through the development of specific CRAs that included tailored responses to specific community vulnerabilities. The CRAs will be implemented in Year 3.
Ma3an CSAP Workshop Yields Immediate Benefits for Youth and Creates a Cooperation Network The CSAP that took place in Nasrallah on the 12th of January yielded several immediate benefits for the community. During the workshop, the mayor invited youth and stakeholders to collaborate with the municipal council and included four youth mappers on the following day in the municipal planning workshop. This is an important opportunity for youth to start taking part in the decision-making process, from which they are normally excluded. This can be clearly perceived in the perceptions of youth in Nasrallah who, according to the Community Youth Mapping, mostly never attended community meetings, and only 1 in 10 of the community youth see that opportunities for civic and political engagement activities are available in their community, and 6 in every 10 youth believe that they have weak access to them. Additionally, the president of the Nasrallah Olympic Sports Association was committed to mentoring the youth mappers and to creating links between them and the public institutions of their community, so he introduced them to the director of the Agricultural Guidance Unit, who volunteered to offer a one-day communication training to five youth mappers and committed to delivering a second training.
In Y1 and Y2, Ma3an saw that CRCs in the five Phase 1 communities contained members who are committed community champions with existing and latent skills for galvanizing communities to commit to community resilience. However, many of these CRC members rely on limited skills, as they rarely travel outside of their communities to discover other good practices and ways for advancing development. CRC members have great potential, but to come into their full potential, they need better skills and wider social networks that can help them learn more effective practices and troubleshoot when issues arise.
In Y2, piloting the CRC in the Sidi Abdelhamid community (Phase 2), and analyzing the Social Network Analysis (SNA) results, helped the Ma3an team better evaluate the approach for the remaining communities. We identified the need to direct greater effort into bringing in private sector representatives to the CRCs and working more closely with those individuals who serve as connectors within and among stakeholder groups. While the focus on involving local officials has been a priority due to its importance, the local civil society role is of equal necessity due to the flexibility and ability of civil society actors to adapt to ever changing circumstances as well as their motivation and volunteering spirit. Ma3an encouraged stronger representation of both civil society and youth leaders in the CRCs and will continue to do so through involving these two groups in the various Ma3an upcoming activities to sustaining and expand the impact of Ma3an beyond our local partners and Ma3an youth in each community. For the pilot, Ma3an managed to
Page 11 of 37 have a consistent involvement and commitment of all different sectors representatives during the CRC monthly planning meetings, the community ownership workshops, and in the different youth led activities.
The CRCs in Phase 2 communities were formally established shortly after the CSAPs. In consultation with Ma3an local partners, a stakeholder analysis matrix was developed to track the commitment and interest of the community stakeholders involved in Ma3an activities. Ma3an held online and in-person meetings with the members of the CRCs to explain their potential roles and responsibilities as well as work with them through the development of their organizational structure and charters. Ma3An also held Community Ownership Planning workshops with the Phase 2 community CRCs to develop action plans that outline clear roles for the CRCs, the local partners as well as for Ma3an support. These action plans highlight different partnerships to be established among community actors and CRC involvement in advising on the development and implementation of CRAs. Table 1 below illustrates the composition of the CRCs in the Phase 2 communities.
Table 1. Composition of Phase 2 Community CRCs
Community Youth Civil Public Local Private Number Total (Mapper) Society sector authorities Sector of female CRC members Members SIjoumi 2 3 1 1 1 4 8 Hrairia 2 2 2 2 0 3 8 Nadhour 2 5 2 2 1 4 10 Saouef 2 2 0 2 0 4 9 Kairouan 2 2 2 1 2 3 9 North NAsrallah 2 2 2 1 1 2 8 Sousse RIadh 3 1 2 4 2 5 12 Sidi 2 2 6 2 1 3 13 Abdelhamid Ghardimaou 2 2 3 1 1 2 9 Laaroussa 2 4 1 2 1 2 10 Fernana 2 1 3 2 1 2 9 ROuhia 2 2 3 2 0 2 9 Total 25 28 27 22 12 36 104
In Y2, in-person exchanges and meetings between CRCs of Phase 1 and Phase 2 communities’ and building on the pilot, unfortunately had to be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Developing the CRCs capacities so that they mobilize, work together and develop actions that address community vulnerabilities was partially met. Result 1.3: Implementation of community-developed strategic plans to address community identified challenges and issues Through this result, Ma3an invests in locally-driven solutions to the issues and stressors that make these communities vulnerable to VE, first by supporting the design and implementation of CRAs, the community- led collaborative actions that are based on the CSAP action plans, and second by using the Idea Sprints method to catalyze youth-led action on issues that young people prioritize.
Implement Community Resilience Activities in Phase 2 communities To engage marginalized youth, identify and reduce community-specific vulnerabilities, and catalyze and harness public and private sector resources to support communities in fostering a lasting foundation for
Page 12 of 37 social cohesion and resilience to VE and other stresses and shocks, Ma3an uses a community-led approach to identify and address factors of instability at the community-level, including VE drivers. During the CSAP workshops, community stakeholders work together to identify and prioritize actions to decrease vulnerability to stresses and shocks. The CSAPs result in baskets of ideas for actions, and subsequent one- day CRA Design sessions are then organized in full collaboration with the respective local partner, aiming to further refine and elaborate the outputs of CSAPs into a full-fledged plan for CRAs. Because of the social distancing and travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ma3an opted for virtual bilateral meetings with local partners, potential CRA grantees, and pre-identified members of CRCs in each Phase 2 community to further refine the CRA plans, identify the beneficiaries and the municipal-, governorate-, and national-level stakeholders to engage, and agree on grantees to implement the CRA in-kind grants. During Y2, 18 CRAs were “green lighted” by USAID. Another 18-30 Phase 2 CRAs will be awarded and implemented during Y3. A sub-set of CRAs is expected to support small-scale construction and/or space rehabilitation activities, including the refurbishment of youth centers, cultural centers, and parks. Other CRAs are expected to engage vulnerable youth by providing them with social and cultural opportunities, support services, and community engagement opportunities.
Engage youth post-CSAP in community actions through local partner-led activities and Idea Sprints In Year 2, Ma3an conducted two pilot Idea Sprints – one in the community of Ghardimaou and the other in both communities of Sidi Abdelhamid and Sousse Riadh (Sousse Governorate) – which provided youth participants with tangible methodologies and tools for leading community initiatives with their own local resources. The Idea Sprints engaged youth in generating ideas for actions and contributed to meeting the result of action planning to address community issues. The two Idea Sprint pilots received positive feedback from participating youth and local partners. Originally, Ma3an planned a third Idea Sprint in the community of Nadhour but concerns over COVID-19 risks caused the activity to be cancelled.
The exchange between the youth of both the communities of Sidi Abdelhamid and Sousse Riadh contributed to rich discussions and encouraged the participants to explore commonalities between both communities in terms of vulnerabilities and issues to tackle. The restitution/revision day where the participants came together with the stakeholders from both communities resulted in concrete and tangible collaborative ideas supported by the municipal officials and delegates of Sousse Riadh and Sidi Abdelhamid.
Result1.4: Enhanced community resources, services, and support As part of its efforts to equip and support young people to take action on the issues that affect them and their communities, Ma3an mobilizes a network of Tunisian youth to transfer their own knowledge and skills – in storytelling and countering disinformation - to other vulnerable youth in their communities, thus strengthening healthy and positive peer relationships and support which is a key feature of Positive Youth Development (PYD) and important for strengthening youth resilience. Ma3an also provides youth with opportunities and tools for civic and community engagement that both help address VE drivers related to youth marginalization and exclusion, in addition to contributing to addressing issues in the community that make youth and communities vulnerable to VE.
Engage Youth Mentor Network to Provide Marginalized Youth with Peer Support In Y2, the first cohort of Youth Mentors completed all their activities across Phase 1 communities, engaging with over 900 youth through over 40 face-to-face and online activities and more than 144 mentoring sessions, exceeding the number of activities required from them during Y2. Youth Mentors built momentum as their events and trainings gained credibility and popularity in Phase 1 and Phase 2 communities. Peers are returning to youth events and bringing their friends. The increasing popularity of storytelling events has encouraged Youth Mentors to organize more storytelling events than the expected number for the year. The increased referrals for mentoring sessions led to Ma3an to exceeding the target number of mentoring sessions as well. Beyond the skills improvement and the support provided to peers, Youth Mentors
Page 13 of 37 contributed to making mentoring a new practice in the communities and a recognized way for youth to support one another.
With the start of COVID-19 pandemic, Ma3an worked with Youth Mentors to adjust their activities to provide online engagement for youth. The first online adjustments were made to the Storytelling activity given its popularity and its ability to be more easily adapted to an online format, followed by adaptations to the L2D trainings and Professional Insight Day (PIS) events.
Ma3an empowers youth at a juvenile rehabilitation center
In the first two days of September 2020, 45 young men aged between 14 and 18 from the center for Juvenile Rehabilitation in Souk Jedid (Sidi Bouzid Governorate) took part in a storytelling training developed by Ma3an and a PIS event, in collaboration with the Youth Center and the Tunisian Association for Children and Youth, founded by Ma3an youth mentors. Young detainees engaged in various activities targeted at enabling them to: • Reflect on their professional objectives, with a re- integration officer and two Youth Mentors, and know the institutions that can help, and the type of support they offer, • Develop and strengthen their skills to communicate effectively in professional environments, • Process and articulate sensitive subjects, including their own stories, using the storytelling technique and public speaking guidelines, and • Structure an attractive self-presentation to pitch themselves to professionals and recruiters.
These trainings are unique in that they are the first of their kind to be delivered to youth by peers and to cover soft skills. Youth at juvenile rehabilitation centers received trainings on hard skills by the center’s officers or the Youth Center’s staff, with whom they reported not managing to establish any rapport due to the age gap. Now that these youth are building peer connections and developing their skills, their re-integration into society will be easier and smoother. Ma3an will partner with four other centers across Tunisia to conduct such trainings for detained youth.
Provide Engagement Opportunities for Youth that Capitalize on Technology and Innovation Cohort 1 Youth Mentors continued to build connections and create partnerships in their communities with youth, institutions, and local authorities, allowing them to further gain: 1) easier access to venues for events, 2) visibility for their events through local media, and 3) community support for event logistics and organizing. In Y2, in addition to the face-to-face trainings, Youth Mentors from Cohort 1 & 2 launched an L2D campaign using the L2D tips on the Chebeb Ma3an platform to support their peers during COVID in raising their awareness about prevalent misinformation and disinformation on the disease. This allowed more youth to learn how to critically consume information and misinformation related to the pandemic and helped them build their resilience using L2D methodology and tools. Youth Mentors also engaged in online community initiatives in response to the COVID-19 Crisis. Some technology challenges occurred during the online sessions due to lack of a stable internet connection or limited functions offered by the platform, which meant that not all participants were able to attend the entire online sessions. The virtual PIS trainings also didn't allow for the same networking opportunities to happen as for the regular in-person PIS sessions.
Mobilize youth and other community actors to foster a culture of civic engagement in Tunisia In Y2, Ma3an, in partnership with USAID and the Tunisian Government, organized a first workshop on Civic Engagement aiming at developing a common vision for Civic Engagement followed by a Civic Engagement
Page 14 of 37
Residential Seminar to identify the national strategic priorities for civic engagement in Tunisia. These two workshops laid the ground for Ma3an to lead the efforts on the civic engagement National Strategy. In parallel, Ma3an agreed with the GoT on the adaptation and implementation of the Community Service Learning (CSL) curriculum which be implemented in 10 of Phase 2 and 3 most vulnerable communities and will be hosted in the civics youth hubs.
Ma3an’s civic engagement work strives to enhance community resources, services, and support through its planned activities. In fact, the civic engagement National Strategy will serve as a cornerstone for Ma3an’s support regarding the provision of an enabling environment and enhancement of community resources for civic engagement to thrive in Tunisia as it will ensure the conditions for youth engagement by giving them access to learning opportunities, initiatives, and adapted tools for them to become change-makers in their communities. On the other hand, the CSL curriculum gets Ma3an one step closer to achieving enhanced community resources, services, and support, since the CSL curriculum is a valuable resource for youth and their communities to achieve concrete improvements for their communities. Upon the training, youth will be entrusted to work on community-specific issues by building sustained connections with various community partners. Moreover, the planned launch of the youth civic hubs which aims at fostering coordination, collaboration, and sharing among youth, focusing on sharing expertise, knowledge, and resources in the community does serve the interests of the youth and their communities and constitute a valuable resource for them in terms of knowledge exchange and volunteer initiatives building.
During Y2, due to the pandemic crisis and change of the government, Ma3an experienced some delays around the formation of the steering committee that will serve as the technical counterpart of Ma3an in the design and implementation of the civics actions has not been formed.
Foster volunteering spirit in youth through gaming and Information platform In Y2, Ma3an reviewed the content of outputs produced by Search on the first iteration of the Ma3an Challenge such as the observations that emerged from the co-design workshops with youth. Furthermore, recent developments in Tunisia such as the excitement -albeit short-lived- after the presidential elections and ensuing wave of spontaneous volunteer activities or, more recently the youth-led volunteer activities at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak last spring, have enabled Ma3an to think of a solution that harnesses the willingness of youth to engage in volunteering to serve the community.
Ma3an Provides a Model for Gender Parity and Social Inclusion in Tunisia
In a country where gender representation in all community and governmental levels is not where it should be, Ma3an’s practices in gender parity are an example to all stakeholders. In the past two years, in interventions across its objectives, Ma3an has hosted 105 events and has reached a near balanced ratio of representation. When working with youth, the private sector, all levels of government and local CSOs, Ma3an has encouraged and pushed for gender parity. However, getting women in the room of Ma3an’s various activities in equal amounts as men has had its challenges, especially in more conservative rural areas. As a result, Ma3an has learned how to reach out to women through local contacts and networks to ensure they feel welcome. Once women are in the room, Ma3an seeks to equalize the space so that they feel that they can express themselves freely, knowing that their thoughts and opinions are valued. This has not only been a lesson for the women who participate in Ma3an activities, but it is also been an education for the men in the room. They have been given an example of what gender parity, inclusion and engagement looks like and what it seeks to achieve.
Ma3an data confirms that gender parity was almost achieved in most communities; the pie chart represents the total gender disaggregation for all Ma3an activities. Disaggregation by community does not show significant differences (available here).
Page 15 of 37
Recognizing that support and infrastructure for people with disabilities (PWD) is weak or lacking, Ma3an has prioritized social inclusive practices within its own work as a way to both enhance the effectiveness of its own activities and to advance social inclusion more broadly. In early 2020, at a Civic Engagement workshop, Ma3an provided accommodations to four persons with “It is wonderful that Ma3an has disabilities in order to ensure their full and effective participation, including engaged people with disabilities, providing sign language interpreters and having professionals available to assist such as the deaf who are known to participants with mobility challenges. This experience demonstrated to those be isolated (not engaged in society). attending - including representatives from the Presidency of the Government, This engagement reflects progress 12 governmental ministries, two universities, the Tunisian General Labor Union, and inclusion of people with and eleven civic and youth organizations - that ensuring social inclusion in events disabilities” Sign language interpreter is both feasible and valuable. Ma3an’s efforts to ensure access and active participation for PWDs paid off: participants with disabilities were able to make their voices heard and the civic engagement workplans that came from the workshop were socially inclusive as a result. Ma3an is also ensuring that physical accommodations are integrated in the planning and execution of the CSAs and in Y2 Ma3an finalized plans to install nine ramps in youth centers. Moreover, Ma3an provided trainings for 11 local CSOs on Gender Equality and Social inclusion practices, an effort that will continue in the following years.
OBJECTIVE 2: Enhanced capabilities to prevent and counter violent extremism Big picture analysis Informed by learning from Y1 and to adapt to evolving needs and priorities - including those of its partner, the CNLCT - Ma3an devoted time and attention in the first half of Y2 to refine its design of Objective 2 in close collaboration with USAID. Accordingly, the project’s second objective now serves as a cornerstone of its P/CVE efforts and is grounded in the belief that effective P/CVE responses are those that are led by local actors and that capitalize on the capacities, resources, and knowledge of different local stakeholders. To support these types of P/CVE responses, Ma3an’s efforts will focus on building the capacity of local actors – both state and non-state partners – to prevent and counter VE through activities that generate and share knowledge and understanding of the threat of VE, that build and strengthen relationships and networks among P/CVE actors, and that test and learn from different P/CVE approaches and models that could be scaled up and sustained in the future. In addition, Ma3an quickly adjusted to the challenges and new reality of COVID- 19 in the second half of Y2 and completed key milestones under this redesigned Objective.
Recognizing the need for Ma3an’s P/CVE efforts to be grounded in a current and nuanced understanding of the landscape of VE and P/CVE in Tunisia, Ma3an completed two primary analytical products in Y2: (1) the Violent Extremism Drivers and Dynamics Assessment that focused on a broad analysis of the VE context, dynamics, drivers, and responses across Tunisia; and (2) the Violent Extremism Drivers and Dynamics Community Snapshots which examined how drivers and dynamics manifest in 10 target communities. These two products will inform and guide Ma3an’s P/CVE interventions moving forward, not only under Objective 2 where their findings will feed into the design and implementation of activities such as Ma3an’s capacity- building efforts for state and non-state actors and the Solutions to VE (SOLVE) Dialogues, but also under other objectives to ensure that all Ma3an activities – whether CRAs, civic education initiatives, or efforts to engage the private sector - contribute to addressing identified drivers and dynamics and building mechanisms and processes that enable sustained P/CVE action.
In addition, Ma3an made important progress on designing and launching several P/CVE tools and approaches to respond to specific vulnerabilities and VE drivers. In Ettadhamen and Douar Hicher, Ma3an trained young people to recreate their communities’ online identity to address stigmatization and in Sidi Bouzid, Youth Mentors are leading an Intergenerational Storytelling activity to address tensions and divides between youth
Page 16 of 37 and adults. Ma3an’s efforts to identify and provide alternatives to hate speech and VE narratives are also underway, with both the VE and Hate Speech Lexicon and the docu-series set to be completed in Y3.
Although Ma3an made important progress on Objective 2 this year, there are a number of factors and challenges that made it necessary for the team to adapt activities within it. The shift in Objective 2 focus from mitigating community vulnerabilities to P/CVE required careful consideration and planning to ensure sound technical design of objective 2 activities; while this process was necessary and ultimately instrumental for the effectiveness of these activities, it was also time-consuming and resulted in significantly shifting the timeline of activities under Objective 2, with several moving partly or fully to Y3. The outbreak of COVID- 19 has also significantly altered the operating context and has resulted in modifications to both the design of activities – changes to the focus of the VE assessment to consider the impact of the pandemic and the format of training – and their planning (for ex. the timeline). Lastly, changes in the senior board of the CNLCT, prompted by political volatility and government instability, prevented the Ma3an team from establishing sustained coordination with the CNLCT which resulted in Ma3an postponing planned activities with the CNCLT. In Y3, Ma3an will establish stronger channels of communication with the CNLCT and will recruit an embedded staff member in the commission to facilitate engagement and coordination of program activities. Going into Y3, Ma3an has drawn on the lessons over the past year to adapt the design of activities under Objective 2 to ensure they are contributing to enhanced P/CVE capabilities, take into consideration and respond to the impact of COVID-19 and facilitate close collaboration with and buy-in from the CNCLT. Results analysis Result 2.1: Develop context-informed and locally led solutions to VE Integral to building P/CVE capabilities is developing knowledge of factors that influence the VE threat and testing approaches and tools to address them. Accordingly, under this result, Ma3an sought to understand the dynamics and drivers of VE at the community-level, first through Vulnerability Scans (VScans) conducted by Y1 partner Search for Common Ground and then through the VE Snapshots completed by Ma3an in Y2 (more details on the VE Snapshots under Result 2.3).
In addition, both under Objective 1 and this result, Ma3an seeks to identify and support community and youth-led solutions to the issues that increase communities’ vulnerability to VE. Through the VScans, Ma3an identified the key issues and factors in six communities - Douar Hicher, Kef, Sidi Bouzid, Ettadhamen, Souk Jedid, and Sousse-Erriadh - that make them vulnerable to VE. In Y2, Ma3an completed validation workshops that gathered groups of youth and representatives of local authorities and civil society to discuss the VScan findings and identify recommendations for activities that target root causes of vulnerabilities in their communities. The VScans validation workshops provided grounded and context-informed inputs on the push and pull factors of vulnerability and VE in the six target communities which enabled the Ma3an team to design VE mitigation activities that respond to identified vulnerabilities, namely community stigmatization, tensions between youth and local authorities, intergenerational divides, and lack of opportunities of civic engagement for youth. In the past year, Ma3an began piloting two of these solutions: Clean e-Houmtek and Intergenerational Storytelling.
Ma3an launched the Clean e-Houmtek, or the neighborhood online cleaning, activity in Y2 to respond to a vulnerability it identified across all six VScan communities: Youth, particularly unemployed youth seeking jobs, perceive themselves to be negatively stigmatized because of their community affiliations and this perception fuels their disillusionment and socio-economic drivers of youth vulnerability to VE. In response, in August 2020, Ma3an launched the Clean e-Houmtek activity simultaneously in Douar Hicher and Ettadhamen in which it engaged and trained 16 youth, equipping them with digital content creation skills so they can improve the online image of their communities by providing accurate, tailored, and positive content. The Clean e-Houmtek campaign has been effective both in engaging and motivating the youth participating
Page 17 of 37 in it and in reaching a broader audience within these communities and Tunisia more generally and inviting them to rethink their perception of these two neighborhoods and their residents.
Ma3an Pilots Clean e-Houmtek to mitigate a driver of VE in Douar Hicher and Ettadhamen. From August 4-6, 2020, 22 youth from Douar Hicher and Ettadhamen attended a three-day workshop entitled Clean e-Houmtek, or “Clean Our Neighborhood”. Our Y1 vulnerability scans in these communities found that youth felt stigmatized and marginalized by their association with their communities given the negative perception of outsiders. To mitigate this vulnerability, the activity aims to improve the online representation of the two communities on platforms such as Wikipedia, Google Maps, and YouTube. The program developed youth skills in writing, rap song writing, photography, and video creation. After dividing into teams, the youth quickly jumped into action. The first team worked on new rebranded trilingual Wikipedia pages for Douar Hicher and Ettadhamen, which were consulted by 200 readers on the first day. The second team took and uploaded 300 photos to Google Maps which have been viewed over 60.000 times to date. The third team produced a video featuring residents of both communities sharing their experiences of discrimination and stigmatization for being from Douar Hicher and Ettadhamen. The video, posted on Facebook, was not only viewed 250,000 times and shared 450 times so far, but also received positive comments and triggered high engagement. Lastly, the fourth team wrote and recorded a rap song revolving around their stories of hard work and their sense of belonging to their communities.
Another vulnerability that emerged as a result of VScans is intergenerational divides in Sidi Bouzid. Ma3an’s research has shown that intergenerational tensions can contribute to individual anxiety over identity and belonging, which in turn can make individuals more vulnerable to extremist narratives; at the same time, strong intergenerational and family bonds constrain anti-social and violent behaviors, and the weakening of these bonds can increase youth vulnerability to VE. Accordingly, Ma3an launched an Intergenerational Storytelling activity in Y2 that will bring together 40 youth and 40 adults in early Y3 to develop stories derived from their own personal experience that will be shared in their community; this activity will build relationships and promote empathy among these 80 individuals, thus bridging divides between them, and the sharing of their stories and conversations around their experience among the wider community will contribute to easing tensions and divides between youth and adults in Sidi Bouzid. In Y2, Ma3an focused its efforts on designing a methodology that incorporates best practices in and core principles of storytelling with the experiences, interests, and priorities of the community in Sidi Bouzid. A fundamental part of our approach – and the part that has the potential to drive and sustain the intended impact - is the focus on involving youth from Sidi Bouzid in designing and leading this activity. Ma3an engaged a local expert facilitator with an established relationship and rapport with youth in Sidi Bouzid to lead this activity. This facilitator, in turn, organized a Training of Trainers for the six Youth Mentors from Sidi Bouzid center and Souk Jedid during which these youth reviewed in-depth the methodology and material and provided feedback and recommendations that they will incorporate into the outreach and selection process of participants, the content of the training, and the design and plan for the storytelling activities. In Y3, these youth facilitators, with support and coaching from the lead Facilitator and Ma3an’s team, will co-facilitate this activity and by doing so will gain the know-how and skills to continue facilitating storytelling activities in the future. Result 2.2: Promote alternative narratives to VE An important capacity in P/CVE work is the ability to influence the narrative that youth and communities are exposed to which could either increase their vulnerability to VE or introduce them to alternative pathways that meet their needs and address their frustrations. Therefore, Ma3an’s efforts under this result
Page 18 of 37 revolve around understanding the landscape of narratives that Tunisians, particularly youth, are exposed to and building the capacity of local actors, including youth, to create and disseminate alternative positive messages.
In Y2, Ma3an designed the methodology for and started the development of a VE and hate speech lexicon, a foundational activity under this result which will set the stage for many of the activities that follow. Through a survey of 264 respondents from nine Ma3an communities completed in September 2020, Ma3an collected data that will allow it to identify the main practices and themes that enable VE and Hate Speech to proliferate on social media in Tunisia. In Y3, this list will be validated during focus groups with youth to produce the final VE and Hate Speech Lexicon which will then inform the design of materials for a training of young social media influencers in six Phase 3 communities identified as most vulnerable to VE to build their capacity to monitor and analyze VE and hate speech messaging on social media and develop context- sensitive alternative content.
Ma3an also began the process of producing content that introduces alternative narratives to VE: a docu- fiction video series in Tounsi that will be disseminated on social media platforms and through TV channels. In Y2, Ma3an facilitated a co-design workshop to determine the topics and content of the first two docu- series based in Ettadhamen and Douar Hicher and completed and validated the scripts for both. In Y3, Ma3an will film and disseminate the Ettadhamen and Douar Hicher videos, as well as one on Sidi Bouzid. Result 2.3: Strengthen CVE state and non-state actors’ capacity Ma3an’s approach focuses on identifying and building the human and institutional capacity of local governmental and non-governmental actors – namely the CNLCT both at the national level and at the governorate level through its support of its 48 representatives and civil society organizations - to ensure that P/CVE efforts are truly locally-led and sustainable. The focus on building institutional capacity is particularly important as it feeds directly into Ma3an’s third Objective by supporting the development of mechanisms and processes in key P/CVE actors that could enable these actors to continue to work on P/CVE both independently and in collaboration with others after the end of Ma3an’s interventions.
In Y2, Ma3an concentrated on completing key research and analysis activities that would enable it to plan and implement effective capacity building intervention, particularly by providing up-to-date information on the programmatic and operational landscape of P/CVE in Tunisia. Drawing on secondary data from 145 resources in addition to primary data from 42 Key Informant Interviews with P/CVE experts or stakeholders, Ma3an completed the Violent Extremism Drivers and Dynamics Assessment to provide current analysis of VE dynamics, trajectories, and drivers in Tunisia, including within a sample of the communities in which Ma3an is working, and summarized how government and non-government actors are responding to them. The analysis focused particularly on data that covers key recent developments – including the start and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic – to ensure that Ma3an’s own P/CVE programming and that of the partners it is supporting is responsive, targeted, and appropriate to the current context in Tunisia. Figure 7 summarizes the main drivers identified through the assessment, while Annex 1A includes the key findings. In addition, Ma3an conducted KIIs with local government and non-government stakeholders and additional secondary research to produce the Violent Extremism Drivers and Dynamics Community Snapshots which provided a focused understanding of the specific context, dynamics, and drivers that influence VE within 10 target communities. The Snapshots will help Ma3an ensure that Ma3an activities at the community level – such as the CRAs and CRAs under Objective 1 – contribute to P/CVE within that community, in addition, to directly feeding into the discussions with local stakeholders during SOLVE dialogues to develop context-informed P/CVE activities in the 10 target communities.
Page 19 of 37
Figure 7: VE Pull & Push Drivers Identified in the Ma3an Tunisia VE Assessment
In addition, Ma3an began preparations for its capacity-building support with the CNLCT and developed a framework for an assessment tool for the CNLCT local representatives. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and political developments in Tunisia made it difficult for Ma3an to conduct the necessary consultations with the CNCLT which would enable Ma3an and the CNCLT to jointly assess and prioritize Ma3an’s support to the Commission. Therefore, Ma3an decided to postpone these consultations and the launch of the capacity building process to Y3 during which Ma3an will further coordinate with the new CNCLT board to design and launch its support efforts to the CNCLT which will include developing and implementing a capacity building plan for the 48 CNCLT local representatives, a P/CVE toolkit, and opportunities for knowledge and expertise exchange with other P/CVE actors. Result 2.4: Forster trust and sustainable collaboration among police and state and non-state actors identified Ma3an’s VE assessment identified a lack of trust and a disconnect between citizens, particularly youth, and state agencies and the political system more broadly. In particular, the assessment found that young people express negative sentiments towards the police, and these negative views are typically a direct result of perceived abuse by security forces as a result of youth’s personal interactions with the police, which at times may be violent. The assessment findings reinforced the need for Ma3an’s support for P/CVE in Tunisia to include building trust and collaboration between police and other actors in the community, including youth, but it also highlighted the need for this support to integrate knowledge and learning from previous efforts in these communities and elsewhere, and to include a careful process for buy-in and relationship-building. Therefore, in Y2, Ma3an started conversations with the government and non- government actors, including international nongovernmental organizations and donors, relevant to community policing programming in Tunisia to discuss ideas and entry points for programs that support engagement between police and non-state actors and youth in Ma3an communities. In Y3, Ma3an will continue these conversations and will conduct supplementary analysis to understand the landscape of community policing and inform future programming, including community-level interventions in Kram- West and Sidi Abdelhamid communities.
OBJECTIVE 3: Tunisian communities have sustained mechanisms and processes for collaborative action Big picture analysis Ma3an integrates sustainability across its different activities by prioritizing working with local actors – whether government entities, civil society organizations, community stakeholders, and youth – to build their capacity and willingness to advance P/CVE independent of Ma3an’s support. Ma3an also invests in introducing
Page 20 of 37 and creating buy-in of mechanisms and processes for collaborative activities such as the CSAPs and the CRCs. The project’s third objective builds on these efforts and focuses specifically on supporting mechanisms that create and support linkages with the private sector to promote and enhance their role in community development and P/CVE. Self-reliance in Ma3an target communities can’t be achieved without a vibrant, motivated, and socially-committed private sector that provides economic opportunities for youth and actively contributes to shaping and informing policies that improve service delivery. CSR remains one of most compelling mechanisms to engage private sector companies in their communities. In Tunisia, a CSR law was passed in June 2018 that incentivizes businesses to engage in CSR practices and contribute to local sustainable development processes. To many in the business and civil society communities, CSR values and its legal framework remain of little to no importance. While some private sector entities engaged in small and limited CSR initiatives, others do not perceive CSR as an important strategic priority. To this end, Ma3an partnered with two Tunisian think tanks Confédération des Entreprises Citoyennes de Tunisie (CONECT) and L'Institut Arabe des Chefs d'Entreprises (IACE) to address issues hindering the engagement of the private sector and to: 1. Promote better awareness of the CSR best practices and its importance for the businesses. 2. Bridge the gap between the public and private sector and lack of coordination and communication 3. Provide technical assistance to private sector companies to implement CSR initiatives in their respective communities for them to be eligible to receive certified CSR labels.
For each of the aims above, Ma3an strived with its partners to create synergies between the different components especially between IACE’s work on CSR awareness-raising and the public-private dialogues on one hand and CONECT’s work to map and identify companies to be supported and assisted for the implementation of CSR Initiatives. However, tensions in the relationship between the two organizations made it difficult for Ma3an to create these synergies in Objective 3 activities. Ma3an also provided technical advice on the format and content of the PPDs to establish linkages with the project’s Community Resilience Process. As a result, the PPD’s included discussions on the CSAP priorities to come up with ideas on how the public and private sector could collaborate more efficiently to contribute to the implementation of potential CRAs.
Ma3an’s work on the private sector mapping, the CSR workshops, and the PPDs highlighted challenges that hinder CSR in Tunisia and informed the following three recommendations to help advance CSR: 1. Better coordination between the administration and companies: Government institutions and administrations should play a supervisory and regulatory role to support the provide sector on CSR adoption by providing guidance and coordination support to different CSR initiatives. 2. Raise awareness of CSR: This is key to address the fact that CSR is often confused with charity work or limited to a one-off initiative with specific groups of organizations with no concrete follow-up instead of an ongoing process or approach that companies adopt. 3. A more active and coordinated role for NGOs: NGOs working on CSR are not leveraging networking and alliances to further promote values and principles of CSR. The mapping of CSR identified only a few civil society CSR initiatives that are lacking the needed coordination both among themselves and with other relevant institutions.
Results analysis Result 3.1: Enhanced knowledge and skills of public and private sector actors to support local resilience activities In Year 2, Ma3an’s partner CONECT conducted a private sector and CSR mapping activity in the seven governorates of Ma3an Phase 1 and 2 communities. The mapping aimed to build understanding of the business landscape and help identify and select companies to receive CSR technical assistance that would
Page 21 of 37 make them eligible for a “CSR certified” label (see Result 3.3). The results of this mapping provided Ma3an with several insights that will inform its follow-on activities: • In addition to the private sector, CSR efforts involve other players in the CSR ecosystem, such as CSOs and local authorities with a shared interest in CSR outcomes. • In some governorates with Ma3an activities, the CSR mapping exercise had difficulties identifying companies in operation. For example, Fernana in Jendouba has no established private sector. • Ma3an’s value add with CSR and private sector engagement is to expand the discussion around CSR to include local affairs and community-level youth issues.
To disseminate the results of the mapping and get community stakeholders - mainly local authorities and the public sector - on the same page with regards to the shortcomings of CSR implementation and potential opportunities for collaboration, in Y2, Ma3an partner CONECT held 10 CSR workshops attended by 205 participants. Ma3an has also intentionally tried to link its vision of CSR to other community collaboration and sustainability efforts in Ma3an communities (as outlined in Activity 3.3.2 and within Activity 1.3.1’s CRA development process).
Tunisian Corporate Social Responsibility Underdeveloped and Only Functioning on a Basic Level, Ma3an Study Reveals CSR mapping conducted by Ma3an partner CONECT revealed that Tunisian CSR initiatives are functioning at a basic level, as they only cover a handful of limited initiatives such as the refurbishment of schools, funding sports associations, providing internships for community youth, and granting benefits for employees. This is due to the absence of CSR strategic plans in private enterprises that are used to inform corporate interventions based on community needs and of any consultations with the community to co-design initiatives. To bolster CSR efforts, CONECT gathered over 170 participants across ten communities between October and December of 2019 to build their understanding on the importance of CSR, the legal framework around it, what is currently being done, and what more could be done for companies to play an active role in improving their communities. CONECT also announced that it will provide technical assistance for seven corporations to build their own CSR strategy.
Ma3an sees Public-Private Dialogues as an important tool for advancing the sustainability of the Ma3an model due to their potential for increasing willingness among private sector actors to invest in the communities in which they work. The five PPDs held this year, which brought together a total of 119 participants, yielded some successes in Y2, such as the Bouzgenda Frères Group opening their vocational training program to youth from Douar Hicher thanks to the connection made with the Youth Center director. In Sidi Bouzid, connections made during the Public-Private Dialogues empowered the director of a business center to mobilize Coala, a manufacturing company in the city, to support a youth training program. Although the dialogues yielded some positive results, Ma3an realized that to solidify and maximize the benefits from these dialogues in terms of sustainability, they needed to be anchored in the dynamics, mechanisms, and needs in each community, which partner IACE could not support since they are focused on the central and governorate level, and not at the community level. Therefore, Ma3an has sought to integrate the PPDs into its own community-level processes, for example, using the CSAP workshops which bring together private and public sector actors as a foundation for future engagement with the private sector. Ma3an is ensuring that CRCs can play a role in supporting and continuing the PPDs by changing the sequencing of activities in Phase 3 communities so PPDs take place after CRCs are formed. In Year 2, the dialogues were held before the establishment of the CRCs which hindered any potential follow-up on the outputs of the public-private dialogues. Ma3an is also building the CRC’s knowledge of existing mechanisms such as public-private partnerships and their potential as sources of funding and support for community initiatives.
Page 22 of 37
Ma3an a Catalyst for Public Private Partnerships to Benefit Youth in Douar Hicher
The first PPD was held in Douar Hicher on September 30, 2019 bringing together youth from the community, the private sector, local authorities and civil society actors to discuss the role of the private sector in addressing community issues. The workshop resulted into concrete collaboration between the representatives of private sector companies and other stakeholders such as representative of the Douar Hicher youth center. During the PPD, a leading Tunisian company in construction and civil works presented one of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities “San3a 3lema” (on the job training) which aims to train unemployed youth who would like to learn and obtain a certification in construction work and receive a stipend. After the PPD, Ma3an facilitated follow-up meetings between the construction company and the youth center director through which a roundtable with 30 youth from Douar Hicher was organized to discuss the concept and the process. To date, three of those youth have started the training and other youth are in the process of joining the program. In what Ma3an calls a “win-win-win”, a PPD resulted in real gains for Douar Hicher youth.
Result 3.2: Mobilization of public and private sector resources for the establishment of Community Resilience Committees and, where applicable, local development funds In Y2, Ma3an made progress in identifying models for local development funds and gained a better understanding of the landscape and the different mechanisms that can be complementary and that Ma3an can build upon. However, reflecting on what it has learned, Ma3an determined that it needs more time to assess mechanisms and implications of recent laws on CSR, crowdfunding, and social entrepreneurship and upcoming laws on the governance of natural resources before it could design and implement relevant and viable local development fund pilots. In addition, Ma3an determined that local partners do not currently have the capacity to contribute to a comprehensive identification of possible fund models. Therefore, Ma3an decided to focus instead in Y3 on supporting the role of the recently established Phase 2 CRCs and future Phase 3 CRCs and other community stakeholders in engaging the private sector in the CRAs to build awareness, relationships, and buy-in that will facilitate the process of identifying and launching local development funds in the last two years of the project.
Result 3.3: Increased number of social corporate responsibility policies and initiatives developed with community consultation Through its partnership with IACE, Ma3an leveraged the use of social media to raise awareness of the importance and relevance of CSR among the business community. To this end, IACE produced six videos that were posted on Facebook that explained CSR values and principles, its benefits for the company adopting it, as well its impact on the community. The videos reached close to 80,000 people, most of whom are not subscribed to IACE’s Facebook page. Such a figure shows that the campaign succeeded not only in raising the awareness of CSR in the business community but also in expanding CSR to other community members. We have learned that, for Year 3, info sessions and in-person activities should complement awareness raising through Facebook in an effort to bring together different business actors around CSR values and to engage in discussions that result in action.
In Y2, partner CONECT drew on an initial review that it had already conducted of companies’ CSR strategies to conduct a mapping in ten Ma3an Phase 2 communities of the most active private sector entities
Page 23 of 37
and those with a strong CSR policy and dedicated budget. As a result of this mapping, seven companies (see Table 1) were selected to receive technical assistance to improve their CSR practices and better focus their efforts and resources. This review and mapping will serve as a basis for the technical support Ma3an will provide in Year 3 to these companies. The technical support includes: 1. CSR experts will work closely with the companies selected to run a comprehensive diagnosis of their CSR practices and budgets. 2. A technical support action plan will be developed and approved with the company. 3. The experts will accompany the company to implement selected CSR initiatives / action plan 4. An initial audit will be conducted by the experts to assess the results of the process. 5. An external audit will be conducted by VERITAS Bureau to determine which CSR label is to be granted (Bronze/Silver/Gold).
Table 2. Companies receiving technical assistance to improve their CSR practices Governorate Company selected Sector Jendouba Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze Tunisia (SEBN) Automobile industry Kairouan TOP Cuisine Services Mannouba Automotive Industries Group (ASK) Mechanical and Metallurgical Industries Zaghouan Dar Zaghouan Tourism Sidi Bouzid Steiff Toys Manufacture of soft toys Tunis Crown Maghreb Packaging Sousse Les Minoteries Du Centre & Sahel Reunies (MCSR) Agri-food
With the CRAs undergoing final steps of development before implementation, Ma3an will work closely with CONECT and its affiliated experts to frame the CSR initiatives and develop synergies and explore complementarities with the CRAs for any potential private sector contributions to these projects. Result 3.4: Increased number of volunteer hours dedicated to supporting community resilience initiatives. When Ma3an wrote in the Y2 workplan that “Ma3an social media platforms would be the main hub for communicating about the importance of volunteering”, little did we know that the COVID-19 pandemic was coming, that it would bring a grinding halt to Ma3an community activities, thereby making Ma3an social media platforms the only hub for communicating for the best part of Y2. COVID-19 also became an unlikely driver for youth volunteering in Ma3an communities.
Indeed, Ma3an witnessed an exponential increase in volunteering actions from across the communities and decided to launch two polls on its social media platforms, in March and May 2020, to assess the breadth and nature of volunteer actions (see Annex 5), Ma3an learned a great deal during Y2 with regards to what it takes for youth to volunteer and what Ma3an can do to further promote volunteerism. The main realization is that if youth have the space (geographic or temporal) and the tools for volunteering, there’s an increase in the chances of Ma3an youth taking volunteering actions that serve their community. Indeed, 8 in 10 of poll respondents highlighted that the CYM and CSAP processes opened a door for them to increase their network - especially the connections made with local authorities - and this allowed them to engage in efforts to respond to COVID-19 (see Figure 8 for examples of initiatives by Ma3an youth).
Page 24 of 37
Figure 8. Ma3an youth take action to respond to COVID-19
In Y2. Ma3an also acted on its conclusion that volunteerism promotion cannot be an activity that falls neatly under one program objective. Instead, it needs to be integrated across multiple Ma3an activities that further youth and community engagement and collaboration. This approach was realized in Y2 when the Ma3an Communications and Sidi Bouzid regional teams launched a clean-up campaign of the rehabilitated youth centers’ sports fields ahead of the CSA inaugurations. Ma3an both created the space for youth to volunteer and furthered their sense of belonging and ownership in their communities.
Result 3.5: Policies and strategic plans developed or adjusted to support community resilience and youth development Ma3an did not pursue activities under this result in Y2. MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING Ma3an has created a robust Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) system that enables the project to monitor progress, evaluate results, and generate, share, and reflect on learning. Ma3an uses the outputs of these components to continuously assess its design and implementation and adapt as needed to ensure Ma3an is contributing to its intended P/CVE purpose. Ma3an’s ability to learn and adapt was particularly evident in Y2 as it first adjusted its design in the first half of the year based on Y1 learning and consultations with partners and adjusted its implementation plan once the pandemic swept through Tunisia in the second half of the year. In this section, we outline the main improvements to the project’s MEL system in the past year and key results from our monitoring, evaluation, and learning efforts.
Monitoring In Y2, Ma3an made a significant progress on its key indicators, including the number of youth trained (Youth1 indicator) which increased from 375 in Y1 to 721 in Y2, the number of consensus building forums which increased from 11 in Y1 to 28 in Y2, in addition to reaching its target of 12 new groups or initiatives created through USG funding, dedicated to resolving the conflict or the drivers of the conflict with the creation of the CRCs in the 12 Y2 communities. Annex 4 provides a detailed overview of the progress made on Ma3an’s indicators in Y2.
Page 25 of 37
Quantitative data collection and visualization Ma3an MEL team worked during the past year on improving the data management system upon the feedback received from the METAL program. Updates include: • Review of output and outcome indicators listed in the Activity, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan for Y2 • Creation of a new solution for participant registration with extra quality check layers before, during and, after data collection, to minimize errors. • Automation of some tasks within the system to allow for duplicate entries check and returning participants. Thereby reporting on total users and unique users (see Figure 9). For example, as shown in the graph below, in quarter 4 of Y2, Ma3an engaged (in workshops or trainings) 210 youth, of which only 51 were new to the program, i.e. not previously trained or otherwise engaged.
Figure 9. Reporting on Total Users Versus Unique Users
Qualitative data collection In Y2, the Ma3an MEL team improved the MEL site and the related reporting from our local partners (LPs). We conducted a comparative assessment of the strengths and the weaknesses of the two reporting approaches (monthly report, activity report) and feedback sessions were held with several LPs as well as internally within the MEL team that offered valuable insights on how to improve the MEL site and on how we can better tailor it according to our reporting needs. This led us to incorporate further modifications to render the MEL site more user friendly, including simplifying elements in the data pipeline and automating some tasks to address the redundancy in reporting for our partners.
In addition, Ma3an conducted a third round of partner process interviews (PPIs) online, using Microsoft Teams. These guided discussions were conducted by Ma3an’s MEL team with partner staff to discuss how their involvement with Ma3an is progressing, what works and what does not, and what technical or other support is needed. The PPIs helped us further understand our partners’ needs and their perspective on implementation successes and challenges. Their feedback was also used to inform revisions to the selection process and plan for capacity building activities for the new CSO partners for Phase 3 communities.
Furthermore, the MEL Team conducted a series of focus group discussions with Phase 1 communities’ CRC members along with site visits to assess the local resilience activities implemented under the USAID-funded Sharekna project to: • Support the program team to understand the current situation of the CRC, activities implemented so far to sustain Sharekna local resilience activities and current roles and responsibilities. • Support the reflection on Phase 2 community CRAs and how to sustain them. • Explore opportunities regarding the CRC interventions from another perspective.
Page 26 of 37
In total, three focus groups were conducted with members of CRC in El Kef, Sidi Bouzid, and Souk Jedid. These discussions were conducted online, and they lasted an average of two hours. A total of 18 members participated in the three focus groups, 11 males and 7 females. As for the LRAs assessment, it consisted in an initial desk review of the activities’ descriptions and objectives and the available previous evaluations, followed through by site visits and interviews. Interviews were held in all communities - some of them happened virtually due to the pandemic situation- and involved program beneficiaries, grantees and staff.
Evaluation Social Network Analysis Baseline Ma3an conducted an SNA to measure performance indicator 11: “Percentage change in project beneficiaries or stakeholders reporting quality collaboration”. This indicator is based on three components of Quality Collaboration: 1) frequency of interactions 2) diversity of interactions and 3) diversity of actors with whom beneficiaries collaborate. FHI 360 developed an SNA survey and administered it to 288 members of five Phase 2 communities during the CSAP workshops held between December 2019 and February 2020. This first round of data collection serves as a baseline for future evaluation of Ma3an activities to determine progress towards program objectives. Two other rounds of data collection will be conducted in Y3.
The baseline indicator 11 measurement included in the PMP (see Annex 4) is at 24.7 % which means that in the sampled Ma3an communities an average of 2.5 in every ten people report quality collaboration in Y1 of Ma3an implementation.
Beyond measuring indicator 11, the SNA results were also used to inform the program about the connections in the five beneficiary communities (see Table 2).
Table 3. SNA Findings and Recommendations SNA findings Recommendations 1. The less dense the network, i.e. communities with 1. Addressing the low levels of cohesion in the network less connections, the more the collaboration is should focus on developing activities specifically controlled or dominated by a group of actors. Which targeting Youth and Female members. means a limited number of people in the network 2. Efforts should be made to lower the homophily levels have access to resources or social capital. The data between age groups by including a diverse coalition shows that youth and women are the least involved. of people that represent a variety of ages when 2. Centralized networks tend to be more efficient at planning collaborative activities to ensure that all solving problems. This suggests that a centralized viewpoints are considered. committee composed of people from different age 3. Efforts should focus on improving connections in the groups, genders, and sectors that is tasked with collaborative action of sub-networks because increasing the number of collaborative actions and focusing on these is likely to increase collaboration making them more inclusive could be beneficial for activities across all four sub-networks as information creating a more resilient community. sharing, attending meetings, and collaborative 3. Age group analysis demonstrated that the highest decisions tend to serve as prerequisites to level of homophily is within age groups. Which means collaborative action. that people tend to network with their own peers. 4. The sustainability of Ma3an actions will depend on For Ma3an, a program that focuses on youth, this more dynamic connections between private sector suggests that youth are the least included in the and other sectors like CSOs, youth groups and local community and that they prefer interacting with their authorities. Indeed, encouraging the Youth and peers. Private Sector to work with other sectors would also 4. Private sector has the lowest diversity of interactions have the added benefit of working towards improving and may be one area where the Ma3an program can the percentage of individuals reporting quality focus its efforts when engaging with the community. collaborations across the different sub-networks.
Page 27 of 37
Capacity for Resilience Baseline As part of the Ma3an MEL plan, Ma3an has included a baseline, midline, and end line internal evaluation of three key performance indicators: • Indicator #2: Percentage change of reported trust in community collaboration processes by program beneficiaries. • Indicator #6: Percentage of program beneficiaries reporting increased capacities for resilience as a result of USG assisted programs • Indicator # 7: Percentage change in community members' willingness to engage in community activities
To measure progress for these performance indicators, FHI 360 developed a measurement tool structured around the Ma3an socio-ecological model of change that happens at the individual, group and community levels and seeks to understand capacities for resilience at each level of the intervention. The baseline was conducted in September 2020 by an independent research firm, Elka Consulting, on a random sample of Ma3an Phase 3 communities before Ma3an started interventions. An end line will be completed in the sampled Phase 3 communities in 2023. Data was analyzed using factor analysis, described with baseline values in Table 3. Table 4. Capacity for Resilience Factors and Baseline Values Baseline Factor value Indicator #2: Factor A – Trust in institutions and collaborative processes Percentage change of In terms of inclusivity of institutions, the respondents reported reported trust in that youth leaders and Imams have the highest degrees of community inclusivity when working in the community. Results 42.9% collaboration potentially indicates overall negative perceptions of the processes by program institutions and leadership in the communities. beneficiaries. Index with 3 Factors: Factor B – Community Resilience Unlike the distributions of perceived inclusivity and trust in the institutions and leadership, we observe a relatively higher mean score for community resilience capacity at 64.6 out of 100 points. The distribution of community resilience capacity appears normal with a mean of 64.6 points and a standard deviation of 17.9 points.
Indicator #6: Factor C – Group Resilience Percentage of For group resilience, we observe average scores of 66.8, 74, program 76.1, and 81.1 points out of 100 for self-reported planning skills, beneficiaries communication skills, collaborative attitude, and negotiation reporting increased skills, respectively. It appears that respondents rate themselves 64.6 % capacities for somewhat similarly on communication and collaboration skills, resilience as a result with planning rated lowest and negotiation rated highest, on of USG assisted average. programs
Factor D – Individual Resilience Next, we examine the average scores and distributions of the individual-level resilience capacities - entrepreneurial thinking, adaptability, persistence/positive thinking, self-efficacy, problem solving, critical thinking, and empathy – The results potentially indicates individuals in the five sampled communities have a high perception of their individual capacities to face and solve challenges, broadly.
Page 28 of 37
Factor E - Understanding of youth concerns, needs, Indicator # 7: challenges and perspectives Percentage change in Finally, we examine the distribution of adults aged 30 years or community older in terms of their level of understanding of youths’ 62 % members' willingness concerns, needs, challenges, and perspectives. Interestingly, we to engage in observe a relatively high average of 82.4 with a small standard community activities deviation of 14 points.
Learning What Ma3an Partners tell us The Ma3an team was able to quickly transition to remote and virtual work following the disruption to field work due to COVID-19, and the Ma3an MEL team was quick to identify and capitalize on the opportunity that technology offered. When confinement started, PPIs which are regular quarterly Pause & Reflect moments with civil society partners —a staple of Ma3an’s approach to CLA— were to be held face-to-face. The MEL team acted swiftly to move the format to Microsoft Teams, and the virtual PPIs proved to be as successful — if not more successful — than the in-person PPIs because, with the lack of distraction, the facilitator paid special attention to giving all partner staff members an equal opportunity to speak.
Findings from the PPIs were shared with Ma3an team as well as the partners. Two conference calls with the local partners took place to respond to their questions about the next phase: the first one brought together Ma3an Senior Management Team members with the LPs while the second one brought them together with the USAID Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR).
More recently, when Phase 2 local partners phased out on September 30, they shared with us their recommendations for future partnerships:
Partnership and mission • More feedback mechanisms • More training to the partner team and team building with the Ma3an staff • More involvement in broad program strategy • More autonomy for the local partners • Clarify the partner relationship with the regional offices • Regional offices are closer to the partners and have developed more mechanisms for communication than the Tunis office and are able to build connections with local stakeholders • Discuss the workplan or the planned activities ahead of time to allow for inclusion of changes suggested by the LPs
Project Implementation • Feedback mechanisms with the local communities to better communicate results • More exchange between community stakeholders (e.g. regional youth forum)
Ma3an impact • Offer competitions as an additional activity for the youth mappers or hackathon that can stimulate youth engagement and bring in the CSAP participants • The CRC should start functioning following the CSAP and by shadowing the local partners
Page 29 of 37
Sharing the Learning Due to the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the USAID Learning Lab expressed interest in hearing stories about the use of Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) approaches to adapt and be responsive to this global pandemic. Ma3an utilized this opportunity to showcase three main examples of how we constantly strive to advance our CLA approaches:
CLA through Data Management Systems: Tale of Two Projects posted on September 4, 2020 At FHI 360, we have been engaged in thinking about how to make our CLA efforts intentional, systematic, and resourced. Many workshops have hinged around the question is our CLA as institutionalized as it could be? We’ve seen that if we repeatedly ask, “why not,” the topic of enabling conditions invariably surfaces as a contributing factor. Setting up the right precursors to CLA, then, should be central to any institutionalization strategy. Recently, we have been reflecting on the role that data systems play in this progression. This blog post presents a few lessons learned which may not be new, but the reflection surrounding how this data management approach enabled CLA, is novel. Our experience in implementing USAID-Ma3an underscores that a human-centered philosophy to information systems enables several CLA elements, including adaptive management, continuous learning and improvement, knowledge management, internal collaboration, and institutional memory.
Ma3an’s social network analysis: a wellspring of CLA posted on June 30, 2020 For programs like USAID Ma3an, a recurring conundrum is how to measure concepts that are core to civil society projects. How do you quantify collaboration? How do you measure resilience? FHI 360 staff had to tackle this difficulty head-on when they placed collaboration at the heart of their theory of change. The solution came as an SNA which this blog post unpacks. Indeed, executives are constantly looking for game changers: power moves that will transform the way business is done. In Ma3an’s case, social network analysis proved to be one such game-changer. Starting as a mechanism for indicator reporting, the foray outgrew its initial purpose and became a lodestone for CLA. The adaptations from the SNA learning made Ma3an’s interventions more strategic, inclusive, and collaborative. Will Ma3an’s programs scale? Will the relationships built between the government, private sector, and community actors endure? No one has a crystal ball, but SNA stimulated the long-term thinking to give Ma3an’s communities the best shot at becoming resilient and self-reliant.
Coronavirus: The Unlikely Driver of CLA That No One Expected posted on June 1, 2020 COVID-19 has brought many international development projects to a grinding halt. Initially, FHI 360’s USAID-funded Ma3an program was no different. Ma3an works with 33 Tunisian communities vulnerable to instability and violent extremism, implementing activities that promote social cohesion, resilience, and youth participation. When COVID-19 first emerged in Tunisia, Ma3an initially paused all of its activities with these at-risk communities. However, positive initiatives can still come out of challenging times. An unforeseen outcome for Ma3an has been that the pandemic drove a surge of CLA in Tunisia. For the Ma3an MEL team, the triple-loop conclusions are clear: • Creating space for structured reflection adds value, • Enabling conditions buoy CLA adoption during periods of disruption, and • Deliberate, structured CLA can stimulate agency.
In addition to the blogs mentioned above and to drive internal learning and collaboration, Ma3an organized 13 Let’s Talk Ma3an sessions in Y2 during which various teams presented activities they have been working on and led a discussion with other staff on how everyone can contribute to these activities. To compliment this dynamic of sharing, the MEL team also organized three pause and reflect sessions on youth engagement and sustainably. As a result of these learning and exchange sessions, team members discussed and agreed on some adaptations to activities, mostly in relation to youth engagement by ensuring that CSOs partner have more autonomy in the selection of youth whilst ensuring inclusion, diversity, and transparency.
Page 30 of 37
Ma3an also use the PPIs and focus groups with CRCs as an opportunity to learn and exchange with local partners and stakeholders. The main outcome from these external learning opportunities was the development of the new knowledge exchange tool: Peer Support which reinforces “Learning Before Doing” and Knowledge Sharing between Ma3an Local Partners, Ma3an related working groups, and Ma3an Staff.
Finally, learning generated and shared with both internal and external stakeholders resulted in adaptations to improve CYM, CSAP and CRC processes and the design and planning for Ma3an activities that were reflected in the Y3 workplan.
Page 31 of 37
COMPARISON OF ACTUAL EXPENDITURES WITH BUDGET ESTIMATES Estimated costs for FY20 are $8,384,520.22 as presented below. Please note these are estimated costs. Because the month of September coincides with year-end closing for FHI 360, final figures are not available yet. Any adjustments to the figures presented below will be captured in the next quarterly financial report.
The breakdown of estimated costs for FY20 is presented below:
• The spending for FY20 ($8,384,520.22) increased by 23% compared to FY19 ($6,818,837.07). • Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially visible on Travel, Consultants and ODC, the level of achievement against the approved Year 2 budget ($10,052,825.73) is 83%. • The reconciliation of local partners’ expenditures is up to date as of August 2020, which shows that local partners are spending as expected and that Ma3an is building their financial capacity, which is one of the project’s goals.
Page 32 of 37
ANNEXES
Annex 1A: Tunisia VE Assessment Key Findings Brief Enclosed as a separate document with this report.
Annex 1B: Tunisia VE Assessment Report Enclosed as a separate document with this report.
Annex 1C: VE Community Snapshots Enclosed as a separate document with this report.
Page 33 of 37
Annex 2: Community Support Activities (Phase 2 Communities) Governorate Community Grantee Community Support Activities Delivery date The award will support remodeling and 20 Oct 2020 redevelopment of the park, procurement and Sub-Municipality Sijoumi installation of playground equipment for children, of Sijoumi establishment of a multidisciplinary sport space for youth, and defining of walking alleys. Tunis The award will provide the necessary equipment and 20 Oct 2020 maintenance for the center’s basic functioning; Youth Center of including equipment to support dance, music and Hrairia Hrairia plastic arts clubs; and support for the launch of robotics and cinema clubs through material and training provision for youth in robotics and cinema. The award will provide the necessary equipment and 21 Oct 2020 maintenance for the center’s outdoor space to Youth Center of Saouaf integrate sports activities, rehabilitate the indoor Saouaf gymnasium, and provide camping equipment to Zaghouan initiate a camping club. The award will support the procurement of 21 Oct 2020 Youth Center equipment to rehabilitate the amphitheater to Nadhour of Nadhour integrate cultural and artistic activities into youth center programming. The award will support the procurement of street 22 Oct 2020 Sousse Municipality of furniture to refurbish the park and install playground Riadh Ezzouhour equipment for children and youth. The award will provide equipment for the 22 Oct 2020 Sousse multipurpose hall’s use as a sports space; rehabilitate Sidi Youth Center of the locker rooms; rehabilitate the IT Club and its Abdelhamid Sidi Abdelhamid equipment; and create a reflection space through equipment purchase and rehabilitation. Youth Center of The award will provide equipment to support the Delivered February Nasrallah Nasrallah rehabilitation of the multidisciplinary sports field. 2020 Kairouan Youth Complex The award will support equipment procurement for Delivered February Kairouan of Kairouan fitness, aerobics, and dance clubs, and the installation 2020 North North of a football field. Municipality of The award will provide playground equipment and To be delivered Dec Laaroussa Laaroussa rehabilitate the park into a recreational area. 2020 The award procures the necessary equipment to 26 Oct 2020 Siliana Youth Center of rehabilitate the basketball court and refurbish a Rouhia Rouhia leisure park with outdoor equipment so it becomes an outdoor fitness space. The award will provide equipment and enable the 27 Oct 2020 Youth center Fernana rehabilitation of the dance, theatre, and sports room, of Fernana as well as the homework space. Jendouba The award will provide the necessary equipment to 27 Oct 2020 Public Library of rehabilitate the outdoor space into a cultural scene Ghardimaou Ghardimaou and to install a wooden structure to support overall space revision.
Page 34 of 37
Annex 3: Proposed Community Support Activities (Phase 3 Communities) Governorate Community Grantee Community Support Activities Ben Arous Mohamedia Cultural The award will provide the necessary equipment to create artistic Center of and IT clubs and rehabilitate the outdoor space into a small Mohamedia playground for youth. Fouchana Municipality of The award will rehabilitate the Naassan stadium and provide it with Naassan the necessary equipment. Fouchana The award will rehabilitate the center’s amphitheater and integrate Youth Center cultural and artistic clubs. Hammam Municipality of The award will rehabilitate a neighborhood football field into a Lif Hammam Lif multidisciplinary sports field and an outdoor gym. Tunis Kram West Youth Center The award will provide equipment to the youth center for the IT and of Kram Robotics club, the web radio and a recording studio. It will rehabilitate the outdoor football field and provide equipment for a half basketball field and outdoor gym. Cultural The award will rehabilitate the amphitheater, provide equipment for Center of the cinema, plastic arts, and music clubs, and refurbish the 5 major Kram rooms and the outdoor amphitheater Municipality of The award will rehabilitate a neighborhood multi-disciplinary fitness Kram trail and sports field with open space for family-friendly community gathering space. Kasserine Feriana Municipality of The award will rehabilitate a multidisciplinary sports field in the area Feriana of Abdelmonoom Saadaoui The city of Municipality of The award will rehabilitate a multidisciplinary sports field and a family Kasserine Ennour friendly park. Municipality of The award will provide necessary equipment for the youth center for Ezzouhour the creation of IT, robotics, web radio clubs and a multidisciplinary sports hall. Thala Youth Center The award will rehabilitate the youth center by providing equipment for the creation of a multidisciplinary sports playground for women and the multidisciplinary hall for both sports and cultural activities. Gafsa Mdhilla Municipality of The award will rehabilitate the municipal park into a family-friendly Mdhilla and multi-generational community space. TBD The award will rehabilitate the football stadium of Borj Al-Akarma El Ksar Municipality of The award will rehabilitate a neighborhood football field in the center El Ksar of El Ksar Municipality of The award will rehabilitate the open-air theater and the sports field in Lela Dar Chaab Gafsa Municipality of The award will rehabilitate an abandoned space into a South Gafsa multidisciplinary sports field and a family-friendly park. Medenine Medenine Municipality of The award will rehabilitate a multidisciplinary sports field in Ennour North Medenine neighborhood. Sidi Municipality of The award will refurbish and sports and entertainment park. Makhlouf Sidi Makhlouf Beni Youth Centers The award will rehabilitate and renovate the youth centers of Beni Khedach of Beni Khedach and Ksar Al-Jdid. Khedach and Ksar Al-Jdid
Page 35 of 37
Tataouine Municipality of The award will provide equipment for Al-Mihrajan sports complex for Tataouine Tataouine combat and women sports clubs. North Municipality of The award will provide the equipment for the Abbas indoor Tataouine multidisciplinary sports hall to furnish a women workout room and refurbish two other rooms for cultural activities. Tataouine Youth Center The award will provide equipment for the creation of individual and South collective sports, women’s aerobics, and IT clubs. Bir Lahmar Youth Center The award will provide equipment to refurbish the multi-purpose room and the outdoor sports hall.
Page 36 of 37
Annex 4: Performance Management Plan Enclosed as a separate document with this report.
Annex 5: Covid-19 Contributions of Ma3an Youth and Partners Enclosed as a separate document with this report.
Annex 6: Year 2 USAID Learning blog Posts Enclosed as a separate document with this report.
Annex 7: Year 2 Success Stories Enclosed as a separate document with this report.
Page 37 of 37