COMMUNITY FORESTRY MANAGEMENT BODIES LESSONS LEARNED CONFERENCE – GANTA – FEB. 29, 2020 LIBERIA ACCOUNTABILITY AND VOICE INITIATIVE (LAVI) SUMMARY ACTIVITY REPORT QUARTER TWO: April 30, 2020 The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. LIBERIA ACCOUNTABILITY AND VOICE INITIATIVE (LAVI) Quarter 2 Report: Fiscal Year(FY) 2020 January 01– March 31, 2020 Program Title: Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative (LAVI) Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID/Liberia Contract Number: AID–669–C–16–00003 Contractor: DAI Global, LLC Date of Publication: April 30 2020 Author: DAI Global, LLC The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................................................... 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 4 DETAILED ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS .................................................................................................. 8 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................... 8 1.0 ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ............................................................. 8 1.2. FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE QUALITY CONTROL .................................................................................... 8 1.2 GRANTS QUALITY CONTROL ................................................................................................................................ 8 2.0 TECHNICAL PROGRAM SUPPORT ......................................................................................................................... 10 TECHNICAL PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................... 11 OBJECTIVE 1: STRENGTHEN HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LINKAGES AMONG ACTORS ENGAGED IN SIMILAR ISSUES ......................................................................................................................... 12 C1 - TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (NRM) COALITION ................................... 12 C2 - SUPPORT EDUCATION PARTNERS FOR THE MORE -FOR -EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ......................................... 14 C3 - SUPPORT THE THIRD THEMATIC WINDOW IMPLEMENTATION (E LECTORAL REFORMS ) .............................. 26 C4 – THE FOURTH THEMATIC WINDOW IMPLEMENTATION (C OMMUNITY FORESTRY ) ...................................... 31 OBJECTIVE 2: INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY OF TARGETED CSO S TO PARTICIPATE IN ISSUE -BASED REFORMS ................................................................................................................. 34 D1 – CORE FUNDED PARTNER TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ........................................................................................... 34 D2 - CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES FOR FOURTH THEMATIC WINDOW (E LECTORAL REFORMS ) ......... 37 D.4 PROVIDE MENTORING AND CONDUCT CAPACITY ASSESSMENTS OF EDUCATION PARTNERS .................... 39 OBJECTIVE 3: PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF ONGOING CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES ON THE LOCAL MARKET ............................................................................................................... 40 E.1 - IMPLEMENT SERVICE PROVIDER QUALITY CONTROL MEASURES ...................................................................... 41 E.2 - PROVIDE CONSORTIUM SUSTAINABILITY AND MARKETING SUPPORT ............................................................ 42 E3 - IMPLEMENT CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY STRATEGY ............................................................................ 44 OBJECTIVE 4: ENSURE THAT LEARNING AND METHODOLOGIES ARE SHARED AND APPLIED BY OTHER DEVELOPMENT ACTORS ................................................................................................... 44 F.1 - CONTINUE COLLABORATION WITH STRATEGIC LEARNING PARTNERS (AL AB ) ............................................ 44 F.2 - PROVIDE CONTINUOUS TECHNICAL SUPPORT WITH ESTABLISHING AND IMPROVING PARTNER MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E) SYSTEMS FOR NRM, EDUCATION , AND FORESTRY THEMATIC WINDOW PARTNERS ........................................................................................................................................................ 48 F3 - FACILITATE LAVI LEARNING , KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT , AND RESEARCH ................................................. 48 G - PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION ............................................................................................................ 49 H - REPORTING .................................................................................................................................................................. 50 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................................ 50 1 | USAID LAVI QUARTER 1 REPORT – JANUARY 01 TO MARCH 31, 2020 (YEAR 5) USAID.GOV ACRONYMS ALab Accountability Lab CBDSPL Consortium of Business Development Service Provider of Liberia CBO Community Based Organization CD Capacity Development CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy CDG Center for Democratic Governance CDP Capacity Development Plan CEMESP Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding CEO County Education Officers CEO Chief Executive Officer COP Chief of Party COR Contract Officer Representative COTAE Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education COVID -19 Corona Virus D isease of 2019 CFMA Community Forest Management Agreement CFMB Community Forest Management Body CFMP Community Forest Management Plans CFWG Community Forest Working Group CSDF County Social Development Funds CSO Civil Society Organization CUC Commercial Use Contract DEO District Education Officers ECC Election Coordination Commission ERP Electoral Reform Project FBMC Field Based Monitoring Consultants FIFES Forest Incomes for Environmental Sustainability FDG Focus Group Discussion FGP Forest Governance Project FY Fiscal Year HCEI House Committee on Elections and Inauguration IAA Internal Audit Agency IDI Inclusive Development Initiative IREDD Institute for Research and Democratic Development LAVI USAID/Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative LEGIT Local Empowerment for Government Inclusion and Transparency (Liberia) USAID.GOV USAID LAVI FY2020 QUARTER 2 REPORT | 2 LIMPAC Liberia Macroeconomic Policy Analysis Center LSP Local Service Providers LRA Liberia Revenue Authority M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MEL Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning MFDP Ministry of Finance and Development Planning MOE Ministry of Education NAPTANOL National PTA Network of Liberia NAYMOTE National Youth Movement for Transparent Elections NEL New Elections Law NRM Natural Resources Management NTAL National Teachers Association of Liberia NU -CFMB National Union of Community Forest Management Body PIDS Performance Indicators Database System PMC Project Management Committee PTA Parents Teachers Associations QPR Quarterly Performance Review RFP Request for Proposal SDI Sustainable Development Institute SOP Standard Operational Procedures SME Subject Matter Expert TAMIS Technical Administrative Management Information System TWG Technical Working Group USAID United States Agency for International Development WANEP West Africa Network for Peacebuilding WONGOSOL Women’s NGO Secretariat Liberia YMCA Youth Movement for Collective Action YOCEL Youth Coalition for Education in Liberia 3 | USAID LAVI QUARTER 1 REPORT – JANUARY 01 TO MARCH 31, 2020 (YEAR 5) USAID.GOV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The five-year, USAID-financed Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative (LAVI) works to strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships to advocate for and monitor policy and accountability reforms in Liberia. The project aims to increase the influence of citizens and media in the governance of public goods and services. The program also supports Development Objective 2 of the USAID/Liberia’s 2019-2024 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS): Effective and Inclusive Governance Catalyzed through Reforms and Greater Accountability. The LAVI project aims to achieve the above-mentioned goals by directing efforts towards achieving the four (4) objectives or intermediate results mentioned below. Objective 1 (LAVI IR 1): Strengthen Horizontal and Vertical Linkages among Actors Engaged in Similar Issues Natural Resource Management (NRM) Thematic Window In response to the Exit Strategy workshop, held in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2020 in Buchanan City on November 7-9, 2019, LAVI, during the quarter under review approved an “Add-on-Grant” to the Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD) to continue advocacy for the passage of the draft Standalone - County Social Development Funds (CSDF) bill. The grant was signed by LAVI’s Chief of Party (COP) – Milica Panic on February 3, 2020, and it requires that IREDD coordinate with other Natural Resources Management (NRM) partners to organize engagements, including legislative engagements (i.e. Representatives & Senators), engagements with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and advocacy with concessionaires