PARTNERSHIP FOR INNOVATIONS (P4I) Cooperative Agreement No. AID-176-A-16-00001 Annual Report Year 4 October, 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020 including Fourth Quarterly Report July-September 2020 (Annex 1) Submitted to: USAID/CAR Prepared by: ARGO – Civil Society Development Association Contact details: 36 Jandosov Street, Almaty 050057, Kazakhstan Tel. +7 727 2502787 Jamila Asanova – Chief Executive Officer, [email protected] 1 CA-AID-176-A-16-00001, Partnership for Innovations Annual Report Year 4, including Fourth Quarterly Report Civil Society Development Association “ARGO” TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... 3 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 4 MAJOR IMPACTS: REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS ................................................................ 5 MAJOR IMPACTS: IN-COUNTRY SPECIFIC HIGHLIGHTS .......................................... 8 II. YEAR 4 ACHIEVEMENTS ............................................................................................ 13 III. GENDER ANALYSIS.................................................................................................. 69 IV. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ................................................................... 76 V. COORDINATION AND COOPERATION ..................................................................... 84 VI. BRANDING AND MARKING, PUBLIC RELATIONS ............................................ 89 VII. MONITORING AND EVALUATION ........................................................................ 94 VIII. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ................................................................................. 105 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................. 106 ANNEX 1 FOURTH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 (separate file) 106 ANNEX 2 LIST OF MATERIALS PUBLISHED ON THE REGIONAL ONLINE PLATFORM DURING THE YEAR 4 .............................................................................. 107 ANNEX 3 REPORT XI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “INSIGHTS INTO DEVELOPMENT”............................................................................................................. 114 ANNEX 4 RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE SATELLITE EVENTS IN UZBEKISTAN ................................................................................................................... 130 ANNEX 5 P4I YEAR 4 PHOTO GALLERY ............................................................... 133 ANNEX 6 SUCCESS STORIES ................................................................................... 134 2 CA-AID-176-A-16-00001, Partnership for Innovations Annual Report Year 4, including Fourth Quarterly Report Civil Society Development Association “ARGO” List of Acronyms AMELP Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan CA Central Asia CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy CEO Chief Executive Officer CSO Civil Society Organization f Female m Male MOU Memorandum of Understanding MISD Ministry of Information and Social Development (Kazakhstan) NFO Notice of Funding Opportunities NWM Nationwide Movement Yuksalish P4I Partnership for Innovations program PC Public Council PIB Public Initiatives Bodies PwD People with Disabilities SAY State Agency for Youth, Physical Culture and Sport SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SGP Small Grants Program SSP State Social Procurement TOR Terms of Reference 3 CA-AID-176-A-16-00001, Partnership for Innovations Annual Report Year 4, including Fourth Quarterly Report Civil Society Development Association “ARGO” I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Partnership for Innovations (P4I) is a regional four-year project (2016-2020) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Civil Society Development Association (ARGO), Kazakhstan, in cooperation with partner civil society organizations (CSOs) from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This is the annual report for Year 4 of the P4I Program, with the GOAL is to: Strengthen civil society in Central Asia to influence their respective governments on all aspects of local, national, and regional debate and policy making, representing the voices of their beneficiaries and constituents. Objective 1: Improve the enabling environment in the target countries for public participation and policy making, by encouraging CSOs and their respective governments to engage in dialogue and collaborative initiatives, P4I targeted to: ● Strengthen cooperation between government and civil society by providing oversight and assistance for effective implementation of relevant legislation related to the civil society operating environment, civic space, and government-civil society interaction, and addressing community issues. ● Improve public participation processes through the co-design and implementation of Action Plans/Road Maps[1] within public councils and relevant government authorities. Objective 2: Increase the capacity of CSOs to be organizationally competent and effective; capable of engaging government bodies in both advocacy and collaboration so as to advance specific policy, service delivery, and legal/regulatory agendas, P4I was tasked to: ● Enhance civil society’s awareness, knowledge, and skills to engage government bodies in both advocacy and collaboration, representing and addressing the issues of their beneficiaries and constituents. ● Enable CSOs' ability to implement innovative initiatives at the local and national levels to address community needs and influence decision-making processes, thus contributing to greater citizen engagement at the local and national levels. This year P4I activities focused on increasing the capacity of civil society to advocate and represent the voices of their beneficiaries at all governmental levels, and improve the enabling environment for public participation and policy making. The P4I program operated in full mode as planned from October 2019 till March 2020, by conducting peer-to-peer activities, and travel to the remote areas to secure successful program implementation at the grassroots level. Since mid-March 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Central Asian, the P4I operation was organized in a virtual mode, maintaining the decentralized management approach. Despite the pandemic, the P4I program continued to make progress and impacts, and is on-target to completing the Work plan according to the time schedule. 4 CA-AID-176-A-16-00001, Partnership for Innovations Annual Report Year 4, including Fourth Quarterly Report Civil Society Development Association “ARGO” During the four years of program implementation, P4I promoted a social basis for democracy in Central Asia, by carrying out the U.S. Government priorities of: “Addressing the root causes of global security threats and instability1” and “More peaceful and more prosperous world with a stronger and more respected America2.” P4I is also directly contributing to USAID’s five-year strategies for the regional Central Asia (RDCS) and Kyrgyz Republic (CDCS) Mission. In particular, the Program contributed to achieving USAID/Central Asia’s Development Objective (DO) 3: “More effective and inclusive governance institutions that service the public good,” with a particular emphasis on the Intermediate Result 3.1 - “More constructive engagement between representative civil society and government” and the Sub-Intermediate Result 3.1.1 - “Stronger, more representative civil society.” The project also contributes to USAID/Kyrgyz Republic’s DO 1: “Inclusive and accountable democracy,” and DO2: “Improved service delivery and policies for all citizens.” As this is the final year of the P4I Program implementation in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the activities aimed at increasing the sustainability of the P4I results, their long- lasting effect and ownership by the national/local authorities. The P4I operation in Uzbekistan has been extended till March 31, 2020. MAJOR IMPACTS: REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS This section covers the overall P4I key impacts for Program Year 4. It first focuses on major program impacts at the regional level and then reviews country-specific highlights. P4I/ARGO is pleased to report that P4I has not only achieved the anticipated work plan targets for the year, but also through the regional activities made considerable steps forward in successfully improving the enabling environment in the target countries for public participation and policy making. Regional Small Grant Program: Thanks to the capacity building of the Regional Small Grants Program, civil society leaders not only engaged CA national/local authorities in dialogue, but also succeeded in introducing relevant legislative framework. The key achievements include legislative changes protecting citizens’ rights to adequate housing, and changes in health and environmental protection legislation regarding the use of mercury-containing products. The regional small grants activities were implemented in partnership with 33 state authorities in target countries, and the direct involvement of 88 CSOs and 987 local civil activists, which in the long-term has the potential to significantly improve the lives of an approximate total of 500,000 local 1 Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development Fact Sheet: FY 2018 Budget Request https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/05/271052.htm 2 America