91630 Japan Social Development Fund REVIEW OF JAPAN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND (JSDF) GRANTS CLOSED IN FY10 June 2011 Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships Vice-Presidency List of Abbreviations AFR Africa Region CBO Community-Based Organization CSO Civil Society Organization DO Development Objective EAP East Asia and Pacific Region ECA Europe and Central Asia Region EW Emergency Window FY Fiscal Year (July 1-June 30) GOJ Government of Japan GRM Grant Reporting and Monitoring IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ICM Implementation Completion Memorandum IDA International Development Association IP Implementation Progress ISR Implementation Status Report JSDF Japan Social Development Fund LCR Latin America and Caribbean Region MNA Middle East and North Africa Region NGO Non-Governmental Organization SAP Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing SAR South Asia Region TTL Task Team Leader UN United Nations VFF Vulnerability Financing Facility Table of Contents Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ i JSDF Program Background ............................................................................................................................ ii Portfolio of JSDF Projects Closed in FY10...................................................................................................... 1 Regional Distribution ................................................................................................................................ 1 Disbursements........................................................................................................................................... 2 Program Type ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Special Program .................................................................................................................................... 3 Regular Program ................................................................................................................................... 4 Grant Type................................................................................................................................................. 5 Themes ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 Implementing Agency ............................................................................................................................... 7 Grant Performance Ratings at Completion................................................................................................... 9 Grant Implementation Ratings ................................................................................................................. 9 Achievement of Development Objectives ................................................................................................. 9 Implementation Performance ................................................................................................................. 10 Additional Ratings ................................................................................................................................... 10 Lessons Learned .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Project Design ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Project Implementation .......................................................................................................................... 12 Community Involvement, Ownership and Empowerment ...................................................................... 13 Charts: Chart 1: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Total Approved Grant Amount by Region ...........................................2 Chart 2: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Total Approved and Disbursed Amount by Region ..............................2 Chart 3: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants by Program Type ....................................................................................3 Chart 4: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants by Theme ...............................................................................................7 Tables: Table 1: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Total Grant Amount Approved and Disbursed by Country ..................1 Table 2: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Grant Type ............................................................................................6 Table 3: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Major Themes .......................................................................................6 Table 4: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Type of Implementing Agency ..............................................................8 Table 5: Achievement of Development Objectives at Completion (JSDF FY10) ..........................................9 Table 6: Implementation Performance Rating at Completion (JSDF FY10) ...............................................10 Annexes: Annex 1: List of JSDF Grants Closed in FY10 ............................................................................................... 14 Annex 2: Implementation Completion Summary Reports – JSDF Grants Closing in FY10.......................... 15 Summary The purpose of reviewing completed JSDF grants is to learn from the experiences of grant implementation, and particularly, to provide feedback that could lead to program improvements. The review of JSDF closed grants started in 2007 with the review of 18 grants which closed in FY06, followed by the review of 16 grants closed in FY07, and a combined report on 53 grants closed in FY08 and FY09. The current review, fourth in this series, captures 18 grants closed in FY10, each with end-disbursement date on or before October 31, 2010. Five of these grants under the Special Program supported recovery measures following the South Asia/Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Another two supported the rehabilitation and revitalization of areas in Pakistan affected by the earthquake of October 2005. Six grants under the Regular Program aimed at improving service delivery and piloting innovative approaches for poverty alleviation, and another five grants targeted building the capacity of local governments and communities, non-governmental organizations and other civil society organizations. Fourteen countries in four Bank regions (Africa, East Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia regions) benefitted from the JSDF grants which closed in FY10. Eighty-seven percent of the total approved grant amount of US$23.9 million has been disbursed. Fifty-six percent of the funds, or US$13.5 million, were allocated to countries in the East Asia and Pacific and South Asia Regions. The average grant size was US$1.3 million, with 13 grants larger than US$1 million, and five grants smaller than US$1 million. The review was based on Grant Reporting and Monitoring and Implementation Completion reports, prepared in SAP by the Task Team Leader (TTL) for each grant. GRMs are prepared annually to document implementation progress, with additional reporting on final results and outcomes at closing through the Implementation Completion Memorandum. Performance for each grant is rated on a six point rating scale, standard for all Bank-financed operations and trust funds: Highly Satisfactory, Satisfactory, Moderately Satisfactory, Moderately Unsatisfactory, Unsatisfactory, and Highly Unsatisfactory. Sixteen out of 18 grants, or 89 percent, perform in the Satisfactory range for achieving their Development Objectives and for Implementation Performance. Only one grant was rated Unsatisfactory due to implementation difficulties and another grant was not rated as it was cancelled before implementation started. In addition to the implementation assessments, the reports provide information on other key aspects of the JSDF program objectives, e.g. participation of communities/civil society organizations; sustainability of implemented activities after closure of the grant; and, lessons learned under the grant that can be used in other Bank projects and in scaling up grant activities. The grants closed in FY10 provided some important lessons in terms of project design and implementation, ownership and empowerment, and the role of the community. There are also some specific lessons from the implementation of grants under emergency circumstances. i JSDF Program Background The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) was initially conceived by the Government of Japan (GOJ) and the World Bank to respond to the devastating impact of the East Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, and provide support to vulnerable groups impacted by this crisis. The program, established in June 2000, supports innovative activities benefitting the most disadvantaged groups in eligible developing countries, making it unique within the Bank. All low-income and lower-middle income countries, as defined in the current World Economic Indicators, are eligible to receive JSDF grants. In November 2009, in response to the global financial crisis and in support of the World Bank’s Vulnerability Financing Facility (VFF), the Government of Japan launched an “Emergency Window (EW)” under JSDF, providing $200 million over three years. All IBRD and IDA countries are eligible under the EW. Up until the end of FY10, Japan has approved $461.9 million in project grants to support 261 JSDF social development programs and projects in 69 eligible countries under its three main Programs: • Regular Program grants finance either project or capacity building activities, up to $3 million, aimed at introducing innovative programs providing direct benefits to disadvantages communities. • Special Program grants support a range of development activities with special purposes, such as (i) development and capacity building in Afghanistan; (ii) recovery measures following the South Asia/Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, and (iii) rehabilitation and revitalizations of areas in Pakistan affected by the earthquake of October 2005. • Emergency Window grants provide support, under streamlined JSDF procedures, to assist vulnerable groups adversely affected by the global, food, fuel, and financial crisis. All three Programs provide grants for capacity building as well as project activities. Specifically: • Project Grants finance activities that provide direct benefits to disadvantaged communities by targeting underserved groups not reached by mainstream programs, through innovative projects that deliver results in the short term. • Capacity Building Grants finance capacity building to empower and strengthen local community authorities, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), local governments and stakeholders through engagement of target groups to participate in their development by learning and doing. All JSDF projects are expected to meet certain fundamental criteria: • Respond directly to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable; • Encourage the piloting of innovative methods or alternative approaches; • Support initiatives that lead to developing sustainable outcomes; • Build ownership, capacity, empowerment and participation of local governments, NGOs and other civil society organizations (CSOs). ii Portfolio of JSDF Projects Closed in FY10 This report covers the portfolio of JSDF Recipient-executed grants which closed during FY10, totaling 18 grants benefiting 14 countries. The total value of disbursements at completion was US$20.9 million which represents 87 percent of the total approved grant amount for this portfolio (US$23.9 million). Table 1 lists the 14 beneficiary countries with the corresponding total grant amount per country as approved by the Donor and actual disbursed amount at the completion of the grant activities. Annex 1 summarizes the grants and Annex 2 gives a detailed report on each grant. Three countries – India, Pakistan and Somalia – received more than one grant in this portfolio. However, one of the grants for Somalia was cancelled at the request of the recipient due to security issues and no funds for this grant were disbursed. Another grant to Somalia was later reissued with exceptional authorization from Japan for the UN to be the grant recipient. 1 Table 1: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Total Grant Amount Approved and Disbursed by Country Approved Grant Number Amount Disbursed Amount Country of % of % of grants US$ total US$ total Cambodia 1 1,800,291 8% 1,800,290 9% India 3 3,188,106 13% 3,086,414 15% Maldives 1 1,960,600 8% 1,960,600 9% Moldova 1 1,727,140 7% 1,712,952 8% Mozambique 1 1,149,783 5% 180,171 1% Nigeria 1 1,499,929 6% 1,341,761 6% Pakistan 2 2,451,352 10% 2,423,107 12% Papua New Guinea 1 636,000 3% 601,369 3% Seychelles 1 368,300 2% 333,420 2% Somalia 2 2,079,683 9% 500,000 2% Thailand 1 1,820,000 8% 1,788,713 9% Turkey 1 1,872,000 8% 1,871,570 9% Ukraine 1 1,711,500 7% 1,704,727 8% Vietnam 1 1,650,000 7% 1,602,097 8% Grand Total 18 23,914,684 20,907,190 Regional Distribution The portfolio supported 14 eligible recipient countries in four out of the six Bank regions 2: Africa Region (AFR), East Asia and Pacific Region (EAP), Europe and Central Asia Region 1 According to JSDF Guidelines, UN agencies cannot be the recipient of JSDF Grants. However, due to the security situation which precludes NGOs from operating in the areas where the grant will be implemented, exceptional approval had to be granted by Japan. 2 Two regions – Latin America and Caribbean Region (LCR) and Middle East and North Africa Region (MNA) – did not have JSDF grants which closed in FY10. 1 (ECA) and South Asia Region (SAR). The share of the approved grant amount for each region is shown in Chart 1. Consistent with the JSDF policy to assign priority to Asian countries, 56 percent of the funds, or US$13.5 million, were allocated to EAP and SAR. In EAP, the grants supported Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam. In SAR, the grants supported India, the Maldives and Pakistan. Chart 1: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Total Approved Grant Amount by Region (US$ million) AFR, SAR, $5.1m. , $7.6m. , 21% 32% EAP, ECA, $5.9m. , $5.3m. , 25% 22% Disbursements Three regions (EAP, ECA and SAR) disbursed a very high percentage (98% and above) of the approved grant amount (Chart 2). AFR, however, was able to disburse only 46 percent of the total approved grant amount due to the cancellation of one grant (Somalia Tsunami Livelihood Recovery Project) and implementation difficulties with another project (Mozambique Piloting Innovations in Health Service Delivery for The Poor). Chart 2. JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Total Approved and Disbursed Amount by Region (US million) 8.0 120% 98% 100% 98% 7.0 100% Approved Grant 6.0 Amount (US$m.) 80% 5.0 US$ million Disbursed Grant 4.0 46% 60% Amount (US$m.) 3.0 % of Grant Amount 40% 2.0 Disbursed 20% 1.0 0.0 0% AFR EAP ECA SAR 2 Program Type One-third of the FY10 closed grants portfolio, both in terms of number of approved grants and approved grant amount, was for grants under the Special Program, and the other two-thirds were for grants under the Regular Program (Chart 3). Chart 3: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants by Program Type (Total Approved Grant Amount: US$23.9 million) Special Program, Regular $8.7m. , 36% Program, $15.2m. , 64% Special Program: Seven grants under the JSDF Special Program closed in FY10. Five grants (US$6.2 million) were approved to support recovery measures following the South Asia/Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, and two grants ($2.5 million) supported the rehabilitation and revitalization of areas in Pakistan affected by the earthquake of October 2005. The Post-tsunami grants include one grant each for Thailand, the Maldives and the Seychelles, and two grants for Somalia, one of which was subsequently cancelled due to security considerations. While all grants share the same overall objective for post-tsunami recovery, each one of them is unique in nature, design and scope: • The Thailand “Legal Aid Services for Poor and Vulnerable People Affected by the Tsunami” helped about 10,000 poor and vulnerable people to cope with the disaster after the tsunami by providing a wide range of legal services and counsel including obtaining legal guardianship of orphaned minors and asserting rights over property of relatives who were lost or killed in the tsunami. The achievements of the project far exceeded the objectives and provided a model for cost effective and efficient legal service at the local level. • Despite some implementation delays, the Maldives “Sustainable Livelihood in Communities Affected by the Tsunami” helped augment and complement other assistance provided by the government to the affected population, with a focus on providing sustainable and gender inclusive in-kind and cash transfers targeted to the poorest and most vulnerable. The implementation experience of the grant demonstrated the importance of having credible and timely lists of beneficiaries available when dealing with post-disaster situations. 3 • The Somalia “Puntland Primary Health Services” project helped improve the community health services and prevented the potential outbreak of epidemic and water- borne disease in Northern Somalia (Puntland). During the life of the project, some 78,200 children were screened for severe malnutrition, 52,060 children and women were vaccinated, 27,850 children received vitamin A, and 63,900 women benefitted from reproductive health services. In addition, 90 community-based first-aid trainers were trained in disaster preparedness and responses and 12 health facilities were rehabilitated and enhanced. This ensured sustainability after grant closure. • The Seychelles “Strengthening the Capacity of the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) to Undertake Tsunami Ecosystem Impact Assessment” project strengthened the capacity of the SFA to identify ecosystem changes attributable to natural disasters and other anthropogenic changes in the ocean environment. The two Pakistan Earthquake projects – “Promoting Independent Living among Persons with Disabilities” and “Community-Based Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities” – had a remarkable beneficial impact on the lives of the persons with disabilities in the extremely challenging environment after the earthquake: • The “Promoting Independent Living among Persons with Disabilities” project had a two- fold impact. It improved the lives of the direct beneficiaries and strengthened the capacity of the local persons with disabilities advocacy groups. Four Independent Living Centers were established where 2,617 persons were trained and received peer counseling and other services. In addition, the project provided 22 independent living seminars. • The objectives of the “Community-Based Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability” were to improve the coverage, quality of care and equity of access to rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities through a community-based model, as well as, to strengthen the capacity of the community-based organizations (CBOs) and local authorities to effectively organize and deliver rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities. Some of the project achievements include: four Resource and Information Centers established; 19 CBOs received sub-grants to help them strengthen their services; 99 medical camps were conducted; and 143 homes and 10 public buildings were modified to serve the needs of persons with disabilities. Regular Program: The Regular Program supported eleven grants in nine countries: two grants in AFR (Nigeria and Mozambique), three grants each in EAP (Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam) and ECA (Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine), and three grants in SAR (India). Six project grants in India (2 grants), Moldova, Mozambique, Nigeria and Vietnam aimed to improve service delivery and pilot innovative approaches. Five capacity building grants in Cambodia, India, Papua New Guinea, Turkey and Ukraine targeted capacity improvements for local governments and communities, NGOs, and other CSOs. • The two grants in AFR supported human development activities. Through the Nigeria “Women’s Initiative for Sex Education and Economic Empowerment (WISE)” project 6,359 people have been trained in reproductive health and business management, 1,675 received start-up grants for small businesses, another 2,030 women received vocational 4 training, and 124 women became Peer Educators to train other women. The Mozambique “Piloting Innovations in Health Services Delivery for the Poor” project aimed to introduce innovative approaches to bring essential health services closer to the communities. • All three projects in EAP supported different development objectives. The Cambodia “Mainstreaming Inclusive Education” project made remarkable progress in increasing the primary school enrollment rate and the passing rate in the target provinces, including improving enrollment for children with disabilities and ethnic minority children. The Vietnam “Empowering Farmers for Participatory Irrigation Management” project aimed to reduce rural poverty by empowering the local communities and farmers to participate in the management of the irrigation schemes. As a result 66 farmer-managed Water Users Organizations have been established and some 66 Agriculture Development Plans have been prepared, approved and budgeted. The Papua New Guinea “Self- Reliance Programs for Women in Remote Mining” empowered socially and economically 1,000 women and 100 men in six mining and eight petroleum areas by providing them with training and capacity building programs. • Activities related to social development, gender and inclusion were the main focus of the three projects in ECA. The Moldova “Youth Socio-Economic Empowerment through Inclusive Business Development and Innovative Social Service Delivery” and the Turkey “Youth Development and Social Inclusion” served approximately 27,000 youth beneficiaries in each country. The Ukraine “Capacity Building of Poorest Communities” project helped more than 900 rural communities in 80 regions develop capacity to identify needs, participate in decision making, mobilize resources, and manage their activities, by providing 568 training sessions to over 10,000 people. • In SAR, three grants for India covered a wide range of activities: (i) the “SEWA Capacity Building Project” strengthen the capacity of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) by providing training to over 800,000 women, 84 percent of whom reported an increase in employability and 70 percent reported increases in annual income; (ii) the “Pilot Projects on Panchayat Decentralization” tested new models in ten Villages (Panchayatas), reaching about 6,900 households, to address issues of inclusion and giving voice to the poor. The model was further scaled up in 15 districts and 2,500 villages through an IDA-supported project; while (iii) the “Orissa Fund for Development Initiatives” enabled active involvement of private sector players to create sustainable working models for poor informal workers, as a result of which 85 new and 47 old self- help groups for handloom and sericulture were formed and revived, and 233 new self- help groups for medical plants were established, benefitting a total of about 6,000 poor informal workers belonging to vulnerable population groups. Grant Type In terms of grant type, one-third of the portfolio of FY10 closed grants supported capacity building activities (Table 2). However, the grant type distribution by Region shows quite a diverse distribution. In AFR, only one grant, equivalent to 7% of the approved grant amount for the region, was for capacity building, while four other grants, equivalent to 93% of the approved grant amount were for project type grants. In ECA, two out of three grants, equivalent to 67% of the approved regional grant amount, were for capacity building activities. In EAP the distribution between capacity building and project grants was quite balanced, with equal number of grants for 5 each grant type. In SAR only one grant (17% of the regional grant amount) was for capacity building, while five grants (83% of the regional grant amount) were project type. Table 2: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Grant Type (US$ Approved Amount and Number of Grants) Capacity Building Grants Project Total Region US$m. % of total Number US$m. % of total Number US$m. AFR 0.37 7% 1 4.73 93% 4 5.10 EAP 2.44 41% 2 3.47 59% 2 5.91 ECA 3.58 67% 2 1.73 33% 1 5.31 SAR 1.29 17% 1 6.31 83% 5 7.60 Total 7.68 32% 6 16.24 68% 12 23.91 Themes The portfolio of FY10 JSDF closed grants supported a diverse spectrum of themes (Table 3), with only one region (ECA) focusing on one theme (Social Development, Gender and Inclusion), while the other three regions supported at least three themes. As a whole, the portfolio of 18 grants which closed in FY10 covered seven of the eleven World Bank major themes 3, which are related to the objectives of the JSDF. Table 3: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Major Themes (Number of Approved Grants) Major Theme AFR EAP ECA SAR Total Environment and Natural Resources Management 1 1 Financial and Private Sector Development 1 1 Human Development 3 1 4 Rule of Law 1 1 Rural Development 1 1 1 3 Social Development, Gender, and Inclusion 3 1 4 Social Protection and Risk Management 3 3 Cross Thematic 1 1 Grand Total 5 4 3 6 18 The five main themes supported by the JSDF projects closed in FY10 (Chart 4) were Social Development; Gender, and Inclusion (28%); Human Development (21%); Social Protection and Risk Management (18%); and, Rural Development (16%), equivalent to a total of $19.8 million or 83 percent of the portfolio. 3 The remaining four World Bank themes which were not supported by the JSDF grants which closed in FY10 are: Economic Management, Public Sector Governance, Urban Development, and Trade and Integration. 6 This thematic breakdown of the JSDF grants closed in FY10 confirms finding from previous years that the JSDF portfolio remains well aligned with its objectives, with about half of the funding supporting social development and social protection. Chart 4: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants by Theme (Total Approved Grant Amount: US$23.9 million) Social Protection and Social Risk Development, Management, Gender, and $4.41m., 18% Inclusion, $6.62m., 28% Rural Development, $3.82m., 16% Human Environment Development, and Natural $4.95m., 21% Cross Thematic, Resources $1.29m., 5% Management, $0.37m., 1% Rule of Law, $1.82m., 8% Financial and Private Sector Development, $0.64m., 3% Implementing Agency The non-governmental agencies continued to play a very important role in the implementation of the JSDF grants which closed in FY10. More than half of the grants were implemented by Non- Government Agencies (Table 4), with EAP implementing three out of four grants by Non- Government Agencies, followed by AFR (two out of five), SAR (three out of six) and ECA (one out of three). A total of twelve grants were implemented with direct involvement of NGOs or CSOs. 7 Table 4: JSDF FY10 Closed Grants: Type of Implementing Agency (Number of Approved Grants) Local NGO, Other Non- Government International Region/Country Local NGO Part of Government Grand Total Agency NGO Intern. NGO Agency AFR 2 2 1 5 Mozambique 1 1 Nigeria 1 1 Seychelles 1 1 Somalia 1 1 2 EAP 1 2 1 4 Cambodia 1 1 Papua New Guinea 1 1 Thailand 1 1 Vietnam 1 1 ECA 2 1 3 Moldova 1 1 Turkey 1 1 Ukraine 1 1 SAR 3 1 2 6 India 2 1 3 Maldives 1 1 Pakistan 1 1 2 Grand Total 8 5 2 1 2 18 All grants implemented by local NGOs were able to achieve their development objectives. This underscores the unique role of the local NGOs for the successful implementation of the JSDF grants. Even when the grant is implemented by an international NGO, like the Nigeria Women’s Initiative for Sex Education and Economic Empowerment (WISE), the link with local NGOs is critically important for the success of the project. Africare, an American NGO which implemented the Nigeria project, was familiar with the Nigerian context and had good contacts with the local communities, which led to the successful implementation and the remarkable outcomes of the project. 8 Grant Performance Ratings at Completion Regular reporting on progress with grant implementation is done by the Task Team Leader (TTL) through the automated Grant Reporting and Monitoring (GRM) system in SAP. Progress reporting is similar to Bank-financed operations where TTLs prepare an Implementation Status Report (ISR). In addition, JSDF Task Teams prepare an Implementation Completion Memorandum (ICM) for grants over US$1 million, describing in more detail results and outcomes at completion. This is also aligned with Bank-financed operations which require an Implementation Completion Report (ICR). This chapter summarized information prepared in the GRMs/ICMs by the Task Team Leaders. The TTLs are responsible for supervision of their grants, and the GRMs are approved by the respective line Managers. Grant Implementation Ratings Trust-Funded projects such as JSDF are supervised regularly and their performance is rated in the GRM annual report utilizing the same performance criteria and scale as Bank-financed operations. TTLs are required to assess the performance of the grants in terms of achieving the grant Development Objective (DO) and Implementation Performance (IP) through a six point rating system: Highly Satisfactory (HS), Satisfactory (S), Moderately Satisfactory (MS), Moderately Unsatisfactory (MU), Unsatisfactory (US), and Highly Unsatisfactory (HU). The rating system is also consistent with reporting on loans and credits financed by the World Bank. Annex 1 shows the ratings by grant. Achievement of Development Objectives Sixteen of the 18 grants which closed in FY10 were rated in the Satisfactory range (HS, S or MS) for achieving the Development Objectives of the grant (Table 5). Of these, two grants – the India “Pilot Projects on Panchayat Decentralization” under the Regular Program and the Thailand “Legal Aid Services for The Poor and Vulnerable People Affected by the Tsunami” under the Special Program – were rated as Highly Satisfactory. Table 5: Achievement of Development Objective Rating at Completion (JSDF FY10) Grand Region HS S MS MU US HU NA Total AFR 3 1 1 5 EAP 1 3 4 ECA 1 2 3 SAR 1 4 1 6 Total 2 11 3 1 1 18 The HS project in India: (i) had a remarkable impact, exceeding all targets towards achieving its objectives; (ii) benefitted the most vulnerable groups and individuals in the society; (iii) empowered the poor and strengthened the local government and community organizations; and (iv) was scaled up through IDA financing. The Thailand project provided much needed legal assistance and complementary support to poor and vulnerable persons affected by the 2004 9 tsunami to rebuild their lives. It directly benefitted approximately 10,000 poor people and provided a model for cost effective basic legal aid assistance at the community level. Only one project—the Mozambique “Piloting Innovations in Health Service Delivery for the Poor”—was rated Unsatisfactory for not achieving its Development Objectives. From the very start the project suffered from implementation difficulties and many of the planned activities could not be implemented. It did not achieve its objective to introduce innovative approaches for bringing essential health services closer to the communities. Another project—Somalia “Tsunami Livelihood Recovery Project”—was not rated as it had to be cancelled for security reasons. Implementation Performance Another major indicator of performance is the implementation performance rating, again aligned with how Bank-financed operations are rated during implementation. Similarly to the Development Objectives rating, 16 grants received a satisfactory rating for Implementation Performance (Table 6). Table 6: Implementation Performance Rating at Completion (JSDF FY10) Grand Region HS S MS MU US HU NA Total AFR 3 1 1 5 EAP 2 2 4 ECA 1 2 3 SAR 1 3 2 6 Grand Total 3 9 4 1 1 18 The two projects which received Highly Satisfactory rating for achieving their Development Objectives (India “Pilot Projects on Panchayat Decentralization” and Thailand “Legal Aid Services for The Poor and Vulnerable People Affected by the Tsunami”), were also rated Highly Satisfactory for their Implementation Performance. In addition, one more project—the Cambodia “Mainstreaming Inclusive Education”—was also rated Highly Satisfactory for Implementation Performance. The Somalia “Tsunami Livelihood Recovery Project” which was cancelled was not rated and the Mozambique “Piloting Innovations in Health Service Delivery for the Poor” was rated Unsatisfactory for Implementation Progress due to difficult operating environment. Additional Ratings Based on ratings by the Task Team Leaders (TTLs) in the GRM reports, a number of grants made substantial impact in institutional development (8 grants); resource mobilization (7 grants); knowledge exchange (10 grants); and, client policy/program implementation (8 grants). For example, the Cambodia “Mainstreaming Inclusive Education” project built the capacity of key 10 networking organizations which brought grass-roots issues raised by poor communities to the attention of the Government and thus played an instrumental role in furthering the education policy reforms which benefited all children, including poor ones, in Cambodia. The TTLs also indicated that the overall outcome was likely to be sustainable for 14 of the 18 grants, and likely to be replicated for 12 grants. For example, in Turkey a number of the JSDF grant activities were implemented through Government agencies and some of the activities have been replicated through the World Bank-financed Social Risk Mitigation Project. In Nigeria, part of the JSDF program is already replicated in other areas with USAID funding. In Ukraine, the training program established by JSDF is replicated in a KfW-funded project implemented by the same implementing agency which implemented the JSDF grant. The grant profiles in Annex 2 provide details about the sustainability and the potential for scaling-up and replication of each grant. 11 Lessons Learned Each of the 18 JSDF grants closed in FY10 is unique in nature as is described in the individual project profiles in Annex 2. Additional information about some of the closed projects can be found on the JSDF website 4 which features Good Practice Notes and Project Videos about the India “Panchayat Decentralization Project”, the two Special Program grants supporting Earthquake Reconstruction Efforts in Pakistan, and the Nigeria “Women’s Initiative for Sex Education and Economic Empowerment” project. A project video about the Thailand “Legal Services for Poor and Vulnerable People Affected by the Tsunami” project – “When the Wave Rolls Back” – is also available on the JSDF website. The main lessons that have been derived from the implementation of the FY10 closed grants in terms of project design, implementation, community involvement, ownership and empowerment are: Project Design • Language differences, literacy and education levels are important considerations when designing training programs (see #9, Papua New Guinea) 5; • Projects involving technology upgrade should take into account that considerable time is required for adopting new technologies and practices by poor, often illiterate, communities (see #10, India); • When designing interventions to suit local circumstances, up-front needs assessments are preferable. In emergency circumstances such mechanisms should be designed for rapid assessment (see #15, Pakistan); • Designing interventions to local circumstances is essential and requires direct and continuous participation by local stakeholders, including service delivery entities (see #16, Pakistan); • Ownership of the Implementing Agency is critical for success (see #14, Turkey); • When engaging NGOs, particular attention needs to be paid to their administrative capacity. Strong field experience only is not sufficient (see #15, Pakistan); and • Arrangements for Impact Evaluation should be made at an early stage (see #6, Ukraine). Project Implementation • Attention to system building and operational aspects allows for better monitoring and resolving bottlenecks (see #2, India); • Proper Bank supervision of grant activities covering a large country like Ukraine requires extended effort as well as an enhanced skill mix. The additional funds provided by JSDF to the World Bank to supervise the Recipient-executed grant helped to ensure comprehensive oversight (see #6, Ukraine); • Sound implementation arrangements and adequate capacity are key factors for quick start up and smooth implementation (see #17, Mozambique); 4 www.worldbank.org/jsdf 5 The number and country in the brackets refer to the list in Annex 1 and 2. 12 • Quick implementation is very important in implementing emergency operations. It is very important to complete beneficiary lists as soon as possible after the disaster when the most directly affected are likely to be much easier to identify (see #8, Maldives); and • A performance management framework with measurable indicators is necessary to monitor progress and measure results. The framework needs adequate budget and arrangements for impact analysis (see #15, Pakistan). Community Involvement, Ownership and Empowerment • Listening and involving the key stakeholders in the design and implementation leads to quick and effective results on the ground (see #2, India); • Relying on community-based partners and resources increases the community commitment and ensures that interventions are culturally appropriate (see #3, Nigeria); • The involvement of the beneficiaries in the project design creates a sense of ownership and responsibility which are critical for the successful outcome of the activity (see #4, Moldova); • The community-based participatory process was highly appreciated by the local farmers who had an opportunity to express their concerns and hopes for improving the irrigation services. Involving and empowering local farmers in decision making on irrigation management and services is critical (see #5, Vietnam); • Responding to the demand of the beneficiaries is important in ensuring ownership and project success (see #9, Papua New Guinea); • Provision of basic legal aid training of volunteers in the community is cost effective. Triage of simple cases at the local level can lower the strain on pro-bono lawyers and save substantial amount of resources. (see #13, Thailand); and • Demand-driven capacity building and ownership at the local level are the building blocks for coherent and developing sustained youth policy at the national level (see #14, Turkey). 13 Annex 1 List of JSDF Grants Closed in FY10 No Grant Grant Name Re gion Country JSDF Grant Grant Activation Closing Total % of De ve lop- Imple me n- Numbe r Program type Amount date date Disburse - grant me nt tation (in USD) me nts amount O bje ctive Progre ss disburse d Rating rating 1 T F052849 JSDF-INDIA: SEWA CAPACIT Y SAR India Regular Capacity 1,288,494 6/23/2005 6/30/2010 1,272,341 99% S S BUILDING Building 2 T F052880 JSDF-INDIA: PILOT PROJECT S ON SAR India Regular Project 595,140 7/22/2004 10/31/2009 595,140 100% HS HS PANCHAYAT DECENT RALIZAT ION 3 T F053811 JSDF-NIGERIA: WOMEN'S AFR Nigeria Regular Project 1,499,929 4/5/2005 1/9/2010 1,341,761 89% S S INIT IAT IVE FOR SEX EDUCAT ION AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT (WISE) 4 T F054222 JSDF-MOLDOVA:YOUT H SOCIO- ECA Moldova Regular Project 1,727,140 1/7/2005 12/31/2009 1,712,952 99% MS MS ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT T HROUGH INCLUSIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & INNOVAT IVE SOCIAL SERVICE DELIVERY 5 T F054751 JSDF-VIET NAM: EMPOWERING EAP Vietnam Regular Project 1,650,000 2/22/2006 12/31/2009 1,602,097 97% S S FARMERS FOR PART ICIPAT ORY IRRIGAT ION MANAGEMENT 6 T F054756 JSDF-UKRAINE: CAPACIT Y ECA Ukraine Regular Capacity 1,711,500 6/1/2005 7/30/2009 1,704,727 100% MS MS BUILDING OF POOREST Building COMMUNIT IES 7 T F054868 JSDF-CAMBODIA: EAP Cambodia Regular Capacity 1,800,291 9/19/2005 8/31/2009 1,800,290 100% S HS MAINST REAMING INCLUSIVE Building EDUCAT ION 8 T F055387 JSDF-MALDIVES: SUST AINABLE SAR Maldives Special Project 1,960,600 6/15/2006 12/31/2009 1,960,600 100% MS MS LIVELIHOOD IN COMMUNIT IES Program - AFFECT ED BY T HE T SUNAMI T sunami 9 T F055412 JSDF-PAPUA NEW GUINEA: SELF EAP Papua New Regular Capacity 636,000 8/17/2006 6/30/2010 601,369 95% S S RELIANCE PROGRAMS FOR Guinea Building WOMEN IN REMOT E MINING COMMUNIT IES 10 T F055552 JSDF: INDIA - ORISSA FUND FOR SAR India Regular Project 1,304,472 2/14/2006 8/30/2009 1,218,933 93% S S DEVELOPMENT INIT IAT IVES 11 T F055613 JSDF-SOMALIA: T SUNAMI AFR Somalia Special Project 1,579,683 12/14/2005 8/11/2009 - 0% NA NA LIVELIHOOD RECOVERY Program - PROJECT T sunami 12 T F055618 JSDF-SOMALIA: PUNT LAND AFR Somalia Special Project 500,000 12/14/2005 8/12/2009 500,000 100% S S PRIMARY HEALT H SERVICES Program - T sunami 13 T F055621 JSDF-T HAILAND: LEGAL AID EAP T hailand Special Project 1,820,000 2/10/2006 8/11/2009 1,788,713 98% HS HS SERVICES FOR POOR AND Program - VULNERABLE PEOPLE T sunami AFFECT ED BY T HE T SUNAMI 14 T F055800 JSDF-T URKEY: YOUT H ECA T urkey Regular Capacity 1,872,000 12/2/2005 9/25/2009 1,871,570 100% S S DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL Building INCLUSION 15 T F056747 JSDF-PAKIST AN: PROMOT ING SAR Pakistan Special Project 767,312 8/23/2006 9/30/2009 763,880 100% S MS INDEPENDENT LIVING Program - AMONGST PERSONS WIT H Earthquake DISABILIT IES 16 T F056750 JSDF-PAKIST AN: COMMUNIT Y- SAR Pakistan Special Project 1,684,040 12/14/2006 9/30/2009 1,659,227 99% S S BASED REHABILIT AT ION OF Program - PERSONS WIT H DISABILIT IES Earthquake 17 T F058155 PILOT ING INNOVAT IONS IN AFR Mozambique Regular Project 1,149,783 10/17/2007 12/31/2009 180,171 16% US US HEALT H SERVICE DELIVERY FOR T HE POOR 18 T F090421 ST RENGT HENING T HE AFR Seychelles Special Capacity 368,300 11/9/2007 8/14/2009 333,420 91% S S CAPACIT Y OF T HE SEYCHELLES Program - Building FISHING AUT HORIT Y (SFA) T O T sunami UNDERT AKE T SUNAMI ECOSYST EM IMPACT ASSESSMENT 14 Annex 2 Implementation Completion Summary Reports JSDF Grants Closing in FY10 (18 grants as Listed in Annex 1) 15 #1. Grant Name: SEWA Capacity Grant Number: TF052849 Grant Type: Regular/Capacity Building Building Region: SAR Sector: Poverty Reduction Country: India Theme: Cross-thematic: Trade facilitation and market Implementing Agency: SEWA access/ Water resource management/ Education for the knowledge economy/ Improving labor markets. Grant Amount: 1,288,494 Activation Date: 06/23/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 07/21/2005 Original Closing Date: 09/16/2006 Revised Closing Date: 06/30/2010 End Disbursement Date: 12/30/2010 Disbursement: 1,272,341 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 98.75% Grant Objective: The objectives of the Project are to assist the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in its efforts to: (i) empower members at the smallest level of organization within SEWA into grassroots leaders through enhanced basic membership training; (ii) transform the intermediate level spearhead leaders into a cadre of barefoot managers capable of training and managing individual and group activities inside and outside of SEWA; and (iii) build a cadre of microfinance organizers barefoot bankers able to mobilize group savings and credit opportunities for the poor inside and outside of SEWA. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The SEWA Managers School (SMS) has successfully achieved the project objectives by conducting training sessions across various thematic areas which have had a direct or indirect impact on thousands of SEWA members as well as external users. The emphasis of the SMS has always been to equip the members with the skills necessary to bridge the gap between being producers to becoming owners and managers. • The SEWA Managers School trained 823,746 women (including training of trainers and external users) during the project period. The implementation team for the training included 2 coordinators, 2 administrators, 5 training facilitators and one IT coordinator. Sixty training modules and new products were developed. Training classes ranged from those focused on SEWA's mission of awareness and empowerment to technical trainings in management, agri-business, bicycle assembly, management accounting and healthcare. • Of the 850 participants reporting on training satisfaction, 94% were satisfied with the training provided. In addition, an independent evaluation carried out by Dalberg of the Grassroots Business Initiative’s (GBI) global projects provided a positive assessment of the development impact of the SMS training on the improvement of livelihood of their graduates, including in terms of employability, increased household income, etc. E.g. 84% beneficiaries reported increase in employability and 70% of participants reported over 80% increase in annual income. Women and men in agri-business in particular have seen significant improvements in income. SMS training has facilitated farmers to move to organic farming which reduces pesticide costs and increases income. Farmers reported a 40% increase in product price. • In an attempt to become financially sustainable, SMS expanded its trainings to external users. These trainings are being delivered at full cost recovery. Trainings were extended to 958 external users with the help of the training modules developed. With the help of these users, 914 participants were reached in the short period between August 2009 and June 2010. Lessons Learned: • Grassroots organizations like SMS are well placed to address the management gap typically occurring in the grassroots based organizations. Without advanced management training, even well intentioned elevation of beneficiaries can limit organizational effectiveness. The SMS training on leadership and technical training skills increased the economic opportunities for the beneficiaries. • An integrated approach which includes savings behavior, time management and literacy can addressed fundamental behavior changes critical to break from the poverty trap of subsistence living. So even though the average years of school completion of SMS participants was approximately 7 years, about 90% of school-aged children were enrolled in full-time school. • Sustainability of such grass-root empowerment programs cannot be achieved by charging the participants the full cost of the services. Sustainability can be achieved by using various initiatives to generate resources, e.g. training external participants with minor profit. Sustainability: • SEWA SMS does not yet have a sustainable revenue generating model. The Yale School assisted with the development of a business plan to make this program sustainable, which suggests achieving sustainability through a combination of external training and mobilizing funds from other sources. SMS have also been standardizing their content into 60 different modules that can then be offered to participants. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • SEWA's broader impact to behavioral change and generational opportunities coupled with its integrative approach that builds the leadership, management and technical capacity of its members, makes its model a good candidate for replication. However, unless a clear sustainability plan is in place the replicability of this model would be uncertain and always dependent on donor funding. NGO Involvement: • SEWA has over 1,000,000 members and is well recognized in the rural areas. Its main challenge is to ensure sustainability and prove that the SEWA Managers School can remain an institutional success beyond the term of this project. 16 # 2. Grant Name: Pilot Projects on Panchayat Grant Number: TF052880 Grant Type: Regular/Project Decentralization Region: SAR Sector: Multisectoral Implementing Agency: Vazhundhu Country: India Theme: Rural Development kattuvom Society, Ministry of Rural Development Grant Amount: 595,140 Activation Date: 07/22/2004 Grant Agreement Date: 03/11/2004 Original Closing Date: 10/03/2007 Revised Closing Date: 10/31/2009 End Disbursement Date: 12/31/2009 Disbursement: 595,140 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 100% Grant Objective: The objectives of the Project are to: (a) develop better understanding of the capacity of governments (panchayats) in village planning, financial management, community based targeting, budgeting, and public administration, and of the role that self-help groups and other community groups can play to make these processes more equitable; (b) build the capacity of the local governments in these areas; and (c) support selected pilot local governments to prepare and implement development plans with a focus on improving the delivery of services. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The pilot has made remarkable impact on the ground and has exceeded all targets towards achieving its objective. Some 10 Village Panchayats (against original target of 4) were selected for testing two models (community-led model and local government-led model), and 6 Village Panchayats established participatory village poverty reduction committees and 4 tested the model in which funds were transferred directly to the local government for funding of holistic participatory village development plan. The results led to (i) empowering of the poor community members, (ii) strengthening of the local governments and community organizations in participatory methodologies that are facilitating participation of the poor in defining their priorities and needs, and (iii) benefiting the most vulnerable groups and individuals especially women, youth and disabled. A project video is available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaRwZCO9o64 • About 6,900 households have benefitted from the project directly. A 100% of target poor have been mobilized into 393 small groups and 228 have been credit rated and linked to the banks for financial resources. About 477 small group members have benefited from the livelihood fund and about 586 youth have received skills development training and linked to employment. The pilot has also benefited about 1,062 disabled and vulnerable members and they have been linked to the state and national programs. About 30 economic activity groups have been formed and have received funds to start income generation activities. In the community led model, called Village Poverty Reduction Committee (VPRC) model, all six villages have received 3rd installment of VPRC funds and two installments of livelihood funds. • The project piloted the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach to address issues of inclusion and voice of the poor in identifying and planning of developmental activities, promoting community led livelihoods and ensuring downward accountability of local governments. The project adopted the strategic intervention model covering the issues of integrating livelihood focus approach, CDD approach and providing incentives to the local government (Village Panchayats) for adopting pro-poor governance to tap synergistic and complementary nature of economic, social, and human dimensions of poverty. The key components that supported these interventions were: (a) village livelihood program to facilitate development and strengthening of pro-poor community institutions and promotion of livelihood and employment activities; (b) state and district level support required to promote community led development and livelihood promotion; and (c) a decentralized and results focused project management and monitoring and learning system. • Various workshops, exposure visits and trainings sessions have been organized to enhance capacity and systems of the local governments and communities. • All Village Panchayats have received funds and are implementing their village development activities. Some 24 Economic Activity Groups have received first installment of funds. Lessons Learned: • Listening and involving the key stakeholders in the design and implementation leads to quick and effective results on the ground. • Women role in decision making and use of funds is the key to successful utilization of funds. • Focus on system building and operational aspects leads to better monitoring and resolving of bottlenecks. • Learning by doing is the best way to design and scale up programs. Sustainability: • The model has been recognized for its outcome and its sustainability is ensured by strengthening the capacity of the community institutions and local governments to manage their programs and linking them with other programs in the state, the private sector and financial resources. • Participation of the communities and women in all aspects of the development has led to community ownership of investments and assets and gives them a platform for taking forward development activities and linking these activities with broader development programs. This institutional structure and participation and ownership by the beneficiaries will ensure sustainability of these activities in the future. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The model has already been scaled up in 15 districts and 2,500 villages through IDA supported and funded project and with additional financing, would be scaled up to a total of 5,000 villages. In addition, the Government of Tamil Nadu and Government of India have taken many of the strategies and approaches tested under the pilot to other government and donor funded development programs. NGO Involvement: • Not Applicable. 17 #3. Grant Name: Women’s Initiative for Sex Grant Number: TF053811 Grant Type: Regular /Project Education and Economic Empowerment (WISE) Region: AFR Sector: Health and Other Social Services. Implementing Agency: Africare Country: Nigeria Theme: Human Development – Population and reproductive health (incl. maternal mortality) Grant Amount: US$1,499,929 Activation Date: 04/05/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 11/23/2004 Original Closing Date: 09/09/2008 Revised Closing Date: 01/09/2010 End Disbursement Date: 07/09/2010 Disbursement: US$ 1,341,761 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 89.5% Grant Objective: The objective of the grant is to provide training in reproductive health and safe sex, develop alternative income-generating skills, and provide counseling and clinical testing services to Nigerian women. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • Reproductive Health and Business Management Training: 6,359 people have been trained in reproductive health and business management and 1,657 have received start-up grants for small businesses. 2,030 women received vocational training in 20 Vocational Training Centers. 124 women became Peer Educators to train other women. The project developed manuals on the human reproductive system, healthy living, and prevention methods for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDs, and a business development manual on entrepreneurial skills and business management. • Clinical Care and Counseling Services: Three Voluntary Counseling and Testing Clinics were established and provided psychological and faith-based counseling services. The counseling services have been actively used, although a lower percentage of participants than expected used the services. All project beneficiaries were provided vouchers for a predefined package of health services, including HIV counseling and testing, and testing and treatment of STIs. • Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E): An M&E framework was prepared and a system was put in place for continuous Monitoring & Evaluation. A project video is available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12dsCp3acPU Lessons Learned: • Intervention Approaches: Interventions that simultaneously address multiple factors--social, self esteem, health, economic, cultural, spiritual--are more likely to have a measurable impact on the behavior of women vulnerable to HIV/AIDS/STIs. • Economic Empowerment: There is a clear link between income level and decisions to engage in high risk behavior. The impact of higher income levels on high risk behavior may also be stronger when combined with adequate health and HIV/AIDS/STI knowledge. • The Role of Community Support in Reducing Women’s Vulnerability: Relying on community-based partners and resources increases the community commitment and ensures that the interventions are culturally appropriate. Using young people and beneficiaries as Peer Educators is a key in improving the environment for service delivery and acceptance of HIV prevention and behavior change intervention at community level. • Sex Workers Require Focused Interventions: Dealing with the issues around commercial sex workers is more effective if their needs are addressed in separate interventions. The sex workers were reluctant to participate in the same training sessions with other target groups for fear of stigmatization. When special trainings on reproductive health, business management and vocational skills were held at separate venues, their participation improved. • Access to Health Facilities: Mobile clinics are an effective method for reaching community members, especially where access to health facilities is limited. Mobile clinics increase awareness and uptake of counseling and testing services. • Counseling Services: Faith-based and psychosocial counseling that focus on building self-esteem and integrating vulnerable groups into society complement HIV/AIDS prevention and should form part of the comprehensive HIV/AIDS intervention strategy. Additionally, many, if not most women who are most at risk for HIV/AIDS/STIs have experienced abuse and gender-based violence. Incorporating trauma management in counseling services, especially for sex workers and child brides addresses important underlying issues that affect self- esteem. Sustainability: • Training provided beneficiaries with skills that will continue to be relevant. Some activities are continuing with USAID financing. • Successful activities undertaken by the grant are incorporated into the second HIV/AIDS program support project that was approved by the World Bank in June 2009. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The program prepared a set of manuals on how to work with this type of beneficiary. With USAID funding it is already replicating part of the JSDF program in other areas. NGO Involvement: • The grant was implemented by Africare, an American NGO that used several local NGOs to provide skills training. Africare was already familiar with the Nigerian context and had good contacts in the local communities, which facilitated start up activities and improved the quality of implementation. Africare did not have experience with World Bank rules prior to getting the grant. Activities such as financial management and procurement up to World Bank standards took some time to establish. 18 #4. Grant Name : Youth Socio-Economic Grant Number: TF054222 Grant Type: Regular/Project Empowerment through Inclusive Business Development and Innovative Social Service Delivery Region: ECA Sector: Multi-Sectoral Implementing Agency: Consolidated Country: Moldova Theme: Social Development, Gender & Agriculture Projects Management Unit Inclusion Grant Amount: 1,727,140 Activation Date: 01/07/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 12/16/2004 Original Closing Date: 09/09/2008 Revised Closing Date: 12/31/2009 End Disbursement Date: 06/30/2010 Disbursement: 1,712,951.63 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 99.18% Grant Objective: The objective of the Project is to enable disadvantaged rural and peri-urban young women and men (ages 14-30) in five selected regions to create and participate in activities leading to their increased socio-economic empowerment, through inclusive support for business creation and innovative community-based service delivery. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • Civil Society Initiatives and Village Outreach for Youth Empowerment: Fifty-one sub-grants were provided to 25 Youth Resource Centers (YRC) and 26 NGOs, which were used together with the funds of the local organizations to extend the YRC network in rural areas to approximately 27,000 youths. In addition, 47 small grants were provided to Local Youth Councils (LYCs) which were also able to mobilize additional financial contribution from other sources. • Inclusive Business Development (Self Employment Promotion) for youth economic empowerment: JSDF facilitated the creation of 143 businesses throughout 17 rayons (districts), providing a wide range of services (63%), production (33%) and trade (4%). These businesses created over 350 jobs between 2005 and 2008, with 254 jobs going to young men and 100 going to young women. Income for these workers increased by close to 50% between 2005 and 2010. Development Agencies (DA) under the project provided support to beneficiaries and conducted 513 consultancies on topics ranging from Marketing/Sales, Management and Finance/Accounting. • Gender Capacity Building and Mainstreaming: 24 representatives (of which 21 women) of youth NGOs, members of LYCs, teachers, and representatives of NGOs with gender profile benefitted from Training of Trainers on Gender. • Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E): An M&E system was developed with the help of an international consultant. Local M&E consultants and representatives of DAs were involved in the process of data collection. • Youth Regional Focus Points for Grant Management: Five regional consultants were contracted to monitor and evaluate the activities of YRCs, NGOs and LYCs. A set of instruments was developed for a comprehensive assessment of the activities. From May 2008 to May 2009, the regional consultants conducted about 140 visits to collect data and issued five M&E reports. Lessons Learned: • The involvement of the beneficiaries in the project design - business plans for future businesses or project proposals for the YRCs and NGOs activities - creates a sense of ownership and responsibility for the successful outcome of the activity. • Initial training in business development, post creation assistance, and capacity building training play an important role during implementation. While providing initial training is typical in Moldova, the post creation assistance was a new form of support which turned out to be a critical factor for the success of the business operations of the beneficiaries. • The local NGOs need more focused training on strategic planning. Such training would better position these NGOs vis-a-vis local public administrations and the donor community. Sustainability: • Many individual grant activities are likely to continue due to the participation of target beneficiaries in their design and implementation. As of June 2010, most businesses created under the project are still operational despite the downturn in the economy. The project was able to expose commercial banks to a new type of clientele (the young/fairly asset-less market) and was able to demonstrate that this market can be as reliable as other rural markets served by the banks. It has also demonstrated that with a small amount of support, young people could access financial services from institutions that typically did not serve them. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The success of the Inclusive Business Development component led to a follow-up USAID grant of USD 350,000 that helped create additional 69 businesses. NGO Involvement: • The YRCs and NGOs strengthened their capacity for providing social services, including new youth-oriented services like fitness activities, conversations through skype, and other. Some YRCs and NGOs prepare projects and receive support from local and external financial institutions and have been successful at having their activities included in the sustainable community development plans. 19 # 5. Name: Empowering Farmers for Grant Number: TF054751 Grant Type: Regular/Project Participatory Irrigation Management Region: EAP Sector: Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry Implementing Agency: Ministry of Country: Vietnam Theme: Rural Development Agriculture and Rural Development Grant Amount: 1,650,000 Activation Date: 02/22/2006 Grant Agreement Date: 01/16/2006 Original Closing Date: 12/31/2008 Revised Closing Date: 12/31/2009 End Disbursement Date: 06/30/2010 Disbursement: 1,602,097 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 97.10% Grant Objective: The objectives of the project are to: (i) empower local communities in the management of irrigation schemes through building capacity and participatory approaches; (ii) reduce rural poverty by improving irrigation services and raising farm incomes; and (iii) facilitate the involvement of women in local irrigation management. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • Development of Water User Organizations (WUOs): 66 farmer-managed Water Users Organizations (WUOs) have been established with the assistance of three local NGOs, which are responsible for agricultural water control and agricultural support within the service area, including the collection of fees, and direct payments to the Irrigation Management Company (IMC). The actual number of WUOs is less than the initial target of 80 WUOs due to the fact that some communities decided to combine several WUPs into a larger-scale WUO. • Support for the WUOs Agricultural Development: The WUO beneficiaries received assistance through a program of sub-grants provided to finance their start-up operations and Agricultural Development Plans (ADPs). Some 66 ADPs have been prepared, approved and budgeted. Implementation of these ADPs is considered satisfactory. The local farmers benefited from various activities, including (i) improvement of their office premises; (ii) agricultural extension services; and (iii) fixing on-farm canals for better water delivery. They also enjoyed a new relationship with the state-owned Irrigation Management Company (IMC) by having a service contract signed with IMC. By doing this, the farmers could eventually monitor the quality of service provided by IMCs. Lessons Learned: • Involving and empowering local farmers in decision making on irrigation management and services is critical. • The community-based participatory planning process on irrigation management was highly appreciated by the local farmers who had an opportunity to express their concerns and hopes for improving the irrigation services. With farmers’ participation in the management of irrigation service, the system has been functioning better and no conflict in water use at the tail end of canal system or at farm level. • Administrative levels should provide consistent technical support and overseeing the performance of the communities. Implementation of the grant should be delegated to local communities with appropriate technical support and monitoring by technical departments and administrative entities. Sustainability: • The grant-financed activities were discussed and agreed beforehand which ensured ownership by the farmers and future sustainability of the grant investment. Series of training on participatory irrigation management have been provided to staff at all local levels as well as farmer representatives. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) approach proved to be very effective and all provinces wanted to replicate this approach up to their entire territories wherever applicable. NGO Involvement: • Three domestic NGOs were hired to help (i) establish WUOs; (ii) provide training to farmers on irrigation practice; and (iii) assist WUOs in implementing their agricultural development plans. Their strengths are more on participatory irrigation management and water service technologies. Their weaknesses are mainly on fiduciary and social safeguards aspects. 20 #6. Grant Name: Capacity Building of Poorest Grant Number: TF054756 Grant Type: Regular/Capacity Building Communities Sector: Multi-Sectoral Region: ECA Theme: Social Development and Inclusion- Implementing Agency: Ukrainian Country: Ukraine Civic Engagement Participation and Social Investment Fund (USIF) Community Driven Development Grant Amount: US$ 1,711,500 Activation Date: 06/01/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 05/26/2005 Original Closing Date:01/26/2009 Revised Closing Date: 07/30/2009 End Disbursement Date: 01/31/2010 Disbursement: US$ 1,704,727 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 99.6% Grant Objective: The purpose of the grant is to help the poorest rural communities in Ukraine develop capacity to: (i) identify priority needs and problems; (ii) participate in decision making; (iii) identify and mobilize resources, and (iv) effectively manage the implementation of necessary activities related thereto. In addition, the Project aims to support local authorities to strengthen their capacity to effectively address local community needs and complement the World Bank-financed Social Investment Fund Project. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • Design of Training Programs for Local Communities and Authorities and Preparing USIF Staff for the CDD: Training the staff of the Ukrainian Social Investment Fund (USIF) deepened their knowledge of Community Driven Development (CDD) methods and techniques and built up skills necessary to facilitate capacity building work with communities. Trainings for trainers were held in mid 2006 and attended by about 50 people. The USIF staff was given a CDD manual to help in their practical work within the project. Following a public discussion of the themes suggested for a country-wide community training program, a community needs assessment was completed and a training curriculum was developed which included good practices of community mobilization and participatory approaches towards local development. • Training of Local Communities and Authorities for Capacity Building and Development: 568 training sessions were completed in 80 rayons with more than 900 communities benefiting from training. The number of attendees exceeded 10,000 people. These include local authorities, representatives of local NGOs, rural entrepreneurs and farmers, journalists, teachers etc. The training program covered primarily intended communities i.e., those who received loan money for sub-projects, and also neighboring villages whose residents attended the events, activities. • Public Awareness Campaign: The campaign involved press events, conferences, publishing and distribution of information materials, maintenance of web-based information resources. Outputs included articles in the regional and national press, radio and TV products, booklets and info bulletins issued by USIF. USIF organized a contest among beneficiary communities to identify and award those who were successful in launching local initiatives as a result of grant-supported activities. • Impact Evaluation, Audit and Grant Management: USIF did not maintain records for measuring specific indicators. It was expected to be drawn from the impact evaluation study. According to the project impact evaluation study, the surveyed community members reported from 1 to 25 new activities initiated per community after training. According to USIF, at the end of the project 85% of the 390 beneficiary communities have launched new initiatives. Lessons Learned: • Training Impact: The technical capacity and operational efficiency of the implementing agency to co-ordinate and supervise the delivery of training are critical for the success of the training program. The flaws identified in delivery of training in the first round pointed to the fact that USIF staff was not actively supervising the respective providers. However in the second round of training all shortcomings were identified and the training was successful. • Impact Evaluation: Arrangements for impact evaluation should be made at an early stage. The impact evaluation consultancy for this project had a late start which affected its quality and the reliability of its findings. • Budget: Proper supervision of grant activities covering a large country like Ukraine requires extended team effort as well as an enhanced skill mix. The additional funds provided by JSDF to the World Bank to supervise the Recipient executed grant helped to ensure comprehensive oversight of training program and, later on, to address its inefficiencies. Sustainability: • The training improved community member participation in local development initiatives and more than 100 beneficiary communities became partners of a UNDP-led community development project funded by European Commission. However, according to the impact evaluation study, only about 47% of training participants applied the acquired skills and knowledge in their everyday life while 16% failed to find any application of what they gained. Finally, while teaching and mobilizing 900 communities is not sufficient to make a real impact and produce a sustainable outcome in such a big country as Ukraine, it was sufficient to reach the most motivated and innovative communities and revive their potential, hence producing a demonstration effect rather than broad-band transformations in rural Ukraine. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The training program of the JSDF grant is used in a KfW-funded project implemented by USIF in several regions of Ukraine. NGO Involvement: • Not Applicable 21 #7. Grant Name: Mainstreaming Inclusive Grant Number: TF054868 Grant Type: Regular/Capacity Building Education Sector: Education Region: EAP Theme: Human Development - Education Implementing Agency: Voluntary Services Country: Cambodia for All Overseas (VSO) Grant Amount: 1,800,291 Activation Date: 09/19/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 09/13/2005 Original Closing Date: 03/03/2009 Revised Closing Date: 08/31/2009 End Disbursement Date: 02/28/2010 Disbursement: 1,800,290 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 100% Grant Objective: The objective of the Project is to support the Kingdom of Cambodia to improve the quality and access to basic education in the Pilot Provinces, with special focus on girls, children with disabilities and other marginalized groups. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • Improve Quality of Basic Education: The most frequently noted impact of the project is the increased confidence of teachers and educational leaders. Staff from the Provincial Office of Education (POE) and the District Office of Education (DOE) received training in school director administration and leadership skills (planning, budgeting, delegation, monitoring, instructional supervision, community relations). Newly qualified teachers from the four Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) supported by the project are better prepared to provide child-centered learning for their students. Student-centered learning is becoming accepted practice in VSO target schools. Teachers are able to facilitate appropriate small group cooperative learning which supports “slower learners”, promotes social interaction and motivates both teachers and learners. Eighty-six % of the regional and provincial TTC staff and 113 teacher trainers have been trained. Twenty POE staff and 68 DOE staff have been trained. • Improved Accessibility to Basic Education: In the six target provinces between academic years 2004/2005 and 2008/2009, there was: (i) increase of net enrolment in primary schools between 2.6% to 14.2% vs. national average of 2.5%; (ii) reduction of dropout rate between 2.4% and 7.8% vs. national average of 4.65%; (iii) an increase in passing rate between 2.6% and 13% vs. national average of 6.49%; (iv) increase in primary school net enrolment of girls between 3.4% to 17.9% vs. national average of 3.3%; and (v) increase of enrolment of 37,248 children (18,442 girls) with disabilities and 4,185 (2,418 girls) ethnic minority children. School mapping has had a profound effect on school enrolment especially at Grade 1. Provision of ramps and wheelchairs facilitated the accessibility of education to children with disabilities. Thirty-eight % of the Non-Government Education Partnership and 37% of the Disability Action Council members have been trained to develop and apply participatory decision-making strategies through advocacy training and strategy development. • Improve Relevance of Basic Education: All students interviewed for the final evaluation were able to provide examples of positive change in their schools since they were in Grade 1, including improvements to school grounds, better attitude of teachers, stopping of corporal punishment, and better classroom activities. When asked why students enjoyed school, students often referred to Effective Teaching and Learning (ETL) activities. School Effectiveness as measured by a standardized tool has improved since the first measurements in May 2007: 80% of target schools are working above basic level on 20 or more of the 30 indicators. Lessons Learned: • The efforts of NGO coalitions and member organizations to bring grass-roots issues to the national forum (Education Sector Working Group/Joint Technical Working Group) can be instrumental in furthering education policy reforms to benefit all children in Cambodia, including girls, children with disabilities, ethnic minority children, and children of poor and remote families. Sustainability: • The project built the capacity of key networking organizations to maximize representation of their members and respective constituencies. VSO continues to support the target provinces and focuses its support to school level. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • Various innovations identified in the project have potential for broad application in the Cambodian schools. In particular, the CFS management model and bilingual education methodology suggest areas for replicability. In addition, CFS resource schools are now used as model schools in target areas. The model of bilingual education developed in Ratanakiri lead to increase enrolment of children of ethnic minority communities by overcoming language barriers and this model has been already replicated in several other provinces. NGO Involvement: • This is a multi-donor project, co-funded by JSDF, the European Commission, UNICEF and DFID. Through the implementation of a project of this scale, VSO gained an important capacity in financial management, procurement, project monitoring and management. The project promoted knowledge exchange collaboration between VSO and the World Bank-financed Cambodia Education Sector Support Project (CESSP) which provided synergy and contributed to the achievement of project objectives at each level of implementation to a much higher level. CESSP provides leadership training to lower secondary schools (LSS) principles, while the Mainstreaming Inclusive Education (MIE) Volunteer Experts extend the training to primary schools principles and ensure the follow-up actions take place in both the LSS and primary schools after training has been provided. 22 #8. Grant Name: Sustainable Livelihood in Grant Number: TF055387 Grant Type: Emergency/Project communities affected by the Tsunami Region: SAR Sector: Social Protection Implementing Agency: Ministry of Country: Maldives Theme: Social Protection and Risk Finance and Treasury (MOFT) Management - Natural disaster management/ Social Safety Nets Grant Amount: 1,960,600 Activation Date: 06/15/2006 Grant Agreement Date: 06/13/2006 Original Closing Date: 06/30/2009 Revised Closing Date: 12/31/2009 End Disbursement Date: 06/30/2010 Disbursement: 1,960,600 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 100% Grant Objective: The objectives of the Project are to assist communities that suffered severe damage from the December 2005 Tsunami in recovering lost assets and rebuilding their livelihood through a grant support within the framework of the national recovery and reconstruction plan. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • While the grant objectives have been achieved, due to the delay in implementation which undermined some of the original objectives of emergency relief, the overall rating of the grant is Moderately Satisfactory. A major factor affecting the Government’s ability to implement the grant was the difficulty of finalizing the list of beneficiaries for all three activities, and especially for the grants to agriculturists. The grant helped augment and complement other assistance provided by the government to the affected population, with focus on providing sustainable and gender-inclusive in-kind and cash transfer targeted to the relatively poor among the victims. Despite the implementation delays, the distribution of cash loans, grants and equipment to affected communities were surely welcomed by the beneficiaries. • Support for Livelihood Recovery in the Small Scale Trade and Industry Sector: The original activities included technical assistance and provision of low–interest-rate credits channeled through the Bank of Maldives to support: (a) small- and medium-sized retail trade enterprises that have lost assets and/or suffered damage to equipment and inventories; and (b) female home-based small businesses for livelihood recovery to women's income generating work. However, the Government made a choice to use all the funds to support small- and medium-sized businesses. Some 956 loans were given to micro and small businesses to help them recover. • Support for Livelihood Recovery in the Small Scale Fisheries Sector: The original proposal included the following activities: (a) support to fishing vessel owners to replace lost or damaged fishing vessels including engines and gears through the provision of goods and technical assistance, and (b) replacement of damaged equipment and facilities for fish production processing and marketing, including cooling storage facilities in four islands through the provision of goods and the carrying out of civil works. After reassessing priorities, the Government built only one new fish processing facility and redirected funds to purchase equipment to affected fishermen. Some 120 fishermen received sub- grants to recover damage to their vessels. • Support for Livelihood Recovery in the Small Scale Agricultural Sector: The original activities included technical assistance and sub- grants to agricultural and home gardening producers to enable recovery of small-scale agricultural production. After a significant delay, sub- grants were made to 5,981 farmers with a slightly reduced amount than planned due to budget constraints. Lessons Learned: • JSDF is not fully compatible with disaster response objectives since it focuses on long-term vulnerable and not the short-term vulnerable groups. • Quick implementation is very important in implementing emergency operations. The delay in preparing the lists of beneficiaries proved to be a major hurdle for the Government, as it sought to implement many parts of its reconstruction program, and in particular with respect to the distribution of cash grants or low-interest loans. These problems not only impacted the activities financed through this grant but also some of the more prominent components of the Government’s Reconstruction program, including the provision of housing on some islands. Greater donor support for the preparation of the beneficiary lists would have been highly desirable. • Based on the above, there are two important lessons from this project: o It is very important to complete beneficiary lists as soon after the disaster as possible when the most directly affected are likely to be much easier to identify. Donors should consider giving more active support for the preparation of these lists including providing funding and any necessary technical assistance. o Cash grants should be considered only when they can be distributed immediately after the disaster and when a credible list of beneficiaries can be prepared that will be broadly accepted by the community. The distribution of cash grants a year or more after a disaster creates internal pressures within communities that are difficult to manage. Sustainability: • While sustainability is likely, there are potential risks for the communities and households who benefited from the funds provided through this grant. However, these relate to the fragility of the economy of the country rather than project related factors. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • Not Applicable/Emergency response. NGO Involvement: • Not Applicable. 23 #9. Grant Name: Self Reliance Programs for Grant Number: TF055412 Grant Type: Regular/ Capacity Building Women in Remote Mining Communities Region: EAP Sector: Energy and Mining Implementing Agency: PNG Chamber of Country: Papua New Guinea (PNG) Theme: Financial and Private Sector Mining and Petroleum Development - Regulation and Competition Policy Grant Amount: 636,000 Activation Date: 08/17/2006 Grant Agreement Date: 04/25/2006 Original Closing Date: 12/31/2008 Revised Closing Date: 06/30/2010 End Disbursement Date: 12/30/2010 Disbursement: 605,984 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 95.28% Grant Objective: The objective of the grant is to improve the impacts of extractive industries developments on women from remote areas of Independent State of Papua New Guinea by providing skills, mechanisms and equipment that empower women to be more able to participate in and contribute to community growth. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • More than 1,100 persons (around 1,000 women and 100 men) benefited from the training and capacity building programs carried out under this grant. The grant was implemented in 6 mining areas and 8 petroleum areas, based on needs assessment carried out at the beginning of the project and in consultation with women associations and groups from the respective areas. • Training and Outreach: The training programs focused on: (i) literacy and numeracy, carried out in 4 mining areas, with 55 beneficiaries; (ii) life skills (sewing, sewing machine repairs & maintenance, cooking and baking) in 2 mining and 4 petroleum areas, with 131 beneficiaries; (iii) health, integrating village health volunteer and village birth attendant, in one petroleum area, with 14 beneficiaries; (iv) family improvement (land use planning, investment and business opportunities, HIV/AIDS awareness, basic health and hygiene), carried out in 2 mining areas with 100 participants; and (v) agriculture and fish farming, carried out in 3 mining areas with 81 beneficiaries. Materials and equipment purchased for the training include: 64 sewing machines, 3 iron-cast stoves, food supplies, a generator and electrical fittings, mattresses, pillows and blankets, fingerlings for aquaculture, and computers and office equipment. • Governance and Institutional Building: Capacity building programs for 104 women executives were provided in 6 mining and 2 petroleum areas to teach them skills in financial management, reporting, communications, strategic planning and human resources management. The communication network of the Mining District Women’s Association (MDWA) was improved by providing email access through the purchase and installation of computers in selected MDWA sites. The local government administration and the women's associations started quarterly reviews of women’s issues and women’s development. Local solutions and mechanisms to address grievances at the local level were established, such as participation of women in planning and decision-making processes, and supporting the village court system to reduce the incidence of violence against women. Finally, in March 2010 the Third Women in Mining and Petroleum Conference was held in Madang with more than 350 participants. This was the third conference in PNG dedicated to the advancement of women in the PNG resource sector and it was the first international event to bring together the women from the petroleum projects. • Income Generation Training Skill Development: The grant supported (i) preparation of development plans to establish Women Resource Centers (WRCs); (ii) basic office equipment for WRCs; (iii) assistance to women through the WRCs to increase their income through access to financial planning services, preparation of proposals for bank loans or assistance; and (iv) support to community women to identify sources of micro credit and apply for micro-credit loans to improve agricultural gardens and cottage industries. Lessons Learned: • Responding to the demand of the beneficiaries is important in ensuring ownership and project success. Prior to commencing the activities, the project manager went to each project area and discussed with women's groups and associations their priorities. • Consultation with and involvement of other relevant key stakeholders is critical in achieving the objectives. The mining companies played an important role, providing the venue, transportation to remote areas, training materials and other logistical support. • Language differences, literacy and education levels are important considerations when designing training programs. PNG is a country of 800 languages and in the preparation of the activities the project team considered the language differences, making sure that in areas where no Pidgin or English were spoken the consultants/training providers would either know the local language or have a translator to help. Sustainability: • The grant contributed to the social and economic empowerment of women in the mining and petroleum areas, and as a result a number of women from various areas opened small businesses. The project also created a platform for dialogue and action for all relevant stakeholders: government, private sector and women's groups and association. It reached a large number of women, without excluding men. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The project demand driven approach is highly replicable. NGO Involvement: • The project was implemented by the Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, a non-profit organization, which facilitated the support and involvement of the private sector through community programs dedicated to women. 24 #10. Grant Name: Orissa Fund for Grant Number: TF055552 Grant Type: Regular/Project Development Initiatives Sector: Multisectoral Region: SAR Theme: Social Development, Gender and Implementing Agency: The Government Country: India Inclusion- Civic Engagement Participation and of Orissa, Planning and Co-ordination community driven development Department Grant Amount: 1,304,472 Activation Date: 02/14/2006 Grant Agreement Date: 01/24/2006 Original Closing Date: 05/31/2007 Revised Closing Date: 08/30/2009 End Disbursement Date: 02/28/2010 Disbursement: 1,218,933 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 93.44% Grant Objective: The objective of the Project is to assist the Government of Orissa in reducing poverty in the State by improving the incomes of poor informal workers belonging to vulnerable population groups, through development of sustainable livelihood systems in the areas of handlooms, sericulture and medicinal plants. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The project focused on enabling active involvement of private sector players in value chain operations, social mobilization, skill improvement, technology upgrade, and institutional credit provision to create sustainable working models in the project areas. • Community Livelihood Action Program: A total of 22 sub-grants were provided for taking up handloom, sericulture and medicinal plants to 9 NGOs and 4 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for handloom and sericulture, and 9 NGOs for medicinal plants. • Handloom and Sericulture Development: 85 new SHGs were formed and 47 old SHGs were revived. Some 3,040 beneficiaries received training to upgrade skills in dyeing techniques, tie and dye designs, jacquard and brass reeds. Five handloom zones have been computerized and 6 service centers have been established under SERIFED (an implementing agency). A Database of the weavers of 4 major handloom state zones has been prepared. A Yarn Bank has been established at BOYONIKA (an implementing agency). A Cocoon Bank has been established by SERIFED at Keonjhar with a capacity of storing 5,000 kahans (1 Kahan=1,600 numbers) tassar cocoons for the benefit of 2,000 tassar farmers. Exposure visits of 352 weavers and Technical Officers of Handloom and 155 Farmers and Technical officers of Sericulture. Exposure visits of weavers have been made to different improved handloom clusters at Pochampalli, Coimbatore, Salem and Bangalore to learn the latest handloom designs and technologies in the market. Financial management training and marketing management trainings have been provided to SHGs. Improved handlooms have been brought from other advanced handloom clusters like Coimbatore, Benaras etc. with jacquard fittings along with modern pre weaving machines like peg winding and pim winding. • Medicinal Plants Services Program: 233 new SHGs have been formed and 2,827 beneficiaries have been involved in cultivation and collection of medicinal plants. Training and capacity building was provided to 281 beneficiaries. More than 2,000,000 seedlings of various species of medicinal plants have been raised by the Divisional Forest Offices and distributed to NGOs and other stakeholders. In situ conservation (medicinal plants) of over 45 ha has been initiated through 4 Vana Suraksha Samitis. Co-operative societies of the beneficiaries have been formed. A Business Development Manual for medicinal plants has been prepared and released. • E-Markets Expansion Program and Building Brands through use of Intellectual Property Instruments: Website www.boyanika.com was launched for promotion of Orissa's handlooms across the globe and two more websites are under construction. Geographic Indication registration for two products (Orissa Ikat and Vegetable Dyed Kotpad fabric) was obtained. Various product development/brand building initiatives have been taken by partner NGOs through better pre/post harvesting, packaging methods of medicinal plants/products. Lessons Learned: • For such type of projects, to be successful it is important to adopt an integrated approach to the sub sector. Unfortunately, this could not be undertaken under the project. • In designing this type of projects it is important to take into account that more time is required to adopt new technology and practices. Sustainability: • The overall outcome reported after 18 months project implementation includes growing willingness of people, institutions and NGOs in medicinal plants management and trade and acceptance of contemporary technologies or processes in the handloom sector. There is also growth in confidence leading to an enhanced bargaining power of the project stakeholders. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • Project area involvement in medicinal plants is likely to increase. Due to the project interventions, external players (other NGOs, farmers and even traders) are now showing an interest in partnering with the project. Project partners are being contacted to provide support for enterprise development and market linkages. NGO Involvement: • Initially, there was a perception among the various stakeholders that the sub sectors involved a lot of risk, particularly the medicinal plants. After six months of regular dialogue with them, the project has been able to create a positive environment and those who were having contrary views, are now giving priority to it. Getting SHGs and the local people to a common platform for collective intervention poses a challenging task for any future project implementation and should be kept in mind for the Orissa program. 25 #11. Grant Name: Tsunami Livelihood Grant Number: TF055613 Grant Type: Emergency/Project Recovery Project Region: AFR Sector: General Agriculture and Rural Development Country: Somalia Theme: Rural Development - Rural services and Implementing Agency: CARE infrastructure Grant Amount: 1,579,683 Activation Date: 12/14/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 11/16/2005 Original Closing Date: 08/11/2009 Revised Closing Date: 08/11/2009 End Disbursement Date: 12/11/2009 Disbursement: 0 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 0% Grant Objective: The objective of the Project is to recover and strengthen the fishing based livelihood of approximately 800 families, who were affected by the 2004 tsunami in two communities (Kulub and Garaad) in Jariiban District in Puntland, Somalia. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The Grant objectives were not achieved. The project was cancelled in October 2009 at the request of CARE (Implementing Agency) for security reasons. A revised proposal to support the Fisheries in Tsunami affected areas in Puntland (Post-Tsunami Livelihood Recovery Project, TF098367) to be implemented by FAO was approved by the Government of Japan in March 2010. Lessons Learned: • Not Applicable. Sustainability: • Not Applicable. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • Not Applicable. NGO Involvement: • Not Applicable. 26 #12. Grant Name : Puntland Primary Grant Number: TF055618 Grant Type: Emergency/ Project Health Services Region: AFR Sector: Multi-Sectoral Country: Somalia Theme: Human Development - Health & Implementing Agency: Somalia Red Crescent Human Development Society (SRCS) Grant Amount: US$ 500,000 Activation Date: 12/14/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 11/16/2005 Original Closing Date: 08/12/2009 Revised Closing Date: 08/12/2009 End Disbursement Date: 12/12/2009 Disbursement: US$ 500,000 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 100% Grant Objective: Improving community health services and the health status of vulnerable people impacted by the Tsunami, and mitigating potential outbreaks of epidemics and water-borne diseases in Northeastern Somalia (Puntland). Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The Integrated Health Care Program (IHCP) has been the chief instrument used by the Somalia Red Crescent Society (SRCS) to achieve the Grant's objective. The aim of the IHCP is to reduce the morbidity and mortality of common diseases in the respective communities by changing attitudes, practices and health seeking behavior. The program seeks to integrate all SRCS health related activities into a well coordinated cost-effective system for the prevention of diseases, promotion of health and the provision of basic curative services. The focus has been on the most vulnerable through a network of the Maternal and Child Health/Outpatient Department (MCH/OPD) clinics, staffed by a qualified nurse, midwife and auxiliary nurse. Within the IHCP the Grant targeted the following five program components: (i) support to 12 health clinics providing static and outreach services; (ii) training of health staff, volunteers, traditional birth attendants, and community health committees; (iii) rehabilitation and enhancement of 12 health facilities in Garowe and Galkayo; (iv) procurement of medical supplies, and (v) monitoring and supervision. • The project achieved the following results: o Services: 78,211 children were screened for severe malnutrition; 52,060 children and women were vaccinated; 27,849 children received vitamin A; and 63,902 women benefitted from Reproductive Health services. o Training: 90 Community Based First Aid (CBFA) trainers trained in disaster preparedness and response activities related to community-based health care. o Civil Works: Rehabilitation and enhancement of 12 health facilities. o Goods: Throughout the grant period, the clinics used drugs purchased by the Federation. Lessons Learned: • The most valuable lesson is that the CBFA approach is probably the best one for very volatile and insecure contexts like Somalia. The proof is that, in spite of the deteriorating situation, the program's beneficiaries continued increasing on an annual basis: from 87,179 in 2006 to 129,903 in 2008. Sustainability: • The institutional aspect of the overall outcome is likely to be sustainable as the project included all stakeholders, was owned by the communities, and empowered the beneficiaries. Financial sustainability, however, is unlikely considering the volatile situation in Somalia. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • While from operational point of view the project can be easily replicated, the funding available for Somalia is dwindling so there is great uncertainty as to whether the activities will be able to continue. NGO Involvement: • The main strength of SRCS is its flexibility in an uncertain and unstable implementation environment. However, it had some difficulty to maintain a Monitoring and Evaluation system that can meet the World Bank standards. 27 #13. Grant Name: Legal Aid Services for Poor Grant Number: TF055621 Grant Type: Emergency/Project and Vulnerable people affected by the Tsunami Region: EAP Sector: Social Development Implementing Agency: The Asia Foundation Country: Thailand Theme: Rule of Law - Legal services Grant Amount: 1,820,000 Activation Date: 02/10/2006 Grant Agreement Date: 01/31/2006 Original Closing Date: 08/11/2009 Revised Closing Date: 08/11/2009 End Disbursement Date: 12/10/2009 Disbursement: 1,788,713 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 98.28% Grant Objective: The objective of the Project is to support the efforts of poor and vulnerable persons affected by the 2004 tsunami to rebuild their lives through the provision of legal and related services. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • Over the life of the Project, legal and related services were provided to approximately 10,000 poor and vulnerable individuals in the Ranong, Phan-gna, Krabi, and Satul communities, affected by the 2004 tsunami. • Legal Aid Referral Center (T-LAC) was set up in Krabi in March 2006. T-LAC was headed by a lawyer, supported by paid paralegals and trained volunteers including persons with expertise in related services needed to enable clients to make effective use of the legal assistance and advice offered by T-LAC. In addition to assisting people who came to the head office in Krabi, T-LAC staff organized numerous workshops in various communities to identify and train volunteers who in turn assisted beneficiaries in those communities with basic legal and related issues. They referred more complex issues to T-LAC which then referred cases to pro bono lawyers as needed. T-LAC also took its services to the community through legal aid workshops and a mobile legal aid clinic which traveled into villages to give direct assistance on issues that were more complex than the volunteers could handle. This reduced the necessity of clients travelling to Krabi. A door-knock campaign enabled T-LAC to reach the most isolated beneficiaries who were unable or unwilling to come to the workshops or the clinics. • The project beneficiaries received a wide range of free legal services and counsel, such as related to (i) obtaining legal guardianship of orphaned minors, (ii) asserting rights over properties of relatives killed or lost in the tsunami, (iii) applying for documentation lost in the tsunami; and (iv) DNA testing needed to receive benefits and assert rights. The highest number of cases involved DNA testing, followed by applications for statutory death certifications regarding people missing in the tsunami, and appointment of guardianship for children orphaned by the tsunami. The DNA testing program addressed the problem of people in remote or very poor tsunami-affected areas who were unregistered as Thai citizens, or who had lost their registration IDs in the floods. The center collected DNA samples from over 1,000 people and collaborated with the government to provide them with legal status as appropriate. Without an ID card, these people, most of which were not ethnic Thai, were not eligible for government assistance offered after the tsunami; nor could continue their education or seek legal employment. DNA testing also allowed survivors to prove relationships for the purposes of inheritance to people who had died in the tsunami. • T-LAC provided training for over 500 paralegal volunteers, organizing workshops on specialized topics (such as DNA and naturalization). For example, a Civic and Legal Education Workshop was conducted for the Moken sea gypsies, who are among the hardest-to-reach and most in-need groups. They had little understanding of their rights or the legal process and often do not speak Thai. Five other Civic and Legal Education Workshops catered to the youth in tsunami-affected areas. During these workshops, T-LAC recruited teenage paralegal volunteers and assistants to reach out to the younger population in their communities and schools. Civic Participation and Local Governance workshops were held to deal with the overall problems faced by communities as a whole. • The Project also supported the Women Lawyers Association of Thailand which focused on women who were reluctant to be assisted by male lawyers. Multidisciplinary support was integrated into the other components and provided as an integral part of those activities. • A project video is available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO2R06Q1ZzM Lessons Learned: • The delivery of legal and "wrap around" services in a post disaster context can be an effective means of finding urgent resolution of client needs. • Triage of simple cases at the local level can remove a big strain on the Law Society's pro bono lawyers and save substantial amount of resources. Sustainability: • It provided much needed legal and complementary support to a vulnerable population, and will be sustainable as it built capacity at the community level. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • Provision of basic legal aid training to volunteers in the community by the local legal aid centers is cost effective and there is a strong presumption that this will be replicated in other areas of the country. It was possible to save substantial amount of resources by providing basic triage assistance at the local level. NGO Involvement: • The Asia Foundation (TAF)'s strengths included its strong management, its international expertise combined with its intimate knowledge of Thailand, including rural areas. Being very well connected politically, TAF was able to facilitate many discussions with the government. 28 #14. Grant Name: Youth Development and Grant Number: TF055800 Grant Type: Regular/Capacity Building Social Inclusion Region: ECA Sector: Multi-Sectoral Implementing Agency: Genclik ve Spor Country: Turkey Theme: Social Development, Gender and Vakfi Inclusion Grant Amount: 1,872,000 Activation Date: 12/02/2005 Grant Agreement Date: 11/23/2005 Original Closing Date: 09/25/2009 Revised Closing Date: 09/25/2009 End Disbursement Date: 01/25/2010 Disbursement: 1,871,570 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 99.98% Grant Objective: The objective of the Project is to contribute to increased social cohesion through promoting and supporting the participation of young people in the economic and social life of the community through an integrated package of youth-oriented services and opportunities in selected regions, including (i) testing community-based approaches to prevent marginalization, (ii) strengthening the institutional capacity at central and local levels to address youth issues, (iii) piloting new employment initiatives, and (iv) contributing to the development of cultural understanding among European and Turkish youth through meaningful exchanges, community participation and public information campaigns. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • Youth Inclusion & Empowerment: Thirty-two youth centers were restructured to become more youth-friendly (Target: 20). About 26,700 young people were reached through 106 different activities and face-to-face peer education. Community participation increased in youth centers across the country. During project implementation, the total number of volunteers in youth centers rose from 250 to 843. • Youth Employment Initiatives: Five Youth Participatory Labor Market Assessments were carried out, which provided important insights into the demand and supply conditions of the youth labor issues in Turkey and improved the employability of the young people. Participatory workshops and youth-specific vocational training was offered to 540 young people in 14 youth centers in co-operation with ISKUR (Turkish Employment Agency), KOSGEB (Small and Medium Industry Development Organization) and Public Training Centers. As a result, 139 young people started working as paid folk dance and handicraft trainers in various organizations as well as at youth centers. • Youth Inclusion-Building Cultural Gaps: The JSDF Grant Management Team (GMT) cooperated with the National Agency on European Union (EU) Youth Programs to increase the awareness about the EU Youth Programs at the youth centers. Two-phased training sessions on EU Youth Programs have been delivered to 21 pilot youth centers. Ten of these centers became accredited to use the database of EU Youth Program Voluntary Services. Two summits (May 2008 & May 2009) on “World Cultures and Youth” were organized by JSDF GMT and financed by the General Directorate of Youth and Sports (Turkey). • Local Capacity-Building for Youth Policy: Local capacity building at the provincial level improved with the training programs which addressed youth issues. A youth portal (www.gsgp.org.tr) was launched. Thirteen different training packages prepared by GMT staff were delivered to Youth Center Directors, staff and volunteers in 21 pilot cities. On average 400 youth per center participated in these trainings. • Monitoring & Evaluation: During project implementation the number of news on youth activities was increased by 65 percent in local media. Dissemination was achieved through 100,000 booklets, 100,000 post cards, 10,000 Youth Center booklets, 80,000 bulletins. The M&E data shows that the public information and outreach campaign has been effective in increasing the visibility of the youth centers. Lessons Learned: • Ownership of the implementing agency is critical for success. Project components should be designed in close cooperation with the implementing agency to ensure all components are given due priority in implementation. • Demand-driven capacity building programs and ownership at the local level form the building blocks for a coherent and sustained youth policy at the national level. • Peer education and Learning-by-doing are powerful training instruments, where beneficiaries learn by firsthand experience, comparing real life situations and drawing their own conclusions. • Local level exchange programs are instrumental in managing diversity, creating a sense of community-belonging and understanding among young people with different social and economic background. • Non-formal education through youth centers is an exemplary learning opportunity, in which demand-driven programs and activities are used to teach important life skills, ensuring active participation with an emphasis on teamwork and cooperation. By building partnerships with different stakeholders, the youth centers capitalize on existing financial, human and social resources. Sustainability: • The sustainability of the project activities is likely given that the activities in capacity building for youth in youth centers became an integral part of the Government's Directorate General of Youth Policies. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • A number of the grant activities were fully implemented through Government structures (the foundations in Turkey) which provides an opportunity to replicate in the future. In fact, some of the activities have been already replicated in the World Bank-financed Social Risk Mitigation Project. NGO Involvement: • Many youth organizations participated in the capacity-building and youth-center-based activities at local level which was crucial for the success of the grant. 29 #15. Grant Name: Promoting Independent Grant Number: TF056747 Grant Type: Emergency/Project Living among Persons with Disabilities Region: SAR Sector: Social Protection Implementing Agency: Milestone Country: Pakistan Theme: Social Protection and Risk Society for Special Persons Management Grant Amount: 767,312 Activation Date: 08/23/2006 Grant Agreement Date: 08/04/2006 Original Closing Date: 09/30/2009 Revised Closing Date:09/30/2009 End Disbursement Date: 01/31/2010 Disbursement: 763,880 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 99.55% Grant Objective: The objectives of the Project are to: (i) provide innovative, nonresidential peer based rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities in earthquake affected areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP); (ii) reform public policy towards institutionalization of the allocation of provincial and federal funds for peer-based rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities; and (iii) promote a barrier-free physical and policy environment for persons with disabilities. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The grant achieved its objective in an extremely challenging environment: hilly terrain, difficult access in post-earthquake environment and security challenges. The main development impacts are two-fold: 1) improvement of the lives of the direct beneficiaries; and 2) strengthening the capacity of local Persons with Disabilities (PWD) advocacy groups to promote the interests of persons with disabilities in the community. An independent living model was piloted and achieved positive results; the model was further improved. • The grant implementation raised a number of institutional issues that were recognized by the World Bank supervision teams and addressed in collaboration with the Milestone Society. Financial management, procurement, quantitative approaches to monitoring, field-level evaluation and feedback during implementation, as well as balanced staffing, were all issues that arose. Addressing them led to stronger performance towards the end of the grant implementation period and should improve implementation of the model in the future. • The project established 4 Independent Living Centers (ILCs) to provide training in independent living, peer counseling and attendant support. Some 2,617 persons have been trained in the ILCs. Peer counseling and other services have been also provided in the centers. • The outreach program for independent living and a barrier-free environment provided 22 independent living seminars. The ILCs and “Milestone” continue to be engaged with community members and conduct training events. Lessons Learned: • When designing interventions to local circumstances, up-front needs assessments are preferable; in emergency circumstances, such mechanisms should be designed for rapid assessment. • A performance management framework with measurable (and, where possible, quantified) indicators is necessary to monitor progress and measure results. The framework needs adequate budget and arrangements for impact analysis. • Project results that are immediately relevant to the beneficiaries, their families and communities, and the public at large, are an effective means of building and expanding support for disability programs. • When engaging NGOs, particular attention needs to be paid to their administrative capacity; strong field experience only is not sufficient. Sustainability: • The grant piloted an independent living model which, despite the difficult circumstances, achieved positive results. After testing, the model was improved and with more attention to process, efficiency and sustainability, it can be a valuable tool for application in a broader context. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The model is replicable, provided the Government and other partner organizations accord sufficient priority to addressing the problems and challenges faced by the persons with disabilities. The grant brought forth a rich experience of working with persons with disabilities in post- earthquake environment, with a new approach of promoting independent living. NGO Involvement: • The grant was implemented by a Local community based NGO which is run by persons with disabilities and functional limitations. Inclusion, empowerment and ownership by beneficiaries are the best aspects of involving this NGO. Very dynamic and active, the NGO has been able to advocate the cause of the disabled persons quite successfully in Pakistan - considering the competing priorities that demand the attention of political leadership. An important strength, therefore, is the mobilization of the community of persons with disabilities to rally around their own cause. One weakness might be the capacity for financial management, though the NGO has improved considerably by the end of the project. 30 #16. Grant Name: Community-Based Grant Number: TF056750 Grant Type: Emergency/Project Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Region: SAR Sector: Social Protection Implementing Agency: Handicap Country: Pakistan Theme: Social Protection and Risk International Management Grant Amount: 1,684,040 Activation Date: 12/14/2006 Grant Agreement Date: 11/09/2006 Original Closing Date: 09/30/2009 Revised Closing Date: 09/30/2009 End Disbursement Date: 01/31/2010 Disbursement: 1,659,227 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 98.53% Grant Objective: The objectives of the Project are to, within the areas affected by the October 2005 Earthquake: (i) improve the coverage and utilization of rehabilitation services and solutions and quality of care and equity of access to rehabilitation services and solutions for persons with disabilities through a community-based model; (ii) strengthen the capacity of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and district level stakeholders to effectively organize, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate the delivery of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities; and (iii) ensure that persons with disabilities are satisfied and involved in the delivery of rehabilitation services and solutions. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The broad stakeholder participation and extensive Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities under the project have alerted public and private organizations, and the general public, to the problems that Persons with Disability (PWDs) face in society. • The focus on collaboration and provision of technical assistance to other rehabilitation services and civil organizations resulted in better coordination and leveraging of complementarities between those active in supporting PWDs. This in turn created strong referral networks for care and support, increased livelihood opportunities, and more generally, acted as a catalyst for the disability movement in the earthquake area. In addition, Handicap International developed a database that is shared with other stakeholders to avoid duplication of services and identify gaps in service provision. A project video is available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3t2ssWcpW8 • Some specific results include: o 4 Resource and Information Centers (RICs) were established in rented facilities; 2 of them were constructed as permanent buildings and handed over to the provincial authorities. o 4,914 persons with disabilities have been registered and referred to appropriate services. o 345 community-based rehabilitation workers and 781 persons with disabilities have been trained. o 19 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) received sub-grants to help them strengthen their services. o 99 medical camps were conducted as opposed to the 30 planned. o 115 persons with disability are generating income as against the target of 110. o 521 persons with disability received assistive devices as against a target of 403. o 143 homes were modified to suit the needs of the persons with disabilities, as against the target of at least 80 homes. o 10 public buildings were also modified to serve the needs of the persons with disabilities. Lessons Learned: • Designing interventions to local circumstances is essential and requires direct and continuous participation by local stakeholders, including service delivery entities. This, in turn, emphasizes the needs for up front needs assessments. In emergency circumstances, such mechanisms should be designed for rapid assessment. • A functioning and properly funded performance management framework with measurable indicators is necessary to monitor progress in a meaningful way. • Project results that are immediately relevant to the beneficiaries, their families and communities, and the public at large, are an effective means of building and expanding support for disability programs and strengthening the impact of IEC programs. • Service delivery in outlying areas may not be feasible through fixed delivery points. In such cases outreach arrangements should be considered. Sustainability: • The sustainability of the institutions that have been put in place under the grant is dependent on the continued involvement of provincial and state welfare authorities, and on community participation and maintaining public awareness. It is also critically dependent on maintaining the RICs at sufficient operational level. The completion report that was produced by Handicap International called for significant further capacity building by donors among all stakeholders as essential for the sustainability of the grant. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • The model is replicable, provided the Government and partners’ accord sufficient priority to addressing the problems and challenges faced by the persons with disabilities. NGO Involvement: • Handicap International has a strong international presence with an effective network of professionals. Their community-based approach to rehabilitating persons with disabilities contributed to the success of the project. However, a local NGO could have been in a better position to coordinate with other local partners. 31 #17. Grant Name: Piloting Innovations in Grant Number: TF058155 Grant Type: Regular/ Project Health Service Delivery for the Poor Region: AFR Sector: Health, Nutrition and Population Implementing Agency: Ministry of Country: Mozambique Theme: Human Development - Health system Health performance Grant Amount: 1,149,783 Activation Date: 10/17/2007 Grant Agreement Date: 09/21/2007 Original Closing Date: 12/31/2009 Revised Closing Date: 12/31/2009 End Disbursement Date: 06/30/2010 Disbursement: 180,171 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 15.67% Grant Objective: To introduce innovative approaches to bring essential health services closer to communities so as to improve the health status of the population. The beneficiaries will be the poorest rural communities in the three Northern provinces, particularly women and children who suffer the most from poor access to health services. Innovative approaches developed and tested under the grant will be replicated on a large scale through the proposed World Bank-financed Health Service Delivery Project (HSDP) currently under preparation Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The grant started slowly and the implementation progress was hampered by limited management capacity at central and provincial levels. Due to various reasons, the Ministry of Health (MOH) was not able to recruit the required additional qualified staff at central and provincial levels to manage the implementation of project activities. In view of the above, and coupled with the deterioration of disbursements and lack of implementation progress, a management letter was addressed to the Minister of Health to express the World Bank's concerns over the slow progress of the pilot. As a result, in October 2009 an experienced manager was hired within MOH to coordinate the project implementation. There has been a significant delay in almost all project activities and there has been no chance of meeting the project objectives. The lack of Pilot implementation was a consequence of a difficult operating environment, not anticipated during appraisal. • There were 36 planned procurement activities, but only four activities were implemented, namely the procurement of: (i) kits for traditional birth attendants; (ii) kits for traditional healers; (iii) “works” to drill bore holes; and (iv) “works” to undertake small repairs of a health center. The capacity of MOH’ procurement unit was not commensurate with the volume of procurement activities it had to handle for the entire MOH. The World Bank recommended the contracting of a senior procurement specialist to reinforce the capacity of the unit and help implement the activities of the pilot. In the interim, the Bank provided guidance to the Project team on steps to follow for all procurement activities included in the Plan but despite this effort, the procurement did not improve. Some key activities were not implemented at all. This included the training of community health workers, procurement of medical equipment, and consulting services to help MOH design and implement the baseline study. One of the first priorities for the new project manager which was recruited in October 2009 was to speed up the recruitment of the procurement specialist. • While the provinces started to identify the community health workers (CHWs) and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) that needed to be trained, the training itself never started because MOH at central level took about a year to decide on a new training curricula, even after agreeing with the Bank that it would allow the training of CHWs to start in the pilot districts. The lack of training of CHW blocked all other pilot activities. Overall the implementation of activities has been very slow. On the one hand, the capacity of MOH was limited and the few qualified managers were overstretched. Lessons Learned: • Implementation arrangements and capacity are key factors for quick start up and smooth implementation. Sustainability: • The overall outcome of the Pilot is difficult to rate because the main activities of the project never took place. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity: • Not Applicable. NGO Involvement: • Not Applicable. 32 #18. Grant Name : Strengthening the Capacity of the Grant Number: TF090421 Grant Type: Emergency/Capacity Building Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) to Undertake Tsunami Ecosystem Impact Assessment Region: AFR Sector: Central govt. admin, Agric ext & Implementing Agency: Seychelles Fishing Country: Seychelles research Authority (SFA) Theme: Environment and Natural Resources Management - Environmental policies and institutions & Biodiversity Grant Amount: US$368,300 Activation Date: 11/09/2007 Grant Agreement Date: 10/18/2007 Original Closing Date: 08/14/2009 Revised Closing Date: 08/14/2009 End Disbursement Date: 02/14/2010 Disbursement: US$333,420 % of Grant Amount Disbursed: 90.5% Grant Objective: The objectives of the grant are to (i) strengthen the Seychelles Fishing Authority to identify ecosystem changes attributable to the December 2004 tsunami and other natural and anthropogenic changes in the ocean environment; and (ii) determine how these changes in the ecosystem are reflected in catches by the artisanal and industrial fleets. Achievement of Grant Objectives and Outputs: • The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) successfully implemented the grant, including (i) defining the training needs and providing training to use the equipment, (ii) procurement of goods, works and services associated with equipping the research vessel to monitor oceanographic conditions that influence fisheries exploited in the territorial and 200 mile exclusive economic zone, and (iii) using the equipment provided by the grant in regular monitoring. • Oceanographic Monitoring Equipment: The grant supported a supply, install and train- contract for oceanographic monitoring equipment for the SFA research vessel. The new equipment enabled SFA to differentiate impacts on a fishery that are related to fishing pressure from impacts on the fishery that are related to environmental conditions. Yield is contingent on both the pressure applied to the fishery by the capture method and changes in the environment, and before this grant SFA did not have the capacity to assess the impact on yield attributable to environmental conditions such as the tsunami or global warming, etc • Training: SFA technical staff was trained how to service and maintain the equipment. SFA scientific staff received shore-based training on how to use the equipment and on how to interpret results provided by the equipment. There has been excellent synergy between the JSDF grant (which gives SFA the capacity to employ ecosystem-based management of fisheries and to assess disaster-related impact on fisheries) and the internally funded capacity building program of SFA to use the equipment which was funded by the grant. Lessons Learned: • Fisheries stock assessments are more complete and results more accurate if environmental as well as catch assessments are undertaken. • The small grants can have positive impact on natural resource management and should not be ignored. • Procurement training early in grant implementation is important, especially where the procurement is somewhat complicated and the client is unfamiliar with World Bank procurement rules. Sustainability: • Before this grant was implemented SFA did not have the capacity to assess the impact on yield attributable to environmental conditions such as the tsunami or global warming, etc. The equipment funded by JSDF enables SFA to evaluate environmental conditions in which fish being exploited are living. Replication or Ability to Scale up the Activity (for JSDF grants): • This model, and particularly the procurement method used (supply, install, train) is quite efficient and very appropriate to procurement of similar equipment by other nations. SFA is already involved in two GEF projects that will directly benefit from the expanded capacity of the SFA to undertake ecosystem management of the offshore fishery (Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Project under the Bank and the Agulhas and Somali Currents Large Marine Ecosystem Project by the UNDP). NGO Involvement: • Not Applicable 33