SEVENTH Six-month progress report for project

Governance in Support of Employment Creation C10-06

REPORT COVER PAGE

Participating UN Organization:	Cluster:
UNOPS ESCWA	C – Governance and Human Development

Project No. and Project Title:	Report Number:
C10-06 Governance in Support of Employment Creation (GEC)	3

Reporting Period:	Project Budget:
1 July to 31 December 2007	US$ 4,126,284

List Implementing Partners:	Project Coverage/Scope:
ESCWA Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MoMPW) Municipalities of Shat Al Arab, Al Khaseeb, Al Faw Basra Provincial Council	Basra, Districts: Al Faw, Shat Al Arab, Al Khaseeb

Abbreviations and acronyms:	Project Duration/Closed Project:
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs - MoLSA Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works - MoMPW Provincial Council – PC Governorate Steering Committee – GSC Municipal Steering Committee – MSC Vocational Training – VT Mobile Vocational Training Units - MVTU UNOPS Iraq Operations Center – IQOC Governance in Support of Employment Creation –GEC Bills of Quantities – BOQ Memorandum of Agreement – MoA International Training Centre of International Labour Organisation - ICT-ILO Terms of Reference – TOR Request for Proposal – RFP Multipurpose Technology Community Centres – MTCC Territorial Diagnosis and Institutional Mapping - TDIM	18 months The budget revision was approved on the 30th May 2007. The project extension request was submitted in December 2007. Expected closing date – April 2009.

NARRATIVE REPORT

Purpose

Provide the main objectives, outcomes, outputs of the programme/project

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods through optimal employment generation in all sectors at the local level, in particular:

Objective 1 - Promote broad participation, including for example the optimal participation of women, in decision-making processes for public works, rehabilitation and short term employment at the Municipal level

This component of the project aims at building capacity of the 3 selected municipalities in Basra governorate to effectively plan and manage rehabilitation and development activities with a special focus on employment generation and social protection. This component will provide intensive training and study tours to the municipalities and employees of Labour Offices, MoLSA and PC.

In addition, it will introduce the concept of community participation mechanism at the municipal level and establish Municipal Steering Committees consisting of representatives of the communities and local authorities. Technical Advisers will be appointed to the municipalities and to the communities to assist in the preparation of the municipal development plans which will be further developed into priorities and partially funded by the project.

Objective 2 - Optimise employment opportunities through the rehabilitation and reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure, using an employment-intensive approach

This component will contribute to the short term employment creation through quick impact public works schemes and infrastructure rehabilitation. In the first phase the project will fund quick impact public works and create around 16 000 labour days in each of the selected municipalities. In the second phase, based on the municipal development plans, the project will fund infrastructure rehabilitation works identified and prioritized by the Municipal Steering Committees.

Objective 3 - Support decentralized policies for a social safety net through a pilot phase in the Governorate of Basra

In close collaboration with MoLSA, UNOPS project will support the existing Safety Nets Programme and allow its beneficiaries participate in small business development activities and provide short term employment support.

Objective 4 - Contribute to long term employment creation through support to income-generation activities

This component covers income generation activities, including vocational training and support to small business development in order to enhance long term employment opportunities. Vocational Training Mobile Units and tool kits will be purchased and 9 different types of vocational training are provided. The project will provide micro grants, tool kits and training for small business, in particular for the most vulnerable groups.

Project outputs:

Output
1.1 Three Municipal Steering Committees established in three Districts of Basra Governorate
1.2 One Governorate Steering Committee established in Basra Governorate within the existing Provincial Council Reconstruction and Development Committee
1.3 Three Technical Units set up in 3 Districts and Basra Governorate to support the Municipal and Governorate Steering Committees
1.4 Municipal and Governorate staff as well as Steering Committee staff trained in territorial and conflict management techniques
1.5 Established and operative Temporary Income Assistance Fund
1.6 Indicator to measure the participation of women in the municipal planning boards and steering committees
2.1 Establishment of three Multipurpose Technology Community Centres (implemented by ESCWA);
2.2 Drafted and implemented rehabilitation and development plans
2.3 Refurbished municipal public infrastructure
2.4 Establishment of Local Development Fund to support community infrastructure projects
2.5 Temporary Income for Labourers through the provision of up to US$ 250,000
3.1 Support to safety nets through implementation of the income generation activities
3.2 Income generating activities made available and provided to the most vulnerable groups
4.1 Establishment of Rural Recovery Fund specifically designed and set-up to provide support for farming activities.
4.2 Small Business Support Fund developed to support income generation activities.
4.3 Farmers provided with support and to benefit from the rural recovery fund and tool kits
4.4 100 small businesses who will have been assisted through a grants scheme

Explain how the programme/project is relevant to the following benchmarks:

UN Assistance Strategy for Iraq,

UN Millennium Development Goals,

Joint Needs Assessment ,

Iraqi National Development Strategy

The project has been developed within the framework of UN Cluster C (Governance and Human Development) and contributes to the Programme goal 1 to “SUPPORT ECONOMIC AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES” under the outcome “ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL.”

The proposal is consistent with the Basra Provincial Development Strategy, in particular the Objectives: 1) Seeking to achieve comprehensive economic development and 2) Completing and developing the infrastructure.

As the main objective of the project is to reduce the levels of vulnerability through employment creation, it will contribute to the aims of MDG 1, which aims at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

Indicate the main implementing partners, their roles and responsibilities, and their interaction with the Agency

Implementation level involves:

1) Municipalities – who are a part of Local Government structure under Provincial Council

2) Labor Offices - who are under the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

3) UNOPS / ESCWA staff

4) UNOPS / ESCWA contractors

Roles and Responsibilities of each partner:

1.	UNOPS, as the executing agency will have the overall responsibility for the implementation of the project and supervision of the implementing partners and contractors. In particular, UNOPS will:

Set up and participate in decision-making committees envisioned by the project;

Approve operational sub-plans like, but not limited to, procurement plans, employment creation plans, payment schedules;

Recruit staff and consultants to work with local partners;

Organize all training activities and technical assistance to local partners, as required;

Do procurement;

Carry out internal monitoring of project’s achievements

Organize external independent reporting of project’s achievements;

Be responsible for financial management of the grants;

Be responsible for substantive narrative and financial reporting to the donor.

2.	ESCWA will be an associated agency and will be responsible for implementation of one of the components of the project – establishment of Multipurpose Technology Community Centres. This involves:

Preparing a final model for MTCCs (ToRs, staffing, management) in up to 4 locations, depending on results of the project Inception Workshop.

Set up MTCCs, to be under the managerial responsibility of MoLSA, as agreed with local partners in identified locations, by providing basic equipment and selecting staff.

Train trainers on skills needed to provide range of services envisioned by project partners to be made available to small entrepreneurs through the MTCCs

Train MTCCs staff by trainers previously trained.

Make available all training curricula developed for the project to other project partners.

Ensure that MTCCs provide the range of services agreed upon with project partners during Inception Workshop, including, but not limited to: screening of applicants for micro-capital assistance, business referral system, business development proposal support;

Be responsible for financial management of the MTCC component, except where agreed otherwise with UNOPS (see Inter-Agency Agreement);

Providing regular reports to UNOPS on achievements of MTCC component outputs, as per donor reporting schedule;

3.	The main national counterparts are the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works and Basra Provincial Council. They have the oversight of the project and undertake verification and monitoring function. Representatives of both ministries are members of the Basra Steering Committee and are thus involved in exercising monitoring and verificating roles in its implementation. In details, their roles is as follows:

a) MoLSA

Assign staff as members of planned decision-making bodies (Steering Committees);

Contribute office space – local Labor Offices;

Provide facilities and staff for the set-up of MTCCs as per ToRs agreed during Inception Workshop

Contribute staff as vocational trainers to conduct vocational trining activities;

Approve technical specifications for Vocational Training Units and Tool Kits

Provide quality assurance spot checks and monitoring to the project

b)	MoMPW

Assign staff as members of planned decision-making bodies (Steering Committees);

Approve technical specifications for tools and public works schemes;

Provide quality assurance spot checks and monitoring of the related activities;

c)	Basra Provincial Council

Assign staff as members of planned decision-making bodies (Steering Committees);

Provide support to the municipalities in strategic planning and implementation of municipal plans;

Provide quality assurance spot checks and monitoring of the related activities;

d)	Municipalities: Al Khaseeb district, Al Faw district, Shat Al Arab district

Conducting needs assessments

Establishing Municipal Planning groups

Developing municipalities priority lists / development plans

Preparing implementation plans for various components (public works, infrastructure projects, vocational trainings) as identified in the plans

Preparing technical documentation for the selected infrastructure projects

Preparing public works schemes

Supervision of contractors for public works and infrastructure projects

Identification of beneficiaries in accordance with the generic criteria

Assigning municipality staff to work full time for the project

Identification training needs and beneficiaries for the capacity building activities

Reporting on progress to UNOPS and Steering Committee (under MoAs)

4.	In addition UNOPS outsourced an International Monitoring Agent who will provide monitoring and due diligence services to the project. Its duty is to conduct independent monitoring of the following activities of the project:

Public works

Infrastructure rehabilitation

Beneficiaris pre-selection

Vocational training

Distribution of microgrants

Repayment of microgrants

Provide scheduled monitoring reports to UNOPS as per agreed timeline

Provide adhoc monitoring reports to UNOPS on a need basis

Coordination Mechanisms:

The following temporary bodies are being established to implement the project:

1)	Coordination Mechanism

Governorate Steering Committee (GSC)

It is composed of representatives of UNOPS, MoLSA, MoMPW, Basra Provincial Council, heads of municipal councils from Al Khaseeb, Al Faw, Shat Al Arab districts.

Governorate Steering Committee:

Has a general oversight of the project and takes strategic decisions, e.g. approval of the selection criteria, approval of substantive revisions of the project;

Monitors progress of the project and approves quarterly reports, training plans, etc.;

Meets on quarterly basis;

Conducts quality assurance and spot checks of the project activities;

2)	Three Municipal Steering Committees (MSC)

Each MSC is composed of municipal employees and representatives of the communities.

Municipal Steering Committee:

proposes and pre-selects lists of beneficiaries;

participates in the process of needs assessment;

prepares municipal economic development plans;

identifies priority projects;

monitors projects execution by the Mayor’s Offices;

Resources

National Staff & Consultants:

For the reporting period:

Project Associate (Operation) based in Amman

Project Associate (Programme) based in Iraq

Project Associate (Programme) based in Iraq

International Staff:

For the reporting period:

Project Manager (Programme) based in Amman

Director (Programme and Operations) 5% charged only

Methods of Operating

Summarize the implementation mechanisms primarily utilized and how they are adapted to achieve maximum impact given the challenging operating context.

With the increasing number of incidents and deterioration in the security situation in the South UNOPS had to adopt its implementation modalities to the reality on the ground. The most important thing is to involve the local authorities into implementation and have support of both Provincial and Ministerial authorities. The number of UNOPS staff has been reduced to the minimum and most Technical Advisors working for the project have been hired through a private company. The current implementation modality involves:

UNOPS staff (limited to the minimum for security reason)

Mayors Offices

Ministry of Labour

Private contractors

Monitoring by an independent monitoring agent

Provide details on the procurement procedures utilized and explain variances in standard procedures.

Standard UNOPS procurement procedures have been applied, competitive bidding process has been applied in case of all contracts awarded. Waivers have been approved it the case of the agreements with the pre-selected municipalities.

UNOPS procures goods and services in close collaboration with the Clients, Iraqi authorities, and the Beneficiaries. While the individual arrangements vary depending on the Client and the specific project requirements, the general modalities are:

Requirements

Upon request of Client, and together with the Iraqi counterparts, identify the goods and services for UNOPS to provide or contract.

Preparation of detailed specifications of equipment and services and work plan, by UNOPS, based on input and with the support from the Client, the Iraqi authorities and the beneficiaries.

Short-listing

UNOPS has developed and maintains a database of known suppliers and service providers in Iraq (incl. performance assessment, capacity, registration in Iraq, etc.) and a roster of registered experts.

Qualified and potentially interested vendors in the area can also be drawn from the local authority’s relevant company registration offices.

Alternatively, interested companies can requested to submit their profiles in response to an Expression of Interest ad published in the Iraqi and/or international media (incl. internet).

Where necessary and relevant, information on companies/vendors can also be drawn from other UN agencies and entities operating in Iraq.

The short-list of companies selected to be included in the procurement exercise requires approval by the Regional Director, confirming that all relevant sources of information have been utilized for compiling the list.

Tendering Process

UNOPS issues an Invitation to Bid/Request for Proposal to all short-listed companies, requesting them to submit an Offer/Proposal in line with the specific requirements. The document also stipulates the exact process of submission, receipt, opening, and evaluation of bids and it informs on the nature of the contract/purchase order the selected bid could result in.

Requests for clarification received from potential bidders are responded to by UNOPS, if necessary upon consultation with the Client, relevant Iraqi authorities, and/or Beneficiaries.

After expiration of the submission deadline, all Bids received are opened by a UNOPS Bid Opening Committee. The opening ceremony is open to observers from the Client, relevant Iraqi authorities, the Beneficiaries, as well as for companies participating in the tender.

The evaluation follows UNOPS standard procedure, varying on procurement type and value, and should result in a recommendation for award of contract to the lowest, compliant bid. This recommendation requires approval by the relevant authority within UNOPS.

Provide details on the monitoring system(s) that are being used and how you identify and incorporate lessons learned into the ongoing programme/project.

Monitoring is done at 3 levels:

UNOPS staff on the ground

Involvement of MoLSA and Provincial Councils personnel through spot checks and quality assurance activities

UNOPS has contracted and independent monitoring company. The selected institution has been working on the ground since May 2007 and developed monitoring tools and a monitoring plan specific to this project.

The Independent Monitoring Agent Team Structure

UNOPS prepared a proposed Project Structure, identifying the tasks and responsibilities for each project personnel and taking into consideration the Work Load with regard to total number of working days and field trips over the project period.

Detailed scope of work

Working closely with UNOPS and the municipal authorities in the Basra governorate, the selected institution provides monitoring services to the project as follows:

Public Works

Technical Officer Infrastructure and Public Works / National

Quality assurance checks for the procurement of tools used for public works

Verification of the process of identifying workers done by Municipalities in cooperation with Labour Office.

Monitor workers registration process by the municipalities

Monitor and quality assurance spot checks during the public works on project sites

Monitor attendance of workers in accordance with the approved list of beneficiaries and check on the attendance list maintained by the municipalities

Verification of payment list in accordance with the approved list of beneficiaries

Monitor of payments sites administered by the municipalities and agreed payment procedures based on the agreed payment schedule

Monthly monitoring reports (work progress, quality assurance, payments, attendance)

Infrastructure Rehabilitation

Technical Officer Infrastructure and Public Works / National

Based on the procurement plan prepare and discuss with the project partners a monitoring plan

Conduct regular checks and apply quality assurance measures during the work of the contractors on the infrastructure project sites

Monitor time management of the infrastructure projects as compared to the work plan and project scheduling agreed with the contractors

Monitor infrastructure project cost management

Monitor infrastructure project quality assurance procedures applied by the contractors and report back to UNOPS on the quality of the works

Establish infrastructure project risk management plan and the system of early warning system on possible mismanagement by contractors

Monitor involvement of the municipalities in the procurement at the stages when their inputs are required (BOQ, technical designs and specifications, etc.)

Certify completion of works in conformity with initial specifications

Report to UNOPS on safety on the workplace provided by contractors on the infrastructure projects sites.

Support to income generation activities, including vocational training

M & E Coordinator / Grants Scheme / Capacity Building

Technical Officer Vocational Training / National

Verification of the identification process of the beneficiaries pre-selected by Municipal Steering Committees for small grants support in accordance with the agreed criteria

Prepare and submit to UNOPS a verification report on the beneficiaries’ selection process

Monitor the process of beneficiaries’ enrolment for the training provided by Multipurpose Technology Centres and the training activities

Monitor the process of the business plans and application evaluation and the final selection of the beneficiaries of the small grants assistance

Prepare and submit to UNOPS monitoring report on the selection process

Monitor vocational training activities and report on quality of services provided by the contractors and Labour Office trainers

Prepare and submit to UNOPS a monitoring report on vocational training

Monitor delivery of the mobile vocational training units and tool kits procured by UNOPS and certify on the handover and quality of goods delivered

Monitor distribution of small grants and tool kits to the beneficiaries

Monitor the small business projects during their implementation and report to UNOPS on the status of implementation

Monitor and verify repayment of the grants by the beneficiaries in accordance with the terms and conditions of repayment agreed and approved by the Steering Committee

Reporting Schedule

M & E Assistant / National

Apart from the reports mentioned in the above activities, the contractor will submit the following additional reports:

Monthly monitoring reports covering the three monitored components as per details instructions above.

Six-monthly evaluation reports analyzing rate of project implementation and initial impact of project activities.

Final evaluation report (to be delivered latest 2 months after completion of project) reviewing overall project achievements against planned outputs as well as impact on beneficiaries (institutions, individuals).

Detailed ToRs for the mid-term and final evaluation exercises will be discussed with the Consultant at the beginning of contract execution so that needed preparatory work and data collection can be organized at the outset of the project.

Report on any assessments, evaluations or studies undertaken.

Results

Provide a summary of programme/project progress in relation to planned outcomes and outputs; explain any variance in achieved versus planned outputs during the six month reporting period.

Output	Result
1.1 Six Municipal Steering Committees established in three Districts of Basra Governorate	Achieved
1.2 One Governorate Steering Committee established in Basra Governorate within the existing Provincial Council Reconstruction and Development Committee	Achieved
1.3 Seven Technical Units set up in 3 Districts and Basra Governorate to support the Municipal and Governorate Steering Committees	Achieved (only 3 technical units were required)
1.4 Municipal and Governorate staff as well as Steering Committee staff trained in territorial and conflict management techniques	Achieved
1.5 Established and operative Temporary Income Assistance Fund	Achieved
1.6 Indicator to measure the participation of women in the municipal planning boards and steering committees	Achieved
2.1 Establishment of Three Multipurpose Technology Community Centres (implemented by ESCWA)	80% achieved
2.2 Drafted and implemented rehabilitation and development plans	Achieved
2.3 Refurbished municipal public infrastructure	80% achieved (Projects selected based on the plans, BOQs developed and approved by UNOPS, awaiting the final approval by Steering Committee)
2.4 Establishment of Local Development Fund to support community infrastructure projects	Achieved
2.5 Temporary Income for Labourers through the provision of up to US$ 250,000	80% achieved (agreements with municipalities signed, training completed, public works selected, BOQs finalized, lists of unemployed workers approved)
3.1 Established safety nets through implementation of the Safety Net Fund	Achieved
3.2 Income generating activities made available and provided to the most vulnerable groups	50% achieved (microgrants schemes developed, awaiting final approval by Steering Committee, mobile vocational training units delivered)
4.1 Establishment of Rural Recovery Fund specifically designed and set-up to provide support for farming activities.	Achieved
4.2 Small Business Support Fund developed to support income generation activities.	50% Achieved
4.3 400 small farmers provided with support and to benefit from the rural recovery fund and tool kits	Not achieved yet
4.4 100 small businesses who will have been assisted through a grants scheme	Not achieved yet

Report on progress made toward the achievement of specific medium-term outcomes of the programme/project as a result of the achieved short-term outputs during this reporting period.

N/a

Report on the key outputs achieved in the six month period including # and nature of the activities (inputs), % of completion and beneficiaries.

Objective 1 - Promote broad participation, including for example the optimal participation of women, in decision-making processes for public works, rehabilitation and short term employment at the Municipal level

Training on municipal planning and management for 32 participants from Shat Al Arab, Al Fao and Al Khaseeb districts was conducted by the International Training Centre of ILO on 25 June - 7 July 2007 in Turino, Italy. The participants were representatives of the Municipal Steering Committees and Governorate Steering Committee.

UNOPS recruited the International Training Centre of International Labour Organization to provide a comprehensive training program on municipal planning and management which contained the following modules:

Conflict transformation

Post-conflict local economic recovery

Territorial diagnosis and institutional mapping

Stakeholders’ and needs’ analysis

Stakeholder dialogue and consensus-building

Project Cycle Management

Local Employment Policies

Local Development Initiatives

Project Management Logical framework

Community mobilization

Strategic of vocational training in Iraq

Reality of unemployment and the strategic of employment

Local development strategy for 2007-2010 in Iraq

The training was followed by a 6-month long process of actual planning on the ground which resulted in listing projects according to priority. During that period, on-line support was provided and the GEC website was established to assist the Municipal Steering Committees (MSC) in their work. UNOPS Technical Advisors were assigned to work with the MSC on a daily basis.

GEC municipal planning process:

Each MSC formed task groups which were responsible for different aspects of data collection and needs assessment which resulted in Territorial Diagnosis and Institutional Mapping (TDIMs). In October, the MSCs presented final TDIMs, individual district reports and priority projects identified based on the needs assessment. Subsequently, the selected priority projects were transferred into Logical Project Matrixes and prepared for implementation. The projects were developed and implemented in consultation with the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works and the Provincial Council, who both provided technical expertise. The projects are now ready to be presented to the Steering Committee and to be implemented. Other projects identified in the plans have been presented to different funding sources, including the QRF and governmental funding.

Introducing the concept of community participation mechanism at the municipal level

The key to the success was building local ownership of the project and ensuring community involvement. This was achieved through introducing a Coordination Mechanism which involved all stakeholders.

GEC coordination structure:

Governorate Steering Committee (GSC)

It is composed of representatives of UNOPS, MoLSA, MoMPW, Basra Provincial Council, and heads of municipal councils from Al Khaseeb, Al Faw, Shat Al Arab districts.

The Governorate Steering Committee:

Has a general oversight of the project and takes strategic decisions, e.g. approval of the selection criteria, approval of substantive revisions of the project;

Monitors progress of the project and approves quarterly reports, training plan, etc

Meets on quarterly basis;

Conducts quality assurance and spot checks of the project activities;

Three Municipal Steering Committees (MSC)

Each MSC is composed of municipal employees and representatives of the communities. Community representation turned out to be the driving force during the preparation of Territorial Diagnosis and Institutional Mapping reports (TDIMs) and due to the active participation of some community members the data collection exercise and needs assessment resulted in sound demand driven plans.

The Municipal Steering Committee:

Proposes and pre-selects lists of beneficiaries;

Participates in the process of needs assessment;

Prepares municipal economic development plans;

Identifies priority projects;

Monitors projects execution by the Mayor’s Offices;

Objective 2 - Optimise employment opportunities through the rehabilitation and reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure, using an employment-intensive approach

Prior to signing the agreements with the municipalities, UNOPS, through the monitoring agent, conducted the basic screening of Mayor’s Offices examining their capacity for procurement and contracting. The results of the screening revealed that the Mayors Offices had a very limited capacity to implement public works as the implementation is usually done by the Basra Provincial Council and Directorates (DGs) of the respective ministries.

Following the initial screening and signing the agreements with the Municipalities, UNOPS provided an intensive 4 weeks training for the Mayors Offices on procurement, contracting, financial management and reporting prior to the commencement of the public works. The training was provided by the Technical Assistance Company in September/October 2007 under the supervision of UNOPS staff.

In November and December UNOPS worked with the Municipalities on preparing the Bills of Quantities (BOQs) for the public works projects. MoMPW was actively involved and provided its staff to assist in preparations and in the implementation process. The final revisions of the BOQs, budget breakdowns and the list of beneficiaries (workers) were approved and signed in December 2007. The work will start on the sites by mid February 2008.

Infrastructure projects in the three Municipalities were selected according to the Territorial Diagnosis and Institutional Mapping reports (TDIMs). The logical matrixes for the selected infrastructure projects as well as the BOQs were prepared and agreed upon, awaiting the final approval of the Steering Committee before UNOPS can initiate the procurement and contracting process.

For both public works and infrastructure rehabilitation projects workers will be selected from the 3 districts by MSC in collaboration with MoLSA. The beneficiaries should be registered in the existing MoLSA Safety Nets date base. MSC also identified unemployed people in their respective districts who have not been enrolled into the programme yet. Therefore MoLSA will conduct the interviews and facilitate the registration of the eligible individuals into the date base. The lists of beneficiaries for the public works have already been finalized and public works are starting in February 2008 in all 3 locations.

Objective 3 - Support decentralized policies for a social safety net through a pilot phase in the Governorate of Basra

The Safety Nets Programme has already been implemented by MoLSA. Therefore, it has been agreed with MoLSA and the local authorities that US$ 200,000, previously planned for the support to the most vulnerable, will be re-allocated to the small business support fund and distributed to the beneficiaries of the Safety Nets, not as a social support, but as grants for economic activities.

All beneficiaries selected for the GEC project (both short term employment and income generation beneficiaries) will be either selected from the existing date base of the MoLSA Safety Nets programme or newly registered. Therefore, the GEC project is fully integrated in the Safety Nets system.

Objective 4 - Contribute to long term employment creation through support to income-generation activities

A concept of mobile vocational training has been put together by UNOPS and MoLSA in order to reach the remote areas of the 3 districts. The equipment for Mobile Vocational Training Units (a track, 6 containers, 3 tents, generators and all tool kits) has been purchased, delivered to the MoLSA Vocational Training Centre in Abu Al Khaseeb and officially handed over to MoLSA. The mobile units consist of 3 camps run simultaneously in 3 different locations. Each mobile camp will be moved by the track and provide 3 different types of training in selected locations so that the training can be provided to those who would not be normally able to attend trainings in Basra or Abu Al Khaseeb (women, disabled people and other disadvantaged groups).

The micro grants schemes and possible arrangements for revolving fund have been discussed with MoLSA and prepared by UNOPS. Eligibility criteria and rules and regulations for the beneficiaries will be presented to the Steering Committee for approval in February. The arrangements for the revolving fund still need to be discussed with partners and financial institution.

A mapping of microfinance programs in Iraq was conducted through interviews of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and business support providers. Guidelines and tools are also completed for the surveys of more than 1,000 small businesses to be conducted in the North, Centre and South. MoLSA, through its small lending program, has delivered to date more than 6,000 small loans to entrepreneurs primarily in Baghdad and Basra. The loans are issued and administered by Al Rafidayn, one of the two national banks. Despite the required collateral guarantees, the loans are provided at preferential conditions. It is suggested for UNOPS to build its micro-grant delivery mechanism upon the structures created by MoLSA in coordination with the project Steering Committees.

Equipment for 3 business support centres is being procured and they are expected to be operational in March. The training of trainers has been completed.

Explain, if relevant, delays in programme/project implementation, the nature of the constraints, lessons learned in the process and actions taken to mitigate future delays.

"Governance in Support of Employment Creation" is one of the first UN projects working directly with the district authorities and at the municipal level. The amount of time required to build capacity of the districts, which are involved in this kind of activities for the first time, was not accurately envisaged during the project preparation. It was only noticeable during the project implementation that municipal planning and management under the current circumstances would take much longer than planned in the initial workplan. While this project was initially designed for 18 months, parties envisaging similar project activities should be aware that the duration of such sort of endeavour should stretch over an implementation period of at least 24 months.

The project has a strong community involvement component and has been designed to build a structure linking sub-district, district, provincial and ministerial level, which is a time consuming exercise, not only in Iraq. In order to allow all stakeholders to build a proper dialogue and develop a modus operandi it is required to give them sufficient time and technical support. In addition, in the case of Iraq, the districts have never been involved in planning and implementation. This project pioneered the approach of involving district level stakeholders into this process for the first time.

The Municipal planning process, starting with training, followed by data collection and analysis, needs assessment, the preparation of Territorial Diagnosis and Institutional Mapping district reports, and the selection of projects for implementation took 6 months (July – December 2007). The process is fully demand driven since all project proposals have been developed as a result of a long planning process based on a thorough analysis of the situation by the stakeholders (Municipalities).

In brief there are 2 major reasons why the implementation has taken longer than planned:

Sufficient time should have been given to the local authorities (municipalities) to receive proper capacity building and to plan properly.

There was a delay during the Inception phase caused by problems with procurement and recruitment of project staff. Similar issues occurred during the implementation phase as a number of Technical Advisors in Basra resigned. Unfortunately the security situation in Basra remains highly unstable and it is expected that similar problems will be encountered in 2008.

List the key partnerships and collaborations, and explain how such relationships impact on the achievement of results.

The key partnerships are described in sections 1.3 and 3.1.

Summarize achievements against planned results for cross cutting issues: security, gender, human rights, employment (including # of short and/or long-term jobs created), and environment.

Women actively participated in all project activities in the three districts. Female participation in the MSCs in the three districts was also introduced: two women in each district MSC. From the start, women were included in the panel for selecting plans for public works. The project manager observed their very active role in meetings.

The selected women also demonstrate good participation in the infrastructure projects since the beginning of the training of the MSCs in Turin. Some women were selected as team leader (Ms.Zeinab from Abi Al Khasib district and Ms. Fatma, Khansa’ from Shat Al Arab) who were responsible for implementing the TDIM. Attached some photos of these actions.

Future Work Plan

Summarize the projected activities up to the end of April 2008.

Steering Committee meeting to approve: a) microgrants schemes, b) lists of beneficiaries, c) infrastructure projects to take place in February.

The implementation of the public work projects in the three Municipalities will be launched according to the approved BoQs and the approved list of beneficiaries previously selected by the social safety net and in close collaboration with MOLSA. The work is expected to start by mid February and to finish in April.

The BoQs, technical documents and drawings for the infrastructure projects will be finalized in all municipalities in order to process the bidding and awarding stage of the contracts by the end of February.

A proper selection of beneficiaries is being done by UNOPS staff through an extensive on-field surveys. This will enable the three municipalities to proceed with the mobile unit workshop activities and to launch the micro grant project related to the mobile unit workshop .MoLSA and UNOPS proposed two different mechanisms. Both are being studied and compared. A final decision will be taken to determine the most appropriate process for this project and to be used in similar future programs. The expected ending date of these activities is end of March.

The procurement of equipment for the MTCC in the three Municipalities in ongoing.

6. Extension of the project to other districts (capacity building component) funded by PRT / DFID. Negotiations with the donor are now being finalized.