usaid/central africa regional third-party monitoring

DISCLAIMER This plan is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Management Systems International, Inc., a Tetra Tech Company, and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

USAID/CENTRAL AFRICA REGIONAL THIRD-PARTY MONITORING PROJECT FY2021 QUARTER 2 PROGRESS REPORT Contract Number GS00Q14OADU138 Task Order # 72066020F00005

ORIGINAL SUBMISSION APRIL 30, 2021; RESUBMITTED MAY 26, 2021

CONTENTS

ACRONYMS I

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

POLITICAL AND SECURITY CONTEXT 1

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW 2

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITY YEAR 1 QUARTER 2 PROGRESS 3

YEAR 1 QUARTER 2 PROGRESS 5 PROGRESS BY TASK 5

MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES 9 DELIVERABLE SUBMITTED THIS QUARTER 9 STAFFING UPDATES 10 DATA COLLECTION PARTNERS 10 OFFICE SETUP 10 STATUS OF BUDGET EXPENDITURES 12 QUARTERLY SHORT-TERM TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (STTA) 12 USE OF SMALL AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES 12 STATUS OF REQUIRED AUDIT PROCESSES FOR SUB-AWARDEES 12

CHALLENGES AND MITIGATION APPROACHES 12

PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR QUARTER 3 13

ANNEX 1: QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT 15 FINANCIAL REPORT FY21 Q2 (JANUARY – MARCH 2021) 15 SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL REPORT BASED ON BUDGET CEILING 15

ANNEX 2: IN-COUNTRY TRAVEL REQUESTS 16 DRC ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. CAR ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. ROC ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.

i | CART FY21 QUARTER 1 PROGRESS REPORT USAID.GOV

ACRONYMS AWP Annual Work Plan

BHA Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs

CAR Central African Republic

CART Central Africa Third-Party Monitoring Project

COP Chief of Party

COR Contracting Officer’s Representative

DCOP Deputy Chief of Party

DQA Data Quality Assessments

DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo

IP Implementing Partner

MSI Management Systems International

OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ROC Republic of the Congo

S2G Survey to Go

SMEA Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor

TOT Training of Trainers

TPM Third-party Monitoring

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

WHO World Health Organization

UNHAS United Nations Humanitarian Air Service

1 | CART FY21 QUARTER 1 PROGRESS REPORT USAID.GOV

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs (BHA)’s Central Africa Regional Third-Party Monitoring (CART) project is as an independent, impartial, timely, responsive, contextualized and forward-looking third-party monitoring (TPM) activity. CART’s mandate is to assess the performance of BHA’s activities in the context of adaptive management in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo (ROC). The project began on September 30, 2020, and ends September 29, 2023, unless USAID exercises the two option years to extend the project to September 29, 2025.

Despite starting during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project has achieved substantial progress. By the end of Y1Q2, the project was registered in both CAR and ROC, project offices were opened and operational in Bangui and Kinshasa and all key personnel positions were filled. Project activities kicked off with the CART TPM design workshop in early February which gave all staff the opportunity to meet in person, develop relationships for successful collaborative work and to finalize the TPM methodology using the training and pre-test approach.

During this quarter, the project developed the tools needed for data collection. To ensure successful data collection in the three countries, the project released an RFP for local data collection firms and identified individual enumerators to support these efforts.

POLITICAL AND SECURITY CONTEXT CART is implemented in a volatile context marked by persistent conflicts and frequent political turmoil. Adding to and complicating the situation is the increased spread of COVID-19. During Q2, a major shift in political alliances at the legislative and executive levels in the DRC and presidential elections in the ROC did not lead to political and social turmoil many feared. By contrast, the pre-and post-presidential elections periods in CAR were marked by widespread fighting between allied armed groups and government forces aided by UN troops throughout the county, including in the outskirts of the capital city. This forced most humanitarian assistance to interrupt activities during most of the quarter and severely disrupted CART start-up operations. CART closely monitored the security situation across the countries of intervention, with a particularly focus on the provinces and departments in which TPM activities were being planned. To that effect, the security managers in the DRC and CAR liaised with implementing partners’ (IP) security managers, other informants, and various media outlets to follow the security situation daily.

DRC experienced a spike of COVID-19 cases in January 2021. As part of mitigation, CART’s DRC security manager monitors and provides weekly reports to CART’s leadership on COVID-19 developments. COVID-19 prevention measures have been incorporated into all aspects of project planning and activities through internal workshops, office protocols, training implementation, and data collection practices. CART continues to comply and adapt to local government health directives as well. During this reporting period, on February 7, 2021, an outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu province was declared. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the last-known Ebola patient in the DRC received their 2nd negative test on March 21st which has now triggered a 42-day countdown that can mark the end of the current outbreak if no new cases are discovered. MSI has Ebola protocols that


were established from the last outbreak and is ready to implement them for CART’s activities as required.

The political situation in the DRC continues to remain fragile as the president, Felix Tshisekedi, proceeded with formation of a new government after breaking his former coalition with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila. Violence and insecurity remain in the DRC with regular kidnapping, banditry, targeted killings, and sexual violence occurring. In a major incident on February 22, the Italian Ambassador was killed as he was traveling in a UN convoy in the eastern part of the country. CART has procured satellite phones which will allow teams to be in constant contact with the project’s Security Manager to react to incidents. Security threats are monitored weekly and factor into site visit plans from beginning to end. For example, in the case of Tanganyika province, a survey of the security and road access was conducted with local monitors and supervisors during the TPM planning phase.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has had a lesser impact in CAR with fewer cases being reported, the project continues to take the threat seriously and incorporates COVID-19 prevention measures in all activities. At the political and security level, CAR experienced significant turmoil at the start of this quarter due to election-related violence. On January 12 and 13, rebel groups attacked the outskirts of Bangui which eventually led to the government declaring a state of emergency on January 21, 2021. During this time in compliance with MSI’s duty of care of ensuring the safety and security of our staff, MSI evacuated its deputy chief of party for CAR and ROC on January 16. As a result of this precarious situation in CAR, CART activities slowed down temporarily, with the Kinshasa office continuing to provide support. At the end of February, after the training workshop in Kinshasa with the DCOP CAR and ROC’s return to Bangui and the political situation calming, project activities accelerated and were able to get back on track. There continues to be violence and civil unrest throughout the country particularly in the northern regions which are rebel strongholds. Outside of major urban center, the risks remain heightened. As such, CART’s initial TPM work will be conducted in and near by these urban centers that are accessible via United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights.

In ROC, although CART does not have a permanent presence, the project continues to monitor the political and security climate. In comparison to both CAR and the DRC, ROC is relatively calm. Out of an abundance of caution and with uncertainty prior to the presidential election, field planning was delayed as IPs suspended activities. Following the March 21, 2021, presidential elections, the longtime president, Dennis Sassou Nguesso, was reelected. Given that the situation remained stable in ROC, planning was immediately accelerated with field monitor training and data collection to begin in the first half of the next quarter. As in the DRC and CAR, COVID-19 mitigation measures will be in place as CART implements activities.

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW BHA’s CART project is a three-year activity to establish independent, impartial, timely, responsive, contextualized, and forward-looking TPM and operational support services. CART provides a comprehensive range of verification and outcome monitoring and learning services that will increase USAID/BHA’s and its IP understanding of the outputs, outcomes, progress, challenges, successes, results and lessons learned for both emergency and non-emergency activities within the DRC, ROC and CAR. This activity, which seeks to improve USAID/BHA’s capability to utilize humanitarian assistance


resources to ameliorate the drivers of poverty and malnutrition characterized by complex emergencies within the region, began on September 30, 2020.

The quarterly report provides CART stakeholders with an overview of the progress interventions of the preceding quarter. During the second quarter (January-March 2021), CART focused on staff training, consultations with USAID/BHA and IPs, developing IP-specific methodologies and instruments, and planning for TPM scheduled to start in the first half of April. The project also made significant operational progress, including completing the registration process in CAR, equipping and opening the project offices in Kinshasa and Bangui, filling vacant positions including hiring the senior monitoring and evaluation advisor, and organizing the technical staff training and planning logistics to carry out the first round of data collection. This report provides a summary of these activities, as well as relevant project management and administrative updates, notable challenges encountered and mitigation measures put in place during the quarter, as well as plans for the next quarter of implementation.

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITY YEAR 1 QUARTER 2 PROGRESS The CART team focused on training its team, developing IP-specific TPM methodologies including instruments for the different modalities and sectors, recruiting and training field monitors for the first round of site visits, and planning all logistical aspects associated with conducting site visits in Tanganyika province in DRC and across CAR.

• Consultations with USAID/BHA: The CART field leadership team and the Contracting Officer Representatives’ team have continued to hold weekly consultative meetings. These meetings focused on updates and discussion on operational and technical areas including consultations with implementing partners, selection of awards and modalities (e.g., food, voucher or cash transfers), and identifying geographic priorities of interest. During this period, USAID provided feedback on the IP and modality-specific instruments shared by the CART team. Given the range of modalities and IP activities, CART team will continue to submit additional modality specific instruments to USAID during the next quarter.

• Consultations with IPs: The CART team held consultations with the IPs scheduled for data collection in April-May 2021 to better understand IP activities and up to date details around where and when they are providing assistance. These consultations also included document requests, as well as more targeted consultations with IP staff including field points of contact and IP security teams.

• Methodologies and instrument development: CART’s team developed instruments for most of the modalities being implemented by BHA IPs. The instrument development followed a two-week workshop in early February and this process was led by the MSI technical manager who travelled to Kinshasa to co-facilitate the TPM training workshop.

• Training of technical staff. The TPM design workshop was conducted in early February, enabling nearly all field office technical staff to attend, and be trained on the TPM process and development of TPM methodologies. At the end of the quarter, MSI and ORB head office teams led a training of trainers (TOT) session for technical staff on TPM data collection, tablet use, and data quality control processes to be used during data collection.

• Data Dashboard Development: During the reporting period MSI’s Client Solutions team built the framework for the CART project dashboard that includes a knowledge management component and the data management tool. The team worked with the CART GIS analyst to create a dual English-French functionality for the knowledge management portal where the team


will store relevant project resources and documents. The Client Solutions team also worked with the ORB home office team to determine the best approach to linking the data to specific sites as it pulls data from the Survey to Go (S2G) application to the dashboard. While work on harmonizing the dashboard and reporting process will be ongoing over the life of the project, the dashboard will be operational in storing TPM data starting with the first round of data collected during site visits in the next quarter.

• Field office set up: CART signed office leases in January for Kinshasa, DRC, and Bangui, CAR. During the period, to ensure staff safety, CART developed COVID-19 protocols that have been put in place to allow staff to work at the offices, either every day (Bangui) or on rotational basis (Kinshasa, due to a higher number of staff). The project made progress in procurements of office furniture, equipment, and services, with both offices procuring desks and chairs and identifying internet providers. In DRC, CART team also completed its enrollment with local tax authorities as well as opened a local bank account. In CAR, the registration process was completed, allowing CART to operate and move forward with opening a bank account. Essential procurements related to technical implementation, such as obtaining tablets, were also completed during this period.

• UNHAS: With USAID’s support, the Office for the Coordination of. Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) accepted CART as a partner, allowing the project to use UNHAS flights. This is essential across the three CART countries, though in particular in CAR, where road access remains highly insecure and inconsistent.

• Partners: During this reporting period, CART finalized the subcontract with ORB International. CART also issued an RFP for local DRC data collection firms and selected three firms who can begin conducting data collection for the project in the third quarter.

• Staffing: All staff in CAR were recruited and onboarded during this period. In DRC, all non-key personnel apart from the database manager were recruited and onboarded. The database manager is being actively recruited at this stage. The senior monitoring and evaluation advisor (SMEA), the last key personnel position, was also approved during this quarter and the SMEA will start working from April 1, 2021. Security: During this quarter CART faced several security challenges, especially in CAR with the unrest after the presidential elections. However, the project was able to adapt, work and coordinate remotely, and with the return of the DCOP CAR-ROC to Bangui in February have the office effectively open by quarter’s end.


YEAR 1 QUARTER 2 PROGRESS

PROGRESS BY TASK

TASK 1: TPM FOR EMERGENCY PROGRAMS, AND TASK 3: TPM FOR NON-

EMERGENCY ACTIVITIES

Task 1, 2 and 3 are focused on TPM data collection, analysis, and reporting of USAID/BHA awards. This quarter, the CART team focused on detailed TPM planning for the first set of site visits. This included initial consultations with USAID/BHA to determine TPM sequencing by IPs and provinces, as well as to select the priority sectors and assistance modalities to monitor.

Consultations with USAID/BHA

The CART team conducted 12 weekly meetings with the CART COR during this period. The meetings focused on the status of IPs submission of documents as requested; sequencing of TPMs visits by IPs and provinces/departments; choice of most appropriate sectors and modalities to focus on; scope of the TPM activity particularly in terms of number and diversity of interviews per monitoring visits; operational updates. Additionally, USAID provided feedback on CART’s draft data collection instruments.

Consultations with IPs

The CART team, led by the DCOPs, reviewed IP awards and documents to plan for TPM activities. The CART team also organized consultations with the IPs to request complementary documentation, if needed, and verify up to date status of their ongoing and upcoming activities. The DRC team carried out multiple consultations with six IPs, while the CAR/ROC team carried out seven IP consultations for CAR and two IP consultations for ROC (see Table 1). The TPM instruments were also shared with the implementing partners to solicit their feedback. The CART team also conducted consultations with field-level IP staff and security managers. The purpose of these consultations was to refine CART team’s understanding of the IP scope, as well as to learn about key security and logistical considerations including road access.


Table 1: IP Consultations Implementing Partner Date of Consultation

Democratic Republic of Congo

World Food Programme February 18, 201

March 18, 201

Food for Hungry January 28, 2021

February 12, 2021

Concern International February 3, 2021

February 18, 2021

Action Contre la Faim January 19, 2021

Mercy Corps January 28, 2021

UNICEF March 19, 2021

Central Africa Republic

World Food Programme March 2, 2021

UNICEF January 19, 2021

ACTED February 2, 2021

Solidarites International Sol January 25, 2021

Word Vision March 1, 2021

CONCERN January 22, 2021

Action Contre la Faim March 18, 2021

Republic of Congo

World Food Programme January 22, 2021

UNICEF March 4, 2021

TPM DESIGN WORKSHOP

In early February, CART’s home office technical director and technical manager and the CAR/ROC DCOP and field coordinator traveled to Kinshasa to attend and facilitate the TPM Design Workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to finalize the TPM methodology, training, and pre-test approach. The workshop also focused on familiarizing and training CART staff, including key sub-contractor staff, on the protocols and activities specified in the Data Collection, Verification, and Analysis Plan, the Monitoring Plan, and the Annual Work Plan. The CART staff were also trained on the development and implementation of award-specific TPM methodologies, including how to train and prepare field monitors and supervisors prior to actual data collection.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CART administrative team has developed strict criteria to identify and select a suitable venue. The selected venue offered the required meeting space that included large windows to allow for effective airflow as well as the option of organizing the coffee and lunch breaks outside. The administrative team also developed a detailed COVID-19 protocol that was shared with all


the participants prior to the start of the workshop, and also developed an observation checklist that was daily administered to ensure that the workshop participants adhered to all the specific protocols.

In addition to interactive discussions and question and answer sessions after every module, the workshop included several practical exercises for the field team to apply key aspects of the TPM methodology to actual Implementing Partner data and information. Building on the discussions and exercises during the workshop, the DRC and the CAR/ROC teams started developing award-specific TPM methodologies/inception reports during the second week of the workshop that included details on:

• The proposed focus of the TPM activities. • Locations and/or sites where the CART team is proposing to implement TPM activities. • Sampling approach/es. • Data collection instruments.

After the workshop ended the field teams continued developing TPM methodologies to guide the first round of site visits. Following the workshop, the CART team submitted the following instruments to USAID for USAID’s review and feedback:

1. In-kind Food Assistance 2. Vouchers 3. Cash Transfers 4. Seeds and Agricultural Tool Distribution (Food Security Complementary Activities) 5. Nutrition 6. Community Marketing Centers (Value Chain Promotion Non-Emergency Activity) 7. Warehouse Monitoring

As the CART team proceeds with TPM activities across the BHA portfolio, the CART team will develop new sets of instruments to monitor additional modalities and IP-specific implementation approaches.

MSI’s Field Coordinator for CAR presents at the TPM Design Workshop


INSTRUMENT SCRIPTING

MSI and ORB worked closely on refining and finalizing instruments, including integrating USAID/BHA and IP feedback. Once finalized, the instruments were scripted by the ORB team the final versions of the instruments were uploaded on S2G. Once scripted in S2G, the instruments sync to the data collection tablets.

Field Monitor Recruitment

The CART team recruited field monitors and supervisors to support the first round of TPM site visits in February and March 2021.

In DRC, the CART team focused on hiring field monitors and supervisors in Tanganyika and Ituri province. The selection process focused on identifying locals who reside in these provinces and a balanced mix of male and female field monitors. With the initial TPM data collection starting in Tanganyika, the team selected five Kalemie-based field monitors and two supervisors. They will be trained in early April to start the TPM data collection in Kalemie.

CART’s Gender-Sensitive Approach to TPM

During the reporting period, CART engaged MSI’s home office gender and inclusion expert to help the team integrate a

gender-sensitive approach to TPM data collection and analysis. Support included a thorough review of the draft

instruments, to which questions were added that examine gender and social inclusion and other questions were modified

to ensure that they were sensitive to context-specific gender and social inclusion considerations. MSI’s gender expert also

provided training content for the field monitor training on gender-sensitivity and practical considerations around “do no

harm” approaches when conducting data collection.

Examples of Gender & Social Inclusion Questions Integrated in Instruments

• IP: Does the program team meet with the community at the beginning of this activity? Please describe (e.g. men, women,

youth, minority ethnic or religious groups)

• Observation: Are the entrances to the latrines in accessible and safe locations? Are there locks on the doors? Are trash

cans or other receptacles available in the women’s latrine for managing menstrual hygiene supplies?

• Observation: Are any of these barriers to access present / insufficient lighting in and around the distribution site, and in

and around the latrines?

• Beneficiary: Who in your household collects or receives your household’s entitlement? How was it decided that s/he

would be the one to do so? Would you prefer that someone else receive it? What prevents him/her from collecting or

receiving the entitlement?

• Beneficiary: Do you feel safe traveling to the distribution site, at the site, or while traveling home?

• Beneficiary: Would you prefer that someone else from your household collect your entitlement? What prevents

him/her from collecting the entitlement?

Field Monitor Training Content Provided

• Do no harm approach considerations & approaches to data collection

• Examples of vulnerable populations across CART countries

• Examples of social contexts that can trigger unintended consequences

• Community engagement and stakeholder consultations


In CAR, 15 field monitors (Nine women and six men) and four supervisors were selected. In early April this team will be trained in Bangui and will be engaged in data collection across the CAR.

In ROC, eight field monitors (five women and three men) and two supervisors (one man and one woman) were identified by the CART team. This team will be trained in April and will start the TPM data collection in early May.

TASK 2: TPM SURGE OPTION FOR EMERGENCY PROGRAMS

There were no surge monitoring requests shared by USAID/BHA during this reporting period.

TASK 3: TPM FOR NON-EMERGENCY ACTIVITIES

Covered with Task 1 (see above).

Task 4: E-TPM

During Q2, no E-TPM specific activities were undertaken. It is anticipated that the E-TPM pilot activity will occur in Y1Q4. It is however important to note that the instruments for the upcoming in-person data collection include a question focused on the willingness of respondents to share their phone contact information and to be remotely contacted for future data collection. This information will provide CART team with some useful estimates on percentage of respondents who can be contacted remotely. This information, along with any other relevant learning, will inform the design of the E-TPM pilot activity.

TASK 5: DATA QUALITY ASSESSMENTS (DQA)

There were no data quality assessments held in during Y1Q2. The CART project anticipates conducting its first DQA during Y2. A summary outline for the approach the project intends to take when conducting DQAs was outlined in the FY 2021 Annual Work Plan.

TASK 6: KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND LEARNING

There were no knowledge sharing and learning events held during Q2. The CART project intends to host its first knowledge and learning event in Y1Q4, approximately six months following the start of the TPM data collection.

MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

DELIVERABLE SUBMITTED THIS QUARTER

The table below presents the project deliverables submitted and those submitted in the previous quarter but still pending USAID approval during the reporting period. Additionally, during Q2, six of the eight deliverables submitted in Q1 were finalized and approved.


Year 1 (September 2020 – September 2021)

Year 1 – Deliverable/Task Due Date Submission Date Approval Status

Quarter 1 Progress Report and Quarter 1

Financial Report

30-Jan-21 29-Jan-21 Approved

STTA Report – TPM Design Workshop Ten calendar

days after

departing DRC

9-Apr-21 N/A

Annual Work Plan 29-Dec-20 29-Dec-20 Revisions submitted, pending USAID

approval

Communications and Outreach Plan 29-Dec-20 29-Dec-20 Pending USAID approval

Reports of Weekly USAID Meetings One week after

meeting

1/12; 1/19; 1/26; 2/2;

2/16; 3/2;3/9; 3/16;

3/30

Approved weekly

STAFFING UPDATES During the reporting period, five project staff were onboarded.

DATA COLLECTION PARTNERS In early February, the CART team issued a request for proposal (RFP) to recruit up to three data collection firms in DRC. A total of nine firms formally responded to the RFP. The CART technical committee selected the top three firms. These firms include:

1. Research Initiatives for Social Development (RISD) 2. Positive Insights 3. Moneval

For upcoming data collection activities in DRC, the CART team will prepare and share specific task orders with these three firms. These firms will provide a brief technical and cost proposal in response. The CART team will then select the firm with the best proposal. A typical task order will include data collection in a discrete area (province, region) and for TPM activities involving multiple IPs and Awards. Given the existing roles and responsibilities of the CART team, the data collection firms will be primarily engaged to provide local field monitors and for managing the logistics of data collection activities. Coordination with IPs as well as application of data quality verification protocols will be primarily led by the CART staff.

A similar RFP was issued for data collection activities in CAR in March 2021.

OFFICE SETUP

During this quarter, MSI signed leases for project offices in both Kinshasa, DRC, and Bangui, CAR. These offices were equipped with essential furnishings, equipment, and services. Additional procurements pertaining to project vehicles, satellite phones, and a few services which began this quarter will be completed in quarter 3.


MSI’s offices in Kinshasa, located at Avenue de la science numéro 4630 au Premier étage block D bureau numéro D 11, Gombe, Kinshasa, DRC

A major milestone for CART was completing registration in Bangui, which allows MSI to operate throughout the country, employ staff under long-term contracts, pay taxes, and obtain exemptions as a USAID project. MSI will be moving forward on these next steps in the coming quarter.

The CART office in Bangui at 1er arr., Ave d’Independence, Rue 1.12, Colline de pentere cité moyenne corniche (behind Radio Ndeke Luka)


STATUS OF BUDGET EXPENDITURES

During this quarter, costs were related to labor, allowances, STTA, activities and other direct costs. Information on Q2 expenditures can be found in Annex 1: Quarterly Financial Report.

QUARTERLY SHORT-TERM TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (STTA)

MSI’s technical director and technical manager traveled to Kinshasa, DRC, in late January through to early February to facilitate the TPM design workshop. Similarly, the CART DCOP – CAR& ROC and Field Coordinator - CAR traveled to Kinshasa as workshop facilitators and participants respectively. MSI’s head office gender and inclusion expert continued to provide remote short-term assistance to the project ensuring that a gender-sensitive approach is integrated into TPM data collection and analysis.

USE OF SMALL AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES

During this quarter, the project signed its subcontract with ORB International, a woman-owned small business MEL firm supporting the instrument finalization (including scripting), training of field coordinators and data quality verification processes. ORB’s activities during this quarter included the hiring and onboarding of its local personnel and participating in multiple consultations with MSI’s Client Solutions team on integrating features from S2G into the data dashboard to ensure that site visit data is seamlessly linked to the site names for analysis and reporting. In addition, they supported with identifying field monitors and field supervisors in Tanganyika province for Q3 data collection activities and provided feedback on modality-specific instruments as they were developed.

STATUS OF REQUIRED AUDIT PROCESSES FOR SUB-AWARDEES

Not applicable during this reporting period.

CHALLENGES AND MITIGATION APPROACHES During this quarter, CART in CAR was faced with continued political instability and insecurity following the late December 2020 presidential elections. With a state of emergency declared in CAR, the project was faced with identifying ways to adapt to the evolving challenging environment. The below addresses the challenges faced along with mitigation approaches taken by the CART team.

INSECURITY IN CAR

From early December, in the run-up to the Presidential election that took place on December 27, 2020, in CAR, rebel groups coordinated their efforts and temporarily controlled access to the main upcountry cities. This led to the closure of humanitarian assistance in most of the country and withdrawal to Bangui of staff working in the country, and evacuation of expatriates. The Bangui-based DCOP was also temporarily evacuated, which slowed down the project registration and other start-up activities. The security situation fortunately stabilized and markedly improved by mid-February. After this, the DCOP returned to Bangui.

As part of the mitigation measures the CART team undertook the following steps:

• Released an RFP to identify local data collection firms in CAR. This will offer more flexibility and options when it comes to accessing different parts of CAR.


• Recruitment of CART field monitors and supervisors who can be trained and engaged in data collection across the country.

• Based on guidance and support from the BHA/USAID team, the CART project was able to register with the UNHAS. This will provide a lot of flexibility to the CART team as it allows for a relatively safe and affordable way to transport field monitors and supervisors to different parts of the country.

PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR QUARTER 3 During the project’s next quarter, CART team is planning to undertake the following activities:

• Training of trainers including the SMEA, field coordinators and the rest of CART technical staff. • Training of field monitors and supervisors in DRC, CAR and ROC. • Consultation with USAID/BHA to finalize the site visit plan for Q3 and Q4 (towards the end of

Q3) • Start of TPM data collection in DRC, CAR, and ROC using field monitors and supervisors hired

by the CART team. • Training and TPM data collection in DRC using field monitors and supervisors hired through

data collection firm/s. • Development of TPM reports and finalization of the reporting template. • Ongoing development of TPM instruments to correspond to new modalities being monitored. • The CART team, working in collaboration with MSI’s home office client solutions team, will also

launch the project’s data management dashboard, which will automatically upload and store the project’s TPM data once collected from the tablets. The dashboard interface and structure will be finalized in consultation with USAID/BHA.

ANTICIPATED USAID APPROVALS AND WAIVERS REQUESTS

During the next quarter, CART anticipates submitting the following requests for approval:

APRIL 2021

• International Travel Approval for DCOP for CAR and ROC, data analyst and field coordinator to travel to Brazzaville, ROC for TPM training support

MAY 2021

• International Travel Approval for Rest & Recuperation – DCOP CAR and ROC • Approval to procure restricted goods (vehicles) in DRC and CAR • Non-expendable property approval to purchase a generator for the Bangui, CAR, office • International Travel Approval for COP repatriation • International Travel Approval for Technical Manager to travel to Kinshasa, DRC to provide

technical support • International Travel Approval for Technical Director to travel to Kinshasa, DRC to serve as

acting COP • Key Personnel Approval - COP


JUNE 2021

• International Travel Approval for home office project manager to travel to Kinshasa to support project’s Finance Team during the Finance and Admin Manager’s leave


ANNEX 1: QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT Financial Report FY21 Q2 Submitted Separately

Summary of Financial Report Based on Budget Ceiling Submitted Separately


0BANNEX 2: IN-COUNTRY TRAVEL REQUESTS Travel Requests Submitted Separately

usaid/central africa regional third-party monitoring

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