UK Aid Match mid-yearly project review – Year 1
Purpose of the review
The mid-yearly review isan opportunity for you, the partner, and DFID to check the progress of the project, discuss any new or on-going challenges and risks, as well as any changes you would like to make to the project.
Review process
-The due date for the mid-yearly report in year 1 will be seven months after the project has begun. This allows for six months of implementation, and one month to write the report.
-Partners complete and submit this reporting template alongside any updated project documents (logframe and indicator protocol, project activities plan, risk register, asset register, and visibility statement) and the latest quarterly financial report.
-A face to face or telephone discussion between DFID and the partner will be held to discuss the report and project progress.
-On the basis of this discussion, DFID will complete this reporting template with comments and agreed actions, and share this with the partner as a record of the review and of agreed next steps.
Name of organisation: Islamic Relief Worldwide / Project title: Integrated Action for Improving Access and Quality of Services in SudanProject Value:4,836,851 / Mid-yearly review date:13/7/2017
Project start date:
15/1/2017 / Project end date:15/1/2020
Project expenditure to date for this FY: (Note: the DFID FY runs from 01/04 – 31/03)
April – June:
July – Sept:
Oct – Dec:
Jan – March:2017 / Remaining quarterly forecasts for this financial year: (Note: the DFID FY runs from 01/04 – 31/03)
April – June: 55806
July – Sept:
Oct – Dec:
Jan – March: / (Revised) annual forecast for this FY:
940152
ORGANISATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
1. Are all staff required to deliver the project in place? If not, please explain what action you are taking.
In the month of February 2017 Islamic Relief Sudan office arranged project inception workshop in Khartoum which was attendedby the senior management team members from the respective field offices of Blue Nile and Kordofan; and country office Sudan. DFID focal point from IR UK office Ms Samina also joined the workshop to provide orientation the staff and partners about the project and the DFID requirement and guidelines. During the workshop project modalities were discussed in detail and based on that a structure was designed. Soon after the inception workshop staffhiring started at both national and field level.Hiring at national level:
-An expat Project Manager was hired to lead the team at both national and field level.
-Communication officer was hired on consultancy contract for a period of three months and the recruitment of a full time CO was started to fill the position.
-Livelihood specialist was hired at national level to lead the livelihood component at national level.
-An experienced public health specialist was hired to lead the health team and also to provide technical support in WASH.
Hiring at field level:
-2 M & E Officers were hired in Blue Nile and Kordafan to ensure daily monitoring of the activities at field level.
-6 project officers recruited in Blue Nile and Kordafan to implement the project at state level.
-Based on the new structure for the office 1 admin officer washired in Kordofan to support the smooth implementation of the project.
-1 driverwas hired in Kordofan and IRS started hiring process of the remaining drivers.
Almost all the cross charged positions are in place and IRS already started charging the costs of the positions to the project.
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
2.How are you assessing the capacity of your partner/s to manage project funds? Include any capacity building measures, and whether you have signed a funding agreement with each of your partners.
SOLO a local organization is working with IRS in Sudan. SOLO was selected after detailed capacity assessment and screening at the national and international level through IRHQ. Senior managers from SOLO were engaged in the inception workshop to know more about the project, IRS & IR structures, donor requirements and guidelines and project modalities.Specific funding agreement is yet to be signed with the partner, delays happened due to the partner agreement with the government at state level. For any national organization it is mandatory to have an active agreement with government before implementing any project at state. SOLO have an active agreement in Blue Nile but not in Kordafan which delayed the process of specific grant agreement between IRS and partner. This also delayed the signing of technical agreement in Kordofan.
Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in Kordofan recommended IRS to replace SOLO and select another implementing partner in Kordofan from the localorganizations already working in the state. HAC provided a list oflocalorganizations. IRS did the initial assessment ofthe potentiallocal organizations atboth state and national level and identified Mubadiroon as potential partner to replace SOLO in Kordofan.
IRS is undertaking the screening process for Mubadiroon. It is a history in the South Kordofan that UN agencies and other international NGOs deliver their project throughlocal partners as they are not allowed to work directly with the targeted beneficiaries. .
IRS is planning to arrange quarterly progress review meetings at national level and implementing partner will be engaged in the review process which will help to identify the different capacity needs of the partner and will also help in developing plan of action.
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
3. What audits/spot checks are you planning to do of project partners during the whole project period?
IRS and its implementing partner will agree on terms & condition by signing the grant specific agreement. An internal audit will be arranged and random spot checks will be done by IRS without notice to the partner. IRS Finance Manager and Senior Finance Coordinator will pay regular visits to partner office to monitor the financial documentation. During these visits IRS representative will also check the procurement processes and different procurements of the partner.Implementing partner finance officers willalso have a full induction to both IRS and DFID finance management procedures and documentation.
Recently IRS has started the process of the Program Audit to different projects and field offices. Members from different departments such as finance, admin, procurement, HR and Program are part of the audit team. Audit team will also be visiting DFID funded project in Blue Nile and Kordofan to monitor the progress and quality of work of IRS staff and partner.
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
4. Have all due diligence recommendations relating to your organisation been implemented? What action are you taking to implement any outstanding recommendations?
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
PROJECT PROGRESS
5. Have you finalised your log frame?: Y/N.
Have you finalised your Project activities plan?: Y/N
Please attach these. If documents have not been finalised, please explain what action you are taking to finalise them.
At the national level inception workshop, thelogframe was discussed in detail and agreed by the different staff members from the field and national office. Activities mentioned in the log frame were divided in different offices based on the population.After finalizing the log frame activities plan for each field office were developed. Project tracking sheets were designed to track the progress of the project and also to track the project burn rate. Tracking sheets will be reviewed in the quarterly review meeting national level while in the field offices the office manager will review and update the tracking sheet on monthly basis which will enable them to track the progress. Based on the activities plan a joint procurement plan for both the field offices will be developed to avoid procurement delays. Bulk procurement will be cost effective and contribute to value for money.
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):6. What activities have taken place during the first six months of the project to support the delivery of each output? At this stage, do you expect to meet your year 1 output milestones by the end of year 1?
To support the delivery of the each output the following activities so far have been completed.-Inception workshop at national level to explain the project activities, donor guidelines and requirements; and the role of the implementing partner.
-Hiring of the technical staff at national and state level to implement the project activities.
-Finalization of the recruitment of baseline survey consultant, signing of the contract t and finalization of the survey questionnaires.
-Signing of the technical agreement with HAC and ministries at State and Federal level to start the implementation of the project.
-Development of the activities plan based on the seasonal calendar of Sudan.
-Identification of the site offices in different localities.
-Coordination with different line departments at state and at national level about the different components of the project. Meetings were held with HAC, Labour Office, Ministry of Education, National Security, etc.
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
7.Has a baseline been completed? Y/N If no, when will this be done?
The baseline is not completed. A consultantwas hired and agreement signed with the consultant. The initial plan was to complete the information gathering from field in the month of July and then final report to be shared in August but due to delays in finalization of the questionnaire and inception report sharing; and the signing of TAs in South Kordofan; the baselinedelayed. Baseline is currently at the review stage by HAC and is expected to be approved in July 2017. Accessibility to all project areas is affected by rainfall and small streams or khors, however, the consultant is committed to complete the baseline by September given that he obtained all approvals from all states. There is an agreement with the consultant to use enumerators from concernedline ministries and targeted area.Engagement of local enumerator will help IRS to engage the state government department. In North Kordofan there is no objection by HAC for undertaking the baseline survey. The questionnaire is approved by the state HAC.Based on the current technical agreement status and rainy season in Sudan, it is anticipated that the baseline activity will be completed in the month of September.
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
8.Have you finalised an indicator protocol for your logframe? Y/N
Please attach this, or explain what action you are taking to finalise it.
Initially with the finalization of the Log frame, Indicator has been finalized to assess the progress and impact of the project. For each of the output separate indicators have been designed to assess the output. However we expected when the baseline results were being obtained then we can undergo the first revision in terms of activities and bench marks and indicators as the communities priorities will be clearly revealed and the interventions may be revisited accordinglyComments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
RISK MANAGEMENT
9.Have you finalised a Risk Matrix: Y/N
Please attach this or explain what action you are taking to finalise it.
Yes. The Risk Matrix is finalized. Risks were identified and based on probability and potential impact mitigation measure identified to deal with the risk. Most of the risks are related to the security situation. Both of the targeted areas of Blue Nile and Kordofan are facing IDPs and refugees crises. Apart from the security situation, both the areas vulnerable to floods. Different mitigation measures were identified to deal with the security and floods in the areas.
Explanation of risk / ProbabilityHigh/Medium/Low / Potential impact High/Medium/Low / Mitigation measures
Government restrictions:
South Kordofan HAC restrictions and reluctance on signing the TAs ;
-Problems with signing the TAs asHAC demanded unacceptable changesto TAs.
-In acceptance of SOLO Local partner and the requirement for exchanging them / Changed from being medium to high / Highas it delayed the start-up of all project activities e.g cancellation of the implementation of the state inception workshop although government at the locality levels is very ready to receive the project. / The PMs reported the queries of HAC SK, engagedin active liaison with government authorities, kept informed and updated and maintain prompt and accurate response to any queries raised by authorities and ensure project operations adhere to advice issued.
Floods and heavy rains impede access to the target communities and/or damage established project outputs ;
The effects of the rainfall on access to communities has delayed baseline survey. / risk Turned into high form being Medium / Changed from low into Moderate / Project will be scheduled as per the Sudan rainy season.
Low capacity of local partners organisations:
Specifically SOLO , was found be inactive in both states of Kordofan at the time of project start-up which led to HAC rejecting the partnership. / Risk changed from Medium to high / Medium / -Liaise with local partner HQ for solving the emerging problem, local partner demanding to had all 4 sectors being placed under his responsibility in the TA .
-Hold Successive meeting with HAC , inelegance authorities for signing the agreement
-Establishment of a liaison office in Kadugli to ensure coordination with Government and sectors
Link local organisations with internal funding opportunities
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
10.Have you completed an asset register: Y/N (see annex 5 of your accountable grant). Please attach this, or explain what action you are taking to finalise it.
IRS already has an asset register for all the offices including national and field offices. All the assets are properly tagged and monitored regularly by the admin department.Assets purchased under UKAID Match funded project will also be tagged and registered will be maintained. IRS started the assets procurement for DFID funded project in Sudan. Assets will include laptops, desktop, furniture, cameras, scanner and printer.
IRS will ensure 6 months review of the assets and will report back to DFID. DFID/UKAID policies for assets management will be ensured.
Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
FINANCE
11.Has the budget been finalised? Y/N
Please attach the latest quarterly financial expenditure and forecast report (budget) that you use to invoice us for the project.
Budget has been finalized and approval secured from the different stakeholders. Based on the approved budget forecast were designed. Financial report attached and forecast attached.Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
APPEAL ANDCOMMUNICATIONS
12. Have you delivered your report on your appeal coverage? (with actual OTV, broken down by channel, and visual examples)
IR UK office to add informationComments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
13. What plans do you currently have for reporting back to the public on the project?
IR UK office to add informationComments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
14. Is your visibility statement complete ? Please attach it. If it has not been finalised, please explain what action you are taking to finalise it.
IR UK office to add informationComments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
14. Is your organisation compliant with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)? Y/N
If yes, have you uploaded UK Aid Match project data into the system using the DFID reference GB-1-203559? If no, are there plans to become so?
(IR UK or HQ to confirm)Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):
AOB
15. Please use the space below to share anything you would like to that hasn’t already been covered.
-Signing of the technical agreement in Kordofan took more than the expected time. Government department of Education and HAC recommended IRS to replace the local implementing partner. SOLO was the partner for both the states but later at the time of technical agreement HAC refused to sign the technical agreement and they recommended IRS to change the implementing partner which delayed the process. A list of active organization working in Kordofan was received from HAC. IRS did the initial assessment of the local national organizations and identified Mubadiroon as potential partner. The newly selected partner is now at the screening process. ,Comments and agreed actions (to be completed by DFID):