Kurdistan Vision 2020 Joint Programming Facility

GENERICQUARTERLYprogramme[1] NARRATIVE progress report

REPORTING PERIOD: 1 april – 30 june 2015

Programme Title & Project Number / Programme Location: Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
  • Programme Title:UNV Capacity development and support to the Kurdistan Regional Government through volunteering
  • MPTF Office Project Reference Number:[2]P1-IS-08

Inclusive growth; improving living standards.
Participating UN Organization(s) / KRG Institution(s)
  • UNDP/UNV
/
  • Ministry of Planning

Programme/Project Cost (US$) / Programme Duration
KR-I Vision 2020 Facility Contribution: US$ 1,085,298 / Total Duration: 24 months.
UN Agency Contribution
  • US$ 512,500
/ Start Date (01.09.2014)
Government Contribution
(if applicable) / End Date (31.08.2016)(or Revised End Date)[3]
Other Contributions (donors)
(if applicable) / Operational Closure Date[4]
TOTAL: US$ 1,597,798 / Expected Financial Closure Date
Programme Assessment/Review/Mid-Term Eval. / Report Submitted By
Assessment/Review - if applicable please attach
Yes No Date: dd.mm.yyyy
Mid-Term Evaluation Report – if applicable please attach
Yes No Date: dd.mm.yyyy /
  • Name:Ana Izvorska
  • Title:Project Coordinator
  • Participating Organization (Coordinator): UNDP
  • Email address:

NARRATIVE REPORT FORMAT

I.Purpose

Objectives:

•To develop the capacity of selected Kurdish youth through participatory approaches and in this manner provide an opportunity for Kurdish youth to become champions for the work of the United Nations in their communities, and get actively involved in the realization of Kurdish regional development goals;

•To reinforce KRG project implementation capacity, specifically through the injection of a robust local knowledge base.

This will be achieved through the addition of Kurdish National UN Volunteers to existing UN projects in selected fields of programme management, as well as thematic areas prioritized by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The project encompasses a strong learning component throughout the assignment cycle of the National UN Volunteers.

The project is meant as a two-year pilot, which, if it proves to serve its purpose, could be replicated for a longer period of time as well as to UN Agencies beyond UNDP. In the longer run, up to 100 Kurdish National UN Volunteers could “graduate” every year from this revolving UN System-supported, hands-on, on-the-job, field capacity development scheme, while at the same time strengthening the firm rooting of the UN System in the Kurdish society and government.

II.Resources

Financial Resources:

Total JP/ Project Budget (in US $):US$ 1,597,798

Up until December 2014, 40 % of the1st tranche from KRG have been received, which corresponds to an amount of 217,060 USD.

Human Resources:

  • In late 2014 UNDP had assigned a temporary Programme Manager for the project: German Robles Osuna, Social Cohesion/Community Solidarity Adviser. He took this position until June 2 from when he is no longer with UNDP.
  • In the reporting period the project was supported by the UNV Programme Officer, Paul Wilson and by Sumer Sulaiman, UNV Programme Associate. They were instrumental in the recruitment process of the volunteers.
  • In the middle of June the newly Recruited Project Coordinator (International UNV) started her assignment and took over form Paul Wilson and Sumer Sulaiman.

III.Implementation and Monitoring Arrangements

  • Monitoring and evaluation of the project will be conducted as per the MoU between the Participating UN Organization/s and the Kurdistan Vision 2020 Joint Programming Facility Administrative Agent (AA), with regards to standard policies, procedures and requirements. UNDP may undertake its own monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities (such as baseline collection, studies, reviews and/ or evaluations) for effective measurement of results of their respective activities.
  • Reporting will be conducted as per Participating UN Organization/s’ Memorandum of
    Understanding with the AA, stipulated under Section IV & V of the Signed MoU between the KRG and the UNCT as well as the standard requirements of UNDP’s policies and procedures.

IV.Results

  • 10 descriptions of assignments are were approved and the process of recruitment of volunteers started. All positions were filled although 3 people dropped out at the end of the reporting period so new procedure of recruitment needed to start.
  • 1 Project Coordinator was recruited and started assignment.

V.Future Work Plan (if applicable)

  • The new Project Coordinator is currently reviewing the Work Plan and the budget and revisions will be suggested soon.
  • An in induction training course is in phase of preparation. It will be delivered by a trained of UNV HQ based on UNV training curriculum for the newly recruited NUNVs.
  • New recruitment process has been started to the positions which hare vacant after 3 selected candidates dropped out.
  • Work on the Learning Strategy will be started.

Page 1 of 13

Performance Indicators / Indicator Baselines / Planned Indicator Targets / Achieved Indicator Targets / Reasons for Variance
(if any) / Source of Verification / Comments
(if any)
Outcome 1[5]Establishing and Institutionalizing Kurdistan National UN Volunteers Scheme
Output 1.1
Project Coordination Unit established and operational. Participating UN agencies selected.
UN programmes and respective supervisors identified and briefed / Indicator 1.1.1
Project Coordination Unit established and operational. / No unit / Two people / One person / Unknown / Recruitment documents, letter of commitments signed / Partially
Indicator 1.1.2
Participating UN agencies selected. / No agencies / At least 5 different agencies / 5 agencies / More agencies will be contacted / Meetings with agencies / Partially
Indicator 1.1.3
UN programmes and respective supervisors identified and briefed / No supervisors / At least 20 / 10 / Some future supervisors were identified but not briefed / Talks to supervisors / Partially
Output 1.2
Communications/Advocacy Strategy is developed and implemented / Indicator 1.2.1
The aim of the Communications/Advocacy is clarified / Not clear / Clear goal and expectations / None / Unclear / The strategic document / Not started
Indicator 1.2.2.
Communications/Advocacy Strategy is developed / Not developed / Developed / None / Unclear / The strategic document / Not started
Indicator 1.2.2
Actions for the implementation of the strategy are taken / No actions taken / Implemented actions / None / Unclear / Reports of activities implemented as per the strategy / Not started
Output 1.3
M&E Strategy is developed and implemented / Indicator 1.3.
M&E Strategy is developed / No strategy developed / Developed / None / Unclear / The strategic document / Not started
Indicator 1.3.
M&E Strategy is implemented / No strategy implemented / Implemented actions / None / Unclear / Reports of activities implemented as per the strategy / Not started
Outcome 2Recruiting of the first batch of 20 Kurdistan National UN Volunteers
Output 2.1
Recruitment criteria developed and approved / Indicator 2.1.1
Clear eligibility criteria developed / No criteria / Approved criteria / Achieved
Output 2.2
Description of assignments (DoAs) developed / Indicator 2.2.1
DOA drafted / No DOAs / 20 DOAs / 10 / There is a delay in identifying assignments / Memos of meetings and correspondence / Will continue
Indicator 2.2.2
DOAs approved / No DOAs / 20 DOAs / 10 / Paused / Written approvals by all parties
Output 2.3
DoAs disseminated and regional outreach implemented / Indicator 2.3.1
Number of places of dissemination / None / At least 5 / 1 – UNDP website / Unclear / Not achieved
Indicator 2.3.2
Number of positions re-advertised / None / 20 / 10 / Advertised all positions approved / Pending
Output 2.4
Short-listed candidates identified / Indicator 2.4.1
Short-listed candidates selected and interviews / None / Min 3 per position / Average 3 per position / Many candidates / Achieved
Output 2.5
Final selection of candidates conducted / Indicator 2.5.1
Timely selection and paperwork processed / No timeline / Timeline developed / None / Some selected candidates dropped out due to lengthy periods of selection / No achieved
Output 2.6
Volunteers equipped and placed in their assignments / Indicator 2.6.1.
Volunteers accepted assignment / None / All / 50% / Some positions were re-advertised / Acceptance/rejection of the selected candidate / Partially

Kurdistan Vision 2020 Joint Programming Facility

Joint Programme/Project #:P1-IS-08

Date and Quarter Updated: December 2014

Participating UN Organization(s):
UNDP and UNV / Vision 2020 Priority Area:
Strategic pillar: Putting people first; Sub-area: Ensuring an Inclusiveness Society
Kurdistan Region Government – Responsible KRG Institution(s): Ministry of Planning
Title of JP/ Project / United Nations Volunteers capacity development and support to the Kurdistan Regional Government through volunteering.
Geographic Location / Kurdistan Region
Total JP/Project Cost / US$ 1,597,798
Facility contribution / Per agency: 512,500 / Received contribution/ agency
Total Duration / 2 years
Approval Date (SC) / MoMT letter 18729 dated 3 December 2013 / Starting Date
1 September2014 / Completion Date
31 August 2016
JP/Project Description
ملخص المشروع كورتةيةك لةسةر ثرؤذة / The project has two complementary objectives:
•To develop the capacity of selected Kurdish youth through participatory approaches and in this manner provide an opportunity for Kurdish youth to become champions for the work of the United Nations in their communities, and get actively involved in the realization of Kurdish regional development goals;
•To reinforce KRG project implementation capacity, specifically through the injection of a robust local knowledge base.
In the longer term (beyond the lifespan of the project), it is expected that the project will contribute to the enhancement of national capacity and human resources in a variety of fields and at different levels (from grassroots communities to upstream government services), i.e. the pool of expertise and knowledge that remains in the Kurdistan Region will be strengthened by building a cadre of development-conscious young people.
This will be achieved through the addition of Kurdish National UN Volunteers to existing UNDP projects (including projects jointly with KRG and/or other UN Agencies) in selected fields of programme management expertise (e.g. project/programme design, operational management such as procurement, monitoring and evaluation, coordination, communications and advocacy, etc.) as well as thematic areas prioritized by the Kurdistan Regional Government (environment, health, education, etc.).
KR VISION 2020 Priority Area Outcome:
Strategic pillar: Putting people first; Sub-area: Ensuring an Inclusiveness Society
Outputs, Key activities and Procurement
Outputs(JP outputs and/ or UN Organization specific) / During the reporting period the project work is mainly focused on contributing to the achievement of Outputs 1 and 2 fully or partially. They are related to setting up the structure of the volunteering programme, the preparatory work and the recruitment of the fist chord.
Output 1: Establishing and institutionalizing Kurdistan National UN Volunteers Scheme
Performance indicator: National UN Volunteers Scheme approved Baseline: No volunteerism scheme existing in the Kurdistan region of Iraq; Target: UN Volunteers Scheme designed, and in line with the UNV Programme mandate.
Output 2: Recruiting of the first batch of 20 Kurdistan National UN Volunteers
Performance indicator: Number of National volunteers assigned in their duty stations and equipped in Kurdistan. Baseline: No National UN Volunteer under the KRG scheme Target: 20 Kurdistan National UN Volunteers per year mobilized and equipped
Activities / The activities listed belowwere on the timeline for Q2. Due to personnel changes, there was some delay and some of the planned activities still need to be completed. As mentioned above, the temporary Project Coordinator was with UNDP only for the first 2 months of Q2. The UNV staff took over some of the work, while waiting for the new Project Coordinator to arrive. In the meantime, they were instrumental in the recruitment prices, which was very time consuming.
Because of these reasons, the strategic work, such as drafting the listed below strategies were postponed until a permanent coordinator is assigned.
10 Descriptions of assignment were approved, after coordination and cooperation with various UN agencies who were interested in hosting a volunteer.
  • Project coordination unit established and operational; Participating UN agencies identified; UN programmes and respective supervisors identified and briefed
According to the project document, two people comprise the project unit. In the reporting period only one was recruited and assigned, namely the project coordinator. In the next quarter the project unit will be completed with the recruitment and assignment of a NUNV referred to in the project document as a Learning Expert.
  • Communications/Advocacy strategy is developed and implemented
In accordance with the work plan, the mentioned strategy should be developed over the first several months of the project. However, it was deemed not a priority for the time being. Any communication activities need a message to communicate and this message will be more substantial after the recruitment of the first cohort of volunteers and after they spend some time on their assignments. Therefore, this strategy will be developed a bit further down the line, when there is a need for it.
  • M&E strategy is developed and implemented
The M&E Strategy is yet to be developed. Due to the mentioned reasons above, there has been a slight delay in its development, but fortunately such strategy will be more needed in the next project period and it is then when it will be developed.
  • Recruitment criteria developed and approved
The recruitment criteria are based on the general UNV criteria for Youth UNV modality and it follows all formal requirements, such as age limit, education requirements, etc. Additionally, it was listed that the volunteers should know Kurdish language and be residents of Kurdistan.
  • Description of assignments (DOAs) developed
10 DOAs have been developed in cooperation with the hosting UN agencies. The number of DOAs has been reduced from20 to 10 initially, as it was preferred to create assignments at the beginning only for the positions for FF funded projects.
  • DOAs disseminated and regional outreach implemented
The vacancies were announced on the UNDP website. Due to the personnel challengesand work overload it was hard to elaborate alternative ways to reach their young people. This limited way of announcing let to some shortcomings in the recruitment process, which are elaborated upon at length in a memo, written by UNV Programme Officer Paul Wilson, and submitted to MoP in mid June 2015. These shortcomings have been duly noted and in the next quarter the project team will work to overcome them.
  • Short-listed candidates identified
UNV long listed and the candidates and in cooperation with the UN agencies, made the short-lists, then interviews all the short listed candidates in the presence of an observer from MoP.
  • Final selection of candidates conducted
Final selection was conducted and for all 10 positions very good candidates were selected. However, due to the length of the process between the interview and the starting date, some of the selected candidates have dropped out, as they have made other arrangements. In the last day of the reporting period 2 selected candidates dropped out.
  • Volunteers equipped and placed in their assignments
This process has started. In June only one person started their assignment and it is expected that all 10 will start in July.
Procurement
(major items and services ) / Laptops for national UN Volunteers.
Facility Funds Committed / 217,060 USD / % of approved / 100
Facility Funds Disbursed / 217,060 USD / % of approved / 100
PUNO(s) contribution provided
Forecast final date / 31 Aug 2016 / Delay (months)
Direct Beneficiaries / Number of Beneficiaries / % of planned (current status)
Men / 20 (once project ends) / 0%
Women / 20 (once project ends) / 0%
Children / N/A
IDPs / N/A
Others / N/A
Indirect beneficiaries / N/A
Quantitative achievements against JP outputs/ UN Organization outputs
Establishing and Institutionalizing Kurdistan National UN Volunteers Scheme / In progress / 20%
Recruiting of the first batch of 20 Kurdistan National UN Volunteers / In progress / 40%
Qualitative achievements against JP outputs/ UN Organization outputs
  • The framework to set up the KRG scheme for national UN Volunteers was started.
  • The backbone of the recruitment procedure was set up

Key implémentationcontraints & challenges (2-3 sentences)
  • There is a lot of preparatory work which has been left for the next two quarters, such as drafting Learning Plan and M&E strategy and Communication Strategy. This is a slight setback but it will not affect the quality implementation of the project for the future.
  • Due to delays, some recruited candidates have dropped out which causes to start emergency re-advertisements of positions. In the end of the reporting period 3 out of 10 selected candidates have dropped out, appropriate actions will be taken to promptly re-advertise and select new volunteers.
  • The program document leaves some room for improvement in terms of description of some of the activities and in the next quarter actions will be taken to add to the descriptions and the work plan.

FINANCIAL REPORT

CATEGORY / ITEM DESCRIPTION * / UNIT COST IN USD / NUMBER OF UNITS IN USD / APPROVED BUDGET KRG FUND AMOUNT IN USD ** / BUDGET RECEIVED KRG FUND FIRST TRANCHE / EXPENDITURE IN USD /KRG fund / UNDP's contribution allocated / UNDP's contribution utilized / KRG 2020 COMMITMENTS IN USD 2015 / KRG 2020 REMANINNG BALANCE IN USD
Qtr 1 / Qtr 2 / Qtr 3 / Qtr 4
1. Staff and other personnel costs / National UN Volunteers / 302,400 / 120,960 / 132.00 / 120,828
Life Support Costs / 79,200 / 31,680 / 31,680
Capacity Building / 30,706 / 12,282 / 12,282
UNV Project Coordinator / 75,000 / 4,500 / $0
Sub-Total"1" / 412,308 / 164,923 / 10,574 / 75,000 / 154,349
2. Supplies, commodities, Materials / Office supplies, Commodities, Materials / 4,634 / 1,853 / 1,853
Sub-Total"2" / 4,634 / 1,853 / 1,853
3. Equipment, Vehicles and Furniture including Depreciation / Equipment / 1,350 / 40 / 27,000 / 10,800 / 10,800
SIM cards + credit / 120 / 40 / 2,400 / 960 / 960
LMS Access/Emails / 500 / 22 / 5,000 / 2,000 / 2,000
Sub-Total"3" / 34,400 / 13,760 / 13,760
4. Contractual Services / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
0
Sub-Total"4"
5.Travel / Project monitoring (I) / 11,051 / 4,420 / 4,420
Project monitoring (N) / 20,880 / 8,352 / 8,352
Sub-Total"5" / 31,931 / 12,772 / 12,772
6.Transfers and Grants Counterparts / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
0
Sub-Total"6" / 0
Sub - Total (1-6) / 483,272 / 193,309 / 193,309
7. General operating and Other Direct Costs / 23,877 / 9,551 / 9,551
Total Programme Costs (1-7) / 507,148 / 202,859 / 192,285
8.Indirect Support costs / 35,501 / 14,200 / 14,200
GRAND TOTAL / 542,649 / 217,060 / 75,000 / 205,450

[1] The term “programme” is used for programmes, joint programmes and projects.

[2] The MPTF Office Project Reference Number is the same number as the one on the Notification message. It is also referred to “Project ID” on the MPTF Office GATEWAY

[3] As per approval by the relevant decision-making body/Steering Committee.

[4] All activities for which a Participating Organization is responsible under an approved MPTF programme have been completed. Agencies to advise the MPTF Office.

[5] For PBF: Either country relevant or PMP specific.