Counterpart International

Democracy, rights, and governance: delivery of fair and equitable citizen services requires government responsiveness and accountability, as well as resilient civil society organizations with the know-how to mobilize citizens and effectively engage with government to promote and sustain progress. (description continued on schedule o) since april 2018, the promoting advocacy and rights (par) program in bangladesh, a five-year usaid and fcdo funded activity has supported strengthening the enabling environment for civil society to advance democratic governance and citizen participation. Par has built core organizational capacity, advocacy skills, and technical capabilities for bangladeshi civil society organizations (csos), while also fostering opportunities for them to productively engage local government officials. Par provides grants for local csos to undertake activities which increase community awareness about civic rights and responsibilities, strengthen community mobilization efforts to include historically marginalized populations, and establish openings for public sector engagement, whereby local and national government officials have publicly committed to working in greater partnership with civil society--a marked change in a closing civic space. In fy22, two grants awarded to local partners addressing drug abuse and gender-based violence were closed. Additionally, a total of five sub-awards were granted to local organizations to advance citizen identified priorities such as on environmental pollution, unplanned urbanization, and the marginalization of dalit and cobbler communities. Sub-grantees produced evidence-based policy papers in collaboration with government stakeholders and received technical support from Counterpart on applying "thinking and working politically" principles in their cross-sectoral engagement. For example, the sushilan consortium established a citizen monitoring framework to improve transparent and accountable service delivery of water, sanitation and waste management in khulna, a region that has been significantly impacted by climate change and chronic water logging. Leveraging from these good practices, Counterpart worked with the bangladeshi organization, youth power in social action (ypsa) to develop and maintain an online advocacy toolbox that serves as a repository of good practices, tools, and resources to provide ongoing support to local organizations conducting advocacy initiatives. In addition, through the interventions of our partner, the International center for non-profit law (icnl), par has supported a wider group of bangladeshi csos to better understand and navigate the changing legal environment in which local csos exist, protecting their ability to operate. Notable workshops on understanding and navigating policy frameworks such as the right to information act 2009, and the digital security act of 2018, provided civic actors timely guidance. In fy22, Counterpart started implementing a new program in ecuador, new partnerships in open government program (npog), funded by usaid (2022-2024). The aim of this program is to support both the government of ecuador (goe) and ecuadorean civil society organizations (csos) in the co-creation and implementation of the open government partnership (ogp) national action plan (nap). The open government partnership is intended to increase knowledge of principles and concepts of transparency and accountability amongst goe and cso representatives in ecuador, as well as to increase citizen and civil society participation in governance through the co-creation process, from which reforms selected by the goe are then implemented in strategic policy areas. In fy2022, the npog team completed and submitted a map of 'new open government partnership actors' which is a list of actors identified by the program who were then targeted through project outreach to engage them in activities under ogp. The team also completed their design plan for the ogp social media campaign. This plan detailed digital resources that were created for the campaign, social media accounts that the campaign was shared with, and a schedule of events that were held to support the campaign. Throughout fy2022, the npog team organized activities on ogp principles and the ogp co-creation process. These ogp sessions included trainings for goe, cso, and private sector representatives on private sector engagement, accountability, and transparency. The ogp co-creation process consisted of workshops held in cities across ecuador for stakeholders to collaborate and submit initiatives on their respective issues of concern. Over the course of the co-creation process, 22 workshops were held, which drew 784 participants from the public sector, civil society, academia and the private sector. The co-creation process generated 328 proposals for the goe to consider for inclusion in their list of policy commitments for implementation under the ogp national action plan. In burundi, the turi kumwe ("we are together") project increases burundian youth engagement in peacebuilding and improves economic opportunities through increasing youth-led peacebuilding and violence prevention interventions and enhancing youth access to finance and economic opportunities. Turi kumwe works across two objectives: 1) increase youth-led peacebuilding and violence prevention and 2) enhance youth access to finance and economic opportunities. During fy2022, its second year of implementation, the project had many accomplishments. Turi kumwe set up 30 new village savings and loans associations (vsla) and supervised the weekly activities of 72 vslas, thus allowing 1,733 youth to participate in savings and loans activities and receive training in soft skills and entrepreneurship. Turi kumwe also facilitated the issuance of microcredit loans from jjb-twiyunge microfinance to 94 projects worth a total of 31,550,000 bif in support of youth's economic initiatives and coached recipients of those loans. The team organized 12 business plan competitions to promote youth's innovative ideas, selecting 78 groups to receive a total of 96,485,890 bif in funding and coaching recipients for the startup. Furthermore, a total of 31 zonal supervision agents and youth co-facilitators of dialogues were trained in business plan development. The project facilitated 12 different community-based dialogue sessions focusing on how to help communities find a resolution or way forward in the face of local conflicts which included intergenerational dialogue sessions with older entrepreneurs who inspired youth to overcome challenges and foster peace in their community. Turi kumwe also organized six inter-communal peer learning and exchange sessions between youth vsla members to discuss peace and entrepreneurship initiatives and produced and broadcasted four short radio shows about youth entrepreneurship and inclusivity. The project supported four quarterly meetings of coaches to identify lessons learned from the previous quarter and plan for the quarter ahead, and trained jjb coaches on reconciliation and vsla management tools as part of adaptive management. Turi kumwe conducted a baseline with second cohorts of vslas, mid-term evaluation and collected data for the y2 assessment of turi kumwe. The project strengthened jjb's capacity by providing the organization with training on financial statements, performance indicators and data analysis, gender, gender-sensitive budgeting, and income tax calculations. Turi kumwe also offered technical support for monitoring, evaluation and learning (mel) data storage, and financial support to procure a video-camera to improve jjb's communications. During fy2022, we conducted a participatory rapid gender analysis to strengthen the project's contribution to gender equality. Lastly, the project hosted a monitoring visit from the ministry of east africa community affairs, youth, sports and culture.

Food security: food security and agriculture programs help communities raise healthy, educated children, and support the country's journey to self-reliance. Early childhood health interventions, such as vitamin a distribution, sustainable infrastructures like community gardens, and market linkages to support sustainable livelihoods, all create a strong foundation for sustainable community growth. (description continued on schedule o)the united states department of agriculture-funded "guatemala food for progress" program (2016-2023) aims to improve the livelihoods of small-holder farmers in the coffee and horticultural value chains. The project's key strategies are supporting the rebuilding of the national agriculture extension system, increasing agricultural productivity via improved agricultural techniques and technologies, strengthening market linkages, and providing access to finance. Focused on the western highlands of guatemala, the project works with and through key guatemalan institutions -- ministry of agriculture (maga), university of san carlos (usac), national coffee association (anacafe), and the biggest credit union federation in guatemala, micoope. The program is supporting maga's national rural extension system (sner) through the development of the caex program, the only academic professional extension training program in guatemala. Since its development, the caex program has certified 326 ministry of agriculture and private sector extension agents. Through its support to agricultural producer groups, to date the program has increased agricultural yields by more than 20%, created more than 2,918 jobs, increased program participants' coffee sales to $6.1 million, and has improved market access for 37,719 farmers. The program has also supported ten coffee grower associations to gain International certification for production and export of coffee. Additional support to farmers and farmer associates includes a total of 185 cash and in-kind grants valued at more than $1 million. The program has also strengthened farmer access to finance by working with partner micoope in the design of four loan products specifically designed to support small-holder farmers, under which a total of 7,765 loans were made with at a total of $41.5 million. The united states department of agriculture-funded "sukaabe janngo" ("children of tomorrow") mcgovern-dole International food for education and child nutrition project in senegal (2018-2022) supports in partnership the government of senegal's efforts to improve the quality of student learning by providing nutritious daily school meals in 270 preschools and primary schools; improving literacy skills of school age children through the provision of improved literacy instructional materials; improving school infrastructure and increasing access to clean water and sanitation by rehabilitating latrines and water station systems; and increasing engagement of local organizations and community groups to sustainably manage school canteens. As of fy2022, this program has reached 70,548 students over its time in action, achieving 109% of its total target for life of the project. The program's distribution of deworming and supplementation has reached 69,839 students in the st. louis region, 20,160 more students than the program initially targeted. Overall, the project has provided 20,146,646 school meals to students. The united states department of agriculture-funded local and regional food aid procurement program (lrp) entitled "transition d'alimentation dans les cantines scolaires au senegal" (tacss) in saint-louis, senegal is implemented in tandem with the ongoing mcgovern-dole International food for education and child nutrition program. Tacss facilitates the transition to community-led school feeding (clsf) by procuring local commodities to supply school feeding programs; building the capacity of farmer groups to supply nutritious commodities to school feeding programs; and introducing and increasing production of cowpea and millet and secure donations of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes and mung beans in school communities to contribute to school meals. The tacss program closed out in fy2022 having procured and distributed 65.93 mt of cowpeas and millet in its final year. This fiscal year, because of usda assistance, farms and firms working with the tacss program sold $243,118 usd worth of commodities. Overall, 47,554 individuals participated in tacss over 204 schools. The united states department of agriculture-funded mcgovern-dole International food for education and child nutrition program entitled "the future is ours!" In mauritania (2019-2024) assists the government of mauritania to reduce hunger, improve health, and strengthen the primary education systems in the barkna and gorgol regions. In fy2022 "the future is ours!" Worked in 209 schools and distributed 12,891,558 school meals. The project team worked closely with the ministry of national education and the reform of the education system (moe's) technical working group and developed a textbook and teacher guides for first grade in arabic. The product has since been tested in 51 schools. The moe has gone on to adopt the textbook and teacher guides nationwide. The united states department of agriculture-funded mcgovern-dole International food for education and child nutrition program entitled "our bright future! (nosso futuro brilhante!)" In mozambique supports government of mozambique efforts to improve the quality of student learning by: providing nutritious daily school meals in 244 preschools and primary schools; improving literacy skills of school age children through the provision of improved literacy instructional materials; improving school infrastructure and increasing access to clean water and sanitation by rehabilitating latrines and water station systems; increasing engagement of local organizations and community groups to sustainably manage school canteens; and increasing the capacity of the national school feeding program "projecto de alimentao escolar" (pronae) to locally procure and provide oversight of a diversified food basket in school feeding programs. After successful start-up in fy21, fy22 was the start of the program technical activities. In this past fiscal year, the program ensured the approval of the construction project (warehouses, latrines, and toilets) by the ministry of education and human development's (minedh) department of infrastructure and school equipment. They designed and implemented a teacher's training guide for bilingual education. This is the first of its kind in mozambique and it was designed focused in two local languages, xichangana and xironga. It also provides the methodology for capacity building in any other language. The national directorate for teacher training has expressed interest in using the guide for other languages used in mozambique, for teachers' training. The team collaborated with the quality and standard national institute (innoq) to draft the first national standard for rice fortification. The national standard will serve as one of the first steps in making rice fortification compulsory in country, which has been done previously for other staple foods through the national food fortification decree of september 2016. As a member of the national school feeding task force, Counterpart International mozambique collaborated with minedh and other partners to draft the national school feeding strategy. Counterpart was the leading organization in the discussions on pillar 4 of the strategy: operationalization of the national school feeding program. Finally, the program signed an mou with the government of magude, for use of the district warehouse, free of charge, for the program to store commodities for school feeding in the district. This will allow the program to efficiently distribute commodities in schools.

Peace and security: civil society strengthening, community development, and good and transparent governance are critical to building states that deliver for their citizens and promote long-term peace. Local organizations working in partnership with governments builds inclusive, resilient, and sustainable communities in which people thrive. (description continued on schedule o) the rights and dignity project in el salvador is a usaid-funded, eight-year initiative (2017-2025) to strengthen governmental and non-governmental human rights protection systems, resulting in a more tolerant, just, and equitable el salvador. Counterpart implements rights and dignity in collaboration with two local partners partners el salvador and contextos. In february 2022, usaid awarded a cost extension of the project, increasing the budget ceiling and extending the period of performance by three years. During fy 2022, the national observatory for human rights, a project sub-grantee, published several investigative reports about human rights in el salvador, specifically on the right to personal freedom, its annual report on the state of human rights (2021), and human rights violations committed during el salvador's current state of emergency. The project also completed its research exploring the relationship between gender-based violence and migration and widely disseminated the findings and policy recommendations, reaching at least 576 people. Under objective 2, the project worked across sectors to promote the defense of human rights in the context of public security, including training 10 human rights organizations on documenting human rights violations to inform their evidence-based advocacy; supporting civil society's transitional justice efforts, particularly to address cases of disappeared persons; and delivering training and technical support to the human rights ombudsman and public defender's office, enhancing the institutions' capacities to fulfill their mandates of promoting and protecting human rights. Lastly, the project carried out its first education seminars with more than 1,100 teachers who committed to transforming the classroom and educational community to include a human rights and inclusion perspective and implemented four virtual tutorials for 268 teachers on the rights of children and youth. The strength in diversity project in el salvador is a two-year initiative (2021-2023) funded by the global equality fund that directly responds to the need to strengthen the salvadoran lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (lgbtqi+) movement's ability to more effectively and collectively express, communicate, and defend the common human rights interests of the salvadoran lgbtqi+ population. In fy 2022, the project completed its startup activities, including finalizing key procurements, onboarding staff, issuing a sub-award to implementing partner partners el salvador, and opening a bank account. Completing a key foundational activity, the project conducted a power mapping of lgbtqi+ actors throughout el salvador, including carrying out 24 interviews with lgbtqi+ organizations, collectives, and community movements. To enhance the collective efforts of the salvadoran lgbtqi+ population, the project facilitated the creation of a collaborative advocacy space with 17 lgbtqi+ member organizations. The space co-created and validated its internal framework as well as its advocacy plan, which focuses efforts on members' shared priorities. In addition, the project launched its advocacy fund and approved cso applications for funds to address discrimination against trans men and lesbian women. With project support, local csos' citizen participation schools delivered courses on lesbo-feminist and queer theory to 56 students, enhancing their knowledge and skills as political actors and advocates. Lastly, the project conducted an organizational capacity development assessment of the salvadoran lgbti federation and worked with its members to develop an action plan to strengthen its internal governance and essential functions. The us department of state bureau of democracy, rights, and labor-funded "kagalo: empowered women for change", running from september 2019 through march 2023 in niger and burkina faso, seeks to improve the quantity and quality of women's participation in political and decision-making processes in both host countries. Counterpart's fy2022 activities included working with nigerien and burkinabe government ministries to host training workshops for government officials on implementing the women, peace and security (wps) agenda, organizing multi-stakeholder dialogues on women's integration into political processes and security dialogues. Kagalo hosted trainings for kagalo women leaders on advocacy, running for office, managing public funds, political organizing, and other relevant areas of focus for aspiring politicians and community leaders. Women participants in kagalo's activities consistently report and demonstrate an increased ability to effectively engage in their local political environment. The us department of state africa bureau-funded "police de proximit a diffa "nallewaro" program in niger seeks to improve trust and strengthen communication between the local population, community stakeholders, and civilian security forces in diffa, at the heart of the boko haram-afflicted lake chad region. The nallewaro project provided the first structured opportunity for diffa's communities and law enforcement institutions to exchange views on the collective security needs of their communes, through regular multi-stakeholder dialogues, community events, radio roundtable dialogues, and nallewaro network meetings involving community members and law enforcement personnel. During fy22, the nallewaro project: provided monthly opportunities for dialogues, on a communal and regional level, between all security sector stakeholders including law enforcement, local government, religious and traditional authorities, and community leadership; funded 14 local csos to lead peacebuilding and counter-extremism initiatives in urban and rural communities throughout diffa, reaching thousands of citizens; supported nallewaro network members collect detailed analytical data on community members' sentiments on security, increasing their communities' credibility and specificity in discussions with security authorities; broadcasted counter-extremism radio show dramas throughout the diffa region on six different radio stations; and created a citizen-run security threat-reporting mechanism which the mayor of goudoumaria commune reported "saved his life" from a planned extremist attack on a major roadway. The nallewaro project closed out at the end of fy22 and held a closing workshop to share results with all stakeholders.

Women's leadership: achieving a brighter future for all requires investing in women as leaders, role models, and decision-makers. Training, capacity building, mentorship, and networking enable women leaders of non-profit organizations and social enterprises to bring a multiplier effect to their own organizations and to realize broader development goals. The women lead institute (wli): works to fuel greater representation of women in leadership positions across different sectors in the united states and worldwide. Wli's flagship program, global women in management (gwim), is funded by the exxonmobil foundation and strengthens women's management, leadership, and technical skills to enhance and expand programs that advance women's opportunities. Gwim is designed for women leaders and managers from local ngos, business associations, social enterprises, cooperatives, and community-based organizations that provide women with 1) skills to start or grow a business, 2) income-generating skills and access to markets, 3) access to financial and material resources for business development, and/or 4) employment opportunities. During this reporting period, wli conducted the following activities: global women in management virtual training program; gwim coaching program; economic advancement course, coaching refresher course; gwim alumnae summit, gwim assessment; and training ukrainian women refugees. Under this exxonmobil foundation grant, wli implements two gwim virtual training programs and three alumnae activities (economic advancement and coaching refresher courses and the gwim coaching program). Wli tailored these activities to be interactive and engaging, and to address the participant's needs. The program focused on leadership, management, economic advancement, and organization sustainability. This year wli trained women from 15 countries. The training was implemented virtually. We also supported three alumnae activities (economic advancement and coaching refresher courses and the gwim coaching program). The economic advancement and coaching refresher courses ran from november -december 2021 on a weekly basis with forty-three participants. These courses were available to alumnae only, and participants were selected based on their respective economic and coaching backgrounds. Alumnae who completed the coaching refresher course were then chosen to coach gwim 70 and 71 participants from january june 2022 as part of the gwim coaching program. Women self care- skill building program: wli trained ukrainian refugee women living in romania under the "women self-care and skill-building project". This project equips ukrainian women with leadership and employment skills, improves their mental health, and assists them in becoming more resilient. Wli trained 20 women on mental health training to support them in coping with hardship, loss, and stress. We also connected ukrainian refugees in wli's global alumnae network and improved employment opportunities for participants.

Climate resiliency: development challenges around the world are made worse by the impacts of climate change. Mitigating the impacts of climate change through effective natural resource management can help combat poverty, while protecting the livelihoods of those living in coastal and inland communities. In the dominican republic and haiti, Counterpart implemented the usaid-funded integrated marine ecosystem management (imem) program in northern hispaniola (2019-2022) which sought to preserve biodiversity and promote the livelihoods of farmers and fishers by improving ecosystem management across marine protected areas (mpa) and scaling sustainable practices in farming and fishing. As of fy2022, imem trained 155 fishers on sustainable fishing techniques which led to fishers selling $33,000 of sustainably caught fish and seafood to local buyers through a local youth-led fish company that received training in sustainable business and handling practices from the program. Throughout the life of the program, imem worked with local partners and local rice farmers to develop the cultivation of sustainable rice in the buffer zone near the mangroves of estero balsa mpa. In fy2022, a credit line proposal for the production of 625 hectares of sustainable rice was selected by the dominican president's 'superate' initiative, which will secure financing for sustainable rice production past the close of imem. Also, in fy2022, imem produced a promotional video for usaid that showcases the story and benefits of the program for the communities of northern hispaniola. Lastly, a major milestone for the program was reached in this past fiscal year, with the signing of a transborder memorandum of understanding on mpa management by haitian and dominican stakeholders, which solidified details of cross-border cooperation on mpa issues in northern hispaniola. This program ended in september 2022. The coastal climate resiliency program (ccrp), funded by the frohring foundation, strengthens the resiliency of coastal communities in the dominican republic through integrated strategies at the intersection of education, science, community development, youth empowerment, and national policy. With support provided by the program, dominican and International partners improve the livelihoods of coastal populations while restoring and enhancing coastal marine ecosystems. The overarching goal is to reduce local pressures on biodiversity in coastal and marine ecosystems, while minimizing economic and cultural disruption to the communities that depend on those ecosystems. In fy2022, ccrp issued three fixed award amount agreements to three local partners working on climate resiliency and marine biodiversity throughout the dominican republic. Along the northern border, agrofrontera operated an internship program for agronomy students who work in the local communities on water management and sustainable agricultural practices. In punta cana, the punta cana foundation implemented a six-month internship program that focused on biology, ecology, and environmental science education, while also operating a student learning center with innovative remote capabilities that will allow them to adhere to covid-19 safety guidelines while still allowing students to visit their marine innovation center. In bayahibe, fundemar worked to scale ccrp's environmental education work by piloting our dominican environmental education program (deep) model in the public schools there. Under this pilot, fundemar trained teachers in place-based education, beginning with water quality testing trainings.