Small Grants and Ambassador's Fund Program Quarterly Report

25 Pages·2017·0.79 MB·English

Small Grants and Ambassador’s
Fund Program

Quarterly Report

September 2010 – November 2010

SGAFP Project Office
House No. 10, Street No. 56, F-6/4, Islamabad
T: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected] , Website: www.sgafp.org.pk
Contents
Office Establishment & Staff Recruitment: ..................................................................................... 3
Financial Systems & Reporting: ......................................................................................................... 3
Development of Standard Operating Procedures ........................................................................... 3
Key Activities under Monitoring and Evaluation: .......................................................................... 4
Media & Communication: .................................................................................................................. 4
Launching workshops/Campaigns: ............................................................................................. 4
SGAFP website: ................................................................................................................................ 5
Brochures: .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Media and Communication Officer ............................................................................................... 6
Ambassador Fund-Applications Processing: ............................................................................... 6
Cases Reviewed by TEC: ..................................................................................................................... 6
Logging of the Applications and Documentation: .......................................................................... 8
Grant Management MIS ...................................................................................................................... 9
Region wise breakup of received applications: ........................................................................... 9
Sector wise breakup of received applications: ........................................................................... 10
Region Wise analysis of received applications: ......................................................................... 10
Institutional Assessment and Support to Applicant Organizations ........................................... 11
Planning for Next Quarter (December 2010- February 2011): ..................................................... 11
Issues and Recommendations: ......................................................................................................... 12
Annex I: List of SGAFP Project Staff: .............................................................................................. 14
Annex II: Excel based database: ....................................................................................................... 15
Office Establishment & Staff Recruitment:
The SGAFP is operating from House 10, Street 56 in Sector F-6/4 Islamabad. To kick
off the project interventions, the SGAFP office arranged all necessary equipment and
furniture/fixture during the period under report which either by borrowing from
NRSP or procuring locally. The project office has undertaken all necessary
documentation for the bulk procurement of the remaining furniture, fixtures and IT
equipment which will be completed in the second quarter. The initial arrangements
and institutional support from NRSP has been instrumental in rolling out the project
activities as per the agreed timeline. During the period under review, SGAFP Office
was able to bring on board the key project staff. Besides, the Project Office
strategized to fill the remaining vacant positions as per the need of the project. The
SGAFP staff list is attached at Annex I.
Financial Systems & Reporting:
The entire team of Finance & Contracts of SGAFP has joined the project. As the
NRSP’s computerized financial accounting system is already available, a chart of
accounts for the project was developed and put into use in October, 2010. Four
foreign currency bank accounts (US Dollars interest bearing bank accounts) have
been opened with Habib Bank Limited, CDA Civic Centre Branch, Islamabad. Three
local currency accounts (PKR Interest bearing bank accounts) were also opened in
early September 2010, one for the project’s operating expenses, and one each for the
Small Grants and Ambassador’s Fund components.
The Finance Section prepared and submitted the invoices for the month of
September 2010 to USAID for reimbursement of the incurred expenses which has not
been cleared so far. An invoice for the month of October and November is in process
and will be submitted in the first week of December, 2010. The project office is
expecting that this reimbursement will take place in the coming quarter.
Development of Standard Operating Procedures
Following discussions during the orientation meeting on September 1, 2010 at
NRSP’s Head Office to bring forward the launch of the SGAFP earlier than the
agreed timelines, NRSP and KPMG jointly submitted the Grants Manual. This,
together with the Grants Supplement, has now been approved by USAID.
Following this approval, the SGAFP is now starting its rollout campaign. Regional
and Inception Workshops are being planned to be held in the provinces during
November and December.
KPMG has submitted a draft Accounting and Finance manual which is under review
by SGAFP management, and feedback for incorporating the required changes will be
provided to KPMG. The finalized accounting and finance manual will be submitted
to USAID for review and approval. After incorporating USAID’s comments if any, a
final Financial Management Plan will be ready for use of the project.
Key Activities under Monitoring and Evaluation:
Through the institutional support and technical assistance of NRSP, the SGAFP
project office was able to draft the following key documents:
 Monitoring & Mitigation Plan
 Performance Management Plan
 Annual Work Plan
The Monitoring and Mitigation Plan provides a roadmap for the implementation of
SGAFP; starting from the launch campaigns for information dissemination to the
processing of applications, in a systematic manner. It entails the verification of
information through objectively verifiable indicators (OVIs) and provides guidance
for the distribution of roles and responsibilities.
The Performance Management Plan for grantees outlines the major indicators to
ensure that SGAFP grantees are compliant to the USAID rules/regulations,
implement the projects as per the contract agreements, maintain operational
transparency, and provide requisite reports as per the required standards.
The draft Annual Work Plan is currently under review at the SGAFP office and shall
be finalized in the coming quarter after thorough discussions within the team.
The Monitoring plan and Performance Management Plans have been submitted to
the USAID for review and feedback and they would be finalized once these are
received from USAID.
Media & Communication:
Launching workshops/Campaigns:
The SGAFP Project Office is cognizant to the need of disseminating maximum
information about the project across Pakistan, especially in the relatively remote and
backwards areas of the country so that a diversified range of civil society
organizations and NGOs come up with innovative proposals. . To this effect, the
SGAFP has planned launching workshop with the rollout plan for November and
December. This will comprise regional workshops across Pakistan and an inception
workshop in Islamabad to be attended by key stakeholders. One orientation
workshop in Khyber Pakhtunkha has already taken place at November 3, 2010 at
Peshawar which was coordinated by US Consulate Peshawar. With the institutional
support of NRSP, the SGAFP will ensure that maximum number of the local civil
society organizations, NGOs, and other stakeholders attend these workshops. This
will result into maximum visibility needed at the outset of the project.
A schedule has been developed for the SGAFP launch (including dates and venues
for regional workshops in Punjab and Sindh). The agenda and presentations for
these have been developed.

In consultation with the relevant stakeholders, the regional workshops schedule for
Sindh and Punjab has been developed. The SGAFP is networking with the USAID
funded Gender Equity Program (GEP) of Aurat Foundation for combined launching
ceremonies. It has been planned that launching workshop in Sindh will be organized
by Aurat Foundation on 6th December at Karachi, and the Punjab event will be
organized by SGAFP on 9th December at Lahore. SGAFP project office is updating an
NGO directory and accordingly the invitation letters have been sent to the available
list of NGOs and civil society organizations. It is hoped that these launching
workshop events will prove to be instrumental in information dissemination and the
SGAFP project office foresees a major breakthrough in terms of number of applicants
in the next quarter.
SGAFP website:
The SGAFP project office has launched its website in the reporting quarter. The
SGAFP website (www.sgafp.org.pk ) is currently operational and provides relevant
information about the project to the applicants. After in-house approval of the
design and contents of the website, it was shared with USAID. The USAID has
approved the website during the month of October, 2010. Apart from generic
information of the SGAFP, the website also provides an access to the applicant’s
guidelines for Ambassador’s Fund and Small Grants. The application form in Urdu
and fact sheet for small grants, shared by USAID, have also been uploaded on
SGAFP website. The SGAFP will regularly monitor the website and keep it uploaded
with latest information on the project and changes in policy and procedures, if any.
Brochures:
During the period under review, the SGAFP project office designed and developed
introductory brochures in Urdu and English. These brochures provide necessary
information and guidelines for accessing the project funding. The brochures were
shared with USAID for concurrence. These have been printed in sufficient numbers
and will be circulated among a wide range of target audience, including those
attending the launching workshops. The SGAFP now plans to translate these
brochures in major regional languages viz. Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi.
Media and Communication Officer
The position of Media and Communication has been advertised and a total of 131
applications have been received and are under review at the SGAFP office. This
position will be filled during December 2010 so that he/she can take care of the
media and communication needs of the project in an effective manner, and also liaise
with the concerned person in USAID and other USAID projects.
Ambassador Fund-Applications Processing:
The SGAFP project office has been successful in putting in place required systems
and procedures in order to enable the applicants to submit their applications.
Likewise these applications are being processed for necessary desk review, technical
assessment and onward submission to the USAID. The project office is also
providing necessary handholding and technical assistance to the applicants to fine
tune the applications.
During the reporting quarter, cumulatively 111 applicant organizations submitted
applications on the prescribed SGAFP format. In addition, 119 applicants who
submitted simple project proposals/concept notes were requested to resubmit their
applications on the prescribed form. The prescribed application form was also
provided to such applicants. Applications guidelines were also communicated to all
applicants. As per procedures, the received applications have been logged and
acknowledgements transmitted to the applicants.
Out of 111 total applications received, the SGAFP project office was able to process
42 applications (38% of the total). The further breakup of the status of processed
applications is given in the Table 1 below.
Table 1: Status of the processed applications at SGAFP project office
Total Applicatio In Referred to Reviewed Status of Applications
Cases ns Referred process other by TEC & Transmitted to USAID
back to at Grants programme Transmitted Approved In Total
applicant Section to USAID process
111 27 4 1 10 5 5 10

Of 111 total received applications, 27 were referred back to the applicants for more
information and one application was referred to USAID GEP. Of the 10 applications
sent to USAID, five were approved and decision on the remaining was awaited.
Cases Reviewed by TEC:
In line with the project documents, a Technical and Evaluation Committee has been
established at the SGAFP project office. This committee is mandated to review and
appraise the processed applications from different aspects and recommend approval
or rejection of applications to USAID which has the final authority in such matters.
The TEC has following representatives:
 COP, DCOP, Manager FA & Contracts and M&E officer from SGAFP Office
 Technical experts on a need basis from NRSP HO
 Technical experts from Sub-partners: KPMG and RSPN on need basis

Of the ten cases reviewed by the TEC during reporting quarter, 9 have been
recommended for approval and 1 has been recommended for rejection. Concurring
to the recommendations of TEC, the USAID approved five cases worth USD 284,884,
and one case has been rejected. Grants request for release of grants under
Ambassador Fund is being prepared and will be submitted in the next quarter.
Table 2 below shows the cases reviewed by TEC during the reporting period.
Table 2: Details of the cases reviewed by the TEC
S. Organization Organization Province Sector TEC USAID
No Name Type Recommendations decision
(approval /
rejection)
1 Department of Government Khyber- Health Recommended for Approved
Nephrology, Institution Pakhtunkhwa approval
Khyber (KP)
Teaching
Hospital
2 Khpal Kor NGO Khyber- Social Assistance Recommended for Approved
Foundation, Pakhtunkhwa approval
Swat (KP)
3 Al-Sadat NGO Punjab Social Recommended for Approved
Welfare Society, Assistance/Flood approval
Rajanpur Rehabilitation
4 The CareFirst NGO Punjab Health Not recommended Rejected
Foundation, for approval
Multan
5 Municipal Government Gilgit Baltistan Education Recommended for Approved
Public Library, Institution approval
Gilgit
6 Babuzai CBO Khyber- Agriculture Recommended for
Pakhtunkhwa approval
(KP)
7 Parwaz CBO Khyber- Social Recommended for
Pakhtunkhwa Assistance/Flood approval
(KP) Rehabilitation
8 Shan-e-Mustafa CBO Punjab Social Recommended for
Assistance/Flood approval
Rehabilitation
9 Qaisrani Rural CBO Punjab Social Recommended for
Support Assistance/Flood approval
Development Rehabilitation
S. Organization Organization Province Sector TEC USAID
No Name Type Recommendations decision
(approval /
rejection)
Program
(QRSDP)
10 Make A Wish NGO All four Social Assistance Recommended for
Foundation provinces approval
Pakistan

The province and sector wise bifurcation of the TEC reviewed cases are presented in
the Table 3 below.
Table 3: Province and sector wise bifurcation of TEC reviewed cases
Province Number Sector Number
Punjab 4 Social Assistance 6
KP 4 Agriculture 1
Gilgit Baltistan 1 Health 2
All Pakistan 1 Education 1

The TEC reviewed applications are mostly from KP and Punjab and the focused area
is primarily for Social assistance (flood response activities), as flood response is
considered as a priority area by applicant organizations. This is understood in the
aftermaths of unprecedented floods in the history of Pakistan that calls for immense
relief and rehabilitation

Logging of the Applications and Documentation:
As the result of initial networking, information dissemination and proactive
engagement with NGOs and civil society organizations, the SGAFP project received
a positive response. USAID also played its key role in encouraging and routing the
applicants to SGAFP project office.
The SGAFP project office established a login system in the very outset to register the
applications with the project. All 111 applications received on the prescribed format
were logged in with the project. Likewise 119 concept notes project proposals that
were not developed on the template were also registered for reference/record. The
SGAFP office has maintained an updated record of the applications log. The project
shall build on this to further fine tune management of the applications record at the
SGAFP office.
Grant Management MIS
At the onset of the project, USAID promised to provide a modified version of the
small grants MIS/data base being used by OTI. In USAID’s opinion this MIS/data
base could be effectively used for tracking the grants at SGAFP. The SGAFP project
office is in touch with USAID for getting this grants management MIS/database. At
the moment , the project office has established an excel based spread sheet (see
Annex II) that provides complete record of the application with details like date of
the origination of application, contact details of the applicants/focal persons,
timeline for desk review and onward submission to the TEC and its
approval/disapproval by the TEC etc. In addition, it also covers the post-grant
processing phases i.e. the approval by the USAID, contract negotiation, award of
contract and budgeting etc.
Till the time the SGAFP project office gets a MIS from USAID and it is customized to
the requirements of the SGAFP, the project office will continue maintaining excel
based database.
Region wise breakup of received applications:
During the quarter SGFAP has received Applications from all over the Pakistan,
including AJK and Gilgit Baltistan (GB). Fig.1 reflects the No. of applications
received from all the four provinces, AJK and GB.

Fig. 1: Region wise bifurcation of received applications
50
45 43
40
36
35
30
25
19
20
15
10 7
4
5 2
0
0
FATA Gilgit Balochistan AJK Sindh Khyber Punjab
Baltistan Pakhtunkhwa

During first quarter, majority (71%) of the Applications received were from Punjab
and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provinces. So far the applications turn out has been low
from FATA, GB Balochistan and AJK. Accordingly, the SGAPF project office is
planning to hold introductory launching workshops in these regions. Special focus
will be given to such areas that have been ‘quite’ as of now to ensure that a
homogeneous response is received from all across Pakistan. The SGAFP project
office is planning to maintain a directory of the NGOs and CBOs working in such
remote and backward areas and linkages will be established with such organizations
to encourage them to access the SGAFP.

Sector wise breakup of received applications:
35
Fig. 2: Sector wise bifurcation of applications 32
30
25
19 19
20 18
15
10
10
7
4
5
1 1
0
0
Governance Energy Gender Social Education Multi Sector Economic Health Agriculture Social
Assistance Growth Assistance/
Flood
Rehabilitaion

The trend of the applications is responsive to the immediate and rehabilitation needs
in the backdrop of the Floods 2010 with devastating aftermaths. A little less than
50% of the applicants have pointed out the need of social assistance leading to floods
rehabilitation and revitalization of the land-based livelihoods of smallholders. The
other prominent sectors are Health, Economic Growth, Education, multi-sector and
so on. The trend of the applications is likely to be change as the time passes.
However it clearly calls for the concerted efforts to place a focus on important sectors
like Energy and Governance.
Region wise analysis of received applications:
The region wise analysis of the received applications is given in the Table 4 below:
Table 4: Region and sector wise analysis of the applications received in first quarter
Region wise bifurcation of the received applications
Sector/Thematic Area
Punjab KPK Sindh Balochistan AJK G.B Total
Floods/Social Assistance 13 6 11 - 2 - 32
Agriculture 10 7 1 - 1 - 19