DCHA/CMM Conflict Technical Capacity Building and Training Quarterly Report FY1, Q4

The Conflict Technical Capacity Building and Training Task Order (CTCBT TO) is a prime contractor agreement between MSI and USAID, which aims to enhance the technical capacity of CMM staff and partners in conflict analysis and management. The C102 course is a two-day training that introduces participants to conflict analysis and best practices for programming. It provides the information needed to successfully apply basic conflict diagnostic tools, design an appropriate response, and develop a conflict-sensitive monitoring and evaluation plan. The training uses vignettes and case studies to give participants opportunities to apply what they are learning to practical situations. In Quarter 4 of fiscal year 2015, MSI continued working on overhaul revisions for C102. Final versions of seven of ten modules were submitted by August 28, with drafts of Modules 3, 5, and 9 completed by mid-September. Five of the ten modules were soft piloted during the C102 course offering held in Zimbabwe on September 14-15, 2015. Following this pilot, minor edits and adjustments are planned for some of the modules, as well as the completion of modules 3, 5, and 9. All modules will be finalized by October 6, 2015, and officially piloted during the next C102 offering in Washington on October 21-22. MSI provided logistical support to a C102 training for USAID/West Bank and Gaza (WB/G) on August 4th and 5th. The training was attended by 24 participants, who rated a 4.35/5 on satisfaction of both the content and training methods. MSI also provided logistical and facilitation support to a C102 training in Harare, Zimbabwe on September 14th and 15th. This was the first C102 training for MSI to provide a co-trainer. The training was attended by 19 participants, who rated a 4.33/5 on satisfaction of both the content and training methods. MSI finalized pre- and post-course surveys for C102 and piloted the surveys during the training in Zimbabwe. The pre/post course survey serves as a monitoring and evaluation tool to track participants' learning throughout the course. Participants take the pre-course survey upon arrival to day one of the training; they take the post-course survey after the final review session on day two. The survey asks for some general demographic information, such as what sector they work in, how many years of experience they have, and how central conflict is to the work they do. The survey also asks specific knowledge-based questions on teachings from the C102 course. The piloting of this pre/post-course survey highlighted a few questions that needed to be tweaked so as to make the question or in some cases the responses more clear. As such, the survey will be piloted for the second time during the next C102 offering in October in Washington, DC. The post-course survey piloted in Zimbabwe can be found in Annex 2. The C102 course has shown positive results in terms of participant satisfaction and knowledge gain. In the pre/post course survey, question 7, "Which of the following are characteristics of key actors in a conflict?", had an 8% increase of answered correctly from pre to post. Questions 8a to 8d asked participants to identify key characteristics of key actors in a conflict, and the results showed a significant improvement in participant understanding. MSI also provided logistical support to a Gender and Conflict (G&C) course in Harare, Zimbabwe on September 14th and 15th. This was the first G&C training for MSI to provide a co-trainer. The training was attended by 19 participants, who rated a 4.33/5 on satisfaction of both the content and training methods. In Quarter 4, MSI worked on revising the Advanced Conflict Assessment (ACA) course with subject matter experts from George Mason University's Center for the Study of Gender and Conflict. The revisions focused on integrating gender into the course content. MSI also worked on revising the ACA priority revisions and received approval for key personnel position to manage the Community of Practice (CoP). MSI worked with SFCG and CMM to finalize the CoP's content management strategy, branding and marking plan, and CoP site design. MSI also worked with SFCG to draft the outreach strategy, resource library guidelines and tagging approach, and beta test checklist. MSI finalized budget realignment for contract modification and planned workplan for Year 2 of the contract.