Fiscal Year 3 – Quarterly Report 2: January 1 – March 31, 2018

The project focuses on expanding employment-related activities and emergency assistance. CRS began implementing the project in April 2016 with a consortium of local partners. During the second quarter of the third year of the project, CRS conducted an emergency response exercise with 16 emergency response organizations to train them on emergency needs assessment and budget design. The project also supported local businesses and entrepreneurs by training 96 individuals on small enterprise development, providing grants to 27 entrepreneurs, and developing a network to support youth and women entrepreneurs. The project's results for the second quarter of the third year include: - Employers who benefited from the program: 53 - People contracted for Cash-for-Work (CFW) activity: 572 - People contracted for Cash-for-Internship and Apprenticeship (CFI/A) activity: 650 - Trained entrepreneurship applicants on small enterprise development: 96 - Entrepreneurship beneficiaries who received grants: 27 - Businesses who received small capital grants: 0 The project's implementation plan for the third year includes using 70% of the Emergency Rapid Response (ERR) funds to continue critical activities during the third and fourth quarters. The breakdown of the use of funds includes direct costs, including program costs, ERR, contractual and sub-awards, and direct costs. The project also focuses on protection policy roll-out to partners, which aims to strengthen EG2020 partners' protection policies to ensure the protection of children and vulnerable adults against abuse and exploitation. In March 2018, CRS held a workshop with its EG2020 partners to start this process. The project's geographic focus is on Gaza, and its timeframes are from January 1 to March 31, 2018. The project's recommendations include supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs, expanding employment-related activities, and emergency assistance. The project's implementation is ongoing, and its results are being monitored and evaluated through the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) activities. The project's MEAL activities include checking partners' protection policies and supporting development of a written policy as needed. The project's challenges include the continued socioeconomic decline in Gaza, which has resulted in a high unemployment rate of 43.4%. The project's implementation is also affected by the security risks and potential consequences on border stability. The project's recommendations include supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs, expanding employment-related activities, and emergency assistance. The project's implementation is ongoing, and its results are being monitored and evaluated through the MEAL activities.