GUATEMALA JUSTICE AND TRANSPARENCY PROJECT MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT (OCTOBER 1, 2020 – SEPTEMBER 30, 2021)

The project's efforts were monitored and evaluated through a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plan approved by USAID in April 2021 and amended in August 2021. The plan consisted of 39 indicators to track the project's progress. The project made significant advances in achieving its Fiscal Year 2021 targets, despite facing challenges such as the temporary suspension of relations with the Public Ministry in August 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic. The project met targets for three indicators, surpassed targets for ten indicators, and showed mixed results in five indicators with sub-indicators. The project did not meet targets in six indicators. One of the notable achievements was the establishment of 158 new municipal prosecutors' offices, expanding the Public Ministry's geographical coverage to all 340 municipalities. This exceeded the FY 2021 target by 31 percentage points and met the target for the life of the project. Additionally, the project held 14,774 hearings with alternatives to trial in 161 municipal prosecutor's offices, representing a 272% increase from the FY 2020 baseline. However, the project fell short of its target of training staff in 161 municipal prosecutor's offices in alternatives to trial, providing training in only 106 offices. The project also conducted a perception survey among justice sector staff to establish baseline values for indicators such as justice officials' satisfaction with translation/interpretation services in Mayan languages. The majority of those surveyed found interpretation services to be satisfactory, with only 8% indicating a need for improvement. The project's efforts to strengthen the justice sector institutions were reflected in the 5.37% increase in the overall budget for justice sector institutions, which was approximately 7% of the total State budget. The project also achieved 52 offices/units that maintained their certifications in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) norms, exceeding the established target by one. The project's progress was affected by the pause in assistance to the Public Ministry, which required the project to suspend or postpone some activities. However, the project was able to advance in achieving most of its FY 2021 targets, despite these challenges. The project's results will inform future efforts to strengthen the justice sector institutions in Guatemala.