HICD Activity Quarterly Report # 01

The purpose of the activity is to achieve lasting results in the human and institutional capacity development of key strategic partner institutions in Georgia. These institutions play an important role in achieving the country's development objectives and may include governmental, non-governmental, and private sector entities. The HICD Activity will increase the organizational integrity, operational effectiveness, and long-term viability of these key partner organizations. This will be achieved through the provision of HICD services, including Long-Term (LT), Short-Term (ST), and Last-Mile (LM) services. LT HICD services are structured and integrated processes designed to identify fundamental causes of performance gaps and address them through performance solutions. ST HICD services are limited in scope and focus on a specific section or role of the partner institution. LM HICD services target leading local institutions that require catalytic efforts to establish their organizations as role models. The project has four components: HICD Services, Center of Excellence (CoE), Local Subcontractor Development, and Exchange Visitors Support. The CoE will connect those advancing HICD and shared national goals in a vibrant peer network to provide practical support and incentives for local professionals to lead HICD and apply the Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) toolkit. Local Subcontractor Development will use the Kaizen Accelerator approach to support subcontractors in cooperating, sharing experiences, and installing donor-compliant systems, policies, and procedures. Exchange Visitors Support will provide a complete range of services to all USAID/Georgia programs, including language testing, medical certification, health insurance enrollment, security risk inquiry, and J-1 visa processing. The project will integrate gender as a cross-cutting theme by identifying and addressing any gender-related disparities experienced by employees within the partner institutions. The project will also conduct organizational capacity assessments to identify areas for improvement and develop performance monitoring systems to track progress. The HICD Activity will draw on its local subcontractors to carry out performance assessments and implement multiple performance solutions to achieve overall program goals. The project has selected three additional local companies and will sign Indefinite Quantity Subcontracts (IQSs) in April 2021. These subcontractors will be added to the next Quarterly Report. The HICD Activity will only engage foreign expertise when no qualified Georgian firms and/or individuals are available. To build and improve local expertise in the field of organizational development, the HICD Activity offers local service providers various means to transfer HICD know-how, including coaching, mentoring, and training to their own organizations. The project has four components: HICD Services, Center of Excellence (CoE), Local Subcontractor Development, and Exchange Visitors Support. The HICD Activity will increase the organizational integrity, operational effectiveness, and long-term viability of key partner organizations. The project will integrate gender as a cross-cutting theme and conduct organizational capacity assessments to identify areas for improvement. The HICD Activity will draw on its local subcontractors to carry out performance assessments and implement multiple performance solutions to achieve overall program goals.