Human Rights Support Mechanism Quarterly Narrative Report: Year 1 Q1

The program aims to enable IPOs to directly access international funding, advocate for indigenous peoples' governance of infrastructure and extractive activities, and mitigate the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts of these development projects. The program focuses on three result areas: organizations demonstrating strengthened institutional capacity, successfully managing and implementing small grant activities, and generating a resource that can be shared with other organizations supporting human rights indigenous peoples facing infrastructure development on their lands across the Amazon region. The proposed approach and application of capacity development tools are grounded in a theory of change that underlies the Recipient's work, which posits that IPOs will be better equipped to achieve adequate representation in the governance of their land, resulting in greater effectiveness in securing their rights. The period under review covers two weeks of project start-up activities, during which the key personnel, Regional Capacity Development (CD) Activity Manager, began reviewing materials and project documents under a consultancy agreement. The manager also finalized plans for travel to Washington, DC, to meet with USAID counterparts and discuss the project kick-off workshop to be held in Lima, Peru, the first week of May 2018. The project is in the start-up phase and has recorded approximately two weeks of expenses, making it not applicable to report on budget expenditures and analysis. Major activities planned for the next period (April 1 – June 30) include formal onboarding of the Regional CD Activity Manager in Washington, DC, and Colombia, participation in the project kick-off workshop to be held in Peru from May 2nd – May 4th, submission of the finalized project workplan, MEL plan, and branding and marking plan, recruitment and hiring of APEA consultants in Peru, Brazil, and Colombia, and consultants conducting APEA research activities in all three focus countries and consolidation of findings. The project will also finalize the selection methodology for participating IPOs, finalize scopes of work for CD and social inclusion advisors, and begin recruitment efforts. Additionally, the project will adapt the Capacity Development Self-Assessment tools (Organizational Capacity Assessment) to an Integrated Technical and Organizational Capacity Assessment. The major activities planned for the next quarter include formal onboarding of the Regional CD Activity Manager, participation in the project kick-off workshop, submission of the finalized project workplan, MEL plan, and branding and marking plan, recruitment and hiring of APEA consultants, and consultants conducting APEA research activities. The project has not yet achieved any results, as it is in the start-up phase. However, the project is expected to make significant progress in the coming months, with the completion of the project workplan, MEL plan, and branding and marking plan, as well as the recruitment and hiring of APEA consultants and the conduct of APEA research activities.