Investing in Human Capital for Disaster Management 2.0: Program Update May to August 2021

The program builds upon the achievements of the USAID/BHA funded Technical Assistance and training teams (TATTs) (2014-2019) and INVEST DM (May 2019-Jan 2021) programs. INVEST DM 2.0 program assistance is focused on the national level, with many of the interventions expected to flow-down for sub-national uptake. It directly supports the Government of Indonesia's (GOI) National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in building the capability of its workforce and national DM capacity through education and training initiatives and improved systems and strategies. The program's purpose is to update USAID/BHA on program implementation. From mid-August, INVEST DM 2.0's stance shifted from program start-up/preparation (inception) to activity implementation. Activities completed and those underway are summarized below. Team recruitment is ongoing, with the onboarding of all team members complete except for the Senior Knowledge Management, Communications and Research Specialist, Senior Talent Management officer, and Administrative Officer. The recruitment of those team members is ongoing with onboarding expected to be completed by early September 2021. Program management has been implemented with a sharp escalation in community infections in June 2021 from the rapid spread of the delta variant. The GOI (SATGAS/National Covid-19 Task Force) tightened COVID-19 protocols (PPKM) to level 4 on July 03, 2021 in Jakarta and other regions. However, the activity preparation and implementation with the INVEST DM 2.0 team were not significantly impacted by these restrictions. Consortium partner sub-awards (YMCI and UofH) are finalized with contracts expected to be fully executed in early September 2021 after MC completes due diligence checks. The INVEST DM 2.0 kick-off event, held in Bogor on June 14, 2021, was officiated by BNPB's Prime Secretary and USAID/BHA Regional Advisor. Partner and team coordination meetings are conducted (virtually) weekly. Program management and activity monitoring systems are developed with team orientation and training completed. Mercy Corps has fulfilled all BHA program-startup reporting requirements for Annual Workplan, MEL Plan, and Baseline assessment. Governance has been established with joint-annual work planning with BNPB counterpart units complete. The planning process went through a series of consultation meetings resulting in seven documents comprising the AWPs CY2021 and tentative draft CY2022 AWP. These documents consolidate the 19 output level ToRs. The BNPB AWP is slightly different from the BHA-approved AWP at the sub-activity level. Some new activities were added at the request of BNPB to cover emergent needs and new priorities of counterpart units. Activity implementation has commenced with Intermediate Outcome 1: The Organizational capacity of Pusdiklat is strengthened and its service delivery accelerated by developing and implementing appropriate Disaster Management (DM) certified in-service training and pre-service education pathways for the workforce across BNPB, Sub-national DM Institutions, and other Government of Indonesia (GOI) agencies. Output 1.1: Pusdiklat has the capacity to implement online training, with preparation for training of 600 BNPB civil servants started. A series of consultative meetings completed, with Pusdiklat and the HR Bureau to design the life-long training program. Selection of a consultant to assist the Pusdiklat in reviewing of training curricula underway. Intermediate Outcome 2: BNPB has the capacity to create and manage workforce planning and development through implementation of the Human Capital Development Plan (HCDP). Output 2.1: BNPB has a recruitment and retention plan that meets functional and structural positions' needs and competencies, with recruitment of the Assessment Center consultant in progress. The results of the assessment will be used to select a talent pool from echelon 3 structural staff (managers) and mid-level functional staff for consideration of promotion to echelon 11 (director).