Leadership Development Program Quarterly Report 1: October 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014

The program aims to increase capacity and participation of citizens in democratic processes and enhance community development in Bangladesh. The goal is framed by two integrated programmatic objectives: (1) to build the capacity of community leaders to become change agents for democratic processes and development, and (2) to build the capacity of youth to become change agents for democratic processes and development. The LDP training program consists of a three-phased approach to leadership development, which includes Community Leaders Trainings, Youth Leadership Trainings, and a cycle of trainings that cover Appreciative Community Mobilization, Participatory Community Appraisal, Youth Action and Advocacy, Community Development Issues and Initiatives, Youth Informed Citizenship, Democracy and Good Governance, and Communications and Leadership Skills. In the first quarter of program year (PY) 3, the core program activities included a 2-day staff orientation on leader selection for Implementing Partners (IPs), leader selection for PY3, selection of 12 LDP youth interns, midterm evaluation of the program, and Leaders of Influence (LOI) mentorship training. Non-training activities included International Youth Day celebration and youth participation in the "BDwithMe" campaign funded by the State Department and implemented by Democracy International. The LDP Monitoring & Evaluation team focused on participant selection monitoring, data entry monitoring, and supporting data cleaning. The program continues to promote gender equity by ensuring participation of women in all activities (40% or more female participation) and providing a gendered lens to leadership training curriculum. As of December 30, 2014, Counterpart suspended all subgrantee activities until further notice, per the letter from USAID in response to concerns raised by the midterm evaluation and site visits conducted by USAID's AOR for LDP. The program will begin the new quarter focused on addressing these concerns and implementing a Corrective Action Plan that was submitted to USAID on January 20, 2015. Future travel notification was provided, including preapproved travel plans for Zahra Lutfeali, Nurhan Kocaoglu, and a Grants Specialist. The political context in Bangladesh during this quarter was marked by several events, including seven general strikes (hartals) organized to oppose the recent ruling of giving the death penalty to war criminals. The hartals were violent in nature, resulting in casualties and vandalism of vehicles. Tension escalated among the two major political parties as the one-year anniversary of the general election drew closer. Strikes, violence, and associated communication and transportation hurdles made it risky and difficult for IP and CPI staff to carry out regular commutes and activities. The controversial Foreign Donation (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act 2014 continues to be a concern, although it has not yet been submitted to parliament for approval. The law aims to ensure better transparency and accountability for the use of foreign donations by NGOs in the country, but NGO experts consider it restrictive to freedom due to the law hindering access to funding.