Local Governance Project Quarterly Report #01 June – September 2014

(DAI) in Queztaltenango, Guatemala. The project's primary goal is to strengthen municipalities in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, fostering more responsive, inclusive, and effective socio-economic development while reducing local vulnerabilities such as food insecurity and natural disasters. To achieve this goal, local governments must be able to better manage public resources and deliver services in an efficient and transparent manner. The LGP will contribute to USAID Guatemala's three primary development objectives: 1) Greater security and justice for citizens; 2) Improved levels of economic growth and social development in the Western Highlands; and 3) Improved management of natural resources to mitigate the impacts of global climate change. The project will increase the capacity of local governments to raise revenue, respond to citizen concerns related to violence and security, food insecurity, and global climate change, as well as manage public resources in a participatory and financially sound manner. The LGP program activities will achieve six overarching and interrelated results, including: 1) Sound public financial systems in place to promote transparency and permit participation by citizens in decision-making; 2) Strengthened civil society participation in social accountability processes; 3) Increased quality of potable water in thirty Feed-the-Future (FtF) municipalities; 4) Local Development Plans established and implemented to improve food security and economic development; 5) Municipal Plans established to reduce climate change vulnerability and technical assistance provided for implementation of plans; and 6) Capacity increased for the National Association of Municipalities (ANAM) and/or the Guatemalan Association of Indigenous Mayors and Authorities (AGAAI) to support municipal development and replicate successful models nationwide. The project will incorporate cross-cutting issues of gender, youth, indigenous peoples, and the principles of the program Feed the Future (FtF) throughout program activities and indicators. The LGP will integrate gender considerations into all aspects of the project, including engaging women in the design and implementation of activities, measuring impact on men and women, and training staff and partners on gender considerations and gender programming. The project will also hire staff representative of the various indigenous groups in the Western Highlands to ensure that the project is perceived as unbiased and representative of the interests of the Western Highlands as a whole. In addition, the LGP will strengthen youth participation and integrate youth considerations into programming by conducting a youth assessment, developing a youth integration plan, engaging youth in the design and implementation of interventions, and including M&E indicators that are designed to measure LGP's progress toward achieving the outcomes specified in USAID's Youth in Development Policy. The project will also consider the guiding principles of Feed the Future, including linking value chain activities with improved nutrition and dietary diversity, changing food consumption behavior to encourage dietary diversity and improvement in childhood nutrition among target beneficiaries, and maximizing the likelihood of sustainability by working with municipal and community leaders. Given the timing of project startup and the upcoming elections in 2015, the LGP has adopted a project-wide and cross-cutting approach to election management, ensuring that technical activities are timely and relevant. This strategy is three-pronged, encompassing the lead up to elections, the election season, and post-elections. The project will undertake capacity building activities at all levels, especially with civil servants in non-political positions, to reduce the impact of staff turnover resulting from elections.