Quarterly Narrative Report: Year 2 Q2 for Strengthening the Capacity of Indigenous Organizations in the Amazon

The project aims to enable IPOs to directly access international funding to advocate for indigenous peoples' governance, particularly in relation to significant infrastructure and extractive activities. The project is implemented by Pact, with a primary focus on four Key Results: Activity design adapted by Applied Political Economy Analysis (APEA) results, IPO's capacity gaps addressed and strengths cultivated, IPOs demonstrate improved financial and organizational performance, and at least one key tool or resource identified and developed to be shared with other IPOs facing similar challenges. During the reporting period of April 1 to June 30, 2019, all seven participating IPOs in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru completed their individualized Integrated Technical Organizational Capacity Assessments (ITOCAs) and developed their Institutional Strengthening Plans (ISPs) with support from Pact's Regional Capacity Development Activity Manager and the three local Capacity Development Organizations. The completion of the ITOCAs and ISPs marks a significant step in the project's capacity strengthening approach and results chain. Each organization's members and leadership participated in workshops facilitated by Pact and its local CDOs, where they identified critical areas for support and prioritized the most pressing needs. The project also finalized its Social Inclusion (SI) strategy, which provides clear guidance on integrating social inclusion elements in the development and review process for small-grant projects. The SI strategy was developed by Health Poverty Action (HPA) and reflects insights gathered from field-testing with Resguardo Monuya Villa Azul in Colombia. The strategy is aligned with the capacity development activities and process, including the development of the assessment tool and the design of small-grant projects. The Applied Political Economy Analyses (APEAs) were completed in Guyana and Suriname, with the Guyana APEA report finalized and a draft of the Suriname APEA report developed by Sandra Veloso, Pact's Regional Capacity Development Coordinator. The APEAs informed the recruitment process for local CDOs in both countries, with a focus on recruiting national-level IPOs due to the highly politicized context and low levels of trust between IPOs and INGOs. The project also finalized the Request for Applications (RFA) for local CDOs in Guyana and Suriname, which will be published in July and will initiate the process of selecting, award, and onboarding CDOs in each country. The expected date to initiate programmatic activities in each country is October 1st, 2019. The first Annual Pause and Reflect event will be held in Lima, Peru from August 5th-7th, 2019, with the support of the USAID Mission in Lima. The event will bring together representatives from the participating IPOs and will focus on discussing the progress made and the challenges faced during the first year of the project. The project has made significant progress in building the capacity of IPOs in the Amazon region, with a focus on addressing capacity gaps, strengthening organizational performance, and promoting social inclusion. The project has also established a strong foundation for the development of key tools and resources to support IPOs facing similar challenges.