Quarterly Report: Building Alliances for Local Advancement, Development and Investment – Capacity Building (BALADI CAP)

The program has undergone changes, with the addition of four new tasks, bringing the total to seven. These tasks include Capacity Assessment, Capacity Building Component, Civic Engagement for Democratic Governance, Civic Engagement Initiative, Sub-Grants to Faith-Based Organizations, Advocacy Sub-Grants to CEI Intermediate Support Organizations and CSOs, and Capacity Development Services and Technical Assistance to Sub-Grantees. During the quarter, significant developments occurred in local staffing. A new Senior Grants Manager and a Senior Procurement Specialist were onboarded in October 2019. The hiring process is underway for a Training Coordinator/Administrative Assistant and a Program Officer, who are expected to join the staff in January 2020. A Chief of Party (COP) candidate was selected and submitted to USAID for approval at the end of the quarter. Once approved, the COP is expected to start in early-mid February 2020. The Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plan underwent substantial revisions this quarter to align with the programmatic changes resulting from the cost extension. The logical framework was modified to integrate the FBO and parliamentary support interventions into the project's purposes and development objectives. The revised MEL plan was informed by the USAID/Lebanon Performance Plan and Report, Country Development Cooperation Strategy Performance Management Plan, and gender indicators. The team is currently incorporating feedback received from USAID and Social Impact, with the final MEL plan to be submitted for approval in January. A Request For Applications (RFA) 13 was launched on September 18, 2019, to support Faith-Based Organizations in Lebanon. The RFA was advertised to the Lebanese civil society network and organizations pinpointed by the FBO mapping exercises. A Grants Evaluation Committee was convened to evaluate the 12 applications received by the extended deadline of October 11. However, only five applications were deemed eligible for funding, and the evaluation process is ongoing. The program's focus on capacity building, civic engagement, and support for faith-based organizations aims to promote local advancement, development, and investment in Lebanon. The implementation of the remaining tasks, including Sub-Grants to Faith-Based Organizations, Advocacy Sub-Grants to CEI Intermediate Support Organizations and CSOs, and Capacity Development Services and Technical Assistance to Sub-Grantees, will continue in the coming quarter.