Quarterly Report: Fiscal Year 2020, Quarter 3

The project aims to support citizens in improving their capacity, access to information, and networks for collective action, helping them to build public demand and develop solutions to address community priorities. The project's vision is that, after its conclusion, Cambodian citizens will have the information, knowledge, skills, and networks necessary to hold local government accountable. The project works with respected Cambodian civic organizations in urban areas to bring together diverse groups of citizens, civil society organizations (CSOs), technologists, and government officials to discuss shared community priorities and common issues, develop potential solutions, and undertake collective action to build demand for change. ISAC will assist CSOs, civic leaders, and other groups and associations to enhance their networks for information sharing and collective action, making them better able to sustain the pressure for social accountability beyond the life of the project. In addition, as Cambodian citizens gain increased access to technology and mobile phone products, the ISAC activity will increase the availability of credible, accessible, and easily-understood information and social accountability technology tools for use by CSOs, citizens, and journalists to strengthen civic understanding of government services and processes and improve accountability. The project works toward four outcomes: Improved information access on government decisions and processes, and the planning, spending, and investment of public funds; Increased citizen participation and collective action to hold local government accountable for public services; Increased utilization of new or existing enabling technologies for citizens to hold local government accountable for delivery of public services; and Education and outreach to raise awareness of accountability and integrity in public administration. Key start-up activities for the ISAC program in Q3 included staffing and recruitment, registration and memorandums of understanding, and procurement. FHI 360 did not recruit or onboard any new staff in Q3, but plans to recruit for two new positions in Q4: a Communications Specialist and a Provincial Coordinator for Phnom Penh. ISAC's Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Specialist resigned from his post, effective on September 15, 2020, and FHI 360 posted a vacancy on July 20, 2020, to recruit his replacement. In Q3, FHI 360 finalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Committee of Sub-National Democratic Development (NCDD) under the Ministry of Interior (MOI). The MOU was signed on April 22, 2020, and is valid until December 2021. DAI submitted a letter of notification to NCDD stating its position as a sub-partner to FHI 360 under ISAC and submitted a letter of notification to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) regarding its relationship with FHI 360 under ISAC. DAI is working towards legal compliance with the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training and expects to complete its registration process in Q4. To support programmatic activities, ISAC procured two vehicles and six motorbikes in Q3. The vehicles will be used by FHI 360 for meetings and to carry out monitoring and supervision of activities in the target provinces. The motorbikes will be used by Provincial Coordinators in the target provinces to support coordination, monitoring, supervision, and other field-based tasks.