Quarterly Report: USAID’s VukaNow Activity FY2023 Q1

The initiative focuses on two key objectives: catalyzing learning and sharing for improved results to combat wildlife crime, and increasing collaborative action to reduce wildlife crime in targeted Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). VukaNow's expected results include increased collaborative action between governments, civil society, and communities to reduce wildlife crime in targeted areas, deepened learning and knowledge sharing to improve the efficacy of combatting wildlife crime initiatives, and increased application of effective tools, technologies, or approaches that mitigate wildlife crime. The initiative also aims to improve policy frameworks and harmonization that mitigate wildlife crime, and resources leveraged to support reductions in wildlife crime. In the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2023, VukaNow hosted the Special Platform for Action, Reflection, and Collaboration in Combatting Wildlife Crime (SPARCC) edition #17, SPARCCie #5, and Roundtable on Innovative and Sustainable Financing for Conservation in Southern Africa. The event brought together 25 participants from across SADC, including Landscape Partners, NGOs, USAID, and government representatives, to discuss and explore issues related to working across boundaries and ways to provide input into legislative processes. VukaNow also supported the implementation of the SADC Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching (LEAP) Strategy through its grants portfolio. The initiative trained 19 investigators and analysts to establish a robust intelligence capacity in Mozambique, and nine analysts from the Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries (DFFE) and the South African National Parks (SANParks) in open-source intelligence and advanced intelligence analysis. These trainings aimed to build the agencies' respective key personnel capacities and improve the transnational relationship between SERNIC, ANAC, and DFFE. The focus of VukaNow's activities in Fiscal Year 2022-23 is on institutionalizing successful interventions, augmenting capacity building efforts, and implementing transition and sustainability activities as the project approaches its end-date in June 2023. The initiative is consolidating successful interventions and identifying partners who will continue implementing VukaNow activities to ensure sufficient and sustainable contribution to USAID's goal of significantly reducing wildlife crime in southern Africa. VukaNow's approach is rooted in a theory of change and a fundamental belief that a collective impact model is essential to addressing complex challenges such as wildlife crime and achieving lasting change. The initiative is coordinating with SACWC Landscape Partners (LP) to catalyze learning and knowledge-sharing and with SADC to implement the SADC LEAP Strategy. VukaNow's theory of change emphasizes the importance of building relationships, sharing knowledge, and leveraging resources to achieve lasting impact in reducing wildlife crime. The SADC Secretariat will take the SPARCCie recommendations to inform their ongoing review of the SADC Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement and the revised SADC LEAP strategy in the next quarter. This will help to improve policy frameworks and harmonization that mitigate wildlife crime, and resources leveraged to support reductions in wildlife crime.