Resilient Waters Quarterly Progress and Financial Report – FY2018 Q3

The project collaborates with regional institutions, national governments, and communities to enhance cooperation, capacity, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. The program has four integrated objectives: improved transboundary water security and resource management, increased access to safe, sustainable drinking water and sanitation services, strengthened ability of communities and key institutions to adapt to change, particularly the impacts of climate change, and conserved biodiversity and ecosystem services. The project approach is based on the premise that building the capacity of and enhancing cooperation between people and institutions at the community, national, and regional levels can achieve sustainable resilience with inclusive growth in southern Africa. During the reporting period, the project team undertook several activities, including notifying key personnel and staff of the award, surveying potential office spaces, and engaging with other projects under the same implementer to gain lessons learned from their startup experiences. The project management unit was established in the Home Office, and the project mobilization plan was drafted for submission in the next quarter. Technical startup activities included discussions with Water Management/Governance Specialist Nkobi Moleele and Biodiversity Specialist Christopher Brooks on initial approaches and strategy. However, Christopher Brooks is no longer available to work on the project as a long-term employee, creating an opportunity to restructure the organizational chart and revisit the physical location of field offices. The project team is currently holding discussions with USAID, partners, and counterparts to prepare a revised draft monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plan for submission on August 21, 2018. The project is also recruiting for members of the MEL team and plans to conduct its baseline and gender assessments before the end of September. Future quarterly reports will include indicator tables to track progress towards technical objectives. The project was authorized to incur costs on July 9, 2018, but there are no expenditures to report for this quarter. The project will ramp up spending throughout the next quarter as it continues to onboard staff, set up office operations, and begin technical activities. The total funds obligated to date are $0, with a total projected expenditure of $248,474 for the quarter. The remaining pipeline funds are $17,895,564, and the estimated cost to complete is $18,263,384.