Responsive Governance Activity Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP)

The Activity, which began in October 2020 and will conclude in October 2024, has a budget of $34.6 million and operates in 27 municipalities across six departments: Antioquia, Caquetá, Córdoba, Meta, Nariño, and Norte de Santander. The RG Activity builds upon the achievements of its predecessor, the USAID Regional Governance Activity (RGA), and operates in the post-conflict context following the 2016 signing of the Peace Accords between the Government of Colombia (GOC) and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). The Activity aims to strengthen the transparent and accountable capacities of Colombia's public institutions at the national and local levels to plan, finance, and deliver key public services, and to empower citizens to ensure government accountability. The RG Activity's Theory of Change (TOC) posits that if the transparent and accountable capacities of Colombia's public institutions are strengthened, and citizens are empowered to ensure government accountability, then democracy, citizen trust, peace, and prosperity will be enhanced. The Activity's framework illustrates the connectivity between the lower- and intermediate-level results and higher-level outcomes, with five objectives contributing to the Activity Goal. The RG Activity's five objectives are: 1. Strengthen the transparent and accountable capacities of Colombia's public institutions at the national and local levels to plan, finance, and deliver key public services. 2. Empower citizens to ensure government accountability. 3. Improve the effectiveness of public financial management in Colombia. 4. Enhance the delivery of key public services in conflict-affected municipalities. 5. Establish a rapid response mechanism to tap emerging opportunities. The Activity implements various interventions that contribute to progress on 11 Intermediate Results (IRs), which are grouped into four of the five Activity Objectives. The results framework may be updated during implementation to respond to new evidence and changes in context, as agreed upon with the USAID Task Order Contracting Officer Representative (TOCOR). The RG Activity operates in a challenging context, with deteriorating security conditions and poor public services in many of the municipalities. However, the Activity aims to shore up the GOC's legitimacy by strengthening its effectiveness and to contribute to the enhancement of democracy, citizen trust, peace, and prosperity in Colombia. The Activity's Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP) provides a framework for the adaptive management of the RG Activity, including the monitoring of implementation progress, evaluation of results, and learning from experience. The AMELP proposes indicators to track implementation progress, describes the Activity's data collection, analysis, and reporting processes, and presents a learning plan to adapt and improve implementation through the life of the Activity. The RG Activity's geographic focus is on 27 municipalities across six departments in Colombia, with a particular emphasis on the conflict-affected regions of Antioquia, Caquetá, Córdoba, Meta, Nariño, and Norte de Santander. The Activity's timeframes are from October 2020 to October 2024, with updates to the AMELP provided to the USAID Task Order Contracting Officer Representative (TOCOR) for review and approval annually, or whenever revisions are proposed and/or requested.