Strengthening the Capacity of Indigenous Organizations in the Amazon FY2021 Annual Report

The project aims to enable IPOs to directly access international funding to effectively advocate for indigenous peoples' governance of the Amazon, particularly in relation to significant infrastructure and extractive activities. The project also seeks to ensure that indigenous peoples' rights to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) are respected, and to mitigate the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts of these development projects. To achieve these objectives, Pact has designed a set of activities under four Key Results areas. Key Result 1 focuses on adapting activity design by incorporating Applied Political Economy Analysis (APEA) results, social inclusion strategy, and indigenous organizations' input. Key Result 2 addresses IPOs' capacity gaps and cultivates their strengths. Key Result 3 aims to demonstrate improved financial and organizational performance among IPOs. Key Result 4 involves identifying and developing at least one key tool or resource to be shared with other IPOs facing infrastructure and extractives development on their lands. During Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, the project continued to face challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A "third-wave" of contagion exacerbated the fallout from the pandemic worldwide. Despite these challenges, the SCIOA team adapted their engagement approaches and methodologies to continue working with IPOs. CDOs in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Guyana, and Suriname reapplied the Sub-Awardee Risk and Responsibility Assessment (SRRA) with IPOs in their respective countries to assess organizational capacity to manage grants. The re-assessments showed significant progress, with twelve out of the thirteen reassessed IPOs demonstrating improvement in their organizational performance. IPOs from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Guyana finalized the implementation of their small grants during FY 2021. The remaining IPOs from Suriname are expected to conclude and close their small grants during the next reporting period. As part of the recommendations made during the Pause and Reflect (P&R) event in FY20, CDOs suggested investing a greater effort in making the results of SCIOA visible beyond the immediate universe of the project. The activities responding to this request are detailed in this report. The project organized a second remote P&R event in FY 2021, which included engagement with CDOs and IPOs in all five countries. The event concluded with incorporating insights from that session into a workplan revision exercise with USAID and a team of facilitators from Measuring Impact 2 (MI2). The P&R event created space to reflect about the participants' explicit and implicit learnings and determine a way forward that best supports the sustained success and progress of their efforts beyond the life of the project. In August 2021, the Activity received additional funds to extend the period of performance through FY 23, include Ecuador as the sixth country in its regional scope, and increase the total number of IPOs benefiting from CD services to eighteen. The project's efforts have been recognized by IPOs, who have expressed their appreciation for the support and capacity-building activities provided by SCIOA. A leader from OPIAM (IPO in Brazil) noted that the project has managed to mobilize young men and women and grassroots associations, despite the ongoing pandemic, and has created a mechanism to continue with their work through virtual meetings. The project's achievements in FY 2021 demonstrate its commitment to building the capacity of IPOs and supporting their efforts to advocate for indigenous peoples' governance of the Amazon. The project's focus on adapting activity design, addressing capacity gaps, and improving financial and organizational performance has yielded significant results, with twelve out of thirteen reassessed IPOs demonstrating improvement in their organizational performance. The project's efforts to make its results visible beyond the immediate universe of the project have also been recognized, with the organization of a second remote P&R event and the development of a workplan revision exercise with USAID and MI2.