USAID ICAN FY19 Q3 QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT

ICAN works with community groups to maximize economic opportunities for vulnerable households, stabilize their access to and consumption of diverse and nutritious diets, and increase social capital by reinforcing relationships among formal governance systems and communities. The Activity emphasizes three key strategic themes: Resilience, Partnerships, and Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA). ICAN's phased implementation approach enables learning before scaling specific interventions. During Phase I, the Activity is operating in four districts: Kisoro, Kanungu, Lamwo, and Kotido. Phase II will start in Q1 of FY 2020, when the Activity will enter the districts of Rukungiri, Gulu, Nwoya, and Kaabong. ICAN has reached about 25% of the number of households targeted to be reached by the end of the year as estimated in the Annual Work Plan submitted on September 26, 2018. The Activity has not yet achieved a number of the targets at the household or beneficiary level, but the structures needed to achieve the targets have been set. Key partners understand ICAN's mandate and approaches, and master trainers and community linkage structures have been trained and have the tools necessary to undertake and achieve at least 75% of the annual targets. ICAN is considering changing the Activity's approach in Karamoja, after discussing with the Food for Peace project, Apolou, ways to avoid duplication of activities among the same target population. ICAN staff have participated in a number of workshops on resilience with USAID and other implementing partners, and have discussed the topic internally. This has improved staff's understanding of the issues. ICAN is increasingly pursuing partnerships and collaborations that leverage resources but also layer interventions to improve resilience of target households. In Q3, ICAN has been developing a modified approach for Karamoja in consultation with Apolou, to integrate ICAN's efforts with Apolou's interventions in the same communities. ICAN's key targets include increasing economic opportunities for 116,000 poor households, reaching more than 184,000 mothers with nutrition services and 23,000 adolescents with life and entrepreneurship skills, reducing stunting by 5% among children of households participating in ICAN-supported activities, and increasing participation in local planning for environmental conservation efforts for more than 11,000 households.