Major Implementation Issues. The Tax Authority completed its internal computer upgrade and provided the project with an official extract. At the end of the reporting period, our local law firm was in the process of requesting a Declaration of Good Standing, which we hope to receive in late January 2015. The Social Security Institute has not yet issued a correct extract despite numerous formal requests. A local firm is continuing to assist the project to resolve this issue.
Major Implementation Issues. The implementation issues can be divided into operational and programmatic. The main operational challenge that we are encountering is the long and complicated process of obtaining work permits and resident status for our expatriate staff. We are proceeding with the support from a reputable local law firm, but the process is burdensome and slow. Staffing the project has also proven difficult. The search for qualified candidates is challenging. When competent candidates are identified, the competition with other donor-funded projects, international development agencies, and private companies is intense and we are sometimes not able to meet their salary expectations. Programmatically, we are encountering very limited technical and operational capacity of our counterparts, which constraints the scope and pace of the activities that we can implement. Considering that sustainability is one of the main purposes of the project, we are conscious of the need to avoid recommending or proposing solutions that would only be viable with CCAP playing the lead role in their implementation. The upcoming presidential election is turning out to be a much greater issue than we had originally anticipated. In Quelimane, where the Mayor is from an opposition party, partisan politics are evident at all levels from the Municipality down to the neighborhood associations. Because of this reality, we are preparing to focus on activities more technical in nature as electoral politics demands the attention of the Mayors and their senior advisors with the pending election.
Major Implementation Issues. During the past quarter, implementation of trainings and supervisions suffered significantly as a result of the health workers’ strike, as MCHIP followed the Ministry of Health guidance to cancel all trainings during the strike. MCHIP is currently working to reschedule all training and activities that were cancelled due to the strike.
Major Implementation Issues. During the first quarter of implementation, USAID and MISAU had had several meetings to refine geographies and targets for this project. Pathfinder worked closely with USAID to provide information and forecast potential impact that any adjustment could have on project implementation. Eventually, USAID and MISAU agreed to achieve full coverage in Nampula and Sofala provinces. At this stage, Cabo Delgado will not benefit from IFPP. Despite the very productive process to reach consensus in terms of the best use of the available resources in order to generate the best results on health indicators, this negotiation impacted the start-up of the project. IFPP could not initiate some preparatory work (e.g., office space, human resources, harmonization with provincial level), as the geographic areas were not settled before early September, 2016. Despite of the political conflict and instability in the province, XXXX thinks that the intervention strategy should be developed and tested in Sofala. An exploratory visit is important to do in order to have sense of the reality and possibilities of implementation, even if done gradually. N’weti´s team, involved on recruitment process, faced problems to identify the candidates to be interviewed due to lack of required skills for the positions, particularly in the recruitment of Technical Support Officers. In addition, for the qualified candidates interviewed there were issues with the salary package, where they asked for higher salary packages than what N’weti has budgeted for in the IFPP. N’weti suggests that there is a need for additional staff for Nweti´s component, both for TSOs and FSs.
