Capacity Building and Empowerment of CODAE and Afro-Ecuadorian Organizations IDF TF056893  The proposed project aims to: (i) strengthen CODAE's Financial and Procurement capacity; (ii) strengthen and validate CODAE's legal and regulatory framework; and (iii) strengthen CODAE's capacity to promote and monitor public policies targeting Afro-Ecuadorian communities. The grant will improve coordination and increase partnership between CODAE and other government agencies (both at the national and municipal levels) and with the donor community. It will also consolidate CODAE's capacity to respond to community-driven initiatives and help strengthen linkages with Afro-Ecuadorian CSOs. The project will have four main components. The components, objectives, and proposed activities are the following: Component 1: Strengthening CODAE's Financial and Procurement Management Systems: This component will support improvements to CODAE's financial and procurement management systems in order to strengthen its capacity to promote, implement, and monitor public policies targeting Afro-Ecuadorian communities. Although CODAE currently receives annual monetary allocations from the government, that allows it to carry out its institutional and operational responsibilities, it needs to enhance its financial and procurement systems so that it can manage and disburse funds more appropriately and be able to leverage funds from other sources for future development projects; such as from the donor community. An enhanced financial and procurement management system will further improve CODAE's accountability and transparency. Specific activities to be supported under this component include: (a)   Financial and Procurement System Review: The component will support a review of the financial and procurement system that is currently used by CODAE and identify areas that need to be scaled-up or enhanced. The review will give way to the creation of an enhanced financial and procurement management system that allows CODAE to both manage and disburse funds more appropriately and leverage funds from other sources for development programs. The enhanced financial and procurement management system will be in keeping with Bank and other donor agency financial and procurement management guidelines. (b)   Training: CODAE staff will receive training in the use of the new financial and procurement management system. Modest assistance will be provided for computers, essential software and peripherals as part of the capacity building support. (c)   Operational Manual: The Operational Manual will include detailed supervision, financial management and audit arrangements for the institution including those that will govern the implementation of the project. Component 2: Validation of CODAE's  Legal and Regulatory Framework: This component responds to the need for CODAE to validate its legal and institutional framework with its constituency and reach agreement on reforms with the National Government.  It also responds to the need for legal advice on legal registration (personeria juridica) coming from CODAE and Afro-Ecuadorian CSOs. The issue of legal registration of civil society groups is essential so that these CSOs are able to enter into agreements and contracts whether to provide technical services or to channel funds to the community level for community development projects. Activities supported under this component include: (a)   Validation of CODAE's Legal and Institutional Framework: Whereas CODAE was created by law; its organizational structure is determined by Presidential Decree.  The current legal and regulatory framework for CODAE subjects it to frequent changes in leadership that can be politicized and not strongly related to the preferences of the constituency that it aims to represent. CODAE's members believe that the framework needs to be reviewed, debated, reformed and validated by CODAE's constituency, namely the Afro-Ecuadorian community, and that reforms proposed by CODAE's constituency would need to be endorsed by the Authorities so as to ensure that CODAE is better able to fulfill its mandate to work for the Afro-Ecuadorian people. This component will provide legal assistance to CODAE in drafting any proposed changes in its governing law and decree and related regulations, and support a series of roundtable discussions (mesas redondas) for the review and validation process, which in itself is expected to help strengthen CODAE's linkages to and ownership by grass-roots Afro-Ecuadorian organizations. (a)   Legal training on steps and procedures for legal registration (training for trainers):  Training on Legal Registration of Afro-Ecuadorian CSOs:  Although a rich variety of groupings represent the Afro-Ecuadorian population at the local level, these civil society groups suffer from weak organizational capacity, are often hampered by lack of legal identity as registered institutions, and are not sufficiently articulated with CODAE as an umbrella agency. This component aims to create a group of 35 trainers who will in turn provide training to others at community and local levels.  A multiplying effect of individuals and communities with better and higher knowledge on legal registration procedure will be a key outcome of this component. By implementing a training of trainers system, CODAE will have the capacity to train Afro-Ecuadorian CSOs on ways of obtaining their legal registration. Component 3: Strengthen CODAE's Capacity  to Monitor Public Investments and Policies for Social Inclusion of Afro-Ecuadorians This component will support the strengthening of linkages between CODAE, government institutions and donor agencies through specific sector-based policy discussions on poverty reduction, social inclusion and the achievement of the MDGs.  In order for CODAE to engage in an informed policy dialogue, support will be provided in the collection of information and data on public investment in education, health and social services.  Similarly, the project will expand sector policy dialogues currently underway between CODAE and municipal governments and authorities. Currently, CODAE has already began a dialogue on social inclusion of Afro-Ecuadorians with the municipalities of Quito and Guayaquil, but this dialogue needs to be expanded to other provinces and to municipalities in rural areas where an important proportion of Afro-Ecuadorians reside and face dire socio-economic conditions. Specific activities to be supported under this component include: (a)   Mapping of Public Investments:  The component will support a mapping or stock-taking of public investments in education, health, and infrastructure that are carried out in areas with a high concentration of Afro-Ecuadorians. The reviews will identify the public investments, resources invested, exact geographic area of implementation, and what benefit, if any, the implementation of said investment had in improving the socio-economic condition of Afro-Ecuadorians. Based upon this exercise a simplified investment monitoring system would be developed for CODAE to use to hold poverty reduction policy discussions with municipalities and other stakeholders. At the same time, the results of this sub-component will feed national discussions revolving around achievement of the MDGs. (b)   Sector Policy Discussions: Using the results of the mapping of public investment exercises, CODAE will then be able to hold a series of sector policy discussions with other government agencies (both at the national and with municipal authorities) and other stakeholders on poverty reduction, social inclusion, and the achievement of the MDGs. (c)   Virtual Forum on Inclusion: Supporting the inclusion of Afro-Ecuadorian CSOs in national dialogues on poverty reduction, social inclusion, and the achievement of the MDGs will be done via a web-based Virtual Forum on Inclusion. The Forum, which will be accessed via CODAE's website, will serve both as a platform for discussion and a vehicle for strengthening links between CODAE and Afro-Ecuadorian CSOs.