ActionAid Myanmar

Monitoring Report
April/May 2020

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ActionAid Myanmar
Monitoring Report - April/May 2020

1. Operations and Finance

Admin & Procurement

▪ Since closure of office, Admin team con5nues to follow up on visa processes and the running of
different services, such as insurance, fumiga5on, LIFT project car tendering.

▪ Suppliers have been informed of new AAM’s bank account.

▪ Old HR soIware will con5nue up to June 2020. New HR soIware to be submiNed to procurement
team.

▪ Admin team will focus on work frame with suppliers - hotel & travel services, arrange air 5cket
payment in monthly, etc.

Government Relation
U Boon has successfully submiNed the April 2020 report to the government, specifying AAM efforts in
responding to COVID-19.

HR
▪ M&E Officer (LIFT) will join in April.

▪ Resilience Lead (ac5ng) has been hired.

▪ Finance Coordinator (EU Cultural Bridge) will join soon.

▪ HR is following on vacancy announcement and all the processes such as wriNen, verbal interview are
held through online system – Skype.

IT
▪ Ongoing remote support how to support during work from home.

▪ Mobile banking system transferring to Ooredoo B2B plan for all staffs’ monthly phone allowance.

Finance
▪ Payments will be made only once receiving all suppor5ng documents in scan/aNachment.

▪ Finance to transfer money to partners for EU project once the MoU has signed.

▪ Finance using online banking system.

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2. Partnership and Innovation

Re-allocation of funds towards COVID emergency

▪ Several of donors agreed to allocate exis5ng project funds towards Covid-19 response. These include
SPA project, LIFT SECURE Project (addi5onal funding for COVID response), GDS project, KCF project in
Chin.

▪ LRPs staff has provided support to address immediate needs around safety and hygiene.

▪ CBT communi5es have started mask-produc5on at a small scale.

▪ MCCR Consor5um (ECHO) has reallocated funds for COVID response in Dala.

▪ AAM+CA Consor5um (ECHO) will adjust project towards Covid-response working with local partners
in Rakhine star5ng in May.

New projects
▪ SPA: An addi5onal grant from AA DK of $50,000 to address COVID-19. Through the Global Secretarial,
AAM secured Euro $2,500 for research to track cases/Incidents where COVID-19 Measures are
Abused by Governments to Violate Civil and Poli5cal Rights.

▪ ECHO- MCCR Consor5um: AAM has been given another extension of MCCR consor5um (total value
EUR 900,000).

▪ ECHO- AAM (lead) + Chris5an Aid consor5um in Rakhine: AAM won a new ECHO project working on
first-line emergency response in Rakhine (total value EUR 650,000).

▪ LIFT Fund: An addi5onal 300,000 USD for Covid-19 relief work among factory workers in peri-urban
Yangon.

▪ START fund awarded to AAM and Chris5an Aid (lead), securing new funding (GBP 250,000) for
Covid-19 emergency response in Kayin. STAR will be implemented through local partners, focusing on
community quaran5ne support and GBV preven5on.

▪ Through AA Interna5onal, AAM was awarded $20,000 from the Disaster Preparedness and Response
Fund (DPRF) for support towards GBV messaging and community quaran5ne support in Kayin.

▪ Global Plajorm and Digital Talk Show “Arloo phote kya mae” received $2,500 from AA Denmark to
produce webinar shows on psycho-social well-being during Covid-19 crisis aimed at the youth.

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 3. Program Quality
Monitoring and Evaluation
1. Conclusion of data collec5on for January to March 2020 (Quarter 1).

2. PQ team will provide addi5onal training sessions of data collec5on templates for all colleagues to
reduce mistakes when filling the data.

3. Development of remote data collec5on tools, especially for LRPs and SECURE teams.

4. PQ team will now start collec5ng case stories when possible to capture changes in power (Domain 2
and 3 of our AAM Theory of Change).

5. Evalua5on of EU CSO project concluded. EC CSO final report and final evalua5on were approved.

Communication
1. Two women right’s videos have been developed for the SECURE project. links: hNps://
www.facebook.com/Ac5onAidMyanmar/videos/2332125250414505/ and hNps://
myanmar.ac5onaid.org/news/2020/workers-have-right-safe-working-and-living-condi5ons
2. The following three blogs have been published:
o Who cares and who pays? See link: hNps://myanmar.ac5onaid.org/stories/2020/who-cares-
and-who-pays-0
o How Covid-19 can be an opportunity for Myanmar governance actors and civil society to
move towards a mature democracy. See link: hNps://myanmar.ac5onaid.org/news/2020/
how-covid-19-can-be-opportunity-myanmar-governance-actors-and-civil-society-move-
towards
o Ac5onAid Myanmar Covid-19 Responses. See link: hNps://myanmar.ac5onaid.org/news/
2020/ac5onaid-myanmar-covid-19-responses

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 Research
▪ GDS research analyses two community development models in Kayah and Chin. The research
explores how these two community-led development models can shiI power dynamicswithin the
township and their village tracts. For this project, recruitment finalised of The Bridge Ins5tute and
academic editor.

▪ The research funded by Prudence explores the impacts and understandings of Climate Change, as
well as local responses and adapta5ons, of villages in southern Kayin/Karen State. The research will
be published at the end of May 2020.

▪ Submission of research proposal related to in5mate partner violence and COVID-19 was submiNed
for a total of $124,000 in Kayin State ($24,000for AAM) including IPA, Harvard researchers, KoeKoe
Tech and AAM.

▪ SubmiNed research proposal on countering misinforma5on/disinforma5on through Ins5tute of War

and Peace Repor5ng (IWPR).

Conflict Sensitivity
▪ Finalized Do No Harm sec5on on the AAM Covid-19 response plan.

▪ Ongoing transla5on on Conflict Sensi5vity tools on Myanmar language.

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4. Programme, Policy, and Advocacy

Local Rights Programmes

▪ Across all six LRPS, LRP staff has supported the collec5on of informa5on on returning migrants to
establish quaran5ne centers and prevent COVID-19 to spread to communi5es.

▪ LRPs also reallocated funds to cover for hospital equipment and provided food packages for most
vulnerable households, par5cular having children, in need.

▪ LRP 2: supported Meikh5la University Youth and engineering student worked together to develop an
innova5ve Covid 19 mobile disinfec5on chamber in collabora5on with township Covid-19 preven5on
and control commiNee led by Township General Administra5on Department and Department of
Health.

Governance and Youth

▪ Con5ngency planning and funding for emergency response to be put in place by youth affairs
commiNees and CSO plajorms. Four youth groups have been supported with around EUR 11,000
reallocated for COVID response.

▪ Global Plajorm and Digital Talk Show developing webinars on psychosocial support for youth
through Facebook live.

▪ Elec5ons: Ongoing discussion with other organisa5ons on work related to Myanmar Na5onal
elec5ons (November 2020). Myanfrel will share with AAM its curriculum on civic educa5on and voter
educa5on.

▪ Cultural Bridges: Con5ngency plan for COVID-19 has been developed and submiNed to EUD.

▪ ECCSO: Project has ended.

Uplands

▪ SDC and PWF project successfully finalised in Mon and Kayin in April.

▪ With support from AAM, our partner HLDO received $3,000 to support hospitals and communi5es in
Northern Chin State. HLDO translated COVID preven5on informa5on and other resources in three
local Chin languages: Falam, Tedim & Huango. HLDO is also doing awareness raising and counselling
in village community halls to take appropriate measures.

o HLDO and communi5es are struggling producing coffee. However, Fellows/ Village
Development CommiNee members con5nue doing agricultural work within the village
boundaries.

o Women Self Help Group has put in place selling of rice and oil within their communi5es in
order to alleviate poten5al food shortages. They have established a delayed paying system
for vulnerable households, with a reduced price (same price as in Kalay market).

o Village are youth taking security du5es of monitoring people coming in and out of villages.

▪ LDN relocated $1,800 to support communi5es with masks, sani5zers, informa5on, etc. They are
helping communi5es manage return of economic migrants. In addi5on, LDN has reallocated funds
from the current GDS project, and adjusted ac5vi5es and plans.

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▪ In Kayin, START project will be put in place. Four CSOs from Thandaunggyi township are suppor5ng
quaran5ne center.

o Difficult situa5on as a second wave of returnees will come back to Myanmar from Thailand
at the end of April. Returning migrants are facing challenges and discrimina5on, as villages
have established informal quaran5ne centers outside of villages, such as in rubber farms. The
AAM team has also raised the fact that villages in mix-controlled areas have been unable to
receive aid from NGOs or other donors.

▪ AAM working with Karen Human Rights Group, Chris5an Aid and CSOs that are part of Start Fund,
Karen State Civil Society Network to address discrimina5on faced by returning economic migrants.

Women’s rights
▪ Safe Spaces project, which responded to gender-based violence (GBV) in peri-urban areas, concluded
at the end of March and finalizing Final Project Comple5on Report in April.

▪ LIFT SECURE project is ongoing in Hlaing Thayar and Dagon Seikkan have connec5on with 4LRPs. As a
response to COVID, SECURE project has been able to adapt reoca5on of fund from exisi5ng roject as
well as been granted addi5onal fund focusing Three key ac5vi5es.

o IEC distribu5on to community (completed)

o Cash transfers (ongoing) – targeted 1,000 factory workers.

o Awareness raising online (ongoing)

▪ A research on preven5on of sexual exploita5on and abuse (PSEA) considering COVID has been
awarded to AAM. This research will be done in partnership with UNICEF.

Resilience team
Disaster Risk Reduc;on

▪ AFD funded FISONG project update on resilience and disaster preparedness in Ward 67 (Dagon
Seikkan). This project is in partnership with Green Lotus. Funds reallocated to drinking water for
communi5es during the Thingyan period (COVID response).

▪ Collabora5on with Fire Brigade and led by Ward Disaster Management CommiNee.

▪ Preparing to food shortages as informal shops are closed and the daily labourers are receiving the
monthly wages.

Humanitarian

▪ ECHO revision finalized and wai5ng for feedback

▪ Upda5ng with Interna5onal on response plan for COVID 19

▪ Con5nued developing fundraising proposal for COVID-19