Project id: Duration: 2007 2009 Component (myff)

According to TACIS/EU funded project a letter of the commitment from the local authorities about their contribution: giving the building for workshop construction/rehabilitation free of charge should be acquired. However it was discovered that the majority of buildings were on sale during identifying of premises for ADFs, tool banks and mini workshops. In order to avoid the delays in project activities, agreement for utilization of premises were signed between the owners of already privatized buildings and established structures under the project.

Under the GEF funded project on Sustainable Land Management due to the lack of qualified specialists in the area of Land degradation the establishment of Land degradation Unit (LDU) delayed. After having the interview to fill in the position on LDU no qualified person was identified. The deadline for application submission was extended. The agreement was reached with Winrock International for establishment of Water Users Associations. The Contract drafted. Budget agreed, but Winrock had changed the admin part, and sent the contract to Winrock HQ for review and approval. The caused delay could affect the overall project implementation plan.

Mobile Theatre (MT) Zargar of Bokhtar district and Pyanj of Kumsangir districts actors left the MT cause of graduation of school/entering into university, recruitment to Tajik Army etc. There was a risk that newly recruited staffs trainings will take longer time and those MT will not perform staging in time in July 2007.
New tendering procedures require more time for receiving clearance from UNDP CO. This requires adjustment in planning delivery. While planning delivery, additional time (at least 5 working days before the advertisement date) to be considered for receiving clearance from PDU and also the bank transfers. Most of the delivery blocks in AO regarding the procurements and contracting occurred as result of insufficient communication of AO staff with CP respective staff members. Time saver: Any doubts on new procedures should be clarified with respective staff members in CP, before the tender is advertised/Contract is signed.
According to the Project Document of Zeravshan Valley Initiative, a public Internet access centers at both BACs should have been established. BAC “Devashtich” has selected “Telecomm Technology” internet provider but had problems with connection. The reason is that connection should be made through telephone land lines, but “Tajik Telecom”, the land line service provider, refuses to give a line. They motivate it by the fact, that they have no Cooperation Agreement with “Telecomm technology” and suggest connecting to “Babilon-T” provider.
Without Internet connection, BAC staff would not be able to keep an eye on recent developments in the sphere of SME, local entrepreneurs can not avail themselves of the source of information. Also, BAC would loose additional income, which it could gain providing Internet services to other categories of clients on paid basis. Discussions are held with executive office of Hukumat of Panjakent district and after sending letter to the Head of OJSC “Tajik Telecom” branch in Penjikent city with request to solve the issue, problem was solved.
With respect to the ADB funded Local Governance Finance Capacity Building project between UNDP, OSI and ADB, discussion and negotiation on the agreement and action plan for the period of December 2007 – May 2008 was protracted. The main issue of discussion regarded the fact that UNDP is hired by OSI directly and OSI is funded by ADB. According to its internal regulations, OSI suggested its own rules, procedures and document formats for UNDP to accept. From the other side, UNDP rules and formats are fixed and they will not be changed while creating any partnership relations with other agencies. Discussion on the issue continued longer than a month and impacted the timelines of project implementation. The problem has been resolved with the signing of the agreement between UNDP and OSI, and the staff have continued their activities under the project.

#	Implementation Issue	Actions taken
1	The internet provider, Telecom Technology, was unable to provide the Business Advisory Centre in Penjikent with connection to the internet because Tajik Telecom refused to give them access to land line service.	Discussions were held with Penjikent District Hukumat, after which a letter was sent to the head of Tajik Telecom in Penjikent, who then offered land line service to Telecom Technology.
2	New tender procedures required additional time for the receipt of clearance.	Planning was adjusted to account for the additional time needed.
3	Insufficient communication between Area Office staff and CP Dushanbe.	Communication was strengthened between AOs and CP Dushanbe.
4	Beneficiaries were unable to attend meetings, roundtables, and training sessions scheduled during the harvest season due to their farming commitments (primarily cotton picking)	Meetings, roundtables, and training sessions were postponed and, in the future, will be scheduled around the harvesting season.
5	In eastern Khatlon, rather than establishing a new Business Advisory and Information Centre in Darqad Jamoat of Farkhor District, the capacity of an existing Consultative and Information Centre (CIC), established by ACTED, was strengthened. However, the managers of the CIC were unwilling to work under the JRC umbrella.	Meeting were held between UNDP and ACTED to develop coordination mechanisms for the CIC and JRC in Daqad Jamoat to better work with one another.
6	According to the project proposal for the Tacis-funded project in Khatlon, local authorities were to contribute working premises for the newly-established DFAs, agricultural tool banks, and agro-processing workshops. However, in eastern Khatlon, local authorities were in the process of privatizing public buildings and were thus unable to make such a contribution to project implementation.	Agreements were signed with the new private building owners for the rental of space by the newly-established entities.
7	Within CAWMP, project partners were unfamiliar with the project’s Operational Manual, which negatively affected the process of subproject approval.	A workshop was held for PMU, PCU, UNDP’s Gharm AO, WDC, JRCs and CIGs to explain the roles and responsibilities of each partner in accordance with the Operational Manual. Moreover, during each M&E visit by PMU and the World Bank to the project area, all project partners got together to discuss achievements of CAWMP as well as challenges faced, which was also beneficial for effective project management..
8	The amount allocated per village for the realization of rural infrastructure subprojects was insufficient to rehabilitate drinking water supply systems (which were identified as being of the highest priority), nor for CIGs to higher qualified technical personnel.	CIGs were encouraged to contribute more of their own resources and, if possible, to jointly implement infrastructure subprojects with neighbouring villages who had identified the same priorities. The Operational Manual, however, should be amended to reflect this lack of funding for the rural infrastructure activity types.
9	For water supply systems rehabilitated within the framework of the ECHO-funded project for 2006-2007, delays in implementation were experienced because of bad weather, lack of electricity, unforeseen damages to pipes, payment delays, and delays in system owner/beneficiary contributions.	A two-month extension of project duration was requested from ECHO and approved.
10	Delay in Local Governance Finance Capacity Building project implementation was experienced as the period of signing an agreement and approval of action plan was long	Negotiation was organized between UNDP, OSI and ADB in order to expedite the process of signing documents.