QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT
[Third Quarter, 2013]
United Nations Development Programme
Global Environment Facility - GEF
UNDP GEF PIMS no. 1913
STRENGTHENING SOCOTRA'S POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
FOR MAINSTREAMING BIODIVERSITY,
The Republic of Yemen
Project ID: 00060687
Atlas Award ID: 00049646
Project Duration: 2008-2013
Revised Closed Date: 2015
Implementing Partner: Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
Total Budget: US$ 2,700,000
GEF: US$ 975,000
UNDP TRAC: US $ 975,000
GoY in Kind: US $ 750,000
I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project is part of the continuous efforts of UNDP for conservation of unique biodiversity
in Socotra and builds on the results of initiatives previously supported by UNDP and its
partners in the past 10 years. The main results are development of Socotra Conservation
Zoning Plan (CZP) which approved by presidential decree in 2000. The effort result on
designed Socotra as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. This project aims at setting in
place the systems and structures that will allow for a minimal need for donor finance
for conservation to continue. As indicated in the project document, the project takes a
pre-emptive conservation approach, and proposes to ascertain the CZP as the main
tool for conservation by strengthening local authorities to take into account
biodiversity considerations in their planning and implementation of development
priorities and local constituencies at large to advocate for and engage in biodiversity
friendly economic activities.The project contributes to creating a sustainable and wellgoverned path for development for the Socotra Archipelago that ensures the conservation
of its globally important biodiversity.
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II. TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ..............................................................................................2
II. TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................2
III. ACRONYMS .....................................................................................................................2
IV. IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS ...................................................................................3
Outcome 5: Project Management ..................................................................................3
 activity 1: Inform the MoPIC and key project partners on re-opening of the project
 activity 2: Finalize for recruitment of PM and the project Admin/Accountant
 activity 3: Set up project office in Socotra
 activity 4: Develop the 2013 project work plan
 activity 5: Re-establish new Project board
 activity 6: Recruit a part-time CTA to technically backstop the project
 activity 7: Coordinate with ongoing and planned projects in Socotra
 activity 8: Conduct quarterly monitoring missions to the project
V. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNEDError! Bookmark not def
a. Project Risks .................................................................................................................
b. Project Issues................................................................................................................
c. Lessons Learned ...........................................................................................................
V. COMMUNICATION AND PUBLICTY .................................................................................7
VI. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW AND UTILIZATION ..................................................................8
VII.
ANNEX ......................................................................................................................
III. ACRONOMYS
EPA:
GoY:
NGO:
PM:
UNDP:
PIR:
CO:
GEF:
Environment Protection Authority
Government of Yemen
Non Governmental Organization
Project Manager
United Nation Development Programme
Project Implementation Report
Country Office (UNDP)
Global Environment Facility
IV. IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS
The project’s objective is that biodiversity management considerations are mainstreamed
effectively into the current process of “decentralizing governance for development” on the
Socotra archipelago. The objective will be achieved through the six following project
outcomes that reflect the necessary interventions to address the constraints identified in
each element of the mainstreaming framework: 1) Local Governance Support, 2)
Mainstreaming Tools, 3) Strengthening NGO Advocacy, and 4) Benefits of Biodiversity
Conservations to Local Livelihoods, and 5) Project management . The French had withdrawn
2
their assistance to the sixth component which is "support to the fisheries sector structuring,
organization and capacity building" so it will not be included in this report.
This report will cover the period from 1st June to 30th September; from the beginning of the
year the main target is to re-open the project. This period is without a work plan but covered
by UNDP CO action plan. The action plan is designed to implement number of activities
grouped under outcome 5 during third quarter of 2013. Under outcome 5, it is scheduled to
implement the following priority activities:








Inform the MoPIC and key project partners on re-opening of the project
Finalize for recruitment of PM and the project Admin/Accountant
Set up project office in Socotra
Develop the 2013 project work plan and reporting
Re-establish new Project board
Recruit a part-time CTA to technically backstop the project
Coordinate with ongoing and planned projects in Socotra
Conduct quarterly monitoring missions to the project
There are no activities in the other outcomes because the project is under re-opening phase.
This report will highlight the progress made towards implementation of the action plan over
the third quarter. Specifically, it provides baseline information on project re-opend period
and the progress towards implementation of action plan activities. It will present progress
achieved towards meeting designated to current targets. Current reporting phase mostly has
no expenditure except for covering the salaries of management staff.
Outcome 5: Project Management – Delivering of activities and funds in a timely, effective
and transparent manner.

Inform the MoPIC and key project partners on re-opening of the project:
The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and key project partners such
Ministry of Water and Environment (MoWE), Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)
in Sana'a and in Socotra branch, Ministry of Local Administration (MoLA) and the Local
Authorities in Socotra were informed of the re-opening of the project. Several ways of
communication, introductory and informative meetings, hold with project partners
especially EPA Sana'a and Socotra branch, the newly Deputy Governor of Socotra and
Hadibu District Director. The meetings inform them on the re-opening of the project and
the forward steps towards fully operation of the project and the important of
cooperation for effective delivering of project activities and reaching the project results
for well-governed path for development for Socora Archipelago that insures the
conservation of its globally important biodiversity.

Finalize for recruitment of PM and the project Admin/Accountant:
The project manager has been recruited in the first of June and has been set in Socotra.
The project manager was briefed about the project, its background and objectives.
Project documentations and materials were shared and discussed. One week training
3
was provided to the project manager, and his knowledge on project management was
strengthened. Also the recruiting of the project manager was from EPA Socotra who
knows very well the realities on the ground facilitate the re-opening of the project. The
project manager also supported by UNDP online learning system which he already
finalized, two security courses, prevention of harassment, sexual harassment and abuse
of authority on the workplace, an ongoing course on gender journey, also supported by
several documents that support his management skills. The project admin and finance
assistant has been recruited just in the first of September and will get all necessary
support. The project manager has finalized PIR reporting system and practicing UNDP
Atlas and project reporting system.

Set up project office in Socotra:
The project office in Socotra has been re-established. The project manager has his daily
work in the project office within EPA Socotra building. There are two project vehicles but
still need maintenance. More work need to be done for listing and fixing some project
assets. Until now we have one room for the PM office which will be used by CTA and
there will be need for another room for project's admin and finance.

Develop the 2013 project work plan
The reporting period from July to September 2013 was guided by current action plan
which resulted from the Mid Term Evaluation mission, RTA report and fact finding
missions. Some financial expenses have been spent for covering the salary of PM. The
new quarterly work plan October to December 2013 created by PM with the help of
UNDP CO concentrated on reviewing the previous NGOs assessment report and reassesses the NGOs current situation which will help in clarifying the future project
interventions. The work plan also focus on the board meetings, inception workshop,
complete office setup in Socotra and some project assets maintenance. More detailed
work plan and budget plan will be done upon recruitment of the CTA.

Re-establish new Project board
New project board meeting have been held in 4th of September and main stakeholders
have been participate. The main agenda for the meeting includes introduction about the
project and function of the project board, discussion current project activities and
annual work plan for 2013. The results of meeting includes revising the annual work plan
proposed by PM, assessment of current NGOs in Socotra, the overlap between
international projects to be follow up by EPA and the importance of capacity building
(minutes of meeting attached). Inception work shop to be held in Socotra and next
board meeting will be in the end of this year. The board meeting has informed the
participants that the recruitment of part time CTA is in the final stage.

Recruit a part-time CTA to technically backstop the project
4
The management capacities of the project will be enhanced through recruitment of a
part-time international CTA to provide overall guidance and managerial and technically
backstopping support. The project Log-frame will be revised taking into account
emerging development, realities on the ground and available resources to the project.
The recruitment of CTA is in the final stage.

Coordinate with ongoing and planned projects in Socotra
The overlap of responsibilities and mandates especially those of the different donors
working in Socotra, this issue have been discussed by the UNDP CO with some projects
in the re-opening phase and have clarify his interventions on Socotra to EPA
(implementation partner) and to other donors. The risk of duplication of SGBP project
activities by other projects is high. Lack of donor coordination may turn into competition
among donors. After all the coordination of the projects is the responsibility of EPA and
the project can help EPA undertake donor's mapping exercise to analyze the situation
and provide recommendations to enhance the EPA leadership in this regards. Action will
be taken in the upcoming action plan of the project after recruitment of the CTA.

Conduct quarterly monitoring missions to the project
The midterm report have been analysis the project implementation progress and serves
as a means of validating or filling the gaps in the initial assessment of relevance,
effectiveness and efficiency obtained from monitoring. As the project was suspended
most of the reporting and monitoring have not been delivered. The CTA will oversee the
establishment and implementation of the monitoring and evaluation plan of the project.
Currently no progress has been made towards conduct quarterly monitoring missions to
the project except holding the first project board meeting as mentioned before.
V. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED
a. Project Risks
Although no progress was achieved to contribute towards the indicators during the
suspension period of the project due to the indicated risks, and hindering circumstances, an
adaptive action plan was prepared, and initiated in order to mitigate the risks, take
advantage of new opportunities, and re-integrate change into the project in a way that
finally ensures achievement of the outcomes more effectively and efficiently. all the critical
risks listed in ATLAS are all only relevant to a project under full implementation, and the
political risk “Political situation is uncertain during the transition period” listed in the
previous PIR has been changed from critical to not critical by the Country Office during the
reporting period.
Risk management strategy will be addressed in the new logframe and upcoming work plan
Risk Log table:
#
Description
Date
Type
Impact &
Countermeasures /
5
Owner
Submitted,
updated
Last
Status
Identified
1
Power cuts and
fuel shortage
May 2010
Regulatory
Priority
Mngt response
by
Update
Interrupt
whole project
activities
Follow up GoY
parallel funding for
covering EPA
operational budget
EPA
headquarter
and EPA
branch
PM
Date of this
report
September
30, 2013
Ongoing,
no
change
SGBP will help EPA
for coordination
EPA, UNDP,
PM, other
projects
PM
Date of this
report
September
30, 2013
Consider
ed , no
change
Recruitment of CTA
and discussion with
different
stakeholders
EPA, UNDP,
Local
Authority,
PM, CTA
PM
Date of this
report
September
30, 2013
Uncertai
n,
reducing
Follow up GoY
parallel funding for
covering EPA
operational budget
EPA
headquarter
and EPA
branch
PM
Date of this
report
September
30, 2013
Followed
up , no
change
No mitigation
measures currently
needed because
the project was in
suspension period,
more measures
upon recruitment
of CTA
EPA, UNDP,
local
Authorities,
CTA
PM
Date of this
report
September
30, 2013
On going
,
increasin
g
P=4 , I= 3
2
Overlapping of
responsibilities
and mandates
between
different
projects on
Socotra
May 2009
Organizational
Projects
activities can
turned to
competition
instead of
cooperation,
loss of money
and efforts
P = 4, I= 3
3
Uncertain
political
situation
January
2011
Political
Project
suspension,
delay of
project
activities
P = 3, I=4
4
missing enough
operational
budget of EPA
Socotra branch
June 2010
Financial
Lack of
facilitating
project
operational
work on
Socotra
P= 4, I=4
5
Land allocations
and acceptance
of CZP
February
08
Strategic
CZP not
implemented
P= 4, I = 2
b. Project Issues
#
Description
Date
Identified
Type
Impact &
Countermeasures
/ Mngt response
Owner
Submitted,
updated by
Last
Update
Status
No measures,
project still in reopening phase,
more action will be
taken upon
recruitment of CTA
Local
authorities,
EPA, UNDP
PM
Date of this
report, 3rd
September,
2013.
Increasin
g,
ongoing
Priority
1
Land
allocation for
investment
with out
considering
the CZP
30 of
September,
construction
work on
national park
Change
The conflict
between land
ownership
and
conservation
law and
legislation
should be
putted in the
table for
6
clear future
strategy
2
Acceptance
of Admin and
finance
assistant by
Local
authorities
and
communities
Upon the
recruitment
of admin and
finance
assistant
Project
management
Low
cooperation
with project
activities and
consuming
time and
effort for
integration
Introducing the
admin and finance
assistant to
different
stakeholders using
PM relationships on
the island
PM, EPA,
UNDP
PM
Date of this
report, 3rd
September,
2013.
Consider
ed
Should be
considered when
revising the project
logframe
UNDP, PM,
CTA
PM
Date of this
report, 3rd
September,
2013
No
action,
no
change
Distribution project
millstones in
parallel with
expected political
changes .
UNDP, PM,
CTA
PM
Date of this
report, 3rd
September,
2013
No
action,
improvin
g
Priority =1
3
Different
project
working on
Socotra
From
starting of
the project
Problem,
Organization.
The EPA and
the local
authorities
more
interest on
projects with
direct
benefits
Priority = 3
4
Uncertainty
of political
situation
In 2011
Change,
Changing of
power
distribution
Any political
change will
have direct
impact on
project
outputs
Priority = 2
c. Lessons Learned
No lessons have been learned during this reporting period because of limited activities due
to unallocated budget.
VI. COMUNICATION AND PUBLICITY
 Main focus during this reporting period was on informing our partners of the reopening of the project and the necessity of revising project logframe with the new
realities on the ground.
 Active communication between PM and the UNDP CO and also with other partners
especially EPA and local authorities in Socotra. UNDP CO also held communication
meeting between different projects which working under poverty and sustainable
management team. PM and admin and financial assistant participated on this
meetings with other two projects managers, the meeting discussed important of
7

VII.


VIII.
communication, different communication strategies and share good examples and
success stories from other UNDP projects which can be used as lessons learned. This
meeting enriched by experiences from UNDP CO program team leader and program
officer.
Communication also resulted on conduct the project board meeting on EPA office
with mostly all main partners.
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW AND UTILIZATION
All expenditures during this period were for covering PM salary and his first mission
in UNDP CO for signing the contract and introducing him to project documents and
UNDP System.
ANNEX
a. work plan
b. minutes of project board meeting
Abdulraqeb Al-Okaishi
Project Manager
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