CHAP

Counterpart International is a non-profit international human development organization founded in 1965 as the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific. We are headquartered in Washington D.C. and work in more than 60 countries. The directions of Counterpart International are Humanitarian Assistance (Community & Humanitarian Assistance Program - CHAP), Civil Society, Environment and Conservation, Enterprise Development, Health, and Child Survival and Food Security.

In the Caucasus countries Counterpart is represented by the Humanitarian Assistance Program - CHAP, which is committed to building strong civil societies in emerging nations through partnerships with local civic organizations. These partnerships, through which CHAP distributes donated commodities, are designed to help local organizations strengthen their capabilities to meet critical humanitarian and related development needs.

CHAP collaborates with organizations whose missions target medical and other special care needs of vulnerable people, including those who are elderly, destitute, refugees, chronically ill, disabled, and orphaned. Other beneficiaries include non-government organizations committed to strengthening democratic institutions and market economies.

CHAP conducts the complete range of commodity distribution services. From conducting needs assessments to monitoring end-use, CHAP staff acquires, stages, transports, receives, and distributes materials. Ready to respond to emergency situation, CHAP also maintains a stock of disaster relief supplies.

CHAP acquires its commodities from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) excess stock and private sources. CHAP's activities are principally sponsored by the U.S. Department of State (DoS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Major program accomplishments include:

In the period 1998-2000 as implementing partner for the World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE), Counterpart provided nearly $9.5 million worth of medical supplies and equipment to three full-service health clinics opened in Georgia. The clinics aim to provide health care services to at-risk Hellenic populations and the Georgian community-at-large.

In addition to its successful distribution program, CHAP completed an energy subsidies program in Georgia. The Georgia Winter Heating Assistance Program (GWHAP) administered targeted electricity subsidies to vulnerable households and institutions during the winter months of 1999-2000.

Distributed over 120 Million US Dollars worth of Humanitarian Aid in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia  between 1995 - 2003 through over 6,300 distributions with the help of about 1,400 partner organizations - local NGOs, schools, orphanages and kindergartens, hospitals and clinics . Each year CHAP/Caucasus provided assistance to its beneficiaries (IDPs, orphans, vulnerable children and pensioners, large families and aged people) in the form of clothing and footwear, bedding, food, medical equipment and supplies, office and school furniture, household items, vehicles and tractors. 

 

 

 

CPCD

From September 1999, Counterpart International, Inc., through funding received from the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the US Department of State, administered the Counterpart Partnership for Community Development Program (CPCD) in Western Georgia.

With two-years of funding, CPCD has made great strides towards achieving the goal of individual self-reliance and integration of IDP (Internally Displaced People) into the local communities of the region of Samegrelo.

CPCD was implemented in two (2) phases. During phase 1, CPCD initiated community development activities in 20 communities by working in close cooperation and collaboration with six local implementing partners: Association "Atinati", Union "Avangardi", Cultural Educational Center (CEC), Public Interest protection League (PIPL), Association of Disabled Women and Mothers of Disabled Children (ADW), Association "Tamari", and fifteen CBOs (community based organizations) developed during Phase 1.

During phase 2, CPCD continued its partnerships with the 15 "phase 1" communities, and was able to add 5, for a total of 20 CPCD communities.

CPCD had also conducted Community Participatory Assessments (CPA) in these 20 communities. Based on the lists of needs shown via the CPA process, each of the participant communities designed and implemented sustainable, community level, socio-economic micro-projects uniquely tailored to their local situation. The projects ranged from improving water-sanitation conditions and reviving their respective agricultural sector, to improving primary health care services.

Through the CPCD’s resources and training sectors, emphasis had been placed on providing training and gainful opportunities for increasing the capacity of all local partners. CPCD staff and training partners held 13 training events for local partner NGOs and CBOs. A total of 521 persons attended the training courses in CPA, project design, organizational development, strategic planning and fund-raising, leadership and decision making, and financial and grant management. This large task was accomplished, in part, through the involvement of local partners and encouraging them to take more responsibility for project designing, proposal development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. This strategy not only increased their internal capacities and drive, but also helped to create a sustainable cadre of organizations that are uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of Georgia’s civil society sector.

Over the past 2-years, the 15 CPCD local-partners CBOs, have become much more prepared not only in identifying priority needs and possible solutions, but also to assume the role of key implementers of micro-projects. By the end of the program, all CBOs became financially stable, and managed to maintain internal revenues through commerce, with external revenue from grants received through other donors not unlike Counterpart International.

At the end of the CPCD program, a partner meeting/conference was organized in Zugdidi, with the purpose of bringing together principals of the CPCD. The conference provided a unique opportunity for its participants to review their accomplishments, seek constructive criticism, exchange lessons-learned, and to examine their abilities to develop and implement future activities in the absence of external donor funding.

The total number of beneficiaries reached by the CPCD program was over 160,000, with 50% of them being IDPs (internally displaced people). In close cooperation with another Counterpart International program, Community & Humanitarian Assistance Program (CHAP), over $122,000 of humanitarian commodities were contributed to the 20 CPCD local-partner communities.

Project has been completed at the end of May 2002.

START

SKILL TRADES AND RE-EMPLOYMENT TRAINING (START) PROGRAM


Counterpart Skill Trades and Re-employment Training (START) program is a one-year pilot project funded by Georgian Self Reliance Fund. The program is intended to increase the employability of IDP families in Samegrelo by providing on the job apprenticeships and employment support and training in skill trade areas in order to improve their income generation capacity while contributing to the overall economic development of the community and the business sector. START program has been launched in June 2002. 

Since the program has started the following activities have been accomplished: 

· Selection criteria for the apprentices and employers have been worked out and the research forms have been developed. 
· Based on the selection criteria the final list of apprentices and employers has been developed. 
· START staff has interviewed the finalists and the apprentices have been matched with the employers. 
· The individual apprentice learning / employer training objectives were established and training plans have been designed together with CIZ START program staff. 
· The Implementation Agreements forms for apprentices and employers have been developed and signed.
· From September 16 the training process in skill trade areas was started.
· The training need assessment draft forms for employers and apprentices are in the process of development. 


ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS 


Selection Process 

Based on project selection criteria, START staff had to research and recruit 30 apprentices and 30 local businesses for the pilot apprentice program. 

During the data collection process about 70 potential apprentices data have been collected and among them 42 apprentices have been selected instead of 30. Some projects required 3 months of training, which gave us an opportunity to involve in total more apprentices than it was established in the initial project proposal. 

23 employers' data was collected and 21 were selected among them for the START program instead of 30 that had been fixed in the original project proposal. The hard social-economic conditions of Georgia didn't give us an opportunity to select 30 strong employers that would meet the project criteria. 

Matching Process 

Apprentices have been matched with appropriate employers. 

While matching the apprentices with the employers the following results have been reached: 
* 27 apprentices were matched with 13 employers in Zugdidi 
* 8 apprentices were matched with 3 employers in Senaki 
* 7 apprentices were matched with 5 employers in Poti.

The selected employers represent various skill areas, and the apprentices will have an opportunity to improve their skills in 17 different trade. 

Training Plans and Sessions 

Each apprentice was introduced with the employer and familiarized with the enterprise where the apprentice will have its training course. The individual apprentice learning / employer training objectives were established and training session plans for apprentices were designed together with CIZ START program staff. The training sessions will be conducted into two phases. On the bases of negotiation the apprentices who will have the course of training sessions during the phase one were selected. 

Implementation Agreements 

The drafts of apprentice and employers agreements have been developed by START program staff and revised by CI in DC. The final agreements were learnt by local lawyer who confirmed that the agreement do not contradict the Georgian Law. The agreements were translated into Georgian and are ready to sign. From the Counterpart side the Implementation Agreements will be signed by Myron V. Hirniak, Caucasus Regional Director, Division of Community and Humanitarian Assistance Program. 

Coordination and Cooperation 

There were some local NGOs and contact persons in Senaki and Poti whom we are very grateful in supporting the START program during the assessment process: NGO ASRDC (Association for Social Relationship Development and Cooperation) and the Project Manager Vepkhvia Vepkhvadze, from Senaki town; Nelly Chkhenkely, the main specialist for Municipal Service for IDPs and Refuges and Dally Jikia-Miminoshvili the Head of the Social Welfare Department for disabled, Poti town.


Training Needs Assessment form Development

The training needs assessment forms for employers and apprentices are in the process of development. The Employment Counselors simultaneously are busy with collecting the information from the Training Organizations. Then will work on gathering information of training needs from employers and apprentices. All obtained information will be reviewed, the training topics identified and the category of training groups finalized.

Project has been completed at the end of May 2003.