Counterpart International Inc.

“The form 990 was completed by an independent cpa firm and reviewed by the chief financial officer (cfo). The draft was presented to the c-suite and the audit committee for review. Any questions/changes were communicated by the c-suite and audit committee to the cpa firm. The final draft of the form 990 was submitted to the board of directors for approval before it was signed by the cfo and filed with the irs.”

“All officers, directors, and key employees are required to sign an annual self-disclosure of conflicts of interest statement. Furthermore, officers, directors and key employees are required to notify the ceo within 30 days of the discovery of a real or potential conflict of interest. Such conflicts of interest may include procurement, hiring, or any other area of organizational interest. The ceo (and chairman of the board in cases of director conflicts of interest) determines the appropriate action for those officers, directors, or key employees. With a conflict of interest, this, at a minimum, includes recusal from participation in the consideration of the proposed transaction in some cases. A conflict of interest may be deemed so severe as to require that the individual in question resigns from his/her role with counterpart international.”

“The ceo's salary is determined by the board. The board of directors is responsible for establishing the compensation for the ceo. The compensation is determined based on industry review of comparable data from similarly sized organization, in the same sector of activities, in the same geographic location and of similar sized operational budgets. Compensation reviews of the ceo are based on industry averages, counterpart's financial position and annual performance evaluation by the board including the administration of periodic 360 assessments. Each senior officer's salary is determined by the ceo, who, in turn, bases his/her decision upon external third party surveys and assessments. The last compensation review was done in april 2017.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Raul herrera: vice chair (through 12/16); chair (1/17-6/17); board member (eff. 6/17) mary karen wills: vice chair (through 1/17); acting chair (eff. 6/17); audit committee chair”

“Events including framework for cooperation conference and national conference for persons with disabilities. The two- day large scale, framework for cooperation conference, attended by 172 csos, prominent figures from the government, and media organizations, was followed by four themed roundtables that addressed csos and media engagement, challenges and opportunities, csos credibility, and sustainable cooperation between the sectors. These roundtables, conducted in january, may, august, and september, resulted in effective and enhanced cooperation between the sectors, and paved the way for creating agenda points for the upcoming framework for cooperation conference scheduled for may 2018. The national conference for persons with disabilities provided policy input in areas such as pwd health, education, training, and employment financial support services, along with the five-year afghanistan national disability action plan (andap). These two high level events highlighted acep's policy and advocacy activities carried out by family law parliamentary technical working group (fl-ptwg), the advocacy committee for persons with disabilities (acpd), non-government organizations (ngos) law advocacy group, and cso-national budget working group. Cabinet approval in july established the independent directorate of social affairs, martyrs and disabled (molsamd) which was previously the department of pwds under ministry of labour. In fy17, acep conducted three high-profile international study tours. The first financial sustainability study tour to india took place in january. The event exposed eight cso partner representatives to best practices applied by india's leading financially sustainable csos and developed a broader understanding of sustainability methodologies and planning and how csos can apply these in the afghan context. The national budget learning tour to india in february involved 10 csos, afghan parliament, national budget commission of parliament and national budget department of ministry of finance representation. The tour provided members of national budget advocacy group with the opportunity to visit a number of institutions and broaden their understanding of the roles of visited institutions working within the budget process, and how civil society engages during the development of the national budget. Throughout the reporting period, acep provided capacity building programs on ctip, human rights, women empowerment and advocacy to the 2017 ecsls. In addition, acep facilitated a 10-day study tour for 32 ecsls participants to sri lanka. During the study tour, ecsls learned about sri lanka's civil society actors' first hand experiences and gained insights from this on how best to: strengthen afghan civil society, contribute as members of civil society to peace building, and effectively advocate for effective change. Three domestic study tours to herat, balkh, and kabul during the third and fourth quarters for acep regional partners, enabled peer-to-peer learning environments for csos in different areas, including advocacy, c-tip, networking and partnership with the relevant local government organizations. Partners gained deep knowledge and understanding of the election cycle, and csos role in the election process. The tours' participants took steps for establishing networks which will facilitate future cooperation and coordination in their activities. In fy17, acep awarded 27 sub-national civic engagement and outreach grants to csos operating in 21 provinces, five regional civic engagement grants (rceg), and four key cso policy and advocacy grants. Acep's kabul-based partners engaged regularly with regional and provincial partners, providing technical support, and conducting ongoing performance appraisals and field visits, while the regional partners continued to provide the pcps with capacity building and organization development through acep's supported cascading trainings. In preparation for the brussels conference on afgha”

“The support for professional and institutional capacity enhancement (spice) program is a usaid-funded program, implemented by lwa partner management systems international (msi) in partnership with ifes and icnl as well as local civil society organizations. The goal of spice is to preserve and expand democratic space, reconciliation, and the exercise of free citizenship in sri lanka. Spice aims for increased and more inclusive citizen participation in development and governance, especially in conflict-affected areas. The full inclusion of marginalized groups such as women, the poor, youth, and conflict-affected populations are a major emphasis. Counterpart's technical approach is grounded in a deep understanding of the country context and managing a strong working relationship with msi, ifes, and icnl. Counterpart oversees a results-driven management plan geared to strengthening and drawing on the dynamic spirit of sri lankan civic actors. In 2017, spice supported the execution of 117 sub grants through 67 sri lankan csos. Spice also provided systematic capacity building support to 43 csos. Through these interventions spice contributed to the protection of citizen rights, promotion of active citizenship and reconciliation, gender empowerment and enhancement of governance, and management capacity of csos in the country, as envisaged. More than 40,000 individuals from low-income or marginalized communities received legal aid or victims' assistance throughout the life of the project which concluded in june 2017. The four-year ba distrito program in timor-leste is funded by usaid. The program will enhance the capacity of village (suco) councils to encourage and strengthen citizen participation and representation in local governance. The program will also improve communications and linkages of suco councils, district administrations, and other public service providers, increase access to formal and informal local legal institutions for marginalized citizens and the poor and strengthen electoral management bodies to promote more inclusive civic and voter participation in local elections. Ba distrito will helped improve people's lives and build more durable futures for rural populations across timor-leste. Through ba distrito, counterpart works with 100 suco councils across timor-leste and has effectively increased 98% of targeted suco councils' communication and collaboration with post administration and municipal level government. In 2017, the project helped build the capacity of 122 csos and government agencies through the provision of training, technical assistance, events, grants, exchange/study tour, etc. It has also helped 357 beneficiaries to access to legal aid or victim's assistance. 2,955 legal information and advocacy activities implemented by legal aid partners supported by the project. In azerbaijan, counterpart works on improving the status of women by raising public awareness on issues that affect women, improving women's abilities to affect key government policies, empowering more women to engage in the political process, and strengthening the capacity of civic and state organizations to address women's issues. During 2017, counterpart international continued making several unsuccessful attempts to register the grant extension with the ministry of justice. During this time wpp was able to implement several activities despite the restrictive environment. In september 2017, counterpart received a 2-year no-cost extension and would focus primarily on improving the status of women in azerbaijan through a more personalized mentoring program that will train young women at all levels of society, especially those struggling economically. Counterpart's civil society strengthening program (cssp) in morocco under the usaid global civil society strengthening leader with associates award (gcss lwa) aims to strengthen civil society's infrastructure and individual organizational capacity, with the goal of supporting civil society or”

“In september 2014, counterpart was awarded the $5.9 million fostering accountability and transparency (fact) program in zambia under the usaid global civil society strengthening leader with associates award (gcss lwa). The award was modified in november 2017 to extend the program until march 2020, and increased by $500k (to $6.4 million) to support the extractive industries transparency initiative (eiti). The goal of fact is to improve the enabling governance environment of zambia by increasing citizen demand for effective, transparent, and accountable service delivery. Fact engages a range of sector-specific civil society organizations (csos) to strengthen and increase meaningful engagement among zambian civil society, citizens, and the state. Fact activities support two key objectives: (1) strengthening capacity of local csos to enhance delivery and oversight of public service delivery in the education, health/hiv, sustainable rural livelihoods, and environment sectors; and (2) improving engagement between citizens and government service providers in the education, health/hiv, sustainable rural livelihoods, and environment sectors to improve service delivery. Targeting the eastern and lusaka provinces in zambia, fact is partnering with nine (9) csos currently working in the child and maternal health/hiv, education, and economic growth sectors (specifically climate change and environment) to improve their ability to develop advocacy strategies and social accountability approaches that enable active and broad citizen participation. Significant activities in fy17 were: (a) the fact program reached an additional 24 communities making the total number 74 across eight districts in the eastern and lusaka provinces; (b) regular assistance has been provided to 111 csos, of which 103 are at the grassroots community level; this is more than double the number supported in fy16; and (c) fact provided training to its partner csos' in gender and social inclusion (gsi) which helped them integrate gender into their work and make their programs more socially inclusive. These partners helped 250 women and youth achieve leadership roles within the 103 community structures. In march 2016, usaid awarded counterpart a cooperative agreement in the amount of $10.5 million to implement the four-year program entitled "parceria civica para boa governacao" (pcbg) in mozambique. The purpose of the program is to strengthen the impact of civic activism and to improve accountable, effective democratic governance in the target sectors. To this end, counterpart will partner with 12-18 mozambican civil society organizations (csos) to advocate in the target sectors of biodiversity conservation, climate change, education, extractive industry, health, transparent and accountable governance, and peaceful elections. The goal is supported by three interrelated objectives: (1) more effective advocacy by partner csos in target sectors, (2) strengthened organizational performance by partner csos, and (3) facilitation of credible, participatory, and peaceful electoral processes. Under objective one, pcbg held two rounds of grant applications concurrently in fy17. To select partners, pcbg organized a boot camp training for shortlisted organizations in june, attended by 35 representatives from 17 civil society organizations. Under objective two, pcbg adapted an organizational assessment tool, the organizational capacity process toolkit, which outlines the program's strategy of identifying its grantees' technical (advocacy) and organizational strengths and management processes including leadership, teamwork and decision-making. Activities related to electoral processes under objective three will begin in fy18. In april 2016, counterpart launched phase two of the usaid-funded youth for peace building in burundi program (y4pbb); y4pbb phase two ended on july 31, 2017. This $1.4 million program extension of y4pbb focused on building the capacity of burundian civil society org”

“In malawi, counterpart began the implementation of the usaid-funded $12.5 million "supporting the efforts of partners" (steps) program in june 2014. The steps program comprises two main components: (1) organizational capacity development (ocd) and (2) sub-grant awards and management for civil society organizations (csos) working in the areas of hiv/aids, malaria, and people with disabilities (pwd). In march 2016, the steps program received a program expansion of $4.3 million to include water and sanitation/hygiene (wash) activities, and extending the program to june 2019. Steps provide a comprehensive package of both tailored and general capacity building support to its partners, of which there are 27 organizations. Topics include financial management, board training, communications and report writing, human resource management, gender awareness and resource mobilization, among other topics. Counterpart's approach to the steps program focuses on inclusive stakeholder engagement, building lasting and collaborative partnerships, and fostering a cadre of transformational experts and leaders in civil society. The project takes an asset-based approach to organizational development, focusing on leveraging strengths within csos and facilitating access to best practices and information sharing. Similarly, counterpart approaches hiv/aids, malaria and other health issues as being part of a larger socioeconomic system; as such, its model for intervention is both participatory, to ensure its appropriateness to local contexts, and multi-sectoral in order to provide holistic solutions for targeted needs. Considerable progress was made in fy17 by csos receiving sub-grants and working on hiv/aids, malaria, and wash and pwd initiatives, including: 4,688 individuals were newly enrolled on antiretroviral therapy, 23,140 people living with hiv benefited from various care and support services provided outside a health facility, 33,369 were reached with malaria messages, and 595 community stakeholders were trained in wash approaches. Through the mandela washington fellowship for young africa leaders - yali (implemented by counterpart's partner: international research and exchanges board, inc (irex)), more than 500 youth leaders across the continent of africa have access to leadership development programs, academic coursework, practicums, mentorships, speaker opportunities and networking and network strengthening. The 998 fellows who participated in yali in 2017 are focused on developing their skills in business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership and public management. Once graduated from the program, yali fellows join a larger african leadership development network which is comprised of almost 100,000 young people who benefit from access to online platforms, in-person meetings and resource support to facilitate community development across the african continent. In 2015, usaid awarded to counterpart international a $15 million three-year project in democratic republic of congo (drc) entitled congo demokrasia, which aims to promote congolese citizens' informed voting and active and peaceful participation in elections that were originally scheduled to take place between 2015-16, delayed until december 2017, and then again until december 2018. The project was also extended until may 2019, and the award amount increased to a total of $19.9 million. The project is organized around two results: (1) strengthening the capacity of targeted csos to provide civic and voter education that mobilizes citizens to engage in the electoral process; and (2) increasing congolese citizens' understanding of the electoral process. As of the end of september 2017, counterpart issued 36 civic and voter education sub-grants and 34 in-kind grants to carry on its civic voter education activities. The sub-grants will bolster counterpart's capacity to enable csos, the ceni, and local authorities to have enriching exchanges with various communities not only in kinshasa, but”

“In january 2017, counterpart launched the $15 million usaid-funded strengthening human rights systems (shrs) program in el salvador. The overall goal of this five-year initiative is to help strengthen governmental and non-governmental human rights protection systems, resulting in an increasingly tolerant, just, and equitable el salvador. To that end, shrs will enhance the country's human rights systems with an emphasis on security, policing, and anti-discrimination through three complementary and mutually reinforcing objectives: 1) promoting democratic space; 2) strengthening human rights advocacy and monitoring of the security sector; and 3) preventing discrimination of vulnerable groups and improving their access to services. During fy17, the project completed a systemic analysis of the human rights situation in el salvador; carried out a key stakeholder mapping, including identifying consensus-building initiatives related to human rights; launched a national dialogue process with organizations representing vulnerable groups; and supported the development of a draft lgbti anti-discrimination policy for the ministry of justice and public security. The project also organized and hosted public events surrounding hearings before the inter-american commission on human rights and the repeal of el salvador's amnesty law, as well as private meetings that brought together key human rights players in the country, including the human rights ombudsman's office and the human rights unit of the national civilian police. In addition, the project provided training and technical assistance to government officials, including on dialogue strategies and consensus building and on providing services to victims of human rights violations. Civil society organizations, meanwhile, underwent organizational development assessments, as well as received technical assistance to prepare for upcoming visits of high-level international human rights officials. In ecuador, counterpart is implementing the civil society assistance program, working with three local csos to increase transparency and accountability at the national and municipal levels, foster diverse participation and engagement, and increase the ability of csos to operate cohesively and effectively. In 2017, counterpart supported its partners to train more than 950 individuals and assist more than 380 csos, social organizations, and government agencies. With counterpart's support, the local partners carried out a nationwide dialogue series among diverse citizens; executed local development projects co-designed and co-implemented by cso and municipal leaders; proposed legislative reforms through targeted public policy proposals; and provided technical and financial support to 11 local csos carrying out advocacy initiatives surrounding lgbti, women, and youth issues. Counterpart also provided technical assistance in advocacy and strategic planning and financial sustainability to its three partners to build their capacities to realize their organizational objectives, effect meaningful change, and sustain their activities beyond the civil society assistance program. In guatemala, counterpart continued the implementation of the usaid-funded participacion civica project. The five-year, $25-million-dollar project intends to strengthen and develop the institutional capacity of civil society organizations (csos) in guatemala to play a more effective role in addressing accountable governance and corruption issues. This year, the project provided technical assistance to 74 associations, foundations, ngos, think tanks, academia, and media outlets. Specific efforts were made to include more csos working with marginalized populations (indigenous, youth, lgbti community, women, and people with disabilities). Trainings were provided to 52 csos and 41 government institutions. The project also assisted 1,318 individuals through forums, consultation sessions and workshops. Two transparency/anti-corruption policies r”