During the third quarter, the project remained in its initiation phase. The recruitment processes continued for both UNDP and Ministry of Labour based National Technical Assistance (NTA) positions, procurement processes were also undertaken to equip SALAM project offices. Coordination was strengthened between project partners including through the Durable Solutions Working Group, the regular World Bank group meeting on labour migration, and the European Union (EU) funded Consortium of NGOs, who are undertaking a Labour Market Assessment.

Challenges encountered during the quarter were related to difficulties in recruiting project personnel and transferring funds between UNDP and ILO. These resulted in a slow project delivery. Also, applications from women for national technical advisory positions were extremely low.

UNDP mitigation measures and responses to the challenges included: support to MoLSAMD to develop and implement a revised accelerated recruitment plan and closer consultations with UNDP and ILO Headquarters to accelerate funds transfer. UNDP and MoLSAMD adopted special measures to strengthen gender parity and enable female candidate to be included in the interviews and recruitment process.