INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT II - LIFE-IWRMII ...

far along and budget allocated to the Tasks 1.2 and 1.4 was nominal to begin with, and some had
been used at the time of de-scoping. A contract modification to reflect the revised scope of work
has not been issued by USAID to date.
On April 5 a USAID delegation visited West Belbeis Integrated Water Management District
(IWMD). The delegation included John Crocker (Political Officer, U.S. Embassy Cairo), Catherine
Picard (Environment and Natural Resource Officer), and David Roberts (Nile Program, Foreign
Affairs Officer), in addition to John Pasch (Water Team Leader) and Eng. Wafaa Faltaous (COTR).
Eng. Nabil Fawzi (IRG) accompanied the delegation.
A Ministerial Decree was issued on April 14 reforming the IWRM II Steering Committee to include
the following members: Head of Egyptian Public Authority for Drainage Projects (Chairman), Head
of Irrigation Department, Head of Planning Sector (Project Coordinator), Head of Groundwater
Sector, Head of the Minister's Technical Office, Head of Irrigation Sector, Undersecretary of Water
Advisory Services, USAID representative (COTR), and IRGs Chief of Party.
Long-Term Technical Assistance (LTTA), Senior Strategic Communication and Public Awareness
Specialist Ms. Cheryl Groff’s one-year assignment was extended through June 2011. She completed
her LTTA assignment and returned to the United States on June 30.
In a second government reshuffle, H.E. Minister Dr. Hussein El-Atfy, resigned in July. Dr. Hesham
Kandil, MWRI Head of the Nile Sector, was appointed as the new Minister on July 18. HE Minister
Kandil issued a ministerial decree on August 9 appointing Dr. Khaled Toubar to the IWRM II
Steering Committee. Another decree was issued on August 16 assigning Dr. Toubar as the Project
Coordinator in addition to his position as General Director for Design and Barrage Safety under the
Reservoir and Grand Barrage Sector.
The project started the year employing six MWRI engineers on Leave Without Pay (LWOP) working
full time – two in the Cairo office and two each in the Zagazig and Mansoura Regional Offices. Dr.
Moamen El Sharkawy and Eng. Amira Abdel Hady were assigned to the Cairo office. Eng. Ayman
Shedid, Water Management Specialist and Eng. Soha Mostafa, Water Information Specialist, were
assigned to the Zagazig Regional Office. Eng. Elbayoumi Ali Ez Eldeen, Water Management
Specialist and Eng. Akmal Badie Henein, Water Information Specialist were assigned to the
Mansoura Regional Office. The LWOP decree expired at the end of June and MWRI recalled all of
them on July 14. This left the staff very short-handed. MWRI issued new LWOP decrees for Dr.
Moamen and Engrs. Amira in August, and for Ayman and Akmal in September and all four returned
to work as project staff. The other two field positions were filled by Eng. Tamer Gomaa in Zagazig
in mid-October and Eng. Mohamed Bakry in Mansoura in mid-November. The project has been
fully staffed since mid-October after 4 months of being short staffed.
Andrew Tczap, IRG Home Office (HO) Senior Manager, completed a 15-day assignment (March 30
–April 16) to prepare a management assessment of the project, assist with preparing Year 3 Work
Plan, and assist with a budget review.
Dr. Craig Anderson, Expat Institutional Development Specialist, completed a 22-day short-term
technical assistance (STTA) assignment (March 30–April 28) to assist with preparing Year 3 Work
Plan, assist with Task 1.3 Improvements in Water Productivity and Efficiency, and review the
Updated Communications Plan.
Firras Traish, IRG Project Coordinator/Procurement Officer completed a 12-day STTA assignment
(May 19 –June 2) to review procurement and purchasing files.
Dr. J. Fredericks (COP) was reassigned to the Home Office by IRG and he departed Egypt on May
12. Andrew Tczap arrived Cairo on May 9 to take up the position of COP vacated by Dr.
Fredericks.
2 ANNUAL REPORT YEAR 3 (JANUARY – DECEMBER 2011)