The current Manual of Procedures (MoP) is designed for the PROCEED program implemented by the Central Regional State and South Regional State of Ethiopia, according to the CET 1129 02 Grant financial agreement. Its main objective is to define all procedures needed for the implementation of the PROCEED program by these two Regions (BoF, BoA, BoW) and departments (Department of Agriculture and Department of Water).

It has been developed with the support of Technical Assistance and through multiple meetings in the two Regions to ensure a clear understanding of the outlined rules and procedures.

As PROCEED program’s primary objective is to strengthen the capacities of the Regions, and of their local institutions, in delivering quality and effective water and agriculture services to rural communities, the program is directly managed by the respective Bureaus and Departments, rather than by a separate program management unit. All procedures have been designed to be practical and directly executable by the existing personnel of the Bureaus and Departments, and should be seen as best management practices for these activities beyond the PROCEED program’s period.

There is one single MoP for both the South and Central Region to ensure coherence in the program’s implementation across both Regions. However, specific “Implementing Documents” may be developed by each Region to accommodate local needs, provided that they respect the rules and principle defined in the MoP core document and annexes. A list of all implementing documents will be maintained by the administrative assistance specifying for which region each specific document is applicable.

The MoP has been created to organise the procedures for the PROCEED program. The list and mapping of the procedures are detailed in “Part 2: Management of the MOP”.

This MoP defines all the procedures related to the implementation of the PROCEED program by the Central and South bureaus and departments. All expenses made from the budget allocated by the AFD to the Regions for this program must comply with the procedures defined in this MoP.

This MoP does not cover the budget and procurement managed by the MoF in the frame of this grant financial agreement, nor the budget managed by ARIA.

Please note that, prior to the application of this MoP, the first year of the PROCEED program will focus on testing and consolidating the first version of the MoP, while finalising the Annexes in collaboration with the Regions, technical assistance, and the AFD. During this initial year, ARIA will manage the PROCEED funds allocated to the activities.

A Procedure is a detailed description of a process, providing clear guidance on how tasks are to be performed within the frame of the PROCEED program. It typically includes the following sections:

• Objectives, with a clear statement of the purpose and goals of the procedure.
• Responsibilities, with a definition of roles and the specific duties of individuals or groups involved in the process.
• Inputs: the resources, data, or elements provided by other procedures that are necessary for the successful execution of the process.
• Workflow: a step-by-step outline of how the process should be carried out, specifying who is responsible for each action.
• Outputs: the expected results and deliverables produced by the process.

For easy reference, each procedure is assigned a code:

• DOC: General procedures related to the organisation and the management of the MOP
• GOV: Procedures related to governance.
• RH: Procedure for Human Resources management and capacity development plan
• ADM: Administrative procedures.
• AS: Procedures related to the accounting system and financial management.

For the technical procedures:

• WS: Water Service.
• SWC: Soil and Water Conservation.

Sustainability measures are integrated into these Procedures, their Annexes and Implementing Documents. A table in Annex Annex GOV3 – A1 lists these measures and the documents in which they are integrated.

Annexes are referenced by the procedure codes. For example, to complement procedure GOV 1 describing the general principles for the governance of the PROCEED program, Annex “Annex GOV1 – A1” defines the list of Steering Committee members.

Implementing Documents are produced to support the practical application of each procedure. These documents provide additional guidance, tools, templates, or forms necessary to ensure the procedures are implemented effectively.