Annual Report: Community Cohesion Initiative, October 2012-September 2013

(Creative). The initiative's objectives were to increase community resilience in areas vulnerable to insurgent exploitation by strengthening ties between local actors, customary governance structures, and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA). CCI's goals were to increase cohesion among and between communities, with a focus on building Afghan ownership of decisions and results. CCI operated in 19 districts in Regional Command East, Regional Command South, and Regional Command Southwest, with a budget of $161 million and expenditures of $67,853,208 as of the reporting period. The initiative implemented clusters of community-focused small grants in strategic districts, utilizing both "soft" and "hard" activities to strengthen linkages among and between members of vulnerable communities, their customary leadership, and the GIRoA at district and provincial levels. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) played a crucial role in CCI's programming, with a robust M&E system gathering information from multiple levels and sources to assess progress, learn, and apply lessons. The initiative's M&E system included self-monitoring, atmospherics, and data from third parties, measuring programming success and providing information necessary to improve activities and inform assessments. During the reporting period, CCI designed and developed 328 activities, including in-kind grants, cash grants, Direct Development Grants (DDGS), and Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA). The initiative's core methodology relied on participation by communities, including marginalized groups such as women and youth, and facilitating interaction between Afghan citizens and their government officials. CCI's achievements during the reporting period included strengthening relationships between communities and GIRoA through Community Cohesion Jirgas and Project Shuras. The initiative observed local community and government partners coming together to respond to, withstand, and mitigate the effects of adverse situations, malign influences, and community grievances. CCI's activities targeting women and girls included 16 projects, benefiting 15,521 female beneficiaries and 8,263 female youth beneficiaries. The initiative's sectoral distribution of estimated activity costs was as follows: Agriculture (11%), Economic Growth (7%), Education (17%), Governance (14%), Health (0%), Infrastructure (11%), Media (8%), Socio-Cultural (12%), and Transportation (19%). CCI's carefully planned community and district interventions, involving GIRoA local officials and traditional leaders, played a significant role in ensuring successful activity outcomes at the local level and fostering better relationships between GIRoA and communities. The number of cleared activities rose dramatically from 11 in October 2012 to 321 as of September 30, 2013, pushing the program towards achieving its national objectives. CCI's approach of involving GIRoA local officials and traditional leaders in the majority of activities has contributed to successful activity outcomes and fostered better relationships between GIRoA and communities.