Musharikat Quarterly Report FY2020 Q1

The organization continued to build the size and influence of its coalitions, registering 944 new members within the quarter. Musharikat's online platform and live events were used to engage members, with a significant focus on the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. Members discussed various topics, including the causes of decreases in school participation for girls, root causes of violence against women, and the importance of raising awareness on gender violence in rural areas. Under Objective 2, Musharikat trained 852 coalition members through 32 rounds of persuasion training in all five regions. The training was highly effective, with 88% of participants agreeing that the overall quality of the training was good, and 92% agreeing that their expectations were met. Over 91% of participants found the training materials useful and indicated that they would use them in the future. Musharikat launched its national 16 Days of Activism campaign to raise awareness on the negative consequences of GBV and opportunities to counter GBV. The campaign was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Chief Executive Officer's Office, and reached all 34 provinces, directly engaging over 14,000 participants. The campaign was highly effective in reaching women and other key segments of the population, including religious leaders, youth, and internally displaced persons. Under Objective 3, Musharikat's Access to Justice and Anti-Harassment of Women and Girls coalitions continued its mass media outreach component to educate communities on the importance of anti-harassment of women and girls committees within provincial Directorates of Education and Provincial Councils. Musharikat and the coalitions facilitated seven radio roundtables to raise awareness on the importance of anti-harassment committees in Ghor, Takhar, Faryab, Samangan, and Sar-e-Pul DoEs and PCs. Musharikat is also working closely with the Ministry of Public Health, particularly with the Community-Based Health Center Department, to support the decrease in maternal and child mortality. The organization is supporting the implementation of the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan, which aims to promote women's equality and empowerment. The Women in the Peace Process coalition continued to build an alliance of civic society organizations to build partners under the Musharikat peace process alliance building objective. Musharikat formalized its relationship with Afghanistan Women's Network as a national CSO network through a Memorandum of Understanding. Musharikat's relationship with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was strengthened through the campaign coordination, with the organization, the Office of the CEO, MoWA, and the MoJ committing to several follow-up activities, including a follow-up conference on March 8, 2020, as part of the International Women's Day activities.