Quarterly Report: USAID Promote: Women in Government

and Afghan Governments to empower 75,000 women between the ages of 18 and 30, and help ensure they are included among a new generation of Afghan political, business, and civil society leaders. The project aims to empower women to become leaders alongside their male counterparts, and ensure they have the skills, experience, knowledge, and networks to succeed. The project has three objectives: facilitate women's entry into decision-making roles in government service, encourage a hospitable environment for female staff in government, and increase local stakeholder support for women in government. Through the advancement of these objectives, the project aims to achieve several results, including at least 3,000 female university graduates and secondary school graduates completing one-year government internships and transitioning to full-time employment, and 70 percent of project participants employed by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) within 24 months of finishing their internship. During the first quarter of 2016, the project team had several meetings with key ministries and potential partners in preparation for embedding interns into the ministries. The team also held meetings with the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) and other ministries to discuss their resource needs for training the next cohort of 200 interns, training curriculum updates, and the duration and timing of the internship training in Kabul and the provinces. Additionally, the team participated in Promote Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings with the other Promote task orders to discuss opportunities and challenges for the Promote program. The project also implemented the Women's Internship Program, which included broadcasting advertisements for internship applications on Tolo TV and Radio Arman in Kabul, Radio Sulh in Parwan, and Radio Nejraab in Kapisa for one week. Advertisements were also posted on the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development (ACBAR) and the Promote website, and flyers were displayed at various public places, such as the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA), the Afghanistan Civil Service Institute (ACSI), and the Department of Women's Affairs (DoWA) in Parwan and Kapisa. Flyers were also disseminated among civil society organizations (CSOs) and through public and private university networks. The project has several key partners, including Equal Access (EA), Afghan Learning and Development Organization (ALDO), Afghan Technical and Vocational Institute (ATVI), Equality for Peace and Democracy (EPD), Tadbeer Consulting, Services International, LLC, and Afghanistan Public Protection Force (APPF). The project's geographic coverage is Afghanistan, and its period of performance is from April 21, 2015, to April 20, 2020. The project's implementation is focused on several key activities, including relationship building, women's internship program, and collaboration with GIRoA, other donor projects, or other USAID projects. The project's management and administrative issues are also being addressed, including personnel, adaptation of the activity, modifications and amendments, and success stories and photos. The project's key achievements during the first quarter of 2016 include relationship building with key ministries and potential partners, implementation of the Women's Internship Program, and participation in Promote Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings with the other Promote task orders. The project's constraints and critical issues include the need for additional resources to support the training of the next cohort of 200 interns, and the need for updates to the training curriculum.