SIKA-EAST Weekly Program Update: April 27–May 2, 2013

In Ghazni, the Provincial Rural Rehabilitation and Development Department Director held two coordination meetings with the SIKA-East Provincial Management Unit, discussing progress, plans, and coordination with provincial authorities. The meetings also addressed the role of PRRD social organizers in SIKA-East and challenges in grants applications development. In Andar, the PRRD Director and Provincial Management Unit manager met with the District Governor to discuss security for SIKA-East engineering teams conducting surveys for infrastructure projects. The District Governor pledged full support for the team's security. The Andar District Support Unit formally shared the list of Cycle 1 projects with the Provincial Governor, PRRD, and various line departments to avoid duplication of efforts. Data was collected to update the Andar district profile. In Dih Yak, the SIKA-East communications officer met with the District Governor to discuss CDCs that have projects in Cycle 1 and are not paying attention to project development, paperwork, and project surveys. The District Governor promised to support SIKA-East in the process and asked the district field office to provide him with the list of members in those CDCs. The men's and women's communication committees for Dih Yak conducted their sixth meeting, and the Deh Yak district profile has been updated and submitted to Kabul. Surveying for the Tenfer canal protection wall was completed, along with a site plan, design drawings, cost estimate, bill of quantities, and schedule. In Jaghatu and Qarabagh, an engineering team from Kabul conducted a survey of the proposed District Support Unit offices to assess the extent of work required to rehabilitate the proposed offices. The team developed cost estimates and bills of quantities to complete the office rehabilitations. In Khwaja Umari, the District Support Unit moved to their new office, and a stakeholder survey was completed. The Khwaja Umari district profile was completed and submitted to Kabul for further action. The Ghazni gender officer produced a list of 149 women involved in governmental or social activities in Khwaja Umari District. In Khost, the Provincial Management Unit continued recruitment of staff, hiring a district engineer, a field service officer, and three M&E officers. The installation of a connex to serve as an office building continued, with completion expected next week. In Logar, the Deputy Provincial Governor met with SIKA-East's acting Provincial Management Unit manager to discuss radio drama scripts prepared by SIKA-East. The Deputy Governor promised to share them with the District Governors for Mohammad Agha and Baraki Barak. The resource development officers for Mohammad Agha and Baraki Barak were instructed to share Cycle 1 projects on their DPPs with line departments to prevent duplication of effort during implementation. In Baraki Barak, SIKA-East's grants officer was assigned to liaise with the National Solidarity Program to obtain forms and information on their grants process. In Khoshi, SIKA-East's District Support Unit manager met with the District Governor to inform him about plans to launch the program. The Governor proposed holding the launch in the district center. A stakeholder mapping process was launched by the core planning team, which includes representatives from the District Development Authority, District Community Council, District Governor, and others. The team identified 40 influential people to be interviewed to nominate yet more people from the district who have a share in stability programming. In Mohammad Agha, SIKA-East's resource development officer conducted sub-coordination meetings to provide community members with an opportunity to identify gaps in service delivery and share their concerns with service providers. Seven men and five women from the Mohammad Agha DDA+ were present at the meetings. The men's communication committee for Mohammad Agha held its seventh meeting, during which the participants discussed their recent activities and reported on a recent meeting with the District Governor. In Paktya, a Service Providers Coordination Meeting was held in Gardiz, attended by service providers from governmental and non-governmental agencies, as well as DDA members from Zadran and Zurmat Districts. The PRRD Director for Paktya outlined the goals and objectives of SIKA-East and reported on progress to date in Zadran and Zurmat. The Deputy Provincial Governor spoke about the importance of working together to implement projects effectively and avoid duplication of effort. In Zadran, Resource Dialogue and Advocacy training was conducted for 47 men from the Zadran DDA+. The participants paid close attention and took an active part in the discussions. In Zurmat, a second Stability Planning Process workshop was conducted for an average of 42 men from the Zurmat DDA+. The objective of the second session was to