SIKA-EAST Weekly Program Update: February 8 - 13, 2014

The program is implemented by SIKA-East, a USAID-funded initiative. Key activities conducted during the week of February 8-13, 2014, included the completion of two karez extension projects in Logar and Maydan Wardak Provinces. These projects were successfully implemented, providing villagers with access to clean water. Lessons Learned workshops were conducted in Ahmad Abad, Gurbuz, Jalrez, and Qarabagh Districts, with a total of 154 participants, including 108 men and 46 women. The purpose of these workshops was to identify challenges and successes of the program, suggest solutions, and take actions to improve SIKA-East interventions. Additionally, ten training activities were conducted in eight districts, attended by 97 men and two women, focusing on Grants Management and Resource Dialogue and Advocacy. Grants and engineering activities also took place during the week. Thirteen grants, with a cumulative value of nearly $390,000, were awarded in ten districts. Nineteen milestone payments, amounting to over $167,000, were disbursed to projects in 12 districts. Since the beginning of the project, 345 grant applications, including 339 infrastructure and six capacity building projects, valued at more than $15.2 million, have been received, and 229 applications have been approved by USAID. In the province of Ghazni, the Provincial Gender Officer facilitated sub-coordination efforts by meeting with the head of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation office in Andar. The meeting was successful in determining similar programs that could be implemented in conjunction with one another to avoid duplication. Additionally, SIKA-East and PRRD trainers conducted four sessions of Grant Management training for members of the DDA+s in Andar, Dih Yak, and Khwaja Umari, with a total of 23 men and two women attending. The program also continued to work on logistical arrangements for a Service Provider Fair (SPF) for Khost Province, scheduled to be held on February 25 and 26. A detailed assessment report will be prepared and shared for further planning and action. Furthermore, a meeting was held between SIKA-East and MRRD to discuss the voice messaging proposal, and MRRD approved the SOW without any changes.