SIKA-EAST Weekly Program Update: June 7 – 12, 2014

The participants included representatives from NABDP, Department of Women's Affairs (DoWA), provincial officers, district social workers from the new districts, and newly hired SIKA-East field staff. The training was facilitated by both NABDP and SIKA-East trainers, and the leadership of MRRD's Local Institutions Development Department (LIDD) and Community Led Development Department addressed the participants and took an active part in the closing of the session. The main objective of this Training of Trainers was to inform all staff and stakeholders about the revised District Strategic Planning Process and train the newly hired staff on District Project Portfolio (DPP) development. The training also educated the provincial staff on how to integrate gender into the DPP process and highlight women's problems on the Cycle 1 list. The training sessions were held in eight districts, and a total of 264 men and 107 women attended the sessions. Since the beginning of the program, 24,212 individuals – 18,797 men and 5,615 women – have attended a total of 852 training sessions. The training focused on Stakeholder Orientation, Governance Foundation, Grants Management, and Infrastructure Project Implementation. In addition, 246 men and 107 women from eight districts received training in these areas. The fast-track projects identified by DDAs in the new districts are having narratives developed. So far, ten scopes of work have been developed and shared with line departments for further processing. These projects will be implemented immediately after SIKA-East is launched and will help the program and other government stakeholders to control people's expectations and build confidence until DPPs have been developed. A concept note on voice messaging was prepared and shared with Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) for their feedback. The proposed system will be used for citizen feedback on issues and to gauge citizen satisfaction levels for monitoring and evaluation purposes. SIKA-East is also coordinating women's engagement in activities in the new districts. An average of 46 women attended Stakeholder Orientation and Governance Foundation training in Maydan Shahr District during the week. In 11 training sessions during the week, 246 men and 107 women from eight districts received training in Stakeholder Orientation, Governance Foundation, Grants Management, and Infrastructure Project Implementation. Two grant awards, valued at over $114,000, were made this week for projects in Zurmat and Zadran Districts of Paktya Province. Seventeen milestone payments, valued at over $187,000, were made to projects in ten districts. Two grant applications, worth more than $157,000, were reviewed and approved by joint MRRD and SIKA-East Grant Review Committees. The approved projects are slated for two districts. Four engineering designs, worth nearly $257,000, were completed for four districts. To date, 246 projects, with a total value of over $8.8 million, have been awarded to 22 districts, including Garda Serai Sub-district of Zadran District in Paktya. Four hundred and seventy-seven grant applications – for 377 infrastructure, 81 non-infrastructure, and 19 transition initiative projects, valued at over $18.6 million – have been received, and 359 applications have been approved by USAID. A Grants and M&E team conducted site visits to two flood protection wall construction projects being implemented by the Deh Nihal CDC and the Tor. The Paktya Education Department convened a conference to announce the imminent reopening of 18 schools in Zadran, Shewak, and Garda Serai. The meeting was attended by almost 500 people plus a large media contingent. The participants included district elders, government officials, and members of the communities where the schools are located. The Director of the Paktya Education Department welcomed the participants, announced the schools' reopening, and thanked SIKA-East for its efforts in focusing public attention on the issue and in coordinating the drive to reopen the schools. Leaders of the Zadran District Development Assembly thanked the education authorities for reopening the schools and promised to support them. The Education Department pledged to provide books, stationery, tents, and carpets for all the reopened schools and to obtain approval as soon as possible for the construction of buildings to house the open-air schools. Five infrastructure projects were completed in four provinces: Tarakay protection wall in Laja Ahmad Khail District (Paktya); Eissa Khil intake structure in Tani and Abdul Khil protection wall in Mando Zayi (Khost); Dasht-e-Qala Nazir karez rehabilitation in Baraki Barak (Logar); and Zaimani reservoir in Jalrez (Maydan Wardak).