SIKA-EAST Weekly Program Update: March 1–7, 2013

In Ghazni Province, the Provincial Rural Rehabilitation Department (PRRD) Director and his staff met with the SIKA-East manager to discuss completed and planned workshops, as well as a package of grant applications and the Dih Yak District Project Portfolio (DPP). PRRD made practical recommendations on the documents that SIKA-East will follow. In Andar District, PRRD and SIKA-East continued the Stability Planning Process training for men, which began last week. The training focused on project feasibility, accountability, location, and related subjects. On March 3 and 4, training in Resource Dialogue was conducted for female District Development Assembly (DDA+) members from Andar District. The participants learned about services and resources available in their geographical areas and how to access those services using the Service Providers Catalogue developed for Ghazni Province. In Dih Yak District, grant applications for Cycle 1 projects have been developed, but the Community Development Councils (CDCs) that originated three projects could not be reached. SIKA-East's Ghazni staff are working to get in touch with the CDCs. The Ghazni engineering team has begun conducting surveys for Dih Yak Cycle 1 projects, completing surveys and developing proposals for 30 wells in the Sulaimanzai area of the district by the end of the week. In Khost Province, SIKA-East has initiated procurement of a new connex office building, furnishings, and other equipment for the Khost Provincial Management Unit. In Logar Province, the SIKA-East manager attended a meeting in the provincial council compound to introduce Logar-based USAID partners and their relevant activities to a UNAMA representative. The provincial council members and government officials insisted that the Baraki Barak District Support Unit office be moved to the district center for better implementation of the program. In Baraki Barak District, Project Design and Development training was conducted for an average of 41 men from the DDA and DDA+. A training in Grant Process and Application Development began for female members of the Baraki Barak DDA and DDA+, attended by an average of 30 participants over three days. The participants were competent to fill out grant applications by the end of the training. In Khoshi District, renovation of the District Support Unit office has started and continued throughout the week. In Mohammad Agha District, the women's and men's communication committees held their fourth meetings to identify resources and coalition partners for previously identified projects. The Logar women's communication committee met to discuss how to get their message out. In Paktya Province, SIKA-East's capacity building officer and communication officer met with a provincial council member to coordinate program activities and women's involvement in them. The provincial council member suggested conducting awareness training for women of Gardiz, who are mentally prepared to participate in such trainings. In Zadran District, PRRD and SIKA-East trainers completed the second part of the Stability Planning Process workshop, attended by 59 men who focused on project feasibility, accountability, and other topics. In Zurmat District, SIKA-East and PRRD started the second part of the Stability Planning Process, which will continue until next week and cover the same topics as the Zadran training. An average of 47 men took an active part in the training. On March 3 and 4, Resourcing Dialogue training was conducted for female members of the Zurmat DDA+, providing them with knowledge of service, service delivery, resources, and present service providers in their area. In Maydan Wardak Province, the PRRD Director hosted a coordination meeting with representatives of organizations implementing MRRD projects. All project implementers were requested to present their annual plan to PRRD, and SIKA-East was asked to submit grant forms in advance. A SIKA-East team met with the Wardak PRRD Director to clarify the issue of qualified and unqualified CDCs on the list received by NSP Facilitating Partners. In Chaki Wardak District, SIKA-East and PRRD trainers completed the second part of the Stability Planning Process workshop. Following this session, they trained 44 men from the Chaki Wardak DDA+ in Resource Dialogue and Advocacy, using the recently developed District Project Portfolio to guide them in identifying specific advocacy projects. The participants noted their support to continue these trainings, indicating they find them helpful for mobilizing local resources and advocating for them. In Nirkh District, the District Governor received SIKA-East's District Support Unit Manager and gave his approval of the recently developed radio drama scripts. The District Support Unit engineer completed a survey for road repair in Taitamor Village. On March 6 and 7, Nirkh and Saydabad communication and outreach officers held separate Fundraising trainings for 24 male and 18 female members of the district's DDA and CDCs. In Saydabad District,