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

Three projects were completed, including tailoring training for women in four hawzas of Baraki Barak, Chahashanbi karez extension project in Baraki Barak District, and Suryak karez rehabilitation and cleaning project in Mohammad Agha District. Local Governance training was conducted jointly by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) and SIKA-East team. The four-day training aimed to build the capacity of District Social Workers (DSWs) and National Area Based Development Program (NABDP) community mobilizers. A total of 40 trainees, including three females, participated in the training. The main objectives were to integrate MRRD and SIKA-East curricula and strengthen the knowledge base of DSWs and NABDP community mobilizers on key roles and functions of sub-national entities. SIKA-East supported Directorates of Women's Affairs (DoWA) in Ghazni, Logar, Khost, Maydan Wardak, and Paktya to host province-wide events in recognition of International Women's Day on March 8. Nearly 2,000 participants, including 1,549 women and 409 men, attended the five events. Women made up an overwhelming 80% of the participants, a huge success for women's inclusion. The events provided a rare forum for influential women from districts across each province to interact with senior GIRoA authorities and raise issues that were cited as some of the key sources of conflict during district planning sessions. The main objectives of the events were to amplify female voices, representation, and leadership. The 'voice' end of the spectrum must begin with creating the pre-conditions for voice, through awareness-raising and building the capacity to mobilize. These events created a platform for building the capacity of women to mobilize around their needs and concerns, and increased access to important Line Directorates. To ensure continued engagement of female leaders and their greater participation in key governance processes at the district and provincial levels, SIKA-East will facilitate follow-on Action Summits in each province ("Jalsas") to review progress on government action concerning the issues raised, deepen the dialogue with key line departments, and improve cross-district networking. SIKA-East and MRRD/Community Led Development Department (CLDD) jointly conducted a four-day Local Governance training from March 9 to 12 for DSWs and community mobilizers and managers from National Based Development Program (NABDP). The total number of trainees was 40, including three females. The main objectives of this training were to integrate MRRD and SIKA-East curricula and strengthen the knowledge base of DSWs and NABDP community mobilizers on key roles and functions of sub-national entities. SIKA-East met with CLDD Director to discuss the ways to support CLDD in terms of implementing an information system as outlined in an initial concept note written by CLDD. The two initiatives that SIKA-East is going to investigate working on in the short-term are data collection and reporting on training for all levels (village to district to provincial to Kabul), and a local-based training on planning and implementation of series of community events. During the week, three grants, with a cumulative value of over $60,000, were awarded in three districts. To date, 415 grant applications – for 337 infrastructure, 72 non-infrastructure, and six transition initiative projects, all together valued at nearly $17 million – have been received, and 275 applications have been approved by USAID. Seven grant applications, valued at nearly $292,000, were reviewed and approved by joint MRRD and SIKA-East GRC. The approved projects are slated for five districts. Five new engineering designs, valued at nearly $158,000 and covering projects in ten districts, were completed.