SIKA-WEST WEEKLY BULLET POINTS NO. 107: March 25-31, 2014

Saleh Mohammad Baik, rang the Neswan High school’s bell to start the new education year on March 26th. The event was attended by over 100 people, including government officials, Ulema, and women. The Education Manager delivered a speech highlighting the achievements of the government in the education sector in the district. Mrs. Safia, the School Principal, emphasized the importance of women's literacy in educating their children and reducing community miseries. The SIKA-West Governance Manager met with the SIKA-South Capacity Building Department in Kabul on March 31st to standardize training materials and coordinate common training approaches. Community Development facilitated a four-day Project Management training in the Shindand District Government Office from March 24-27. The training covered grant agreements, project milestone requirements, procurement processes, and procurement processes. The SIKA-West Gender Team will track the request for a market place for women submitted by the Gender Working Group (GWG) to the Provincial Governor (PG) on March 31st. The PG pledged to follow up on this issue after the Provincial Election. The Qadis District Governor facilitated the DSC meeting on March 25th, where a request for a community hall in the district center was discussed. The request was filtered through the SAM criteria and not included in the mitigation activity list. The SIKA-West Chief of Party (COP) met with Aqa Mohammad Sediqi, the Herat DRRD Director, and Mr. Ghulal Sakhi Alami, the NABDP Regional Manager, on March 27th. A number of material requests were received from the Herat DRRD and referred to the MRRD SIKA Unit and USAID. An agreement was made to have the Herat NABDP Department review SIKA-West DSC mitigation activities. The SIKA-West Governance personnel provided one-on-one mentoring to Mr. Habibullah Alimi, the Manager of the Pashtun Zarghun District Legal Department, to develop a departmental annual work plan outlining legal services provided to district residents on March 27th. The Governance Department will track these activities and provide support in the provision of these services. The Ghor Gender Working Group reported residents' concerns to the Education Department about male teachers who were unqualified for their positions. The Education Department agreed to address these concerns and consider a previous request to include girls' education in girls' schools. The SIKA-West Department provided technical mentoring to 16 CDCs during the past week. Monthly District Workplans were agreed to between SIKA-West District Support Teams (DSTs) and District Governors in the target districts. The SIKA-West Gender Team will track the request for a market place for women submitted by the Gender Working Group (GWG) to the Provincial Governor (PG) on March 31st. The Provincial Governor pledged to follow up on this issue after the Provincial Election. The SIKA-West Department assessed 16 projects in Bala Bolk, Pusht-e Rod, Pashtun Zarghun, Kushk Rabat-e Sangi, Shindand, Qadis, and Muqur Districts during the week. The SIKA-West Department worked with the DRRD District Social Workers (DSW) to visit and inspect two project sites in Muqur District. The SIKA-West Department will continue to track and monitor these projects and provide support as needed.