SIKA-West Weekly Bullet Points No. 118: July 1-7, 2014

The conflict involved Mr. Najibullah, who was attacked and injured in March 2014, and accused Mr. Sallahuddin and his son of the attack. The TCRC organized four mediation sessions with the conflicting parties and successfully addressed the conflict on June 22nd. Project handover ceremonies were conducted for the culverts rehabilitation project in Khalifa Hai Gulchin in Qadis and roads rehabilitation projects in Kharestan Haji Saduddin, Kharestan Mohammad Anwar, and Abdul Aziz villages in Muqur District on July 5th and 6th. The ceremonies were attended by the District Governors, DRRD representatives, and CDCs members. In-line with efforts to improve government service delivery, a series of coordination meetings were held with the Municipality Department and the Deputy Provincial Governor in Ghor Province for finding a solution in collecting garbage from the city streets. The Deputy Provincial Governor proposed to organize an awareness-raising campaign. It was agreed that the Feroz Koh Acting Mayor attend at the next Komite Sobate Woleswali and share this issue with the DDA and CDCs. Abdul Qudos Sharifi, the Pashtun Zarghun District Technical Manager, along with the DRRD District Social Worker, Mr. Ataullah, organized a project site visit for the 85-meter flood protection wall in Siager village on July 1st. The wall was rehabilitated to prevent floods and damages to lands and houses. Grants approved by MRRD and IDLG in target districts totaled 297 projects valued at $6,673,380. Currently, CDCs are implementing 76 projects valued at $3,253,038. A total of 193 projects valued at $2,603,043 have been completed. Twenty-five projects valued at $1,379,574 are pending with the USAID Vetting Unit for action. SIKA-West has requested USAID support to expedite these pending requests. Cross-Cutting Capacity Building continued with mentoring the district government staff in the area of work prioritization, improving inventory and record keeping, filing system, preparing Organizational Chart, and basic computer skills in Bala Boluk, Pusht-e Rod, Shindand, Pashtun Zarghun, Feroz Koh, Shahrak, Muqur, Qadis, Qala-i-Naw. Advocacy and How to Develop Concept Note training was provided to eight Pashtun Zarghun DDA members on July 2nd. The training aimed to enable the DDA members to advocate for the residents' needs and develop a concept note for Kitchen Gardening project.