SIKA-WEST WEEKLY BULLET POINTS NO. 157: April 21-27, 2015

The rehabilitation project has provided a better educational environment and facilities for 2076 students, consisting of 1,121 boys and 955 girls. In the Farah/Ghor/Badghis/Herat region, key points were discussed during the Muqur and Qala-i-Naw mixed Komite Sobate Woleswalis' meetings. The Muqur District Governor and the Badghis Deputy Provincial Governor led the meetings, which involved 43 participants, including district residents and government officials. A key point discussed in Qala-i-Naw was the ongoing Polio vaccination campaign by UNICEF in Badghis Province. The PGO asked the Education Department and the Haj & Religious Affairs Department to cooperate with UNICEF and inform residents about the vaccination campaign. The Communications and Public Outreach Department is working to finalize project video footage highlighting the continued role and importance of the IDLG/MRRD led Komite Sobate Woleswalis' roles in addressing district community grievances and the current impact of GIRoA led basic services. The Stabilization, Governance & Gender Herat HQ Departments are currently engaged with the reviewing and archiving of program records. SIKA-West received information from the USAID funded CCI/IOM program that they were collaborating with the Guzara District Government and Komite Sobate Woleswali, to identify and implement infrastructure projects within the district. Grants and Subcontracts Programming are currently being implemented by CDCs and DDAs, with 225 projects valued at AFN 242,534,850/USD$4,850,697. These projects will serve to improve service delivery to 843,181 residents across the target districts. IDLG/MRRD provincial and district partners have completed 316 projects valued at AFN 328,184,190/USD$5,718,299, which have benefited 750,057 residents. Currently, one project, valued at AFN 371,200/USD$7,424, is under development. Monitoring activities are ongoing, with DRRD District Social Workers, SIKA-West Engineers, and M&E Personnel conducting joint project site visits. These visits have yielded deficiencies that require correction, such as the Meyan Do Jow CDC being asked to remove rust from steel bars. Follow-up site inspections will be conducted in the coming week. In-line with overall monitoring efforts, the M&E Department randomly called 10 laborers on 7 project sites in Kohsan, Guzara, and Chaghcharan to verify whether they were receiving their wages in accordance with the CDC Grant Agreements.