USAID MUSHARIKAT MONTHLY REPORT AUGUST 2020

Awarded in September 2015, the project has a budget of $29.5 million and is designed to achieve four complementary objectives. The first objective is to build constituencies among national, provincial, and local activists and civil society organizations focused on promoting women's equality and empowerment. The second objective is to strengthen more effective advocacy for women's equality and empowerment. The third objective is to increase awareness of, and support for, women's rights in all 34 provinces in Afghanistan. The fourth objective is to increase the effectiveness of civil society and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the development and implementation of gender policies, laws, and regulations. To achieve these aims, the project works with civil society organizations and activists across all 34 provinces to prioritize and select the most critical issues that limit women's ability to exercise their rights and fully participate in Afghan society. The project employs an inclusive, transparent, and competitive process through which civil society organizations and activists are brought together to form coalitions, each designed to tackle a priority concern as determined by Afghan women. Led by Afghan women leaders, these coalitions engage with a wide set of stakeholders to help advance collective advocacy campaigns designed to strengthen women, families, communities, and the country. During the month of August, the project continued its efforts to empower women and promote gender equality across Afghanistan while adapting to the increase in reported COVID-19 cases, an increase in violence, and a delay in the much-anticipated Intra-Afghan peace talks. The project carried out more than 120 activities supporting all four objectives. These activities included training and advocacy events, social media campaigns, and community outreach programs. The project also continued to use radio roundtables and the Musharikat Knowledge Management Portal (MKMP) as important tools for reaching remote populations and promoting women's rights. The project's Coalitions for Change (C4C) approach is a key component of its strategy. This approach involves the formation of inclusive, broad-based coalitions through transparent and competitive processes, each of which focuses on a single issue. The coalitions are led by Afghan women leaders and engage with a wide set of stakeholders to help advance collective advocacy campaigns. The project provides technical advice and resources to the coalitions and grantee civil society organizations, enabling them to conduct outreach and awareness-raising initiatives, build broad-based constituencies, form strategic alliances, plan and execute advocacy campaigns, and establish constructive working relationships with government partners on policy and legislative matters. The project's efforts have resulted in significant progress towards its objectives. For example, the project has helped to increase awareness of, and support for, women's rights in all 34 provinces in Afghanistan. The project has also strengthened more effective advocacy for women's equality and empowerment, and has increased the effectiveness of civil society and the government in the development and implementation of gender policies, laws, and regulations. The project's Coalitions for Change approach has been particularly effective in promoting women's rights and empowerment, and has helped to build broad-based constituencies in support of women's equality and empowerment.