USAID MUSHARIKAT QUARTERLY REPORT FY2020 Q2 (JANUARY – MARCH, 2020)

Awarded in September 2015, the $29.5 million task order is designed to achieve four complementary objectives: building constituencies among national, provincial, and local activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) focused on promoting women's equality and empowerment; strengthening more effective advocacy for women's equality and empowerment; increasing awareness of, and support for, women's rights in all 34 provinces in Afghanistan; and increasing the effectiveness of civil society and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) in the development and implementation of gender policies, laws, and regulations. To achieve these aims, the Musharikat project works with CSOs 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 CSOs 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, including interested citizens, government and private sector partners, community and religious leaders, and media, to help advance collective advocacy campaigns designed to strengthen women, families, communities, and the country. The Musharikat project employs a Coalitions for Change (C4C) approach to strengthen women-focused CSOs and activists' ability to effectively advocate for women's rights and empowerment in Afghanistan. The keystone of this approach is the formation of inclusive, broad-based coalitions through transparent and competitive processes, each of which focuses on a single issue. The project functions as a mentor, advisor, facilitator, and funder to the coalitions and grantee CSOs, providing the necessary technical advice and resources to conduct outreach and awareness-raising initiatives; build broad-based constituencies to support Coalition objectives; form strategic alliances at the local, regional, and international levels; plan and execute advocacy campaigns; and establish constructive working relationships with GIRoA partners on policy and legislative matters. During the FY2020 Q2 reporting period (January 1 – March 31, 2020), the Musharikat project continued its effort to empower women and promote gender equality across Afghanistan. The project carried out more than 516 activities supporting all four objectives. At the end of the quarter, the project reported the following highlights: for objective 1, Musharikat continued building its constituencies within coalitions using membership recruitment activities and online engagement, with over 615 new members joining coalitions this quarter. The peace alliance's CSO membership continued to grow, and the steady increase in coalition members accessing the online platform was noted. For objective 2, the project strengthened more effective advocacy for women's equality and empowerment through the formation of coalitions and the development of advocacy campaigns. For objective 3, the project increased awareness of, and support for, women's rights in all 34 provinces in Afghanistan through outreach and awareness-raising initiatives. For objective 4, the project increased the effectiveness of civil society and GIRoA in the development and implementation of gender policies, laws, and regulations through the provision of technical advice and resources to coalitions and grantee CSOs. The Musharikat project's efforts to promote women's equality and empowerment in Afghanistan are ongoing, with a focus on building constituencies, strengthening advocacy, increasing awareness, and enhancing the effectiveness of civil society and GIRoA in the development and implementation of gender policies, laws, and regulations. The project's Coalitions for Change approach has been instrumental in achieving these objectives, and the project continues to work with CSOs 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.