USAID Promote – Musharikat Project Quarterly Report – Quarter 1 FY2016

The project, awarded on September 2, 2015, has a budget of $29.5 million and is designed to achieve four complementary objectives: building constituencies among national, provincial, and local activists and civil society organizations 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. To achieve these objectives, the project will work with 5,000 activists across all 34 provinces, who will choose, prioritize, and address the most critical issues that limit women's full participation in Afghan society. The project will employ inclusive, transparent, and competitive processes through which civil society organizations and activists will be brought together to form coalitions, each designed to tackle a priority concern as determined by Afghan women. Led by Afghan civil society representatives, these issues-based coalitions will engage with a wide set of stakeholders, including interested citizens, government and private sector partners, community and religious leaders, and media, to help advance coalition goals. The project has made significant progress in its first quarter, with the submission of several contractual deliverables to USAID. These deliverables include the Mobilization Plan, which was submitted on September 23, 2015, and approved; the draft FY 2016 (Y1) Work Plan, which was submitted on October 16, 2015, and approved after revisions; the Grants Under Contract Manual, which was submitted on November 1, 2015, and approved; and the Branding Implementation Plan (BIP) and Marking Plan (MP), which were submitted on October 15, 2015, and resubmitted on December 26, 2015. The project has also made progress in recruiting staff, with several positions filled, including the DCOP-Technical, Senior Outreach & Advocacy Advisor, Outreach & Advocacy Officer, Senior ICT & Innovation Advisor, Senior ICT Officer, Public Policy Advisor, Public Policy Officer, Advocacy & Training Specialist, DCOP-Finance and Operations, Senior Grants Manager, Grants Officer, HR Officer, HR/Operations Assistant, Finance Manager, Accountant, Finance Assistant/Cashier, Procurement Officer, IT/Network Specialist, Monitoring and Evaluation Director, Communications & Reporting Officer, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Regional Director Jalalabad, Senior Advocacy Specialist Jalalabad, Training Specialist Jalalabad, Grants & Monitoring Officer Jalalabad, Procurement & Logistics Specialist Jalalabad, Regional Director Herat, Senior Advocacy Specialist Herat, Training Specialist Herat, Grants & Monitoring Officer Herat, Procurement & Logistics Specialist Herat, Regional Director Mazar, Senior Advocacy Specialist Mazar, Training Specialist Mazar, Grants & Monitoring Officer Mazar, Procurement & Logistics Specialist Mazar, Regional Director Kandahar, Senior Advocacy Specialist Kandahar, Training Specialist Kandahar, Grants & Monitoring Officer Kandahar, Procurement & Logistics Specialist Kandahar, Project Security Coordinator Kabul, B6 Driver Kabul, Office Cleaner Kabul, Cook Kabul, Soft Skin Driver Kabul, Senior Dari and Pashto Translator Kabul, and Admin Assistant Kabul. The project has also initiated the recruitment process for several positions, including Deputy Regional Director Jalalabad, Deputy Regional Director Kabul, Deputy Regional Director Mazar, and Deputy Regional Director Kandahar.