USAID Promote: Women in Government Quarterly Progress Report April – June 2019

As of the end of the FY2019 Quarter 3, a total of 341 interns had graduated from the year-long program. These graduates were linked with government job opportunities through networking events held alongside each graduation ceremony. The project also supported 681 interns to submit more than 800 job applications through the Job Readiness Program (JRP) at the Afghanistan Civil Service Institute (ACSI) in collaboration with the Women's Career Development Center (WCDC). Additionally, 343 interns participated in 13 job readiness sessions outside of Kabul, submitting 865 applications to government institutions. The project's efforts have resulted in the hiring of 103 interns into the civil service and 55 into other organizations. Cumulatively, the project has employed 902 interns into various positions, with 614 (68 percent) in the civil service and 288 (32 percent) in other organizations. However, the project anticipates a slowdown in civil service recruitment related to the upcoming presidential elections, as the government prepares for a shift in the administration. To mitigate this challenge, the project has focused attention on ongoing recruits and filling positions left vacant due to natural turnover. The project has also delivered multiple training sessions, including mentorship training, monitoring and evaluation, and persuasion trainings for government officials. These training sessions aim to equip government officials with the necessary skills to support women's entry into decision-making roles in the civil service. The project's policy team has continued to support the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) in developing the follow-on National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA II). The project has also collaborated with MoWA's Directorate in Balkh Province to conduct the fourth NAPWA consultative meeting with 65 participants representing the government, civil society organizations, and international donor agencies. The project's policy team has also worked directly with government partners to develop the Action Plan to Implement the Policy on Increasing Women's Participation in the Civil Service and the Gender Equality Policy for the National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA). The project has also hosted the fourth and final Conference on Policy Reforms for Women in the Civil Service, which aimed to disseminate the findings from the NAPWA consultative sessions and formally handover the policy working groups. In addition to these efforts, the project has continued to produce and broadcast the biweekly Tawandmandsazi (Empowerment) radio program through stations in Balkh and Herat. The communications team has also coordinated with local media partners to raise awareness around project events on both national and regional media outlets, including Voice of America (VOA) and Tolo News. The project has sent regular advocacy message blasts to government and civil society stakeholders to maintain engagement with project activities. The project has submitted contractual deliverables, including monthly progress reports for April and May 2019, financial reports for the same periods, and three success stories entitled Internship Program Fulfills Family's Aspirations, Promoting Gender Equality in the Security Sector, and Supporting Women's Leadership in Education.