Stability in Key Areas – East (SIKA-E)

OVERVIEW

  • Implementation period: December 2011 – September 2015
  • Project budget: $145 million

Led by the Afghan Government’s Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation & Development (MRRD) and the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), SIKA-East is designed to promote stability in key areas of eastern Afghanistan. The project supports district-level government entities to help improve governance and basic service delivery. SIKA-East’s overarching goal is to increase citizen confidence in and support for the Afghan Government.

Project partners work closely with district-level government, MRRD, and IDLG to identify community projects and develop existing subnational development and governance structures, including Community Development Councils (CDCs) and District Development Assemblies (DDAs). Local work crews carry out the work, and local government supervision is a high priority. Typical work financed by SIKA grants includes construction of irrigation infrastructure, flood-protection, bridges, school rehabilitation, upgrades to roads, and vocational training. SIKA East works in 30 districts in six provinces in eastern Afghanistan.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

  • Training district staff on sources of instability and governance-related remedies.
  • Providing district entities and communities with USAID-produced manuals to understand what organizations and provincial departments work in their communities, the services they provide, and how the public can access these services.
  • Through a grants mechanism, District entities are delivering improved basic services to their communities, building confidence in the Afghan government. In addition, government officials and community members at the local, district, and provincial levels receive technical training in project management.

RESULTS

  • ·         2,528 district stakeholder’s trained (926 women) in development and governance planning, prioritization, and service delivery implementation and 33,724 persons (25,373 men and 7,901 women – approximately 24 percent of the total) trained in stabilization assessment methods.
  • ·         Ten Service Provider (SP) Fairs detailing the types of services available to the citizens were conducted in five provinces.  Six provincial Service Provider Catalogues and abridged booklets were produced and distributed to 331 organizations.
  • ·         438 service delivery grants valued at more than $13 million awarded to district entities in all 30 eastern districts and construction of 162 school athletic fields across six provinces in support of youth development and engagement.