Cote d'Ivoire: S/GWI Project Proposals

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 ABIDJAN 000182 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KWMN PHUM AID IV SUBJECT: Cote d'Ivoire: S/GWI Project Proposals ¶1. (U) Embassy Abidjan is pleased to submit two funding requests for consideration by the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues' Small Grants Initiative. Post's first choice is a project submitted by an Ivoirian NGO, the Feminine Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEFCI). CEFCI plans to implement a 12 month education initiative for women and girls in 21 rural villages in northern Cote d'Ivoire, where 78% of girls do not attend school. Post's second choice project is a submission from Search for Common Ground, an international NGO, which proposes combating GBV in four cities particularly susceptible to human rights violations. PROJECT #1 : EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS THROUGH EDUCATION IN ODIENNE, TAFIRE, AND NIAKARA IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Feminine Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEFCI) CONTEXT ¶2. (U) A 2006 study showed that 49% of girls living in Cote d'Ivoire had no formal schooling. Even fewer girls attended school in rural areas of the country, particularly in the north, where 78% of girls did not attend school. In these poor communities, the education of girls is not only a low priority, but violence against women is also widespread and commonplace: female genital mutilation is widely practiced, and spousal abuse and polygamy are culturally accepted. ¶3. (U) High poverty rates in the north ensure that even if families have the means to send a child to school, boys are favored over girls. Without any formal schooling, girls learn from an early age that abusive treatment towards women is the norm. Additionally, girls lacking an education are particularly vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, violence, and abuse. PROJECT PROPOSAL ¶4. (U) The CEFCI project would work in 21 rural villages in northern Cote d'Ivoire for a period of one year and use a three-pronged strategy. First, CEFCI will conduct awareness campaigns in the 21 villages, which will include discussions with community leaders and parents on the importance of education and sending girls to school. CEFCI plans to follow up these discussions and awareness campaigns with the distribution of school kits to those parents who cannot afford them for their daughters. The second part of the project involves teaching adult women in the village to read and helping them to form cooperatives and women's support networks. The third part of the project involves a general education campaign for each village, which will focus on how communities can combat violence against women and, through these efforts, prevent HIV/AIDS. This will be done through training women leaders in each community and through media programming, which will reinforce anti-SGBV messages through local proximity radios. At the end of the project, CEFCI expects the following results: ???? 300 women learn how to read ???? 105 families send their daughters to school ???? 315 school kits are distributed to needy families ???? Female community leaders in each village are trained to set up women's support networks ???? 5000 booklets on preventing sexual and gender-based violence are distributed to communities ???? 44 radio programs are aired on local stations ???? 126 girls already in school are given material support ???? Creation of a community information center in the CEFCI Niakara Office ABIDJAN 00000182 002 OF 009 CEFCI plans to measure its results through: ???? increases in girls' attendance rate at schools ???? increases in women's literacy rate ???? decreases in incidents of violence against women and girls ???? decreases in unwanted pregnancies by school age girls ???? decreases in incidence of HIV/AIDS BUDGET ¶5. (U) CEFCI's proposed budget includes the following: ???? Awareness campaigns (materials, press, etc): $5,540 ???? Adult literacy program (materials, teacher per diems, transport, radio programming): $35,170 ???? Community leadership training sessions, establishment of women's networks: $7,960 ???? Set-up of community information center (fax, computer, video projector, printer, camera, etc): $7,480 ???? Distribution of school kits (includes materials, transport of kits - car rental, gas, etc): $15,200 ???? Research on program set-up, production of documents (car rental, printing of brochures, booklets): $11,700 ???? Administrative costs: $ 11,198 ???? Cushion for unforeseen costs: $1,000 Total Budget: $95,248 ABOUT CEFCI ¶6. (U) CEFCI was created by a group of young Ivoirian women in 2003 to respond to serious violations of women's rights committed during the 2002 crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. The organization's objective is to support women in their daily struggle for democracy and human rights and against poverty through programs which build capacity and empower women. CEFCI is headquartered in Abidjan, with two sub offices in Odienne and Niakara (both cities are in poor northern regions). A staff of ten people work at each of the three offices. ¶7. (U) CEFCI has successfully conducted projects in the past with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). In 2008-2009, NED supported a CEFCI program designed to increase women's participation in the electoral process, including educating women on how to vote and the importance of participating in the nationwide identification and voter registration process. CEFCI has also received NED funding to advocate for a more reflective representation of women in government and politics. For this project, CEFCI plans to partner with the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI). It has longstanding relationships with the ONUCI Human Rights Office, as well as ONUCI-FM and Search for Common Ground. POST MANAGEMENT ¶8. (U) The CEFCI grant will be directly managed by post's full-time Self-Help and DHRF Coordinator, with support from the Political Officer, who has grants training and warrant authority at post. The Coordinator will meet with CEFCI before the project is launched and will continue to keep in close contact as the project progresses over the year. To ensure proper management and expenditure of U.S. funds, CEFCI will be required to submit quarterly financial and progress reports, which will be verified by the Coordinator through site visits. Officers from the Political/Economic Section and/or the Ambassador or DCM will also visit this project to help gain greater visibility and awareness for CEFCI's efforts. *********************** * Missing Section 003 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 004 * *********************** ABIDJAN 00000182 005 OF 009 looking at the practices in childhood that contribute to these problems. Issues that will be explored include preferential treatment of boys in terms of schooling and domestic labor, sexual exploitation in schools, child rape, and early marriage. The 15 programs will be produced and aired on 35 stations for 225 minutes of original content and 7,875 minutes of total airtime. The project has three primary desired outcomes: ???? Key community members, including victims of rape, are carrying out advocacy campaigns and other initiatives to address SGBV and other violations against women; ???? Community capacity and networks to respond to SGBV and other crimes against women are strengthened in the targeted locations; and ???? Awareness of SGBV against women and girls as a crime and a problem to be addressed in communities is increased at the national level. ¶14. (U) Performance monitoring on these outcomes will be driven by the group initially agreeing on the desired outcomes and committing to their achievement at each location. Follow up with the project participants and site visits will be taken by a team that will include representatives of the Ministry of Gender and Social Affairs based in the target areas. The project team will track how many of the training and dialogue exchange session participants carry out in subsequent advocacy actions, and meet with community residents to assess the value and results of those efforts. The project team will regularly meet with the participants to discuss how successful they think they have been in raising awareness and decreasing tolerance of SGBV within their communities, as well as the challenges they have faced in their work. The project team will help them strategize about addressing these challenges, and support them as they develop new initiatives. These assessments will be validated with interviews with authorities, victims' representatives, and other stakeholders on SGBV issues. On the radio programming side, SFCG will conduct focus groups in the four target locations to gage whether listeners have changes in knowledge, attitudes, or behavior after listening to the programs. SFCG also periodically carries out listener surveys, which will supplement the qualitative information gathered with quantitative data. Specific outcome indicators that will be used are: ???? Number of advocacy initiatives implemented by project participants; ???? Qualitative assessment of the effectiveness of those actions; and ???? Demonstration of increased knowledge and improved attitudes around SGBV by radio program listeners. BUDGET Expenses category Allocation # of Units Unit Unit Cost Total Personnel $ 22,741 Country Director 3% 18 months *********************** * Missing Section 006 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 007 * *********************** ABIDJAN 00000182 008 OF 009 dialogues $ 400 $ 3,200 Meeting and Conferences Costs - EEA production 20% 36 meetings $ 360 $ 2,592 Other Direct Costs $ 25,950 Project Logistics and Operational Costs 15% 18 months $ 3,500 $ 9,450 Partner support 100% 4 partners $ 3,000 $ 12,000 Distribution and Airtime Support for National Radio Programs 100% 1 Lump sum $ 1,500 $ 1,500 Monitoring & Evaluation 100% 1 project $ 3,000 $ 3,000 Subtotal Direct Expenses $ 74,688 NICRA 28.63% 1 project $ 74,688 ABIDJAN 00000182 009 OF 009 $ 21,383 Total cost $ 96,072 ABOUT SFCG ¶15. (U) Founded in 1982, SFCG works in more than 20 countries around the world to build sustainable peace. SFCG is operational in nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, beginning in Burundi in 1995 and opening its office in Cote d'Ivoire in 2005 as part of its West Africa regional strategy. Since the launch of the Cote d'Ivoire, SFCG has been working with different stakeholders-including community leaders, Liberian refugees, Ivoirian internally displaced people, women, youth, radio stations, and national government officials-to address a variety of issues related to the resolution of the country's crisis and its return to sustainable peace. Throughout its work, SFCG has identified women as a critical target group, recognizing the role that they play as peace builders within their families and communities, as well as understanding the obstacles that stand in the way of their full participation as citizens. POST MANAGEMENT ¶16. (U) The SFCG grant will be directly managed by post's full-time Self-Help and DHRF Coordinator, with support from the Political Officer, who has grants training and warrant authority at post. The Coordinator will meet with SFCG before the project is launched and will continue to keep in close contact as the project progresses over the year. To ensure proper management and expenditure of U.S. funds, SFCG will be required to submit quarterly financial and progress reports, which will be verified by the Coordinator through site visits. American officers in the political/economic section and/ or the Ambassador or DCM will also visit this project to help gain greater visibility and awareness for SFCG's efforts. NESBITT