It was decided that Bereke staff would review OD proposals submitted by Level-2 CSOs of the
central region and ECOCENTER staff would review proposals of southern region CSOs due to the
fact that there are no OD experts utilizing OD methodology developed by Counterpart in the
regions. The relevant Bereke and ECOCENTER workers have been identified.
5. Requesting a new position for the Program PR Manager
On February 4, 2016 PA "Bereke" requested for USAID's approval for additional position of
Program PR Manager for increasing public awareness of the project via effective cooperation with
mass media and utilization of social media in promoting new ideas and initiatives to gain support
from various stakeholders as well as for conducting M&E training for 40 target rural CSOs. On
March 11, 2016 the concurrence to conduct an additional M&E training for the 1-st and 2-nd level
CSOs and to hire a PR Manager was provided. It is obvious that it was a right decision made by the
PDP Program management as we can see that hiring PR Manager has significantly improved the
quality of the Program. A page in Facebook has been created, which is updated on a regular basis.
The content of Bereke web-site has become more meaningful and challenging. The PR Manager,
Alina Dzhunuzbekova assists a lot to rural CSOs with developing their informational materials
according to USAID requirements. Closer contacts have been established with Mass Media to
highlight the Program events and results. First issue of the Program newsletter has been published.
Participation in Monitoring & Evaluation training provided by Bereke relevant staff has been very
important for the rural CSOs as they aquired knowledge and skills of monitoring their projects.
Level-1 CSOs have developed Project Monitoring and Evaluation Plans, which helped them better
manage their projects.
While implementing their projects the rural CSOs had direct access to the Program staff via e-mail,
office phones and mobile phones. Bereke and ECOCENTER staffs were able to guide the projects,
and provide CSOs with necessary consultations on proper project implementation and record
keeping, building relations with local authorities, businesses and Mass Media. During the
monitoring visits the Program team directly oversaw the progress of each projects and were able to
offer recommendations that helped to keep all the projects on track.
6. Program Partners Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the PDP Program partners took place in Karaganda in ECOCENTER office
on August 24, 2016. At the meeting the results of intermediate program and financial reports of
target rural CSOs were discussed. Much attention was paid to difficulties that rural CSOs faced
while implementing their projects and reporting. The program staff has determined the ways to
solve the issues.
7. Bereke and ECOCENTER Strategic Plans Development
Strategic planning sessions were held on September 5-
7, 2016 in Shymkent for Bereke and on September 12-
13, 2016 in Karaganda for ECOCENTER. Jamila
Assanova and Kaisha Atakhanova – the recognized
experts, having years of experience working in a non-
governmental sector, participated in the competition
announced by partners and
have been chosen as experts
for facilitating Strategic planning process. At the initial
stage, the experts reviewed the previous strategic plans,
annual reports, as well as organizational and program
documentation. Besides that, the experts met managers,
staff, members of Board and beneficiaries of
organizations. At the SP sessions brain-storming
format has been utilized regarding all the aspects of the
organizations’ functioning. During the strategic
planning, the current external and internal environment
the organizations find themselves in, were analysed, strengths and weaknesses of the organizations
have been identified, risks and potential opportunities have been discussed. Each orgnization
reviewed
its mission, vision and values.
Major strategic goals and organizational objectives have been identified for the upcoming five
years.
IV. GENDER ANALYSIS
Rural women in Kazakhstan represent one of the most vulnerable groups of population.
Development of civil society in the rural areas is also largely impeded by a traditionally patriarchal
society with intrinsic gender inequity and stronger traditional background, which makes a great
impact to attitude towards women leading to the loss of progressive perspective. Women still face
several major problems, including: accessing employment, lack of minimum wage protection and
vulnerability of abuse by their spouses and in-laws which is quite a common case for the population
living in rural areas of the country. In recent years such problems as marriages at a very young age
among women, increase of a number of divorces have become very acute in the rural areas. Though
there are some cases where rural women take leading positions, there is still a significant amount of
women that live in these rural areas and who still have difficulty discussing these issues. Bereke
believes that the very important step in raising women's activity in the communities is involving
them into the Project Management Committees with the minimal representation of 40% out of total