|Progress Report Quarter 2 2008|
|Progress Report Quarter 2 2008 Annex 1 AWP|

[Last Updated June 2008]

Project Start Date: September 2004
Project End Date: December 2008
Project Location: Main Offices in Kabul with Satellite Offices in the Provinces
Status of the Project: Active
Implementing Partners: Direct Implementation (DIM)

UNDP has been providing support to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) under the ICT Capacity Building Project (Phase II) with the aim of building the capacity of the MoCIT to develop and regulate related policies, enhance government efficiency through E-Governance and build advanced ICT capacity in the country. Achievements include development of ICT Policy, implementation of the first National ICT Conference, launching the ICT Council of Afghanistan, expansion of Cisco Academies, establishment and the hand over of country code top level domain name to MoCIT, drafting E-Governance architecture and implementation documents, Afghanistan localization program and establishment of Multi-purpose Telecom- munication Centers (MTCs).

During the G-8 Summit in July 2000, the Least Developed Countries Initiative (LCDI) was announced. Partners of the LDC Initiative include the following: Cisco Systems, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and United States Agency for International Development’s Leland Initiative, United Nations Secretary General’s UNITeS and United Nations Volunteers. These strategic partners goal is work together to extend the Cisco Networking Academy Program to the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs), by expanding the scope of information and communication technologies available in LDCs. By bringing the Cisco Networking Academy Program to these countries, students in these areas would benefit from educational opportunities that are currently being by their counterparts in more than 80 countries. Providing a workforce with the skills to design, build and maintain the Internet infrastructure is a critical step to participation in the global economy. This is a program that can assist in offering sustainable development in the LDCs and accelerate their progression and full integration into the world economy.

The Cisco Networking Academy Program is a comprehensive, e-learning program, which provides students with the Internet technology skills essential in a global economy. It helps in delivering web-based content, on-line assessment, student performance tracking, hands-on labs, instructor training and support, and preparation for industry-standard certifications. Launched in 1997, there are now over 10,000 Networking Academies in more than 163 countries. Over 400,000 students are enrolled in Academies in high schools, colleges and universities, technical schools, community-based organizations, and other educational programs around the world.

Achievements:

• Through the Cisco Networking Academy Programme, UNDP has helped train 36 university professors to be trainers for the programme in the provinces, who in turn are training hundreds of students.
• A specialized cadre of men and women in the areas of networking/hardware trained.
• Completion of Microsoft Office Pashto Interface Pack now available in the market.
• Completion of Software Localization Style-Guide for Pashto language.
• Completion of Pashto locale for Windows XP
• A complete of the computational glossary of around 8000 words comprised of both basic glossary and second phase glossary.
• Completion of WindowsXp Interface Localization, including help files, menus and character set.
• Completion of Polichek Project for Pashto language.

Future priorities:

• Introduction of the Cisco Academy curricula certificate programme,
• Establishing a Kabul University Cisco Testing Center and Lab, to allow for certifying Cisco instructors in-country;
• Expansion of Afghan Women in Technology (WIT) efforts to provincial women’s centers and other programmes reaching out to women-focused and/or women-led organizations;
• Completion of a feasibility study regarding graduation of the CNAPs’ from UNDP tutelage to independent status; and
• Establishment of links with CNAPs in surrounding countries, beginning with Pakistan.

Challenges and Risks:

o Security, particularly in the provinces, is always a risk. UNDP could not visit Khost Academy because of security reasons. This is a risk with all projects in Afghanistan. Action to be taken to mitigate this risk is to follow UNDP security precautions.
o Retaining staff that has advanced IT skills because of the low government salary scale relative to the private sector offerings.

Partnerships and Resources:

Target Budget: USD 1,337,686
Received budget: USD 1,852,050
Committed: USD 1,852,050
Shortfall: 0.00
Donors: USAID, Cisco, French Trust Fund, Microsoft, EC and GSI

Focal Points:

Fazel Hanif, Project Manager (fazel.hanif@undp.org )
Dilawar Khan, Programme Officer (dilawar.khan@undp.org )

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