Union Council Based Rural Poverty Reduction Program (UCBPRP)
Union Council Based Rural Poverty Reduction Program (UCBPRP) Donor: Planning and Development Department (P&DD), Government of Sindh Districts: (Shikarpur), (Kashmore-Kandhkot) and (Jacobabad). Major Activities: PSC (Poverty Scorecard Survey) Social Mobilization and Formation of Community Organization (CO) Formation of Village Organization( VO) Formation of Local Support Organization (LSO) Training and Capacity Building Vocational Skills Income Generating Grants CIF (Community Investment Fund) Low-Cost Houses Enterprise Development MHI (Micro Health Insurance) Back
Sustainable Forest Management to Secure Multiple Benefits in Pakistan’s High Conservation Areas
Sustainable Forest Management to Secure Multiple Benefits in Pakistan’s High Conservation Areas Donor/Partners: Global Environment Facility (GEF) / United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and Ministry of Climate Change(GoP) Districts: (Sukkur) and (Shaheed Benazir Abad) Duration: 09 Months Objective: The project aims at promoting sustainable forest management in Pakistan and mitigation of climate change. It contributes to local livelihoods and offers environmental benefits in riverine forests for biodiversity conservation and securing forest ecosystem services. Major Activities: United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) & Global Environment Facility (GEF) and being implemented by Ministry of Climate Change in Sindh Province through Sindh Forest Department for providing fruit tree plants to establish fruit orchards at household level. Business Development groups and Community Instiuations (CO/VO/LSO) networks of SRSO will be mobilized and provide necessary technical assistance to achieve the desired goal of raising fruit orchards at household level to diversify income means of local communities of District Sukkur and Shaheed Benazir Abad riverine forest landscapes. Awareness campaigns will be conducted on the negative impact of deforestation, misuse of natural resources and the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability. Community will be mobilized to prepare land for planting purpose in order to achieve the desired goal of planting fruit trees in target project landscapes. SRSO will ensure proper nurturing of saplings by providing adequate watering and also protection of plants through fencing. Community workshops will be organized before distribution of fruit trees plants to impart knowledge about raising and maintenance of fruit orchards and their role in generating additional income for households. Sindh forest department will provided 150,000 fruit trees plants like Lemon, Jambul, jujube, Grewia asiatica(falsa) and Guava in target areas through community Instiuations. Sindh Forest Department will periodically visit and extend technical support for raising and subsequent maintenance of fruit tree plants. Back
Sustaining Adolescent Participation in Community Institutions to Address Child Marriages and Create Awareness among Adolescents on COVID-19
Sustaining Adolescent Participation in Community Institutions to Address Child Marriages and Create Awareness among Adolescents on COVID-19 Donor: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Partner: Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) Districts: (Ghotki) and (Khairpur). Duration: Dec-2020- June 2021 Objective: Community Structures (LSOs) strengthened their role to address adolescent-related issues including child marriages, and violence against children, and create awareness among adolescents on COVID-19 Major Activities: The project has a catchment area of 10 Union Councils covering (10 LSOs and 100VOs) of two Sindh i.e. ( 5 Union councils in each District of Ghotki and Khairpur). 300 adolescent champions (200 girls and 100 boys) from both targeted districts were identified and trained to organize awareness sessions on COVID-19 and early child marriages. These adolescents were integrated with VOs and LSOs in sub-committees. Furthermore, this adolescent identified and formed peer groups and disseminated information to further Nine Thousands (9000) champions. A total of 9000 Adolescents were made aware of preventive measures against COVID-19 and Early Child Marriages. A total of 9000 adolescents (60% girls) from the community level to benefit through awareness sessions facilitated by trained adolescent champions. Back
Social mobilisation and community engagement to promote and support uptake of MR vaccine during the MR Campaign of November 2021
Sustaining Adolescent Participation in Community Institutions to Address Child Marriages and Create Awareness among Adolescents on COVID-19 Donor: United Nations Children’s Fund and Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Partners: Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) Districts: Kambar Shahdadkot, Kashmore-Kandhkot and Jacobabad Duration: 02 Months Objective: The primary objective of this project is to mobilize caretakers to get their children aged 9 months to 15 years vaccinated against Measles and Rubella at the nearest fixed and outreach sites. Major Activities: Measles and Rubella (MR) are highly contagious viral diseases that affect susceptible individuals of all ages and remain one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among young children in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan has planned to introduce the Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine for children in the routine immunization schedule. The MR introduction campaign planned in November 2021 will target children from 9 months to less than 15 years of age and aims to reach out to 96 million children through Federal and Provincial EPIs. With our comparative advantage in C4D and as requested by the Federal EPI Pakistan, UNICEF will be leading the communications component of the MR campaign. To reach target children for measles vaccination mass level community mobilization and awareness about measles vaccination and its benefits is essential so that parents/caregivers are ready for vaccination of all eligible children during the MR campaign in November 2021.UNICEF is providing communication support to the Federal and Provincial Governments for successful community mobilization and community engagement for this MR campaign in November 2021. Pre-campaign community awareness activities (1st October 2021- November 14, 2021) The following activities will be undertaken during the pre-campaign phase: Identification and meetings with the influencers including religious (male/female), political, Tribal/community, and include their names on micro-plans for MR Campaign. Orientation of LSO members/CRPs at Tehsil Levels. Awareness Sessions in Schools/Refusal Schools. Mobilise Market Committees/trade unions to create awareness about the MR campaign. Announcements in Mosques/Religious Places. Loudspeaker Announcements in Streets/Bazar. Awareness session at Community level: Activities for MR Campaign days (15th November 2021 -27th November 2021) For vaccination of eligible children during MR campaign dates, the Department of Health has deputed dedicated teams at fixed vaccination centers, outreach teams, and mobile vaccination teams. Each social mobilization team (SMT) will closely coordinate with all Union Council Medical Officers (UCMOs) of the Department of Health daily of all target UCs and will provide them support in addressing refusals and reaching out to hard-to-reach population for vaccination. SMTs will also closely coordinate with CRPs, LSO members, and key influencers whose names have been included in micro-plans and will encourage them to provide all required community-level support to outreach teams to gather all eligible children for MR Vaccination. Post Campaign Activities: District teams will participate in post-campaign meetings at the District and Tehsils level. These meetings will serve the purpose of identifying the gaps in campaigns and also identify the number of children who missed out. Plans for catch-up days will be developed and SMTs will provide community awareness and refusal addressal support for catch up days. Back
Building Resilient Communities by Connecting Disaster and Emergency Responses to Sustainable Development
Building Resilient Communities by Connecting Disaster and Emergency Responses to Sustainable Development Donor: Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA) Partners: Action Against Hunger (ACF) Districts: Badin, Mirpur Khas & Thatta Duration: May 2021 – February 2022 (10-Months) Objective: The project’s overall objective is to provide emergency and life-sustaining assistance to disaster-affected communities in Sindh through food security and livelihood (FSL) and resilience-building interventions including psychosocial support interventions. Major Activities: The project aims to demonstrate that increasing the resilience of poor communities’ livelihoods reduces vulnerability to disaster risk while contributing to poverty reduction and lifting them from extreme poverty and insecurity. Rs. 12,000 shall be given to 2,000 beneficiaries, adversely affected by any sort of disaster, like drought, flood, locust attack and COVID-19. The identification process is carried out in Badin, Thatta and Mirpurkhas. This is unconditional cash grants in project to ensure food security. The proposed intervention is designed to respond to the early recovery needs of the vulnerable population of three districts of Sindh to bridge the gap between emergency response. Rs: 5,000 shall be given to 600 individuals, who are operating small/micro business. This is called conditional cash grant. Capacity building of Communities (CRPs) in preparing and replicating preparedness and contingency plans, search and rescue. This training will cover the DRR component to manage their risk of and strengthen their resilience to future shocks to create sustainable solutions for whole communities. Back
Promoting the Rights of Older People in Pakistan (PRO-People)
Promoting the Rights of Older People in Pakistan (PRO-People) Partner : HelpAge International Districts: Karachi, Jacobabad and Shikarpur Duration : 3 Years (January 2019 to February 2022) Objective: This project aims to facilitate the implementation of the Senior Citizens Act (2016) in Sindh Province, Pakistan. Major Activities: Development and training of Older People Associations (OPAs).Development and implementation of awareness-raising campaigns.Awareness and training of government and authority representatives at the district level.Follow-up activities for the implementation of the Senior Citizens Act at the district level.Advocacy with Social protection departments/institutes for the inclusion of Older People and PWDs in their programmes and policies Back
Delivering Accelerated Family Planning in Pakistan (DAFPAK)
Delivering Accelerated Family Planning in Pakistan (DAFPAK) Donor: Population Services International (PSI), Department for International Development(DFID) UKAID Partners: Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) Districts: Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Qambar Shahdadkot Duration: 4 Years Major Activities: SRSO entered into a partnership with RSPN to provide reproductive health services to communities in the Shikarpur, Jacobabad, and Qamber Shahdadkot districts of the Sindh province. Delivering Accelerated Family Planning in Pakistan (DAFPAK) is a four-year project that aims to create an enabling environment for women, girls, and men to avail healthy reproductive choices; increase the availability of family planning services and products in uncovered rural areas, and strengthen accountability through increased transparency and stringent monitoring. DAFPAK will focus on community mobilization utilizing Community Resource Persons (CRP), who will go door-to-door in their catchment areas and refer clients to project Lady Health Visitors (LHVs) for family planning services, provision of family planning services to clients in monthly camps conducted by LHVs who are accompanied by Social Organisers (SOs), converting young married couples of reproductive age into new users of family planning services, converting of users of tradition contraceptive methods to modern contraceptive methods and the upscaling of the CRPs’ ‘Business in a Box’, a micro-entrepreneurship venture making the provision of family planning services sustainable. The community-wide sensitization of men and women on reproductive health issues and family planning services and provision of contraceptives. The creation of Village Health Committees (VHCs) to represent the entire community and bring behavioral change through demand creation for birth spacing and service delivery facilitation through outreach camps. Back
Empowering Pakistani Women through Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth (EPW Project)
Empowering Pakistani Women through Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth (EPW Project) Donor/Partners: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark implementing through a consortium including BoPlnc, Unilever, JAZZ Mobile Communication Limited through Mobilink Microfinance Bank and RSPN Districts: Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Qambar Shahdadkot and Larkana Duration: 3.5 Years Objective: The long-term vision of this project is to contribute to sustainable economic growth in Pakistan and increase the financial security, prosperity, and empowerment of women in Pakistan. Major Activities: SRSO entered into a partnership with RSPN for this project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark being implemented through a consortium including Unilever, who will support and supply women with fast moving consumer goods, Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (Jazz), who will provide access to finance to retailers and their customers via their JazzCash application, and BoPInc, who is an expert in facilitating partnerships and developing inclusive business models with micro-entrepreneurs and RSPN, who will recruit and train the female sales agents called ‘Jazz Cash GuddiBajis’. The project targets the following SDGs: SDG 8: As women retailers become JazzCash Guddi Bajis, they will increase their revenue, creating sustainable income opportunities and contributing to economic growth in Pakistan. SDG 5: As JazzCash Guddi Bajis interact with women customers, women will have a greater opportunity to access and use mobile financial services, providing equal opportunity for financial inclusion and ultimately increasing financial security, prosperity, and empowerment of women. SDG 17: As the network of JazzCash Guddi Bajis expands, Women’s World Banking will demonstrate the business rationale for commercial partners, further promoting private sector partnerships in the financial inclusion space. For Unilever, this business rationale will be shown through the growth of their distribution in rural areas, through the expanded Guddi Baji network. For Jazz, this business rationale will be demonstrated through increased numbers of female customers and activity by female customers, due to interaction with female agents. DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES: Sustainable income opportunities are created, through increased revenue and enhanced skills for women retailers (JazzCash Guddi Bajis) in Pakistan. Women in Pakistan are financially included, through increased engagement with female agents (JazzCash Guddi Bajis) and use of mobile financial services. Back