IRSP in

2015

Message of the Executive DirectorAfter 12 years of extensive experience in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene, IRSP knows how crucial and important the sector is. As IRSP work demonstrates, poor municipal services can badly damage the health of poor communities living in the rural and remote areas of Pakistan.

Every success buys a ticket to a more difficult journey. Looking back to the previous years makes me a proud man. The outreach, staff capacities and donors trust clearly indicates that IRSP is moving in the right direction.

The hardships of emergencies have given birth to a new breed of experts. The youth has matured enough to sustain pressure during work-load and support the senior management. The mix of youth and experience is the driving force in IRSP.

Reflecting on the year of 2012, I am very proud and humbled by IRSP’s accomplishments. Our team, working hand in hand with the communities that we serve has overcome barriers and obstacles to achieve the targets set by the funding agencies.

We are continuously striving to improve the lives of the disadvantaged communities by variety of interventions ranging from emergency response to infrastructure development and advocacy. In collaboration with our partners, IRSP has been implementing integrated development projects across the province, which empowers and supports poor and rural communities to be the authors of their own development. It has been a privilege to see communities utilizing and building their strengths to take greater control of their lives.

Together we will continue to make a difference to our communities, staff, volunteers, community leaders, and members. I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the IRSP team for their commitment to their work. They are the driving force of IRSP’s efforts to overcome challenges to effectively implement our projects in difficult terrains and circumstances and to achieve the targets.

As we look forward to serve the disadvantaged communities, it is your support that makes IRSP’s work possible.

Syed Shah Nasir Khisro Executive Director

Stars Consultancy Funding ($10,000)IRSP won Stars Impact Award for year 2014 in WASH category for Asia-Pacific region. As a result, IRSP got an unconditional grant of $50,000 which will be spent on a school WASH program while another $10,000 were given for strengthening IRSP internal system.

While using the consultancy funding; IRSP carried out the following three major activities to strengthen the internal system;

Strategic Planning Strategic planning is a systematic process aimed at identifying and addressing specific issues in a participatory manner in order to attain the desired outcomes. The process takes into consideration contextual environmental issues and has specific goals and objectives.

Comprehensive consultation was done with the management of IRSP and each point of this plan was discussed. IRSP management has provided its input in all the areas from defining the Vision to setting up the objectives and specific outcomes.

Strategic plan is always a dynamic document that helps the management of an organization to be more focused and prioritize its objectives according to the changing environment. Strategic plan needs to be update at-least annually to navigate against the changing context.

During strategic planning the following major areas were identified and objective were set for next 3 years;

• WASH

• Livelihood

• Education

• Health & Nutrition

• Food Security

• Human Rights

• Emergency response and preparedness

IRSP will prepare an implementation plan for this strategic plan and will design the following:

• Communication plan for strategic plan

• Identification of major areas of working and appointing focal person

• Identify the key indicators and milestones

• Preparing action plan with timeline

The strategic plan and its implementation will be updated each year and will add a new year will be added to this plan so that at

any point of time, IRSP will have strategic plan for coming three years.

Developing M&E SystemIRSP has designed it M&E manual which is designed to incorporate Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) component to ensure efficient implementation of activities given in the program/ projects of IRSP. The M&E manual covers monitoring, evaluation and learning principles, purpose of manual, Monitoring and Evaluation and objectives of M&E.

The progress reporting includes monthly, quarterly, annual, project completion reports, success story, minutes of meetings and field visit reports. The templates for all these reports have been developed.

The beneficiary feedback includes Focus Group Discussions and score card methods. The guidelines/ instructions for conducting FGDs have been provided in the manual.

Activity tracking sheet, baseline studies, training tracking, special day tracking, financial monitoring sheet, and work plan for emergency projects, project profile and M&E framework template has also been provided in the manual.

The draft M&E manual will be revised in the light of suggestions/ comments from IRSP. The training on this manual will be provided to monitoring & evaluation staff for their orientation.

Child protection policyChildren are the prime stakeholders of the IRSP’s projects. Therefore; a proper policy document was very much needed. Utilizing Stars Foundation’ consultancy funding; IRSP has designed its “child protection policy” which is implemented by the senior management immediately after its formulation.

IRSP is committed to protect children from abuse, exploitation and organizational negligence. This is reflected in all IRSP conducted activities and the way staff behaves. IRSP believes in safer recruitment and screening processes for those working with the organization, codes of conduct for staff, guidance on the appropriate use of children’s images and information and requirements for staff to report suspected or actual abuse. The principles of IRSP Child Protection Policy provide that all children have equal rights to protection from abuse and neglect. Every member of IRSP has a responsibility to support the care and protection of children.

This Child Protection Policy sets out the broad framework and expectations. It is recognized that all relevant staff members will have to identify how to implement the policy, given the local operating conditions and legal provisions. The administrative and operational polices will be aligned in line with Child Protection Policy.

The IRSP Child Protection Policy applies to IRSP staff, consultants, volunteers, grantees and Board of Directors.

Poverty Alleviation and Community Empowerment through Participatory Development

Summary of the Progress: Poverty Alleviation through Community Empowerment and Participatory Development (PACE-PD) project’s major thrust is on restoring and strengthening resilience of communities through social mobilization and community empowerment. It also includes capacity building of line departments and service providers for enabling them to meaningfully contribute to the development process and to set the area on path to success.

While passing through challenging circumstances, the project team successfully managed to implement the agreed activities within stipulated timeframe. During the reporting period (Jan 14 to Dec 2015) Stakeholders’ and Program Planning Workshops were conducted, the workshops were planned to seek broader support from community and stakeholders as the project methodology depends heavily on involvement of local community and lays emphasis on local ownership and providing localized solutions to the issues. In order to seek a solid understanding of pertinent local issues and overall living status of indigenous communities, necessary data was collected through secondary sources, from relevant line departments and development partner organizations like; National Rural Support Program (NRSP), National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), South Asia Partnership (SAP) etc. Similarly, Baseline Survey (BLS) was conducted in the 4 targeted Union Councils, which provided basic information to the project management about service delivery status, access of communities to basic resources, the available infrastructure and socio-economic status of the target groups etc. Based on the findings through primary and secondary sources, detailed UCs and villages profiles were developed as bench mark for future planning.

Replicating the Rural Support Program’s (RSP) model, “bottom-up approach” was adopted by formation of 612 Community Organizations (COs), including 254 women COs at community level, 63 Village Organizations (VOs) were formed at village level and Local Support Organizations (LSOs) were established at Union Council (UC) level. All the members of the community institutions were selected by the general masses.

After formation of COs, 3-days Community Management Skills Trainings (CMST) were organized. A detailed Training Manual in Urdu was developed to keep uniformity in processes and equipping the Social organizers (SOs) with required reference information. In total, 48 CMSTs including 24 women COs’ trainings were held enabling 1,118 participants (Office Bearers) to have clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, mostly related to record keeping and preparation of COs’ profiles. The CMSTs were followed by 24 Five days Leadership Management Skills Trainings (LMSTs) where 684 individuals were enabled to lead the community and play their desired role in the project. The members of the LSOs were provided training on financial management and proposal writing enabling them to apply for funding from government and other donor agencies.

Sustaining the project interventions and promoting project objectives, the force of 25 individuals was identified and trained as master trainer on CMST and LMST contents. The master trainers are hoped to keep the community institutions alive. Capacity of government officials and community organizations’ members was built on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and management through arranging 2 days training. The training aimed to reflect the DRR principals while developing the Village

and Union Council Development plans by the VOs and LSOs while government officials will influence any planning taken place in future.

Linkages of the community and service providers were built through 8 manager conferences attended by general masses and government officials. The government department included officials from Livestock, agriculture, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA), social welfare, enterprises, NCHD etc.

Exchanging good ideas and adopting best practices of other local organizations, 3 exposure visits of LSOs, government officials and journalists took place. The visits were paid to LSOs formed by NRSP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces.

Eight Trainings for service providers on project related themes including Gender, HIV&AIDS, Natural Resource Management (NRM) and DRR were conducted for improved and sustainable service delivery in the target UCs.

The project activities like regular follow-up meetings with COs, interaction with line departments, service providers and development partners are serving as driving force for the effective and efficient implementation of the project. In the reporting period, the project staff developed linkage with service providers like; NADRA, 1122 (Rescue Team), Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), Health Department Outreach Teams, Water Testing Laboratory etc.

The local journalists were taken on-board through meetings and exposure visits highlighting the socio economic issues in the targeted areas. The journalists also highlighted the project

activities in the newspaper and recognize the contribution of the European Union (EU).

At the inception stage it was felt that no adequate coordination mechanism exists among development partners, which possibly may lead to gaps and overlaps, both geographical as well as sector wise. Hence with the help of District Coordination Officer (DCO), Non-government organizations (NGOs) Forum at district level was constituted with the basic objective of sharing information pertaining to achievements and any upcoming projects in the district. Unfortunately, the new DCO could not retain the forum alive and the forum loose its effectiveness.

IRSP during the 2 years’ project duration faced few challenges which affected and delayed few of the project activities but overall the project remained on track and achieved the set targets. The challenges included the decrease in Euro rate which decreased the activities budget e.g. the training of Community Resource Persons (CRPs) was held for 5 days instead of 10 days as the budget was decreased. The other problem was general bodies’ election due to which the training on DRR and DRM was moved to December as well as joint visits of the service providers were affected. IRSP is also facing the challenge of LSOs registration as Independent organizations. The process was initiated in the month of August but to date the organizations are not registered which may be a hurdle in bank account opening and starting hard component. Regular meetings with the concern authorities informed that due to current security situation, it takes time to register new organizations.

Overall the project is on track and completed all the activities in stipulated time.

Expected Results vs. AchievementsThere are three expected results of the projects where IRSP has achieved the following quantitate outputs to achieve these results;

Result 1: Formation and strengthening of a three tiered community mobilization system for social and economic development at Community, Village and Union Council level

Following are the quantities outputs under this result;

• 612 COs including 254 women Cos, 63 VOs and 4 LSOs were formed

• Capacity of 1,118 individuals was built on community management skills through 48 trainings

• Capacity of 684 individuals was built on leadership management skills through 24 trainings

• Capacity of 25 master trainers enhanced on CMST & LMST contents, development and advocacy skills

• Three-day training of LSO members held on proposal writing and financial management

• IRSP staff capacity was built on PRA, social mobilization, HIV&AIDs, Gender, report writing, Monitoring and

Evaluation and communication

• 8 experience sharing and manager conferences were held

• 3 exposure visits of LSOs’ members and IRSP staff paid to NRSP

• 13 activities were carried out engaging youth in healthy activities

Result 2: Community social infrastructure built or rehabilitated to improve basic social service delivery, taking into account disaster risk reduction principles

Under the project, 32 schemes will be completed for the communities. The schemes are identified through the communities. The role of COs and VOs was very important in identification of the schemes as they were the representatives of the whole communities. The VOs were asked to prioritize three projects (in consultation with COs) in their village. They shared the projects with IRSP which were technically reviewed by Community Physical Infrastructure (CPI) Coordinator while social aspect was validated by SOs. The projects were visited along with COs and VOs members and 32 schemes were finalized (8 in each UC). The women participation in the project

Poverty Alleviation and Community Development (PACD)

Summary of the Progress: Poverty Alleviation and Community Development (PACD) project is designed to mobilize and organize the communities in project area of district Jhang, Punjab to improve the livelihoods of the poor & vulnerable people, enhancing the local governance and strengthening social cohesion; focused on poverty alleviation through participatory and inclusive development. This project is implemented by IRSP in 4 UCs of the Jhang district through SABAWON. The project is based on the RSPs 3-tiers social mobilization system.

This report provides the summary of activities since inception of the project to the month of December 2015. During the project period the focus remained on developing the 3-tiers mobilization system in the project area.

The trust and support of the district administration, line departments, local political leadership and local CSOs is secured by conducting Program Planning Workshop and Stakeholders Workshop for better implementation of the project. The recruited staff of SABAWON was trained on the project design and approaches involved in the implementation of the project by conducting a 5-days training involves participatory approaches.

Baseline survey was carried out in the target communities with input from local government. The baseline survey provided an understanding of pre-intervention situation in terms of both economic circumstances of the community, and the existing level of basic social amenities available to them.

The project staff has mobilized the local communities following the social mobilization process and organized the communities in the form of 400 Community Organizations at sub-village/basti/ward level. There are 7,376 community member become the members of these organization which constitute 62% male and 38% female. The team has collected the different information from targeted villages, as well as UC level service providers for UC profiling and basic information about the UC has been collected and developed UC profiles. The manual for CMST are prepared in Urdu, staff is trained as master trainer for conducting the CMST and plan for conducting CMST is prepared. (Annexure-I).

IRSP and SABWON has established a proper review system where the different meetings have been carried out at head office as well as at field office level for smooth implementation of the project. The project office has established coordination with Punjab Rural Support Program (PRSP) for understanding the model and coordination to implement the 3-tiers mobilization system. The project manager and senior team from IRSP field office Bhakkar has also visited the Jhang team for experience sharing and better implementation of the project.

Result 1: Formation and strengthening of a three tiered community mobilization system for social and economic development at Community, Village and Union Council level.

Activity 1.1 – Support social mobilization process in the project area

The IRSP/SABAWON PA-CD Project staff organized people in the project area through forming 400 community organizations. As per project document it was ensured that 38% of the COs are exclusively for women. The COs are formed through community mobilization process which includes situation analysis, dialogues with the community/BBCMs, willingness resolution through community broader meetings (389), registration and signing MOUs between SABAWON and COs on project terms & conditions as per project scope of work.

# UCNo. of COs

Total COsMale Fem-ale Combi-ned

1 Rashid Pur 51 40 11 102

2 Uch Gul Imam 50 40 2 92

3 Kot Murad 60 46 0 106

4 Rodu Sultan 60 40 0 100

Total 211 166 13 400

The formative phase of the CO, initially, took a few months, which included a number of dialogues, selection of poor members and election of office bearers. The president and manager of a CO are elected on the basis of democratic procedures and developed mutual consensus on the election process. This was followed by signing of TOP and submission of resolution for CO formation. CO meetings were initially ensured to be held on a regular basis at least once in every month with maximum attendance.

Women were especially encouraged to form either separate groups or to form joint group with male community members so that they too could participate in the mainstream of community development at grass root level.

Table 1: Details of COs formed in targeted UCs

Because of cultural factors, it is easier for male COs to be formed first and IRSP/SABAWON strongly encouraged the target communities for the formation of female COs.

Similarly, members from the poorest of the poor households /oppressed class were encouraged to form Community Organization in order to enable them to participate in the social empowerment and community development process without hesitation.

Activity 1.2-Community Management Skill Trainings (CMST)

As per project target Community Management Skills Training (3-days) for activists/managers/presidents of the community organizations (COs) is in-progress which has to be completed from December 2015 to January, 2016 as per plan attached as (Annexure-ii). The training will enable them to efficiently manage the COs affairs in a participatory way. The office bearers from target COs will be trained in a wide range of subjects ranging from RSPs 3 tier social mobilization, VOs and LSO formation procedure, effective communication to record keeping, regular CO meeting, to ensure more than 80% attendance level, to enhance saving level and its utilization, to keep proper record of all the activities, to carry need analysis, to facilitate development planning, to interact effectively to link COs with other organizations/agencies and to co-ordinate between CO and SABAWON for all interventions.

Result 3: Capacities of local administration at Union Council and Tehsil level to plan, monitor and supervise development strengthenedThis result is underway through various activities like; supporting development of Union Council Profiles, strengthening linkages meetings. The strong coordination with newly elected members of the UCs will be established and their capacity will be built on development process.

Activity 3.3: Engaging the media to highlight the project interventions

The project engaged especially the local print media during district stakeholder workshop and field visits during CMST trainings,

WASH Early Recovery for Conflict Affected Families (WERCAF) in Bajuar Agency

Progress SummaryFATA in general and Bajuar Agency in particular is always facing security threats being the conflict affected region of Pakistan. IRSP remained in a much closed contact with the political administration and has followed their security instructions during implementation of the field activities which has enabled us to be vigilant and no such threats were faced by the staff.

During implementation of the project the targeted communities remained very supportive and visit to the CBECs, schools, conducting BLS and hygiene promotion activities were successfully carried out.

During the BLS/KAP Survey it was found that 90% of the people are dependent on the schemes which are constructed by the community on self-help basis. Only 10% of the community are dependent on the government led schemes. 85% of these schemes are either gravity or springs while dug wells are 12% and hand pumps are 3% in the targeted areas. In most of the cases more than 80% water sources are near to the community and 93% water is fetched by the women.

The impact of water treatment, hygiene, and sanitary interventions on improving child health outcomes such as absenteeism, infections, knowledge, attitudes, and practices and adoption of point-of-use water treatment. The project improved health, learning and performance of primary school pupils and teachers by providing a cleaner and safer learning environment. Project activities focused on provision of safe water and adequate sanitation and the adoption of better hygiene practices. The project aimed to strengthen local operations and maintenance and management capacity by offering innovative solutions to commonly encountered technical and organizational problems, and linking school efforts to community development and ownership.

Project Achievementselow is the summary of project achievements;

• A total of 360 health & hygiene session were conducted with 6,241 children’s (3,089 girls & 3152boys) 2,241 female and 1644 male on hazards of open defecation, safe use of drinking water, water borne diseases and importance of hand washing.

• A total of 38 WMCs were formed for smooth implementation of the project activities.

• In order to ensure best hygiene practices among the students, 38 CECs were formed.

• GHWD celebrated in 2 schools and 2 CBECs with an objective to mobilize the children and adults regarding the importance of hand washing. A total of 1,375 girls, 651 boys, 106 female & 156 male participated in GHWD.

• A total of 6 village Clean-up Campaign conducted at 6 different villages of Bajuar agency with the participation of School children, PTC and community members for the awareness of environmental hygiene.

• 06 health and hygiene promotion campaigns conducted at CBECs level to adopt best hygiene practices by the community.

• A total of 72 pour flash latrines (3 stances in 16 & 2 stance in 12 CBECs) constructed for children (1138 girls & 942 boys) of 28 CBECs.

• A total of 23 DWSS constructed for provision of clean drinking water to children’s (1138 girls & 942 boys) of 28 CBECs with support and coordination of TIJs, WMCs, community and line department.

• A total of 28 hand washing pads constructed in 28 CBECs for water collection & hand washing purposes benefiting 1138 girls & 942 boys

• A total of 28 solid waste bins installed in 28 CBECs for safe disposal of waste.

• A total of 16 latrine cleaning kits distributed among WMCs of 16 CBECs for proper maintenance & cleanliness of latrines.

• A total of 16 WMCs (143 members) & 16 CECs (160 children) were capacitated for operation and maintenance of WASH facilities.

• Two days training imparted to stakeholders of the project about Peace Education.

• A total of 40 water quality test conducted in order to insure safe and clean drinking water for users.

• Strong coordination, linkages and liaison is established with political administration, law enforcing agencies, community, education dept., PHED, NGOs and UN agencies for better results of the project.

Output 1. CBE catchment areas have access to and maintain WASH facilities.

Water SupplyIRSP has constructed 23 water supply schemes as compared to targeted 20 schemes. The increased in the number of water supply schemes from 20 to 34 is agreed among IRSP, IRC based on the actual needs and demand of the beneficiary community.

No. of schemes No. of beneficiaries

23 1,138 942

During the reporting period IRSP has constructed 23 drinking water supply schemes for provision of safe drinking water to children of 28 CBECs (3 DWSS serving two CBECs). IRSP has ensured participation of the community, TIJs, WMCs and Political administration for smooth implementation and better sustainability. The construction of the water supply schemes is regularly supervised and monitored by IRSP and IRC technical teams in order to ensure the quality and pace of work. The monitoring assured the construction in accordance to standards and engineering codes in close collaboration with Government Line Departments.

No. of latrines No. of beneficiaries

72 1,138 942

SanitationA total of 72 pour flash latrines (3 stances in 16 & 2 stance in 12 CBECs) constructed in 28 CBECs for safe disposal of human excreta. Once the latrines construction completed TIJ & WMCs member were provided with latrine cleaning kits to ensure the cleanliness of latrine. A total of 16 (03 Buckets, 03 Mugs, 03 Lottas, 03 Commode Cleaning Brushes, 02 Grooms, 01 Phenol, 02 Gloves Pairs and 02 Masks) Latrine Cleaning Kits were also provided during the project period.

Cleanup CampaignsSanitation condition of Bajuar agency is very much poor. The streets and drains were choked with debris causing stagnancy of water. The clean-up activity was conducted in collaboration with TIJs & WMCs members, Khar Municipal Administration and Political Administration for better sanitation purposes. A total of 6 different spots/villages were cleaned and the drainage systems were restored in close coordination with Political Administration and local communities.

WASH Management Committees

WMCsMembership

Teachers Community/TIJ

21 Male WMCs 42 147

18 Female WMCs 36 126

Total 39 78 273

Community involvement and participation is the key to success in every developmental program and their ownership can sustain the project interventions. Therefore; IRSP formed 39 WMCs (18 female & 21 male) each comprising 8 to 10 members through a social mobilization process. The capacity of these WMCs further strengthened by providing training to them on their roles & responsibilities; including action planning, monitoring and maintenance of WASH facilities.

Water Quality MonitoringDuring the reporting period a total of 40 Pre and post Water Quality Tests of target water sources were conducted to ensure the availability of clean drinking water for students and community. The water quality tests checked the turbidity, pH value and presence of bacteria causing water borne diseases. Proper arrangements were made to purify the water where the water was found to be contaminated by proper monitoring and purification

Output 2. CBE students, teachers and SMCs promote good health and hygiene practices.

Formation and training of Children Environment Committees (CECs)

No of CECsMembership

Boys/Girls Teacher

21 Boys CECs 252 boys 21

18 Girls CECs 216 girls 18

Total 39 468 39

To ensure best hygiene practices among students, IRSP formed 39 Children Environmental Committees (CECs) in 39 CBECs. Each committee consists of twelve members and one teacher. These committees were further capacitated by imparting training to them for the purpose to maintain cleanness at schools, promote good hygiene practices like safe use of drinking water, hand washing at critical timings and proper disposal of human excreta.

Health & Hygiene Sessions

Type of Session Number of sessionsBeneficiaries

Men Women Boys Girls

Men 63 1,662

Women 96 2,258

Children 213 3,612 3,384

Total 371 1,662 2,258 3,612 3,384

In order to mitigate the risk pertaining to various water borne diseases, the communities as well as students of CBECs were provided with an in depth information on the causes and the possible steps that can be taken to reduce the risk. IRSP conducted 360 Health and hygiene sessions (male & female) to ensure community awareness on health issues related to open defecation, safe use of water and personal hygiene practices. People attended these sessions including parents and students.

SMCs and WMCs maintain WASH facilities With the completion of WASH facilities in 16 CBECs during first phase of construction, the WMCs of the concern CBECs were

Nawab is 5 years old and studying in KG class of CBEC Shiekh meno. Nawab is one of the brilliant students of CBEC and is very punctual as well.

His teachers and parent noticed very positive and enormous change is his attitude toward hygiene after attending health & hygiene sessions. He is

very keen and adopted most of the good hygiene practices. Teachers of the centre shared that he is not only practicing the good hygiene practices by

himself but also encouraging all of his friends to maintain cleanliness of the school and centre. Nawab along with his friends cleaning his classroom

and veranda of the centre and facilitating other children of the centre for the usages of dustbins, especially in break time.

Nawab regularly washes his hands properly with soaps at critical timing.

Nawab wants to be a successful and healthy person of the society.

provided with a cleaning kit for better operation & maintenance of the facilities. Practical demonstration sessions conducted with each WMCs & SMCs for proper and effective use of those kits. Both IRSP & IRC teams are monitoring the facilities on weekly basis through spot check & observation and provided every necessary information or inputs to the WMCs whenever is required

SMCs/WMCs Trained in WASH facility MaintenanceOnce the process of WMCs formation completed and realizing the need of the capacity building of these committees IRSP conducted trainings of 16 WMCs & CECs on operation & maintenance of WASH facilities, safe use of drinking water, best hygiene practices, hazards of open defecation and preparation of ORS during the first phase.

The methodology of these training was brain storming sessions, group work and group presentation. The participants were provided with IRSP/IRC designed IEC material kits to equip them for further promotion of health and hygiene in their respective areas. These trainings were conducted in schools, CBECs and community gathering places (Hujras) with an integrated and participatory approach.

Plantation CampaignIRSP in collaboration with forest department works with schools’ children and community members to provide and plant trees for improved and better environment. IRSP also celebrated tree plantation campaign at Bajaur Agency jointly with the IDEA at CBECs and community level. Tree Planting Campaign help connects students and community members to the benefits of trees and fosters environmental stewardship. These types of activities also support IRSP larger community effort to help grow Bajaur tree canopy. A total of 1200 trees of indigenous and different species, (Dewodar, Cheerh and Shewa) were planted in different villages & CBECs of Bajuar Agency.

Supporting Government Capacity Building in Rural Water Sector in Punjab

BackgroundThe access to rural water has improved in the last decade but little attention has been given to the quality aspects, consequently the consumers are falling prey to diseases associated with contaminated water. According to JMP (WHO and UNICEF) Pakistan is on track to achieve the national water supply target reaching 92% of the population (MDG Target of 91%)

Only in Punjab, rural water coverage is around 93% where only 32% of communities have access to piped water. The government-installed tube well-based schemes. The rest of 68% utilizes their own water sources including hand pumps and dug-wells etc. Between 1961 and 2010, the Government of Punjab spent over US$300 million to construct 4,100 piped water schemes, with communities taking over for operation and maintenance (O&M) after construction. About 33% of these piped water schemes in Punjab are dysfunctional.

The government of Punjab has an approved water policy formulated by the support of partners including WSP. The policies are not implemented in its true spirit and the benefiting communities are not equipped how to support the service provider in managing the installations in a better way. Filling

the gap, the WSP is shouldering the responsibility to support provincial government and community groups in strengthening & sustaining community based rural water supply schemes. WSP has completed one round of support to Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Punjab in 2013 under which performance based rewards initiative was introduced for performing Community Based Organizations (CBOs), back up support mechanism was devised to sustain CBOs operations in case of disaster/emergences and major technical faults in schemes.

As result of these initiatives some CBOs are now better capable of managing rural water supply efficiently and about 50 CBOs have excelled in provision of water supply to customers utilizing the skills imparted by WSP. Theses CBOs have managed to generate computerized bills, developing complaint mechanism and excellent accounting and operation and maintenance system. WSP also exposed the government officials of KP and Kashmir to Punjab model. The KP government is inclined to internalize some of the initiatives that in the province that has proved successfully in Punjab. This includes support to KP government in drinking water policy and establishment of “Sector Reform Unit” with support of UNICEF and SDC.

Objective of the Assignment: Following are the objective of the assignment;

Objectives for Rural Water:

• Provide training/orientations to CBOs in management of

rural water schemes

• Strengthening of community based approaches in rural water supply

• Promoting lateral learning among provinces & CBO

• Incentivizing performance through awards and recognition • Information dissemination, cross and inter provincial exposure to best practices

Achievements of the project; n this assignment IRSP has supported the government and other stakeholders to scale up and adopt the best practices in rural water sector. Following activities are carried out to promote best practices and build the capacity of stakeholders;

Capacity Building of PHED staff and CBOs: To improve service delivery in water sector, WSP-SA assigned the task of capacity building activities to IRSP in the Province of Punjab. After assessing the target audience, to execute the assignment “Supporting government capacity building in rural water sector” the training workshops were designed to strengthen the CBOs and CD unit of PHED Punjab. Before starting the trainings, an inception workshop was arranged for designing the training and prioritize the contents in which members from CBOs and CD Unit participated. Total 8 (3-days) training workshops were executed in which 218 participants from CBOs and CDU participated from 9 divisions of the province.

IRSP has developed manuals for social mobilization, hygiene promotion, gender mainstreaming, social accountability and M&E for CD unit while record keeping, financial management, documentation, operation & maintenance, fund raising, water quality control, cleaning of water storage tank complaints handling, new connection and disconnection policy, water meter type; specification and installation, bill printing and distribution, accountability, financial management, cost recovery and transparency were designed for CBOs.

Monitoring indictors for CBO performance were developed including monitoring formats for CBOs and six monthly reporting of financial, O&M and customer complaints at water supply scheme level.

According to the evaluation of the trainings, topic of water quality and social mobilization were appreciated by the participants 71% and 70% respectively. 60% of the participants ranked the trainers and training methodology as excellent as the knowledge level improved during the training. 50% of the participants demanded to arrange the trainings at district level to ensure more participation from the community. 37% of the participants having the view that the contents should explained in more detail by increasing the training duration up to five-days.

Developing monitoring indicators:Developing monitoring indicators and a mechanism for data transmission for CBO performance with Punjab PHED (social mobilization cell) on a six-monthly basis, including incentives for CBOs who share timely and required data with PHED, and capacity building of CBOs to share data on indicators with PHED.

IRSP has studied the existing documents of PHED during a desk review by IRSP M&E personnel and a report on new indicators are shared with PHED and WSP. The monitoring indicators are finalized based on the feedback of PHED and WSP for implementation.

Creating networks of CBOs (in 2 selected districts):

IRSP has established CBOs and CSOs network in the past in district Mardan and Swat for WASH project which were very successful. Based on that experience IRSP is establishing 2 similar networks in Chakwal and Vihari districts on pilot basis. IRSP has interacted with the functional CBOs during field visits and mobilization sessions and FGDs will be carried out to create a network of these CBOs. Based on consensus a network will be established at district level and a meeting will be conducted at district level where its executive body will be elected. This network will serve as platform for CBOs to share knowledge, experiences and issues related to operations, management and other areas. The main objective is to promote the peer-to-peer learning process leading to capacity building of CBOs and sustainability of schemes. The network will be trained in coordination, knowledge generation and knowledge sharing. The best CBO of the district will be identified and trained to lead the network.

3rd CBO Performance Competition Award: Organize 3rd CBOs Performance Competition Award on the basis of learning from 1st and 2nd CBOs Performance Competition Awards. This award will now be hosted by UNICEF and IRSP will serve as consultant firm to validate the CBOs performance in the field after being nominated by PHED in 36 districts of Punjab. The selection of best CBOs per district will be made as per earlier agreed criterion, validation of quality of services delivered by CBOs and review of record keeping through spot checking in field, performance competition award ceremony among top 36 CBOs of Punjab through panel interviews and popular voting.

Access to information:The objective is to promote the culture of information sharing and transparency within CBOs through access to information. Display boards will be designed and supplied for 36 CBOs (best CBO of each district of 2013 2nd Performance Award competition). The display boards with – dash board indicators - information like name, technical details (pump & motor), year of establishment, number of connections, (types), tariff (for each type), last three months’ revenue, last three months’ expenditure, last three months’ complaints, complaints addressed etc. The CBO will update the board on monthly basis so some sections will be permanent and some will be blank where CBO will put data.

To reduce incidence of water borne diseases in the IDPs and Hosting communities of district Bannu by the provision of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilitieshe project intervention aimed to minimize the ratio of water borne diseases in the IDPs and host communities at district Bannu. For achieving the desired goal, IRSP with the financial support of SDC started the project by improving access to WASH facilities in the target area. The project was implemented in two pronged approach of hard and soft intervention. Provision of water and sanitation facilities in schools, communities and health facilities were followed by training of community members, school teachers, health staff and PHED officials on water quality and disinfection. For the successful execution of the project, PHED,

Health and education department were involved in the activities.

To ensure the sustainability of the project, the community members, school teachers and health staff was trained on the operation and maintenance of the installed water sources.

Unlike other developmental and long term projects, it is hard to observe the overall impact of the project due to the short period of intervention, however pre and post KAP survey was performed to analyse the efficiency of the intervention.

The project was implemented in 12 union councils of district Bannu for the displaced people from NWA along with host communities. Due to the large influx of the IDPs it was challenging to provide them access to safe drinking water and better sanitation. During the project, PHED, education and health department were regularly coordinated and involved in the activities. The updates of the project were shared with district administration, WASH cluster and army correspondent on weekly and monthly basis.

4,000 IDPs families were targeted for the promotion of household water treatment and improved hygiene along with the provision of soap and jerry can to each targeted family. IEC materials were developed regarding safe drinking water and hygiene which were shared during the community sessions. In addition, Global hand washing day was also celebrated in the schools in order to promote the messages through school kids. 106 school teachers were trained on water quality and treatment along with operation and maintenance of small water sources. 101 staff from health department were trained on water quality and household water treatment. 200 PHED staff were trained on disinfection and cleaning of water storage tank by using chlorine while the same staff was practically involved during chlorination.

5 public water supply schemes from PHED and 34 small water sources were rehabilitated along with 40 installation of new hand pumps in the schools and target communities. 57 existing latrines were rehabilitated while 36 new latrines were constructed in the schools, RHC and community places. 252 water sources were disinfected while 282 pre and 215 post water quality analysis was performed. Furthermore, WHO, PHED department, education department, health department and WASH cluster working group also contributed and provided extended support during the project.

Project Outputs;• During the analysis of bacteriological water quality of rehabilitated water sources, it was observed that 94% of them were safe for

drinking and were without bacteriological contamination, the ratio was 20% before disinfection.

• According to the health data collected from BHUs, 27% diarrheal patients were recorded which was reduced to 10% in the end of the project.

• 71% of the target population were practicing proper hand washing in the IDPs communities and schools the ratio was 56% before the project.

• The quantity of water increased after rehabilitation of public water supply schemes run by PHED and TMA at target area. 86.6% of the target population were satisfied with the quality and quantity of water observed in the post KAP survey in the target area.

• Sufficient water is available at schools and IDPs hosting communities after the installation new water sources. According to the post KAP survey 89.3% of the population was satisfied with the provision of water facilities at schools and community level.

• The sanitation facilities improved through the rehabilitation of existing and installation of new latrines in the target schools. 68% of the target population were satisfied with the provision of latrine facility in the schools and community level.

• The target communities (4,000 families) sensitized and it was observed that 79% of them were having enough knowledge of water quality and 71% having improved knowledge regarding hand washing and hygiene.

• 4,000 community men, women and children are trained on household water treatment methods, safe handling and storage of drinking water. Soap and jerry cans for storing drinking water distributed among 4,000 families.

• 71% of Community men, women and children are practicing hand washing in critical timings and maintaining better hygiene.

• Water quality improved from 26% to 93% after disinfection of public water supply schemes run by PHED, TMA and other water sources at schools and IDPs hosting areas.

• PHED and TMA staff trained on water quality and disinfection in emergencies and 12% of them were practicing at water supply scheme level.

Distribution of IEC materials in community.

Citizen Engagement for Social Services Delivery (CESSD)

BackgroundThe Citizen Engagement for Social Service Delivery (CESSD, Phase III project), operating in 11 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province works at the community, district, and provincial levels to strengthen service delivery across KP

in the education, health care, and water supply sectors. The project’s goal is to improve the quality of basic social services in KP and increase access to and use of these services, particularly by girls and women.

CESSD project progress FY 2014-15• One-day PTCs orientations were held with each PTC

on government mandated roles and responsibilities of PTCs for 176 Parent Teacher Councils in selected PTCs in consultation with district education department. (Girls Schools were 87 & Boys Schools were 89).

• Total 13 Mothers’ groups were formed in boys’ primary schools in the light of the PTC guidebook.

• 44 events of Four-days trainings on roles and responsibilities, financial management, PTC record keeping, School Improvement Plan (SIP), Primary Education Quality Standards (PEQS), raising awareness of the PTCs on corporal punishment for 89 males PTCs & 87 female PTCs were held.

• 80 General Body Meetings of 80 different PTCs were conducted in which progress, planning and challenges to PTCs were discussed and action plan were developed.

• 18 events of two-day training on Gender and education for male PTCs & female PTCs were conducted in which total of 176 PTCs were trained.

• 18 events of Two-Day trainings on Social Accountability (Right to public service, right to information) for newly selected 87 female PTCs and 89 male PTCs.

• Conducted a six-month adult literacy course for 21 mothers’ groups.

• Facilitated and coached 80 PTCs for the preparation and implementation of School Improvements Plans (involving mother groups).

• 76 UC level PTCs Networks were developed and 10 circle level PTC Networks were established through PTC election.

• Best PTCs Annual conference were conducted in Islamabad.

• Community Forum were conducted through networks at district level.

• 2 Events of One-day training on revised role & responsibilities of PTCs were conducted for old selected 15 male PTCs & 15 female of years 2011-12

Citizen Engagement for Social Services Delivery (CESSD) III

Background The provincial government has taken steps towards improving sanitation levels across KP, and reducing open defecation, by developing national and provincial sanitation policies (some yet to be approved) to meet communities’ sanitation demands and needs. In FY 2013-14, CESSD rolled out CLTS activities in 4 districts, with a view to identify target areas with open defecation issues, and sensitize and mobilize their residents on health and hygiene issues. As a next step, CESSD incorporated into its FY2014-15 annual work plan a series of additional CL TS related activities. These include the assessment of existing low cost latrine technologies and linkages between communities, sanitation suppliers and latrine masons.

IRSP assessed the existing low cost latrine technologies, identify affordable models and market new latrine options for use by target communities (Abbotabbad, Chitral, Nowshera and Manserah). Community members are connected to sanitary shop owners and local masons, who will in turn be trained on the use of low cost latrine materials. Low cost demo latrine materials are developed, introduced and provided to sanitary shop owners for replication.

Community resource persons are also identified and trained to mobilize communities on the safe disposal of human excreta and to promote low cost latrine options. A fare (or “Mela”) was organized to demonstrate low cost materials to a wider audience for uptake in their respective communities. The fare has provided an opportunity for participant to hear from sanitation/WASH experts.

Following are the achievements of the assignment:

Research Study:During 2014, IRSP implemented a project of CLTS with support of Citizen Engagement for Social Services Delivery (CESSD) in 4 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This research study is carried out in these 4 districts namely, Abbottabad, Chitral, Mansehra and Nowshehra to determine/ assess the existing low latrines uses, practices, availability, OD trends and culture in communities and openness to latrine use. This study also desired to identify gaps in CLTS and latrine provision interventions in KP and also identify lesson learnt and best practices from donor organizations and WASH Programs perspectives.

The study involves different techniques that include data collection through FGDs and KIIs with experts, masons and vendors adopting a random sampling method.

The major findings of the data analysis show that people have adopted the already available traditional toilet options and did not replicate the low cost sanitation models which were introduced to in these communities by different donors. During the study, two major types of latrines were seen which were adopted by the local communities like hilly areas 81% of people are using/

constructed a “soakage pit type of latrines”. While in Nowshehra district, 70% of the people are using “precast rings type of latrines”. These two major types of latrines are appropriate for local conditions and has greater acceptability as viable option.

The major reason behind not constructing latrines was mentioned as poverty/low income phenomena (82% responses expressed by people with no latrines). However, it was also found that construction of latrines was not priority of the people while they were constructing their homes.

It was found that even the villages have been declared as Open Defecation Free, there were still signs of open defecation as the communities reverted to old practices because of the very short term projects and lack of a strong follow up mechanism. However, it was seen that wherever the CLTS process is triggered by an expert social organizer then there is a visible change in the community behavior (Like in villages of Mansehra). The latrines coverage was sufficiently increased in all the target districts through triggering of CLTS.

The low cost latrines models are not appropriately linked with communities as masons and vendors were unable to replicate the same models on which they were capacitated. Dry pit model was found the most rejected/ misappropriate type of latrines, the study reveals.

The effective CLTS triggering has significant impact on communities as the number of household latrines increased compared to the baseline which has reduced the open defecation practices in the communities. No technical or financial support is given to households during construction of latrines by any organization. Communities expressed their views that poor of the poorest should be given some subsidy/ financial support during the construction of latrines.

Analyzing the overall process of CLTS, it was learnt that there has been a compromise on selection of villages, as well as no well-trained and skilled persons were engaged in CLTS triggering processes. Similarly, local organizations and natural leaders were also ignored during the interventions, while follow up mechanism was also missing.

During the KIIs with the CLTS experts and practitioners it was realized that there is a greater need to find out potential peoples who can better understand the CLTS processes and can implement the approach in letter and spirit. The peoples who possess the natural qualities of a facilitator, should be meaningfully engaged in the CLTS triggering processes. The inexperienced peoples should be avoided in triggering processes.

Greater investments are needed in the natural leaders and in the existing local institutions by involving them in the follow-up and monitoring for retaining and sustaining such interventions.

To scale up the low cost sanitation, the local masons and vendors should be part and parcel of all project process. More time has to be given for follow up and monitoring and short term projects should be avoided.

A holistic approach should be adopted to achieve the desired target of total sanitation by involving all donors’ efforts at one place as compared to work in isolation and pockets.

Training of Local Masons and Vendors on Low Cost Sanitation Models:Improving sanitation coverage in the country, needs capacity building of communities, masons, vendors, introducing low cost options and advocacy with government. IRSP in collaboration with CESSD arranged One-day training of Masons and Vendors/sanitary shop owners on low cost latrine technologies. These trainings were held in Abbottabad and Chitral.

Training objectives:

•Educate the masons and shop owners on the importance of sanitary latrines

•Train local masons and artisans on alternative building technologies of latrine construction

•Educate local masons and sanitary shop owners ensuring accessibility inclusion of Gender, disabled and old age people in latrine construction

•To capacitate local masons on different low cost latrine designs so that they shall implement them at field level keeping in view the local culture/acceptability, affordability and accessibility

Sanitation FareThe participant included people from different walk of life i.e. government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) officials, school

teachers and students, masons, vendors and experts from renowned institute. People form district Abbottabad, Chitral, Mansehra and Nowshehra were also invited to the fare as CLTS project was implemented in these districts. The fare was attended by almost 300 individuals.

During fare, various actors displayed their stalls showcasing their work and contribution to the country in WASH and other sectors. The stalls were displayed by International Rescue Committee (IRC), ACTED, IDEA, Khwendo Kor, RAHNUMA, IRSP and Aurat Foundation. IRC and ACTED displayed 2 different types of low cost latrines. The participants took keen interests and questioned them of their work and future plans.

7.4.1 Technical Sessions:

The fare including technical sessions where experts from well reputed institutions presented their experiences, views and work on sanitation with the audience. The session was planned to know opportunities, threats and low cost affordable solutions to the problem. The experts included the following officials;

Mr. Saif Ullah:

Mr. Saif presented the findings of the research study of 4 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa It was shared that the construction of latrine was increased in result of the CLTS interventions, people who were reluctant to use latrines are now using latrine at home, about 80% participants responded that the latrines are not constructed due to poverty and people are practicing open defecation.

Mr. Dr. Sher Jamal (NUST Islamabad)

Dr. Sher Jamal presented his experience/views on low cost and improved toilets. Before starting he shared the existing WASH situation in Pakistan

Mr. Bilal (Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia (WSP-SA))

Mr. Bilal in his presentation highlighted the key reasons for not constructing latrines or reasons of OD and the assistance provided by WSA-SA to have better solution of the existing situation.

Mr. Dr. Bahadur Nawab Khattak (COMSAT Abbottabad)

Dr. Bahadur strongly recommend this model to be adopted. At the end, following recommendations were made;

•Integration of health and sanitation interventions

•Health policy and strategy and its integration with sanitation policies and strategy

•Active role of government institutions

•Community participation and ownership

•Capacity building of local people and government institutions

Ms. Sumaira (Akhtar Hameed Khan Trust Rawalpindi)

Ms. Sumaira from AHKT shared her experience on working with govt. officials. She asked WASH actors to be committed with their work and should work parallel to govt. institutions as provision of water and sanitation services is mainly the responsibility of govt. i.e. Municipal committees and PHED.

Citizens’ Action for Democratic Governance in Pakistan

BackgroundThe Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA) is implementing Citizens’ Action for Democratic Governance (CADG) through the member organizations of the Free and fair Election Network (FAFEN) from May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016 in order to sustain and strengthen its core programme activities and prepare for a longer-term future programming. This project builds on the successes of “Supporting Transparency, Accountability and Electoral Processes in Pakistan” (STAEP) programme and represents the planned core election-related programming and activities. TDEA-FAFEN, through this funding, will work to strengthen its key areas of election-related, institutional oversight and citizen demand work, knitting together its election and between-elections initiatives and building on its track record of uniquely successful electoral and democratic reform advocacy.

The project follows DFID support to the “Supporting Transparency, Accountability and Electoral Processes in Pakistan” project (2011-2014) and European Union’s Long-Term Election Observation and Oversight Project (2012-2014). Both projects were implemented by FAFEN. Learning from STEAP, the proposed action will have increased focus on more representative citizens’ groups for greater community buy-in; ensure increased participation of women and other socially marginalised section of society, and to create synergies with organizations working on similar issues. To bring the issues of governance to political mainstream, TDEA-FAFEN will further streamline and strengthen its work with political parties through increased engagement at all levels.

The primary focus of the program will be on developing new, and strengthening existing relationships between rights-holders and duty-bearers, to enable citizens’ voices to be channeled into administrative, regulatory and legislative reforms, enabling improved electoral, legislative and local governance. These approaches will deliver increased value for money for donors and more sustainable civil society voice and accountability in Pakistan. Scope of Work for the Implementing Partner of CADGP is as follows as per the Milestones of the Project Management Plan:

Programme components:

Electoral Reforms Advocacy

IRSP followed the criteria which have been given by FAFEN for the formulation of district and regional level governance support groups. The groups are responsible for generating the demands and supporting the policy advocacy initiative at the provincial level. FAFEN designed and conducted District and Regional Governance Group training in District Mardan while IRSP provided all the logistical, coordination, communication and travel support for the training.

Integrated Regional Support Program is generating various electoral reforms demands at the district level. In 2015 District Governance Group has generated 5 campaigns on delimitation and polling stations location against the following areas.

Election observation

As a step towards free and fair elections in Pakistan, FAFEN/IRSP deployed 75 trained citizens (42 Male and 33 Female) for 75 union councils to observed 225 sample polling stations in District Mardan. All observers were issued accreditation card by ECP. DRO told that he didn’t have any knowledge about accreditation or didn’t take the responsibility, referred to ECP for issuance of accreditation cards.

All the observers were identified and profiled as per the already set criteria and ensured 100% participation in one-day training on election observation. Upon conclusion of training, polling stations were assigned to each observer and required reporting formats were handed over to each observer.

All the observers were trained on technical aspects of the voting and counting process, Local government act 2013, amendments in 2014. They were also discussed about the state, governments, why local government elections are necessary and how the people can access to their local representatives and their involvement in development work. Three polling stations were assigned to each observer with standardized checklists to be filled in the specified time during Election Day.

Project facilitator held various meetings with Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) district office, DRO office, ROs for obtaining polling Scheme, sharing list of observers and getting accreditation cards.

All standardized checklists successfully collected some on the same day and remaining on next day from 72 out of 75 observers further handed over to TDEA trainers.

FAFEN designed a customized training for LG election observers, while IRSP identified and profiled 131 election observers and provided logistics for the trainings in three districts of Punjab. IRSP successfully observed three districts i.e. Bhakkar, Mianwali and Layyah.

District Assembly Observation

IRSP is regularly observing district assembly proceedings of District Mardan and reporting to FAFEN secretariat.

ILM Possible-Take a Child to School (TACS)

Project BackgroundBritish Council (BC), Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA-FAFEN), Children’s Global Network (CGN) and School of Leadership Foundation (SOLF) are implementing ILM POSSIBLE-Take a Child to School (TACS) project in four provinces of Pakistan- Punjab (25 Districts), Sindh (18 Districts), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (12 Districts) and Baluchistan (5 Districts). The aim of the project is to enroll 135,000 out of school children (5-11 years) primarily in Government Primary School but in areas where government schools are not available or their capacity is full, enrollment will be made in private schools that offer free education (e.g. Charity Schools). Of the newly enrolled children, 80% are expected to stay in school during the life of the project. The project will accomplish these results using a holistic approach that engages all the education stakeholders to ensure children enroll in school, stay in school and learn while in school. For these stakeholders, the project will deliver (a) increased number of better informed parents committing to enroll their children and (b) an increased number of parents who are interested to retain their children in schools. These goals and objectives will be achieved through a set of following activities:

• Identification 14,500 potential volunteers who show interest in working for the improvement of enrollment in their area during the project life. (Share of Mardan District is 300 volunteers)

• Strong mobilization among the community members to increase enrollment of out of school children

• Identification of potential community members for the formation of 250 Mohallah Committees (MCs) to take advocacy initiatives regarding improvement of school infrastructure, staffing, basic facilities etc. (Share of Mardan District is 5 MCs. 1 MC per Union Council)

• Dosti initiative to be launched in 120 selected schools which will mainly consist of engagements in extra curriculum activities, sports etc.

Role of FAFEN in TACS Project:FAFEN’s role in the ILM Possible-Take a Child to School (TACS) project is to build the capacity of BC Partner Organizations, to facilitate field staff on the technical aspects of the project such as implementation process and reporting through dedicated online utility and periodically conduct monitoring of project activities to verify, validate and assess that project resources are being used for intended purposes in a defined manner and yielding the desired results. FAFEN’s broader roles include:

• Building the Program capacity of BC Partner through periodic trainings, constant feedback and on-site mentoring through FAFEN’s member organization

• Conducting monitoring of enrollment, retention, MC formation and advocacy initiatives

• Developing and updating the online utility- ILM Information System (IIS)

Scaling Up Menstrual Hygiene Management in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

BackgroundMenstruation remained a taboo in our society and a very little attention is given to adverse effects comes as result of bad menstrual hygiene practices. The MHM was first introduced by IRSP in development sector as part of the hygiene promotion activities with support on WaterAid in Pakistan. Realizing the importance; IRSP has started a capacity building projects with its own financial human resource to scale up the best practices of Menstrual Hygiene Management in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

After a series of meetings with district health department of Mardan, the following activities were agreed;

•Development, printing and dissemination of IEC (information, education and communication) material

•Arranging and conducting 400 trainings on MHM and Hygiene Promotion to train approx. 2,000 health department staff

•Developing action plan with health department

•Progress tracking mechanism

•Bridging communities with health department

•Training on low cost sanitary pads development

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between IRSP and Health Department to perfume these activities. The prime responsibility of capacity building and support was taken by IRSP while the health department agreed to provide trainees, venue and logistic support for trainees during the trainings.

TOT of LHWs (Lady Health Workers) and LHS (Lady Health Supervisors) on MHMThe objective of these trainings were to develop the capacity of LHWs and LHS on menstrual hygiene management and low cost sanitary pads production.

These trainings were carried out in 8 locations of district Mardan mostly the BHUs and Type-D hospitals. These trainings were participated by the LHWs and LHS of the relevant regions.

The direct beneficiaries of these trainings were 241 staff members of health department while the indirect beneficiaries (committee members trained by these staff members) of the training are 2,410. These staff members who were trained by IRSP are covering more 226,018 population of the district and ultimately these messages will be reached to this population as hygiene promotion is integral part of the LHWs job description.

During the trainings different participatory approaches were used, like starting with brainstorming through questions and answers

Water Quality Lab of IRSPWater quality monitoring and treatment is one the main expertise of IRSP. The laboratory was established in 2009, Delagua was initially used for bacteriological water testing. Further in 2011; IRSP established a fully equipped laboratory for Chemical, Bacteriological and physical water testing.

At current, chemical, physical and bacteriological water analysis is performed for household as well as community water supply schemes. Chlorine production kit (WATA Kit) is also available which is used for the production of chlorine consumed in treatment of contaminated sources.

The bacteriological water testing is now even more advanced as testing is shifted from Delagua kit to “Compact dry EC plates” for the analysis of E. coli (the best indicator of fecal contamination in drinking water).

IRSP has well‐equipped water quality laboratory and trained staff that is providing trainings to many local NGOs and TMAs/PHED staff in Pakistan. Within the last 5 years, IRSP has trained more than 500 staff members of NGOs, TMA and PHED in biological, physical and chemical analysis of the water and extended support to the PHED/TMA to make their lab functional. More than 10,000 water testing for bacteriological analysis has been conducted during different projects. More than 500 water sources were tested for basic chemicals (Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, Sulfate, Chloride, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Total Hardness, and Alkalinity) and chemical parameters geo-genic (Arsenic and Fluoride) at various part of the country.

During year 2015; IRSP-Lab provided services in district Bannu, Mardan, Nowshera and Swabi for IRSP projects as well as for other organizations working in the area. Besides water testing, technical staff also cleaned and shock chlorinated water sources which were contaminated due to fecal infection.

Type of Activity Performed Total Tested Sources

Bacteriological and Physical testing of water sources 450

Chemical Testing of water sources 120

Water Sources Disinfected through Chlorination 500

• Providing facilitation to BC partners on technical aspects of the project particularly the use of IIS

• To develop and execute targeted education governance reforms advocacy campaign at the national and provincial levels in order to complement the efforts of BC partners in 60 districts.

Project updates (District Mardan Specific):

Sr. No Details Frequency

1 Monitoring of Enrollment Periodically

2 Monitoring of Retention Biannually

3 Monitoring of Mohallah Committees Periodically

4 Monitoring reports of enrollments verification Monthly Basis

5 Volunteer verification reports Monthly Basis

6 Survey for Midline Study One Time (Mid of the Project

7 Survey and data collection for impact study One Time (End of Project

Being a member of FAFEN, IRSP is conducting monitoring of field activities through periodic field visits and report on timely basis for keeping the project outputs on target. In this connection, each child enrolled by BC Volunteers in monitored in the same quarter for enrollment while the retention is monitored on periodic basis. Being a district coordinator, IRSP’s project staff is playing the role to bridge the time lapse between enrollment and monitoring to ensure harmonious progress of the project and minimize conflicts in the data reporting.

Overall Progress:IRSP has successfully monitored 4,156 children claimed by BC Partner as their enrollment of Out of School Children in the target union councils, regularly monitored the formation and activation of MCs, participated in UC mapping, school profiling and provided technical support to BC partner on IIS as and when required. All the reports and progress have been uploaded on IIS. Similarly, retention monitoring of all children have been done.

Integrated Regional Support ProgramHouse # 121, Street 2, Sector A, Sheikh Maltoon Town Mardan. Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. Pakistan.

Phone: +92 (937) 880283 Fax: +92 (937) 880284

Web: www.irsp.org.pk Email: info@irsp.org.pk