On Saturday, June 29th, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned of expected monsoon rains affecting parts of Pakistan within the next 48 to 72 hours. Meanwhile the Pakistan Meteorological Department (Flood Forecasting Division) reported that the River Indus at Guddu & Sukkur (in Sindh province) are at a medium flood level. Since the onset of monsoon season on June 25th, the death toll from rain-related incidents has reached 173, with casualties including 72 children and 32 women.
According to NDMA’s latest report, recent spells of rains have resulted in the complete destruction of 258 houses and partial damage to 1,227 houses nationwide. In Sindh province, six union councils in Dadu district have been affected by flooding, impacting an estimated 183 villages and 102, 268 individuals. Main roads connecting the district are left submerged in water, leading people to use alternate routes for access1.
Pakistan’s key water reservoirs in Mangla and Tarbela are approaching maximum conservation levels (MCL) amid monsoon rains. Moderate flash floods in River Kabul tributaries and hill torrents in DG Khan are also anticipated, while the NDMA warns of the Sukkur Barrage experiencing high flood levels by July 31st. Moreover, a latest Pakistan Meteorological Department report forecasts a possibility of thunderstorms with lightning and rainfall in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the coming days.
Last year’s monsoon season left about one-third of the country flooded, claiming nearly 1,700 lives and an estimated damage of over $30 billion.
Community World Service Asia Response:
Community World Service Asia’s emergency team is in communication with relevant stakeholders, including local authorities, disaster management agencies, and expected affected communities to ensure effective coordination and a timely response. Our team is closely monitoring the situation and will immediately start relief operations when and if required. While focusing on preparedness, CWSA has developed a robust emergency response plan that outlines specific roles, responsibilities, and procedures to ensure a coordinated and efficient flood response.
Centre for Social Development and Social Entrepreneurship University of the Punjab, in collaboration with the Social Welfare Training Institute, Department of Social Welfare and Bait ul Maal Government of the Punjab, and Community World Service Asia, is pleased to announce one-month short course on NGO Management.
When: 22nd May- 15th June 2023 (Classes are scheduled between Monday to Thursday in the second half of each day per week)
Last Date to Apply: 12th May 2023 (Applications will be selected on a first come, first serve basis)
Background and Objectives:
The last thirty years have witnessed an extraordinary growth in the NGO sector in many parts of the world, becoming a prominent part of the global civil society and are now significant players in promoting and protecting human rights, environment issues and social development causes at local, national and international levels. Consequently, there is an increasing need for building familiarity and skills on management of NGOs. Through this course, participants will:
Be familiarised with concepts of NGOs operations and their vision, civil society, volunteerism, charity, aid, social change and their intersection
Understand various development issues and how accountable NGO management and contextual strategy formulation can help resolve them
Gain knowledge about the nature, functions, formation and registration process of NGOs in Pakistan
Develop communication skills, financial management skills and resource mobilisation techniques for an NGO
Target Audience:
This course is designed for fresh graduates interested in joining the sector, Social Welfare Department staff, NGOs staff and other people interested in understanding the working of development sector organizations. Women and students are highly encouraged to apply; a special incentive may be given.
Teaching Methodology:
Interactive lectures/Discussions
Assignments for self-study
Presentation by the students
Workshop/Seminars/Exercises/Field Visits to develop social analytical skills
Instructors
Mr. Muddassir Riaz Malik has over 20 years of experience serving in the public sector in varying capacities. He received the Australia Awards Scholarship in 2015, through which he graduated with a Master of Public Policy from the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, specializing in policy impact evaluation, research and economic cost benefit analysis. He currently serves as the Director General Department of Social Welfare and Bait ul Maal Government of the Punjab. Previously, he has held the posts of Director General Punjab Food Authority, Deputy Commissioner Lahore, Commissioner DG Khan and Additional Secretary (Admin) Planning and Development Department.
Dr Tahira Jabeen with a doctorate in ‘Child Protection Policy’ from Australian National University, Dr. Tahira Jabeen has over 25 years of work experience as an academic, independent researcher, trainer and consultant with government, and national and international NGOs and multilateral organizations in the areas of child protection, children and human rights, qualitative research, social entrepreneurship, social development and civil society. In addition to her duties as Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Social Development and Social Entrepreneurship at University of the Punjab, she currently also serves on Board of Studies of Lahore College Women University and University of Home Economics, Lahore, as well as on the editorial board of the journal ‘Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice.’
Mr. Irshad Waheed has been associated with social development/community development in the public sector for the past 25 years in the domains of women protection and development, child protection, rehabilitation of disabled persons and senior citizens’ social policy formulation. He has been a part of various teams of the Department of Social Welfare and Bait ul Maal Government of the Punjab and currently serves as Director General of the Punjab Women Protection Authority where he oversees the execution, monitoring and coordination of the Women Protection System. Mr. Irshad is also part of the visiting faculty at Social Work Department, Punjab University.
Mr. Irfan Mufti, a well-known human rights defender and peace activist in Pakistan and South Asia, holds a Master’s Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology and M.Phil in American History. Currently serving as Deputy Executive Director of a six-country development and advocacy consortium South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK), he has previously led Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) for three years. Mr. Irfan has worked extensively in the community development field through facilitation of community groups, NGOs and networks, organizational planning, humanitarian assistance and advocacy campaigns. He co-authored two books and remains a regular contributor to political economy pages of national English dailies and other research journals.
Dr. Izhar Hashmi a graduate of Kind Edward Medical College, Institute of Public Health and AMA, Dr. Izhar Hashmi is currently working as Director (Program & Operations) at Punjab Welfare Trust for the Disabled (PWTD). He has remained engaged in varying capacities with Akhuwat, Waseela Foundation, Al-Noor Umer Welfare Trust and Society for Education and Technology. In the public sector, he has been associated with SWD KPK and Punjab, Special Education Department Punjab and Punjab Youth Development Program. Dr. Izhar Hashmi has developed innovative models and solutions for the inclusive education, especially with learning difficulties and disabilities through different interventions. He has delivered trainings on soft skills, entrepreneurship, strategic negotiation skills, SDGs and community development.
Mr. Safdar Abbas is a sociologist and social development professional with more than 16 years of experience. He has contributed to more than fourteen national and international research projects from conception to execution. He has been actively involved in policy analysis, project management, capacity building and advocacy through communication various levels. On the academic side, he is a regular contributor to high impact HEC journals and has so far published fourteen articles on a wide range of topics including human rights, community development, violence against children, and women rights/empowerment. His professional experience coupled with the national and international level trainings on various themes have enabled him to develop viable public sector policies, programs, and projects.
Ms. Ayesha Hassan is the Associate Director at Community World Service Asia with a diverse experience project implementation on Quality and Accountability (including Safeguarding, PSEAH, Complaints Response Mechanism), Gender, Livelihoods (including food security with focus on DRR), Education, and Participation. She is a trainer, advisor and voice for Quality and Accountability standards including Core Humanitarian Standard, Do No Harm Approach, and Sphere Standards. Ayesha is hands on in fundraising and program growth, overseeing the development of proposals and donor compliance. She develops program strategies for various programs under implementation while she has also facilitated the process of developing a 10-year strategy for DRR, livelihood and democratization.
Mr. Sohail Muhammad Ali is a high-performing research and capacity-building specialist and trainer with expertise in research, training and development to maximize human resource outputs in social development and education sectors. He is an influential and inspirational leader with excellent human capital development skills. Mr. Sohail has the experience of working in South Asia, Africa and Europe. He has conducted professional development workshops and capacity building sessions. He has served as a national and international consultant for organizations including Leonard Cheshire (LC) UK, World Bank, USAID, Care International, UNICEF, Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP), Academy for Educational Development (AED), Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), Transparency International, Lead Pakistan, British Council Pakistan, Human Resource Development Network (HRDN), and others.
Ms. Tooba Siddiqi is an experienced Engagement Manager with over 10 years of experience in partnership management, advocacy, youth mobilization, community- led campaigning, fundraising, and resource development. A tech-savvy, human resource manager with a demonstrated history of remotely managing large teams from diverse geographical and ethnic backgrounds. She is a strong community and development professional trained in Management Sciences and Human Resources Management from the University of the Punjab, Lahore. In the past year with Community World Service Asia, she has played a significant role in pushing the Quality and Accountability standards with local NGOs as well as regional NGOs.
Every year Pakistan faces a surge of Dengue outbreak in most of its provinces. With the floods of 2022 leaving lakes of stagnant water and with inadequate drainage systems, the spread of the disease was inevitable to say the least.
One of the areas worst affected by dengue each year is Okara, a district in Punjab province. “Many remote villages in Okara were hit by the outbreak. As the local communities were combating the disease using local and traditional remedies, the Health and Welfare Society planned a community-centred strategy to mobilise communities affected by the disease,” shared Shabana Aamir, a staff member leading Health and Welfare Society (HWS), a local NGO based in Okara.
“We explained principles of hygiene and sanitation through sharing local examples and fully engaged the communities by developing mobilisation teams. The teams, including staff of HWS and members from communities, went door to door to hold awareness sessions and sensitising families on how to prevent the spread of dengue and treat those affected,” explained Shabana.
Participants were engaged in group work activities to encourage peer learning and experience sharing.
Shabana was one of twenty-nine participants at a training conducted by Community World Service Asia on ‘Social Mobilisation Skills and Techniques’, held in Lahore in September 2022. Organised in collaboration with the Social Welfare Department Punjab and Social Welfare Training Institute this capacity enhancement session focused on raising knowledge on basic concepts of social mobilisation and jointly analysed the various levels of ongoing and possible community engagement. Shabana attributes her team’s success in combatting dengue to the skills and learning she acquired at the training and how she shared it ahead. “I initiated campaigns on a regular basis with the help of the training tools and methodologies I had learned during the training, and was able to reach out to people for implementation of ideas by the help of The Johari Window Model.”
A wide range of engaging exercises and activities were conducted during the training to not only further improve mobilisation skills of participants but also help them learn new tools and techniques and how to apply them in varying contexts. Ghulam Fatima, General Secretary of Johar Welfare Foundation since 2013, shared how one particular group activity, named ‘Zoom and Re-Zoom’, helped improve her problem-solving skills. “In this activity, we had to create a unified story from a set of sequential pictures that were randomly ordered and handed out. We were not allowed to show our picture to anyone. This activity boosted our level of patience, communication, and perspective in order to recreate the story’s sequence. As a result, we learned that it takes time to uncover and understand problems before acting out on them through effective communication and problem-solving skills.”
Fatima applied a social mobilisation tool called Behaviour Change Communication (BCC)ⁱ that she learnt during the training when she engaged with the communities that her organisation serves.
“Initially upon applying BCC in the community, mobilisation became challenging owing to insufficient time, lack of resources and slow adaptation by the community. To overcome the challenge, key persons from the community including retired teachers, health workers and shopkeepers, were invited to our office to become our focal points and representatives in the community. Through our collective effort, we were able to encourage individuals to adopt positive, healthy behaviours in the community including street sanitation, garbage collection at proper points, typhoid vaccination, and polio campaigns.”
A few months after the training, a follow-up session was conducted in December with all the participants of the said training to provide a platform for experience sharing, challenge identification, mutual learning and a chance to attain technical support from CWSA. “The follow-up initiative has proven to be productive as CWSA encourages organisation to implement and achieve positive outcomes through the efficient use and application of available tools and methodologies shared during the training. We hope to be part of future capacity enhancement events which will help us derive solutions for challenges faced on ground and encourage us to place communities at the centre of every response,” concluded Shabana.
ⁱ Behaviour Change Communication is an interactive process of any intervention with individuals, group or community to develop communication strategies to promote positive health behaviours which are appropriate to the current social conditions and thereby help the society to solve their pressing health problems.
When: 24-26 August 2021 Where: Murree Punjab Language: Urdu Interested Applicants:Click here to register Last Date to Apply: 5th August 2021
Rationale:
Since the 1950s the development agenda has been characterized by projects and programmes aimed at improving the quality of life of beneficiary communities, be it in physical or qualitative terms. Despite significant inputs of human and financial resources, many fell short of expectations. Projects failed to meet the priority needs of communities; stated outputs were not achieved or, if achieved, not sustained; target groups did not benefit in the manner intended; project costs escalated and implementation dates slipped, and adverse outcomes were not anticipated.
These failures were attributed in part to poor project management, such as inadequate opportunities for potential beneficiaries to participate in project identification, weak financial management, inadequate monitoring during implementation, poor linkages between project activities and project purpose, and insufficient attention to the external environment during project design. It was also recognised that projects were more likely to succeed when account was taken of the socio-economic context in which they operated.
The rationale for imparting training of NGOs in project cycle management is the wish to achieve sustainable development. Projects should identify and understand the different roles and entitlements between various beneficiaries in focused communities, and the special challenges faced by disadvantaged groups. During recent decades, many tools have been developed to strengthen the management of projects, such as project cycle management, the logical framework and rapid appraisal techniques. Similarly, technological revolution has also contributed significantly to plan, design, implement and keep track of the activities by all team members while geographically spread and/or different locations.
Participants of the training will go through all critical phases of project cycle management both theoretically and practically and there will be ample room through group exercises to benefit from the rich knowledge of participants that they will be bringing from their respective fields and focus areas.
The training will specifically focus on:
Comprehend concepts and terminologies of Project, Project Management
Recognize various phases of Project Cycle Management and its importance
Understand and sharpen their skills to use various analytical tools for Project Identification
Use Project structure, Logical Framework Analysis, External Environment, OVI and sustainability and work plans based on activity analysis during projects’ design phase and preparation phase
Learn to undertake use of technology for documentation, communication, quality assessments at each phase of PCM
Number of Participants
A maximum of 20 participants will be selected for the training. Women applications, differently abled persons and staff belonging to ethnic/religious minorities are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to participants representing organizations working in remote and under-served areas.
Selection Criteria
Primary responsibility for program/project management.
Mid or senior level manager in a civil society organization, preferably field staff of large CSOs or CSOs with main office in small towns and cities
Participants from women led organisations, different abled persons, religious/ethnic minorities will be given priority
This 3-day training session is suitable for CSO and NGO workers of all levels particularly from locally-based organizations with a small staff size
Willing to pay fee PKR 10,000 for the training. Exemptions may be applied to CSOs with limited funding and those belonging to marginalised groups. Discount of 10% on early registration by 1st August 2021 and 20% discount will be awarded to women participants
Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organisation Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organisation
Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is a humanitarian and development organization, registered in Pakistan, head-quartered in Karachi and implementing initiatives throughout Asia. CWSA is member of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance, a member of Sphere and their regional partner in Asia and also manages the ADRRN Quality & Accountability Hub in Asia.
Facilitator/Lead Trainer:
Ms. Sofia Noreen is an ambitious professional with over 28 years’ eventful career studded with brilliance predominantly in the area of research, program/ project designing and execution, monitoring, international development, and liaison & coordination. Her areas of focus include Gender and Women Empowerment, Climate Change/ Food Security within rural communities, and Governance issues both at policy and implementation levels.
She is a dependable professional with a comprehensive understanding of Pakistani politics, the parliamentary setup, and electoral reform agenda and familiar with election management systems both for general and local bodies elections.
Ms. Sofia has delivered multi-day training programs on train-the-trainer, team building, and other related topics. She is an articulate communicator who is highly well versed in Log Frame Analysis, Risk Analysis, and management for Result Based Management, budgeting, staff recruitment, capacity development, NGO management, stakeholder engagement, evaluation of program and projects, report writing, and manuals. Throughout her career, she has been committed to following the principles set forth with the UDHR, ICCPR, CEDAW, and other international conventions and standards.
Scholarship Details:Special Scholarships are available for those organization that send two or more females to attend the training.
Additional Details:The final deadline for applications is August 5th, 2021. Please be assured that incomplete applications will not be entertained.
Pakistani farmers have been struggling to combat the worst locust plague to hit the country in nearly three decades. Large parts of the country were hit by severe locust infestations since June 2019, with insect swarms decimating entire harvests in the country’s agricultural heartlands, leaving food prices soaring and many farming communities’ food insecure. On February 1st 2020, tackling the insects was declared as a national emergency as a large scale of crop land was destroyed in the country’s most fertile Punjab province.
Heavy rains and cyclones sparked “unprecedented” breeding and led to an explosive growth of locust populations on the Arabian Peninsula early last year. The same locust swarms made their way to Pakistan after wreaking havoc on agriculture lands in other neighboring countries, such as Iran. Locust swarms from southern Iran started migrating to Pakistan from the Iran-Baluchistan border. These locust swarms have since laid hundreds of thousands of pods which are likely to hatch as soon as they get a favorable environment. Local farmers feared their new batch of kharif seasonal crops would also be devoured by the locusts.
To mitigate further impact of the locust attacks on local small-scale farmers, Community World Service Asia (CWSA) in partnership with CWS Japan and Japan Platform (JPF) launched a project to assisted 1,600 farmer families with provision of cash grants for the tilling process in their lands. Under the project, 16,193 hectares (40,013 acres) of land has been cleared from locust eggs through introducing the tilling method to farmers in district Umerkot.
Tilling/ploughing is a renowned process used and adopted around the world to eradicate locust swarms. This process involves the ploughing of the infected land to a certain, carefully calculated depth and exposing the locust eggs to sunlight, which effectively destroys them.
“Community World Service Asia have been very supportive in Government’s effort to eradicate locust swarms by introducing innovative ideas that are much helpful for the communities. The trainings provided to the local farmers on Integrated Crop Management have made the communities resilient and have allowed them to mitigate the risks caused by the locust invasion,” shared Ayaz Kachelo, Agriculture O at the Agriculture Extension Department, Umerkot.
Through the project, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan has also been provided with 58,508 liters of Lambda Cyhalothrine insecticides to use for chemical application on the mature/adult locust swarms. The local farmers have also been further trained on Integrated Crop Management (ICM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques as part of the assistance. Since the tilling, use of chemical insecticides and the application of new farming techniques in the area no locust swarms have been seen. The farmers in the area have in fact also been able to cultivate their lands in time due to the effective tilling process.
“We were introduced to new techniques to eradicate locust swarms from our fields, such as digging trenches in the agricultural area. We have also been supported by the project teams in tilling/ploughing of our lands. The existing locust eggs on our lands were destroyed in the process. Our lands have finally been cleared from locust eggs, eradicating any future threat to our crops, and ensuring that the lands are ready for the next cropping season,” shared Nago, a sixty-year old local farmer from Nagho bheel village in Umerkot.
“Four years ago, my husband died of a heart attack. Since then, I have been supporting my family and trying to make ends meet. My embroidery and sewing skills help me earn PKR 700 a week (Approx. USD 4), and that is only when we receive regular orders. This is the only source of income for my three children and me,” shared Jatni.
Thirty-five-year-old Jatni and her three young children live in Ramsar village located in district Umerkot of Sindh (Pakistan), where they own a small piece of land and two goats. Jatni and her husband used their four acres of land next to their village to grow Guar[1] and Mung[2] on. After her husband’s passing away, Jatni continued with the farming activities on the land when she would be free from her hand-crafting work. She would sell the surplus produce to earn some extra income for her family. However, this year, despite being free from her handicrafts work since she barely received any orders due to COVID-19, Jatni was unable to grow any crop on her farming land due to locust infestations.
Since June 2019, the locust outbreak has been impacting eastern Pakistan. A plague of locusts hit Pakistan in February 2020, devouring crops, trees, and pasture as they moved through vast agricultural lands in Sindh and Punjab. According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 61 districts across the country are under attack from locusts, which have been damaging food crops. Pakistan incurred losses estimated to £2bn in winter crops, such as wheat, and is further expected to suffer another £2.3bn in the summer crops being planted now, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in May 2020.
“The situation in Ramsar was worrisome. All the villagers were in a difficult situation because of the devastation the locusts had brought to agricultural production. Our food security was badly affected as the large swarms moved through the lands.”
Ramsar’s village committee, in collaboration with Community World Service Asia’s (CWSA) emergency team, selected Jatni as a cash grant recipient of PKR 13500 (Approx. USD 84) under an emergency response project supported by Japan Platform. The project aimed to help 1600 locust affected farming families recover through cash assistance for livelihoods and provision of insecticides to fight off the locust swarms infecting their lands. Additionally, pesticides was provided to the National Disaster Management Authority in June 2020 for locust control. In Umerkot district, 867 hectare of lands were applied with the provided pesticides by Agriculture Department, protecting crops from locusts, pests, diseases and weeds as well as raising productivity per hectare.
Jatni used the cash received under the project in the tillage operation conducted to recover from the locust attacks.
“The tillage carried out in the last week of June helped me recover and prepare the land for cultivation. The land is now sowed with our usual Guar and Mung seeds. I am hopeful that we will have a substantial harvest by the end of the season to sell in the local market. The money I will earn from selling the surplus will help us purchase a variety of groceries that will last us a good six-months.”
[1] Guar is an important legume crop. It is cultivated for fodder as well as for grain purpose. [2] The mung bean, alternatively known as the green gram, mash, or moong, is a plant species in the legume family.
Iqbal Mai, is a widow and a single mother of three children who lives in and belongs to Bait village of Punjab province. Bait village is home to almost a hundred families who primarily depend on farming activities for a livelihood. Iqbal Mai’s children, aged between 18 and 12 years, help her with sowing, harvesting, fertilisation and irrigation activities in the agricultural fields.
Mai’s husband was also a farmer who tragically passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in 2014.
“After the demise of my husband, I had to take all the responsibility of caring for my children and home. The tragedy that was my husband’s death however did not lessen my hopes and determination of giving a better future to my children. I started to work on the fields; ploughing the lands, sowing the seeds, irrigating the lands and harvesting the crops. I strongly believe that literacy is critical to having a chance of a better future. I see it as something that will guide my children towards a brighter future and an improved standard of living,” shared Iqbal Mai.
Fifty-seven-year-old Mai manages to send her all children to a nearby local school through the income she has been earning from agricultural farming.
Through cultivation of wheat and cotton on a two-and-a-half-acre self-owned land, Mai earns an annual income of PKR 50,000 (Approx. USD 310). Cotton is assumed as one of the main cash crops in Punjab province which is the most Agri-enriched region of the country and contributes to 22% of the country’s total agri-business. The seasonal crops cultivated in Bait are irrigated with available canal channels and the river Chenab, which is a major source of water in the region.
To prepare the land for harvest season, Iqbal Mai took a loan of PKR 30,000 (Approx. USD 186) from a well-know landlord in their village. She took the loan to prepare the land to grow wheat.
“Last year, the wheat growing on the lands was severely damaged due to wheat leaf rustⁱ. I had no other option but to take a loan to prepare the land for the next harvest season. I rented a tractor for PKR 10,000 and also paid a tube well owner PKR 10,000 to provide water. The remaining amount was consumed on labor costs for ploughing the land. Sadly, all the harvest was lost.” The recent locust invasion on the agricultural lands in South Punjab destroyed acres of agricultural land including Iqbal Mai’s little livelihood source. “We tried all the indigenous techniques to get rid of the locusts such as waving rackets on the fields and using smoke to clear out the locusts, but nothing helped. All our hard work on the field was wasted in front of our eyes. We were unable to save our harvest and had no crops to sell.”
Community World Service Asia’s Emergency response team visited Bait village for an initial assessment to select the most vulnerable and underprivileged small-scale farmers affected by the locust attacks in the area for a short-term humanitarian project[1]. Iqbal Mai was selected as a project participant. Through the project she received two bags of 50 kgs of wheat seeds each, two bags of DAP fertilizer of 50kgs each and four bags of UREA fertilizer of 50kgs each. She plough the land with wheat seeds and is actively using the fertilizers to enhance the natural fertility of the soil. Mai was also part of awareness raising, orientation and capacity enhancement sessions on learning skills and expertise about wheat cultivation techniques required to maximize yields in April and May 2020. Mai’s hopes are very high this year as she is positive to have rich and healthy crops at the end of harvest season in May 2021.
ⁱ Leaf rust, also known as brown rust, is caused by the fungus Puccinia triticina. This rust disease occurs wherever wheat, barley and other cereal crops are grown.
ⁱⁱ Livelihood Support to Small Agriculture Farmers affected by locust attack in the Punjab province project, implemented by Community World Service Asia and funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The PUKAR theater group performing at a local village after the training on Interactive Theater for Influencing in 2019.
Imam Uddin Soomro is an active member of the Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT), an alliance of small-scale and landless farmers including women farmers. Imam collects data on crops and conducts awareness sessions for farmers on sustainable agriculture, green revolution and globalization. As a member of a local theatre group named, PUKAR, since 2018, Imam also performs as an interactive theatre artiste in rural villages, organises learning events and writes articles on agriculture and farmers’ rights in local languages.
The PKMT was formed in 2008 as a result of a series of discussions among powerless farmers and social and political activists who felt that an organised platform to voice their demands was essential for small-scale farmers facing social and economic constraints.
“We perform plays that enable us to interact with different communities. The theatre plays address issues that are part of the PKMT struggle, including feudalism and the impact of corporate agriculture. As a theater performer, I was selected as a participant in a training tilted, Interactive Theater for Influencing, in July 2019. The training provided technical knowledge and capacity building opportunities on skills required to influence communities to bring about progress in the society. Our skills of script-writing, communications and character-building were further enhanced in the seven-day residential training.” said Imam.
All seven members of the PUKAR theater group participated in the training which gave them networking and experience- sharing opportunities with other like-minded participants. The session on ‘team building’ and ‘inhibition breaking’ helped participants self-assess themselves and understand their pivotal and influential position in society. Participants learnt about stage directions, allowing the audience to grasp every performers’ act and the message they are conveying through their role plays.
“We met with other theater groups from Peshawar, Sindh and Islamabad. All the groups had different interactive skills to perform as we all engage with different kinds of audiences. The members of other groups shared the issues they highlighted through their plays and how they passed on the resolutions,” shared Imam.
On the last day of the training, participants developed action plans to further implement the learning and skills learnt during the training.
“Initially, we would randomly select issues and base our plays on those issues. After the training, we altered our strategy. We now plan a meeting to identify the common issues that are prevalent in the communities through meetings with community members and develop a script for the play accordingly to work together to rectify the challenges people are facing. CWSA has extended support in reviewing the scripts which we plan to avail,” expressed Imam.
A group exercise that engaged the training participants in planning a theater play with other members of the group allowed collaborative learning and practical experience-sharing through coordination among the members. Imam narrated,
“When we acted with other theater performers, we learnt to show strong facial expressions as that also largely impacts the deliverance of the message and not just the dialogues. This joint exercise helped in modifying our acting and delivery gestures in order to have an even stronger impact in the communities we perform.”
This year’s fifth monsoon spell in Pakistan started on Monday August 24th and continued throughout Tuesday, swamping districts of Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Tharparkar, Mithiari, Sanghar, Nowshero Feroze, Jamshoro, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Dadu, Hyderabad, Chor and Tando Jam in the Sindh province. Monsoon rains and subsequent flooding have left 90 people dead, 40 injured and large-scale infrastructural damage across Pakistan so far this year. Almost 900 houses have been fully damaged, while 195 have been partially damaged in the affected areas.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has confirmed 31 deaths in Sindh, 23 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 15 in Baluchistan, 10 in Gilgit Baltistan, 8 in Punjab and 3 in Pakistan Administered Kashmir during this monsoon season in Pakistan.
Many houses and public buildings, such as public hospitals, offices and schools, in rain-hit districts are flooded with rainwater and are currently inaccessible. The agrarian community has suffered even more massive damages to their land and harvests. Huge amounts of livestock in rural regions have also perished with the flash floods. Moreover, many rural communities in Badin and Tharparkar districts of Sindh have been displaced and have personally relocated to safer and more low-risk areas.
According to Pakistan Metrological Department, continued heavy rains and thunderstorms in lower Sindh are expected the week ahead which may further aggravate the situation. The Government of Sindh has therefore declared Emergency throughout the Sindh province.
Community World Service Asia’s (CWSA) Response
CWSA’s Emergency response team is currently providing emergency cash assistance to flood affected families in district Dadu and are engaged in relief operations responding to the needs of COVID-19 affected communities in district Umerkot and Karachi city of Sindh. The team is also regularly monitoring the rain and floods situation and plans to extend their humanitarian response to provide support to flood-affected communities in other areas when required.
Contacts:
Shama Mall Deputy Regional Director
Programs & Organizational Development
Email: hi2shama@cyber.net.pk
Tele: 92-21-34390541-4
