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Empty streets outside Rukhsana’s home in Umerkot.

Rukhsana Yasmeen is a primary school teacher based in Umerkot city of Sindh Province in Pakistan. She teaches at the Government Boys Primary School, Police Thana, and is a participant of the Education and Teachers Training project implemented by Community World Service Asia (CWSA) and supported by PWS&D and Act for Peace. Rukhsana worries about her students who are all forced to stay home amid the COVID-19 pandemic and shares her own personal thoughts of her experiences in lockdown so far.

The lockdown imposed by the government to control the spread of the coronavirus is having a drastic impact on the education of children here in Umerkot. They will forget all that was taught to them. Schools not only serve the purpose of providing education, but also gives children a chance to interact socially and keeps them energized and fresh. With this shutdown situation, children are frustrated and baffled. It is difficult to say whether the students will be able to perform well in the final examinations to be held in June.

Rukhsana and her family of 5 have confined themselves to home. She has three children including two daughters and a son.

At home, we try to maintain a sufficient distance between each other. However, living in a small, two-room house makes it challenging to avoid complete contact. The practicality of social distancing at home is difficult.

The economic situation in Umerkot is tense and most businesses have come to a standstill. Daily wage laborers are most at risk of poverty and food insecurity as their incomes have completely stalled. Before the crisis, their most basic expenses were met on a day to day basis, but now their daily needs are unmet.

Sitting at home without any money or very little money leads to anxiety and results in many conflicts among family members at home. This adds to the stress and uncertainty that looms over all these families that are completely homebound and affects the children at home too.

Rukhsana’s husband also worked as a daily-wage laborer. Due to the lock down, he is unable to go out of the house to find work.

I am worried about managing our monthly expenses, such as house rent, food and other household essentials with only my salary. I am not sure for how long my salary will be able to sustain our family. Our future seems uncertain

Rukhsana also recently found out that the Government of Sindh has deducted five percent of all government employee salaries as contribution to the COVID-19 relief funds. Rukhsana also falls in that category of government workers and has further strained their financial conditions.

Keeping her own children entertained and engaged in their studies at home has also been quite a challenge for Rukhsana.

There are very few entertainment resources at home. They do study for a while but cannot be engaged in school work the whole day. All their outdoor activities have been put to an end so there is no way for them to vent out their energy.

At the precautionary end, we are try to wash hands from time to time and use clean kitchen utensils when cooking and eating. Moreover, we are not drinking cold water nor taking a bath daily but instead bathe on alternative days. We ensure cleanliness at home as it the only way of keeping us safe at home from this pandemic.

We are happy to see how efficiently our government is working to control the spread of this infectious disease. All shops, malls and other public places have been shutdown to avoid social gatherings. Never did we think that we will experience such a stressful situation in our lifetime. Nonetheless, we have faith that we will overcome this positively and safely.

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Shop and markets have been closed since the lockdown in Umerkot.

By the third week of March, most offices, market places, malls and schools all across Pakistan were closed down as a precautionary measure in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic that had hit the country.

It was a good decision to close everything,

says Bharat Kumar,

I feel more secure and protected while working from home, however, it is not easy. The strict lockdown in the city has left streets deserted and the markets empty. No one is to be seen in the streets. It is not a comforting sight.

The district administration and security departments are making all efforts to ensure social distancing is implemented through announcing lockdown and placing barriers at different points on the roads. It is disappointing to see how some people are still not taking this situation seriously. They are going out without wearing masks or gloves. The police however is playing an important role in sensitizing the people whenever they see them not wearing protective gear.

Social media is also full of information spreading awareness and precautionary measures against Corona virus. So, there is sufficient information for people to understand the risks and the right preventive measures. However, it is difficult to see children not playing outside or families not meeting their relatives or friends. We hope that this situation settles down soon and people can move around freely like they used to.

People working in the labor force, earning daily wages for their families have been the most affected in this situation of lockdown. They are unable to find work which does not allow them to earn money. It is especially difficult for them to make ends meet.

As a humanitarian worker, I have never felt more helpless. This feeling of being unable to help those in need in these gravest of times is strange and frightening. To make myself feel more useful and to help people in the slightest of ways, I joined the Corona Relief Committee, which I was nominated to as well. This small committee is a community-based group that is to serve my community.

The Corona Relief Committee, created by the Deputy Commissioner of Umerkot, is facilitating government bodies with the corona emergency response in selection of isolation and quarantine centers in District Umerkot. They are also supporting with providing pre-relief assistance to marginalized communities through mobilization sessions and distribution of relief packages.

We are trying to stay at home as it is the safest option. But at this point I am ready and waiting to help everyone who is affected by this crisis I feel proud that I am prepared to perform any task appointed to me by my organization to help those who have been affected by this difficult situation.

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Dear Partners and Friends,

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is organizing a webinar, titled: Q&A Standards in COVID19 Response in Pakistan on April 22nd to provide an opportunity to humanitarian professionals in the country to be familiarized and sensitised on the use and application of Quality and Accountability approaches while responding to emergencies like COVID-19.

Basic Information:

When: April 22nd, 2020

What time: 11AM to 12PM PST (60 minutes)

Language: Urdu

Where: Online link to the webinar will be shared with registered participants via email

Who is it for: Humanitarian and development practitioners working in or with hard-to-reach areas, NGOs, and INGOs involved in COVID19 response in Pakistan

Event description:

We are all affected by the global Covid-19 pandemic, in different ways. The need is to shift the approach and become part of the response to it. This requires more commitment towards Accountability to Affected People.

Organization working in Pakistan are facing multiple difficulties like access to communities, staff safety and providing efficient and timely response.

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 and a Sphere regional partner.

Sphere and the CHS Alliance recently released guidelines on how the Sphere Handbook and the CHS can help guide humanitarian practitioners in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. CWSA has translated these guides into Urdu and  have made them available on their website.

CWSA is hosting a webinar to share information and guidelines on using and applying Quality and Accountability Standards while responding to the COVID 19 crisis in the country.

The webinar will help explore;

  • The different Q&A tools available to help guide your response;
  • Ways to develop key messages on raising awareness on COVID-19 among the most vulnerable populations

This hour-long webinar will also highlight key CHS commitments that are relevant to a crisis response of this nature. It will also introduce and explain the Sphere and Coronavirus guidelines, outlining the fundamental principles and the relevant standards from the Sphere Handbook’s WASH & Health sections that are crucial to a successful and holistic intervention.

Register here if you wish to participate: Registration – Q&A Standards in COVID19 Response

Presenters: 

Kausar Bibi has many years of experience in the development and humanitarian sector specifically on developing, managing and implementing both development and emergency response projects. Kausar has hands-on experience in conducting, organizing, coordinating and designing capacity enhancement support on different thematic areas. She also has expertise in Child Safeguarding, Gender, Education and Quality & Accountability in humanitarian response.

Asif Aqeel is an experienced researcher and writer and is often considered the voice of the aid and development sector in the mass media. His specific area of expertise is “Marginality & Exclusion” with a focus on marginalized communities and groups. Asif holds an MSc in Sociology and MA in Public Policy and Governance and has long been active in raising a voice for and supporting the rights of the underprivileged segments of our society.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has led to sudden changes in the world. Restrictions at various levels has affected the humanitarian sector to operate for an undefined period. As in any humanitarian response, there is a need to continuously uphold accountability to the affected populations. The Sphere Secretariat and the CHS Alliance recently released guidelines on how the Sphere Handbook and the CHS can help guide humanitarian practitioners in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. Community World Service Asia (CWSA) organized a webinar on 9th April 2020 to introduce these tools and its use, particularly in the context of Asia.

The webinar was mainly participated by CWSA’s regular partners in Pakistan and in the region. Almost hundred staff from NGOs, INGOs and local organizations from Asia, Europe, Middle East, America and Australia attended the webinar who had a background in programme, support functions as well as senior management roles.

The session, led by Uma Narayanan, highlighted key CHS commitments that are relevant to a crisis response of this nature. It introduced and explained the Sphere and Coronavirus guidelines, outlining the fundamental principles and the relevant standards from the Sphere Handbook’s WASH and Health sections that are critical to a successful and holistic intervention.  In addition, the standard on mental health care was also emphasized.

Participants shared the need of such sessions as the implementation of precautionary measures is weak in the region and organizations need to sensitize communities following the Sphere Standards and Guidelines for effective response.  Other participants raised concerns in relation to engagements tools, psychological support, gender inclusion in the situation, remote monitoring and evaluation, safety and security of field staff and effective planning to be adopted in the current situation.

The virtual session also focused on familiarizing participants on the aspects of advocacy, contextualization and coordination. The webinar stressed on the needs of effective advocacy, contextualization of information and support required in the situation of COVID-19. To overcome challenging situations during the pandemic, participants were encouraged to increase coordination and collaborations with humanitarian and development organizations and networks in their respective countries and in the Asia region. This includes activating existing Accountability Learning Working Groups to focus on contextualization of CHS Standards and Sphere Standards to suit their respective country needs.

It is observed that there are a number of groups and individuals who have not been provided any help as yet. Organizations who do not have proper guidelines for response are unable to provide efficient and effective help and for this reason, sessions like these will be helpful to equip humanitarian organizations to respond effectively and fulfilling the needs,

said Syed Moazzam Ali, consultant on humanitarian action. Him, along with others, further echoed the economic challenges that the pandemic has resulted in the region.  Businesses are shutting down and people at large are suffering due to the scarce resources, which is a contributing factor to the need for psychosocial support.

Participants also highlighted the need to ensure inclusion of all members of society, especially senior citizens when planning psychological support projects or activities.  During discussions in the webinar, there was agreement on the community engagement approach for emergency response projects for the crisis and the need for compliance of all organizations on safety of field staff and provision of protective gear.  Effective use of technology as a key factor in reaching out to communities in remote areas was also emphasized.

Shama Mall, from CWSA, shared a dedicated page  developed for information sharing that provides links and resources developed by the various, global, health, development and humanitarian actors on COVID-19 on CWSA’s official website.

Having promoted Quality and Accountability (Q&A) during emergency response to the Pakistan Earthquake, TDPs[1] in Pakistan, South East Asia Tsunami, Nepal Earthquake, Typhoon Haiyan, Community World Service Asia is looking at ways to continue its own learning journey during this challenging time and promoting Q&A in the region by exploring different means to reach the target audience.

[1] Temporarily Dislocated persons

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The Lady Health Worker and Community Mobilizer conducting a session on COVID-19 and sensitizing community to reduce the spread of the virus in Umerkot.

Community World Service Asia’s (CWSA) Health and Livelihood program teams initiated awareness sessions on prevention and safety from Coronaviruses 19 for the communities that they work with in the region. These sessions were planned and conducted in coordination with local government health departments, community Health Management and Village Health committees

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, the health teams are raising awareness as part of a larger effort to drive social change and prevent the further spread of the virus in the countries. The health sessions on coronavirus focused on limiting movement, avoiding small or large gatherings and maintaining hygiene and good sanitation. The teams ensured to use informational educational material translated in local languages and delivered the sessions, in local languages too. Communities were thoroughly sensitized on the signs and symptoms of the COVID – 19 and the precautionary measures to be taken individually and as communities.

Children, woman and families were particularly advised on the safest and most thorough ways of washing hands with soap and use of alcohol-based washes and sanitizers and the need to wear masks and staying home and away from all public contact and travel.

A total of thirty-two awareness sessions with staff, health workers and communities have been conducted by CWSA’s program teams so far.

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Each day under quarantine says, another day has ended today
The Loudness of COVID asks we should be safe and healthy by stay
A Time will come…… when we will breathe the scent of fresh air
We will touch the grass on our toes and will feel the breeze in our hair
A Time will come…. when we will be together again
Now, we are at home making a healthy gang
A time will come when we will go for work
This time we should serve at home and give our helpers some perks
All Doors are shut, everybody’s minds have many Ifs and Buts
I am believing the day of judgments when some life cuts
A rime will come when we will organize parties
This time we need many good deeds and give extra charities
Give us a chance O God!  A last chance,
We will do right things to make this world healthy and strong
And are sorry for the deeds which were wrong

Written by Romila Alnoor Padaniya

Romila Alnoor Padaniya is a mother of two beautiful daughters. She has been part of the Community World Service Asia family since 2011 and works in the Finance team.

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Dear Partners & Friends,

We all are facing difficult times due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The COVID 19 presents unique challenges in relation to understanding of the humanitarian organization and their capacity to respond. In the current situation, our collective commitment to accountability to affected people will be more important than ever.

Both the Sphere and Core Humanitarian Standard Alliance (CHSA) have come up with important information for strengthening principled humanitarian action for responding to the current crises. Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is organizing a Webinar: Q&A Standards in COVID19 Response on April 9 at 11 am, to provide an opportunity to humanitarian professionals to learn about using Quality and Accountability approaches while responding to emergencies like COVID-19.

The webinar will guide humanitarian practitioners on using Q&A tools in their response and will help develop key messages to raise awareness for the most vulnerable populations affected by the COVID-19.

We look forward to your Registration for this webinar. Please find attached more details on the webinar.

Click here to download Brochure

Thank you,
Best Regards,
CWSA Team

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‘Theory of Change’ (ToC) has emerged as an important planning tool for development projects in the last decade. With its application not limited to technical use, it provides users guidance to analyze and develop political and management choices. Experts recommend ToC as a tool for political literacy that supports organizations with adopting a reflexive approach towards development.

The ToC facilitates organizations with effective project implementation and with mapping its change processes and its expected outcomes. It is often used in conjunction with the log frame approach as it forecasts expected processes and outcomes that can be reviewed over the time. This allows organizations to assess their contributions to change and accordingly revisit the theory of change. It also helps staff in clarifying and developing the theory as per the needs of the organization or its projects.

Community World Service Asia organized a four-day residential training on ‘Building blocks of Theory of Change’ which was participated by twenty-one humanitarian and development practitioners from eight national organizations. The training was led by Harris Khalique, who is a leading practitioner, advisor, speaker and trainer in the area of social development and human rights. He is the Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and a senior fellow with Revets Learning Inc. The training was co-facilitated by Zeeshan Novel, who is also a development professional and rights campaigner with specific expertise in project management, capacity building, emergency response planning, policy research and advocacy.

Held in Murree, the training adopted an interactive methodology, based on practical exercises to achieve effective learning. The initial sessions focused on the basic concepts of ToC, why organizations need it and introducing its essential components. Participants understood the concepts of Result Chain Logic, Developing Impact, Output and Impact Statements and Situation Analysis, its causes and effects.

In a group activity, participants were sensitized about cause and effect through the problem tree exercise where they were asked to identify the problem statement and its results through the result chain concept. Through this exercise, participants learnt to identify the impact of the problems and how to overcome them. The ToC as a strategic planning tool was put forward where its implementation mechanism and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems were studied in detail.

Participants’ Learning:

“The training was very informative and relevant to our needs and expectations. The basics of ToC were thoroughly covered in the training and we, as participants, were able to learn each step to create a theory of change in detail through the participatory approach adopted by the trainers. The group activities helped us get a firm grip on the ToC as per our organizational needs. The management team was cooperative and helpful throughout the four days in Murree.

The training has enabled me to develop a beneficial and convincing ToC for Read foundation which I will construct on my return.”

Zain-ul-Abideen (Deputy Manager) Read Foundation -Islamabad

“As an M&E Manager, I am leading the M&E and program development activities of the organization.  In this regard, the training was much needed to enhance my learnings.  I was confident to develop the ToC plan for our organization when we were asked to on the last day of the training.

The training involved the participants in practical activities which made learning successful in terms of knowledge building.”

Shah Fahad, M&E Manager in Center for Electronics Research & Development (CERD)

“I aim at developing a ToC for my organization when I join back. The training has provided us with relevant guidance on developing an effective ToC to make the activities of the project productive and make change a reality.

The sessions were highly interactive for which I would like to appreciate the CWSA Team. The most interesting aspect of the training were the live discussions between the groups. In conclusion, the workshop was very conductive with excellent and well-designed presentations and discussions.”

Sadia Yousafzai, Project Coordinator in Center for Electronics Research & Development (CERD)

“The practical work and exploration of new things along with developing discussions were all really useful and effective. I believe that the ToC will benefit us by exploring organizational projects and other development initiatives. The guidelines and templates shared in the workshop were efficient and helpful in our field of work.”

Erum Baloch, Country Program Coordinator in Secours Islamique France (SIF)

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