Sarhad Rural Support Programme SRSP

An Afghan delegation of Rural Development officials paid a three days visit to Swat to familiarize themselves with social enterprise activities carried out under EU funded PEACE project and Australian funded GEF project implemented by SRSP. They visited micro hydro units, value chain and local support organisations etc. They were impressed by the response of the project to working in a difficult environment, and said that they carried back very good lessons to apply in their country. They were particular grateful for the hospitality of the government of Pakistan and people of the area.

Skills training workshop for the youth of Kurram, Khyber, North & South Waziristan and Orakzai Agency are under way at SRSP-Technical & Vocational Center, Peshawar. 60 youth are engaged in skills training courses on Solar Panel Installation and Cell Phone Repair. The courses are selected on the basis of market demand. On successful completion, a startup kit will be given to each trainee for initiation of small-scale economic activity at the local agency. These training are organized under a four years project funded by the Government of Germany and financed by KfW to support Reintegration and Rehabilitation for Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) in FATA

KFW Delegation (Germany) visited Pakistan to oversee development programs financed by KFW in KP and FATA. The delegation first visited district Shangla where SRSP is implementing (LACIP-II PPAF) project. The delegation met with activists of Local Support Organization (LSO). They also had a meeting with Assistant Commissioner and District Nazim Shangla.  On another occasion the delegation along with European Union (EU) representative participated in a stakeholder’s workshop  on, “Aid to Uprooted People in Pakistan” which is EU funded programme in FATA. Secretary Social Sector and Development (FATA) chaired the workshop. Important stakeholders included Directorate of Projects, Directorate of M&D, Directorate of health and education, Additional Secretary Law & Order FATA secretariat, European Union, GIZ and UNDP. The delegation also visited District Mansehra to see the recently re-constructed Govt. Primary and Middle Schools under UNHCR-RAHA program implemented by SRSP, fi

Access to quality education is fundamental right of every child. SRSP in partnership with RSPN initiated a series of dialogues on article 25-A (The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law) with Local Support Organizations (LSO’s) and community activists, to empower communities for social accountability to improve access to quality education services.  So far the project held dialogues with active members of 8 LSO’s in district Kohistan and Battagram of KP. The project Community Activism for Improved Access to Quality Education and Local Accountability (Article 25-A) is implemented by SRSP.

To join 14th August celebrations, SRSP and Political Administration Kurram Agency organized one day cricket tournament in Parachinar. Youth of 6 villages participated in the event. The activity aimed at promoting peace among the youth of the Kurram Agency. Shield and kits were distributed among the participants. The Project is funded by the European Union through UNDP and UNICEF and implemented by SRSP in collaboration with the Government of Pakistan.

Amina bibi, now 27 years old, got married to a disabled person at the age of 14. Soon after marriage she started contributing in earning livelihoods through laboring on weaving. Doctors suggested surgery for her husband, but unfortunately it did not help and he went out of work. The entire burden fell on Amina bibi’s shoulders.  The government of Australia funded GEF project, provided SRSP the opportunity to help Amina change her situation. Her community organization in villa ge Islampur (Swat), nominated her to receive support under the Community Investment Fund (CIF) component. With this she set up an enterprise. She received training in shawal making, product enhancement, and enterprise development for sustainable means of livelihoods. She also had opportunity to display her work in national level events which earned her around 50,000 PKR. It also enabled her to network with retailers from different areas. Amina shares, “I am now more confident than before as I can see respect and

SRSP in partnership with WFP initiated the Livelihood program in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in early 2016. SRSP further focuses on its various components to be replicated in areas with difficult terrain. Based on this, during the month of August 2017, cash assistance initiative has been taken to facilitate 6,600 families during the course of three months in NWA with the provision of cash for their work.  Till date, 2,200 participants from the two tehsils of NWA have been  engaged in rehabilitation of 57 physical infrastructural schemes ( kacha roads and irrigation channels). The Programme also delivered 14 trainings courses on livestock management, kitchen gardening, crop production and handicrafts for men and women participants. The uniqueness of this project lies in two facts; 1) This is the first cash based initiative in NWA 2) Involvement of 106 women in training component who were further facilitated with the provision of cash for their participation. The programme engaged eac

One would wake up to see long queue of women and children with buckets and utensils at the village well. They had to pull up bucket full of water. This was energy and time consuming. ”expressed Muhammad Zamin, A local resident of village Manz Dara Goraj, District Shangla”. After PEACE intervention in the area the villagers prioritized installation of hand pump to get easy access to drinking water. The scheme has enabled 39 households of the village to gain easy access to clean water for drinking and other purposes. The project is completed under EU funded PEACE programme.