Round Table Forum on Sustainable Development for Sustainable Peace – 23rd September 2011, Karachi
Continuing bloodshed with increasing frequency and intensity, and unrest in Karachi has been a cause of alarm for every Pakistani for a long time. To focus attention on the pervasiveness of the loss of human life and mayhem in this city SPO has organized the Round Table Forum on ‘Sustainable Development for Sustainable Peace’ in Karachi on 23rd September, 2011. Speakers in a conference stressed the need of shifting current paradigm of security state, zero tolerance for weapons, dialogue , fair civic governances, respect to diversity are need of the time to achieve Sustainable Development. They were speaking at the Round Table Forum on ‘Sustainable Development for Sustainable Peace’ in Karachi arranged by Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO). Introducing the theme of forum Naseer Memon, Chief Executive SPO, welcomed the participants. He said the forum on sustainable peace is timely as it is in line with SPO’s program of peace and social harmony. He said, we think Karachi peace is essential for prosperous Pakistan. Presenting the paper: Karachi’s Violence: Dualities and Negotiations. Mr. Haris Gazdar, said Karachi violence has ethnic and political reasons. Political parties have stable support bases among ethnic groups and localities, and this is not as bad as it might appear. He said, political parties can overcome violence through dialogue. In his detailed paper he elaborated through data that all parties are over performing in elections. He also suggest for economic growth in Pakistan to benefit from Sindh’s resources there will need to be agreements among diverse political constituencies. Senator Hasil Bazenjo said that violence in Karachi started in 80’s and now it becomes a monster. He said, violence in Karachi has been sponsored, till the end of this sponsorship, violence cannot be curbed. “Violence in politics being faced by the citizens was started by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which was supported by the State. JI is a baby of General Ziaul Haq that developed the policy of violence in politics as ‘Al-Zulfiqar’ first started the use of Kalashnikovs.Afterwards, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was weaponised by the State institutions as after the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), the State, thinking that it will lose control in Sindh, patronised MQM and expanded it.” Bizenjo was of the view that unless the State withdraws its support of violent politics, the issue of Karachi cannot be resolved. Presenting his point of view, Senator Dr. Abdul Malik stated that our main political parties do compromises. In Karachi they have divided the areas. He said through electoral process we will be able to gain peace. Well-known poet and intellectual Fehmida Riaz opined that alliances can be an answer to the Karachi situation as politics have become ethnic-based. “The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), MQM and Awami National Party (ANP) are on the same page as they do not support religious or sectarian violence or thoughts,” she added. “The State allowed some parties to become armed and it should now stop this game.” Mr.Jami Chandio said the issue of Karachi should be dealt as a provincial issue and developmental progress should not be focused there while diversity should be respected.“The burden on Karachi can be reduced if other cities are developed as diversity has become unfortunate for the city. The tendency for political hegemonies should be ended. The MQM has made Karachi hostage through violence and wants its monopoly. Following the MQM, other groups have also started working on the same pattern,” he claimed. Renowned writer Amar Sindhu shared that violence is the result of dictatorships but this situation is more than violence. “This is fascism. We are facing urban and religious fascism and to control this we have to have political dialogues,” she pointed out. Abrar Qazi said that the establishment and the civil-military bureaucracy are the root-cause of the violence in Sindh. “Political parties are working across Pakistan, but why is the situation different in Karachi and why are other political parties not allowed to work?” he asked. Journalist Mazhar Abbas termed the current violence as a planned conspiracy to sabotage democracy and political system. “If the Pakistani establishment does not stop violence, peace will not come. After the MRD, the agencies thought that feudal were protesting against the army, that is why they wanted to stop the political process,” he added. “At that time student union elections were not allowed because they wanted to de-politicize the system. The Inter-Services Intelligence has divided the political forces. What is going on in the city now is also a part of de-politicizing the society as Karachi has become ungoverned.”Anchorperson Naseem Zehra was of the view that every person is putting the blame on the establishment but the establishment should not be more important or powerful than the political parties and the parliament. “Despite bad governance, the credit goes to the PPP government for engaging all political forces and introducing a new trend of politics,” she said. Faisal Subzwari of the MQM said that before 1986, every hand was extended to kill the people of Karachi but it was stopped as terror is not a solution of every issue.“The MQM has supported the electronic voters system. It is not possible that the MQM reverts to the Mohajir Qaumi Movement,” he added. Subzwari hoped to get good response in Punjab with passage of time. He stressed the need for police comprising locals in cities and also accepted that bad people could be present in the MQM. Former Minister and writer Javed Jabbar on his concluding note said: for sustainable peace security agencies should be impartial, zero tolerance for weapon, fair civic governance, cultural infrastructure, respectful development are nessary . He termed the current ‘Peace is only possible by human development. Ending his speech on optimist note Jabbar urged civil society to involve in peace process.
Provincial Dialogue “Role of District Education Monitoring Committees for the betterment of schooling facilities in Sindh” August 25, 2011 at Karachi
Mr. Sadiq Memon, Provincial Minister Prisons Sindh, Madam Sadiqa Sallahuddin, Director of Indus Resource Center Karachi and renowned educationist and development expert, Mr Shahzeb Kakar, Deputy Secretary (Schools) Education & Literacy Department Government of Sindh, Mr. Qurban Ali Memon, Chairman District Education Monitoring Committee Matiari district and Naveed Shaikh, Deputy Program Manager, Reform Support Unit Department education and Literacy, Mr.Ellahi Bakhsh, Regional Program Manager, SPO Karachi, Mr. Ghulam Mustafa Baloch, Regional Head SPO Hyderabad, Ms.Raheema Panhwar, Program Specialist SPO Karachi spoke on the occasion. Representatives of SPO’s network organizations working in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Matiari, TM Khan, Thatta, Badin and Karachi districts also participated in a large number. The programme started with recitation from Holy Quran. Then the participants introduced themselves. Objectives To present findings of the surveys in front of legislators, civil society organizations, media and related education department to explore working possibilities for promoting education/schooling rights in Sindh To design recommendations to share with related government departments and legislators Ellahi Bakhsh Baloch Regional Program Manager SPO Karachi Introduced the core programme of SPO and its intervention in Sindh province. He shared the objectives of the event and said SPO focuses on the Local Government Ordinance 2001 in which it was decided to ensure the community participation in all the activities and interventions so that target can be achieved. About the survey conducted from three districts, he said they tried to collect information at community level to learn their education and health status. SPO prefers to work with the local communities, legislators and other stakeholders from these three districts to participate in the program to understand the status of Primary Schooling facilities in their respective districts and take the issues to proper forums, but unfortunately they are that much active in this regard. We believe that without participation of these communities we could not achieve targets, he added. Ghulam Mustafa Baloch Regional Head, SPO Hyderabad Presented findings of the survey conducted by SPO with the help of community organizations in three districts Badin, Tando Mohammed Khan and Matiari, focusing on government-run primary schools raised the issues of the facilities for local community living in these districts. He said the survey shows unsatisfactory performance of staff, unnecessary political interference, resources limitations and anarchy that has affected the role and performance of primary schools in the province of Sindh. The survey shows huge deficiency in required basic drinking water, toilets, teaching aids, furniture and fixture, etc, in these surveyed schools. According to the survey all the 206 units (45 government primary schools in Badin, 81 in Matiari and 80 in Tando Mohd Khan District) are housed in building owned by the Sindh Government. Bathroom facility in the 140 (68 percent) is available while the remaining 66 units (32 percent) are without this facility. The 60 percent bath rooms were found in somehow working condition where as remaining 40% bathrooms were not in working condition.The survey reveals that drinking water facility is available in 107 (52 percent) units while the remaining 99 units (48 percent) are without drinking water facility; the available water is not good for drinking even. The playgrounds facility in 101 units (49 percent) was found available but not in good condition while the remaining 106 units (51 percent) were without this important facility. It was observed that 66 percent units are having minimum required furniture and out of which only 60 percent are in satisfactory condition while in other 34 percent units no minimum required furniture is available for the students and teachers.The availability teaching aids in 43 percent units was found satisfactory while in the remaining 57 percent units were without teaching aids. As regards the electricity is concerned it was observed that in 27 percent units there is no facility available and where the facility is available do not have sufficient fixtures to meet the requirements of the school. The availability of Aya/Masi and Chowkidar was also found in a very pathetic condition. This required staff is presently available in only 62 percent units while the remaining 144 percent units lack this facility. The teaching staff is not attending in the most schools but those who are attending schools their punctuality and 100 percent attendance is still questionable. While talking with district level education department officials they mentioned that absenteeism of teachers, low performance of available staff, political interference, limited resources and limited role of district in decision making are the major problem they are facing.Ghulam Mustafa thanked DevCon, HANDs, SHEDO and community organizations for their help in different districts. He linked the poverty the main cause of deteriorating education in areas, which are socially marginalized specially girls, having no access to the basic schooling facilities. In the research findings it was pointed out that staff is appointed but their attendance is questionable. Ghulam Mustafa said during the focus group discussions the district officers pointed out that staff remains absent. Their performance is unsatisfactory. Mr. Sadiq Memon Provincial Minister Prisons Appreciated the way SPO is working but most of the NGOs are just inviting minister and taking their pictures in the event and getting more funds and they are not answerable to anyone. He said the present schooling arrangement cannot deliver because there is one room multi grade teaching approach which is not good, in west they are not in harry to open new schools as we are doing here without planning and rational. Sadiqa SallahuddinChief of Indus Resource Center and renowned educationist and development expertShe appreciated SPO team for its survey of three districts and presenting findings with recommendations. She said 80 percent school facilities are available in papers and in shap of buildings but there are gaps in service delivery. Community perception exists in the findings, which shows that there is lack of coordination between the government and community people. The government and those organizations working on promoting education do not have ownership on these ignored government primary schools. She asked “why we are not finding its solutions. Education is human right which the
Public-Private Partnership for Socio-economic Development of Country – August 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) have joined hands to improve livelihood of the people through collaborative programmes. The MoU of this partnership will be signed shortly among both the partners to carry forward this initiative. The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of PSF Chairman Prof. Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro and SPO Chief Executive Mr. Naseer Memon here the other day at PSF. PSF Member Science Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto, Member Finance Mr. Rizul Islam and Chief Scientific Officer Ms Farhat Rajpar were also present. They discussed in detail a number of joint ventures including identification of core areas for mutual cooperation, initiation of inquiry-based science education under Pak-French joint programme La main a la pate for girls, arranging trainings and workshops for capacity building of the poor and rural communities for their improved livelihood. PSF and SPO mutually agreed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed shortly. Ms Isma Sana, Programme Specialist, SPO and Mr. Abdul Rauf, Senior Scientific Officer (SSO), PSF were nominated as focal persons to liaise for finalization of the MoU and chalking out mutual activities. Joining hands by PSF and SPO will be a good example of public-private partnership for poverty eradication and socio-economic development of the country through non-formal science education and capacity building. PSF established in 1973 through an act of National Assembly and working under the Ministry of Science and Technology is a premier agency for the promotion and funding of scientific research and popularization of science in Pakistan. It undertakes a number of science popularization activities including science caravans (mobile science exhibitions), establishment of science centers, museums, herbaria and planetaria, strengthening of the laboratories of the government high schools in rural areas, organization of science and technology fairs and expos, preparation and distribution of science posters for schools, organizing science poster, essay and quiz competitions, holding popular science lectures, donation of popular science magazines and scientific books to schools, universities and research and development organizations and teacher training workshops on inquiry based science education. SPO is a non-profit company registered on January 15, 1994. SPO has diversified to cover the emerging issues in the particular socio-economic and political context of Pakistan. Currently, SPO’s core areas are democratic governance, social justice and peace and social harmony. In addition, SPO has a component of special projects that deals with disasters and emergency situations, such as earthquake in Azad Kashmir, floods in Pakistan and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Human rights lies at the heart of SPO’s core programme of democratic governance, social justice and peace and social harmony in society. The core programme aims at nurturing democracy, justice and peace in the state and society through capacity building, action research, awareness raising, advocacy, policy dialogue, dissemination of information and literature, mobilization of communities, developing partnership with local organisation and encouraging and supporting peace movements.
Ray of Hope for 2011 Badin floods survivors -SPO response to 2011 Badin floods
From August 11-13, Badin district received around 400 mm of precipitation that ultimately played havoc with daily life in the district. LBOD and other channels were over flowing. LBOD drain was breached at several locations that caused inundation of a number of villages. So far 4 deaths have been reported by the local authorities. More than 3,500 houses have been damaged and 80% of cultivated land has been wiped out resulting loss of livelihood of poor communities. Approximately, 4 hundred thousand people have been directly affected by this situation. District government initially set up 58 camps on safer places which have the capacity to accommodate 15,000 IDPs. Immediate Response: SPO organized a rapid assessment visit from Karachi office on 13th August 2011. SPO team visited the area and with the help of partner organizations, women groups and networks completed the process of rapid assessment. On the recommendations of this assessment report, it was decided to extend some support to affected communities in UC Seerani. SPO management allocated a modest sum of Rs. 150,000 for the initial support. DAMN (a partner organization) office bearers helped in distributing the food packs at two different locations. In Biddo food packets were distributed to 21 families of two villages. The other distribution point was at Panjah Mori where food packets were distributed among 63 families of 6 villages. Moreover, water purification items (Musafa) for 100 families collected from Badin Development Organization were distributed among communities in 6 villages with complete usage instructions.
SPO to Conduct Social Impact Monitoring – June 2, 2011
Islamabad (June 2, 2011): World Bank has outsourced its post 2010 floods Social Impact Monitoring project to Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO). For the implementation of this qualitative research project, SPO in consultation with relevant stakeholders has selected Nowshehra in Khyber Pakhtoonkhuwa and Thatta in Sindh. The project will be implemented by a team of subject specialists, including qualitative research specialists and social and economic analysts. The team will be led by renowned researcher and scholar Mr. Fayyaz Baqir. In this connection, three days project implementation planning workshop was arranged at SPO’s national centre in Islamabad. The project team comprising 12 research specialists and SPO’s senior management as well as MER team attended the workshop. As part of a series of consultations that are required to be undertaken in this project, the new chairperson of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Mr. Zafar Qadir, and joint secretary for Prime Minister Mr. Saleem Ranjha, were invited to the concluding session. They provided valuable inputs and endorsed their maximum support for this research project. The workshop was also attended by Ms. Samina Islam, Social Development Specialist at the World Bank’s Pakistan office. Speaking about the objectives of this strategically significant project between World Bank and SPO, Naseer Memon, Chief Executive SPO said that the project aims to customize World Bank’s globally tested Social Impact Monitoring tools in the context of Pakistan, assess impacts of 2010 floods on social cohesion in, livelihoods of, and governance environment in two worst hit districts of Pakistan and adoption of customized Social Impact Monitoring tools by NDMA and UN and other international agencies working in relief and recovery areas in Pakistan.
Synergy between Development and Media – May 31, 2011
Islamabad (May 31, 2011): Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) Power99 FM Radio Network signed a memorandum of understanding to work in collaboration to bring the issues of development into the limelight of media. ‘The joint venture will focus on the basic issues faced by the people and development practitioners at the grass root level’ stated in a press release. According to the details of MoU, both organizations will work together to prepare programs, news and views about development sector in Pakistan. In order to promote citizen journalism and aligning development related packages with behavioral change communication, SPO would provide human resources in 54 districts of Pakistan, whereas Power99 Radio would train them to garner timely information, especially during the times of emergencies. A salient feature of the collaborative activities between SPO and Power99 that lectures of SPO Civic Café will be held and broadcast at Power 99. It would help disseminate ideas about good governance, peace, social justice and peace and social harmony to a wider audience. Commenting on the important of this collaboration Naseer Memon, Chief Executive SPO, said that currently the mainstream media focuses more on the issues that are more in vogue. In this process the real issues of people tends to be ignored. The initiative of collaboration between SPO and Power 99 will be long term. It will play an instrumental role in providing alternate narrative on real issues and development on the one hand, and pave the way for emergence of media that is more specialized and development specific. Najib Ahmed, Executive Director Power 99 Radio Network said that Power99 Radio is people-centered media outlet that believes in preservation and respects for varied culture, languages and traditions, in this way it tries to institute non-violent society and diversified Pakistan. Following the democratic and participatory approach to development and change, Power99 believes that all development and change should be democratic so that people should own it. For the greater outreach of NGOs and greater awareness among masses Naseer and Najib laid great emphasis on forming synergies between civil society organizations and media.
Bridging Policy Gaps in Education System – May 15, 2011
Parliamentarians of Sindh realize the fact that there are some loopholes, issues of mismanagement and policy gaps within the education system, which need to be addressed with the help of civil society actors. They were speaking at a meeting organized by Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) with parliamentarians on ‘Education and Strategy of Sindh’ on May 15, 2011. They asked the organizers to provide recommendations gleaned from the discussion, which would be preferably presented to the Chief Minister of Sindh. The issue will also be raised in the ongoing session of the Sindh Assembly. Sindh Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Zahid Hussain Bhurgari chaired the meeting, while MNA Ameer Ali Shah Jamot, MPA Pitambar Shewani, Prof Zaffar Bugti, Zafar Zeeshan of SPO, Suleman G Abro of SAFWCO, Zulfiqar Halepoto, Sadiqa Sallahuddin, Noor Ahmed Nizamani, SPO Regional Manager Mustafa Baloch and community activist Rehmatullah Balal spoke on the occasion. They identified weaknesses within the system, irresponsible role of leaders of teachers’ organizations and gave their suggestions to improve the education system. The meeting attracted a large number of civil society leaders, community activist and professional teachers. The session passed resolutions in the light of overall discussion and demanded the provincial government that after the 18th Amendment the Sindh government should design ‘new education strategy’ after reviewing the last national education policy 2009. The new provincial strategy should mention all the things which the civil society actors and academia feel necessary in the better interest of the education. The meeting also demanded the government to take the findings of SPO’s study at the forum of Sindh Assembly. The study has been carried out in five districts with the help of SPO’s local partners. The speakers said provincial Higher Education Commission should be established, comprising of educationists and academicians and not bureaucrats. They were of the view that administrative control of all the intermediate examination boards and universities should be shifted to the chief minister. Sharing research findings Mustafa Baloch said that SPO has collected data from 52 union councils of the five districts Ghotki, Shikarpur, Tndo Mohammed Khan, Matiari and Hyderabad. They covered 2532 villages, where they found 1804 schools, out of which 291 schools were for girls. Total 276 schools both for boys and girls were non-functional. He also emphasized the need to review the national curriculum according to the indigenous need of the province. Prof Zaffar Bugti portraying the world education scenario said Pakistan has to achieve set target of millennium development goals (MDGs) to assure 100 percent enrollment till 2015. He was of the opinion that only by abolishing school fees or ensuring more enrollment is not the solution, rather the government should take proper measures to achieve the MDGs. He said primary education is basic right of everybody. Quoting government figures Noor Ahmed Nizamani said only 7000 schools out of total 49,000 schools, are fully functional. Out of those 7000 are functional schools, 4000 schools are located in the urban centers of the province. Sadiqa Sallahuddin said there is a need to assess how the existing education budget is being utilized. The speakers emphasized the need to constitute a monitoring committee to evaluate the situation and prepare recommendations, which should be presented to the provincial government to look into the same and resolve the problems. It was also pointed out that the incentives, increments and promotions should be made as per the performance of teachers and administrative officials, instead of political basis. Others who also spoke on that occasion included Noor Muhammad Bajeer, Shazia Junejo, Khadim Sindh, Adrees Jatoi, Shafique Kandhro, Wahid Sangrasi, Mehbob Abro, Taj Muhammad Nahyion, DO Zianul Abddin Shah, Ammar Sindhu, Razzque Bhatti, Irfana Mallah, Mahesh Kumar, Jaffar Memon, Ali Nawaz Lund and Dr,Asho Thama .
SPO Emergency Response MAP
SPO Conference on “Local Initiatives in Development”
Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) held a conference on ‘Local Initiatives in Development’ on March 17, 2011. Speakers of the conference emphasized capacity building of local communities to enable them to build a democratic, just and peaceful society in Pakistan. Introducing the objectives of the conference Naseer Memon, Chief Executive SPO, said that the struggles of marginalized and local communities tends to be ignored in the mainstream media and discourse of development. ‘This conference brings together people from different regions of Pakistan to share inspiring stories of local community who are contributing to create critical mass’ he said. Dr. Tufail Mohammed, Chairperson SPO, welcomed the participants and briefed about SPO’s programme that strives to address the needs of marginalized communities and tackles challenges of development. Dr. Tufail’s briefing shed light on SPO’s programme areas and its response to emergencies, like earthquake in 2005 and flood in 2010. Sharing the work of SPO and its role in the development sector, Sadiqa Salahuddin stressed the need of changing the current paradigm of development because the affectees of anachronistic paradigm are people. ‘There is a dire need to encourage local initiatives because they are cost effective and sustainable’ she asserted. She highlighted the importance of continual review and renewal of strategy to meet emerging needs and demands of people. Sadiqa termed development as political, therefore there has to be political education of people. She lauded the endeavors of SPO in building capacities of local communities and organizations. ‘The reason behind capacitating local communities is that they are in a better position to articulate their needs and negotiate with power structures’ Sadiqa said. Renowned intellectual Harris Khalique termed the work of SPO especially its component of political education as heraldry. ‘SPO works as a catalyst in bringing potentialities into reality’ Harris said. Harris laid great emphasis on understanding the role of political workers because political education enables them to enact their role with a clear vision. Explicating the idea behind the endeavors of empowering the marginalized sections of society, Harris stated that SPO follows Gramcian model through which it strives to empower human agency, which can change the power system. ‘Our support to civil society in Pakistan is basically connecting community with the state. Incessant control of undemocratic forces over the country, a disconnect has been created between the state and society. SPO’s support to civil society organization aims to establish the connection’ Harris Khalique observed. He urged to make professionalism subservient to community. Elaborating the dialectics of social justice in Pakistan, Development practitioner Arifa Mazhar stressed the need of creating awareness in society. ‘Only by changing the minds we can be able to empower the marginalized communities in Pakistan’ Arifa stated. She further said that empowerment enables people to change policy in their favor and paves the way for democratic, just and tolerant society. To introduce the unsung stories of interfaith harmony and peace Allama Ramzan Tauqeer and Hamad Ullah Farouqi shared their experience and trial and tribulations in their struggle in restoring peace and harmony in the sectarian torn Dera Ismail Khan. Allama Ramzan reminisced about once peaceful D.I.Khan. He regretted the fact that peace in D.I.Khan was shattered by the forces who are bereft of reason and resort to violence instead of logic. He lauded the efforts of Sunni scholar Hamad Ullah Farouqi in bridging the divide between Sunni and Shia communities. Providing perspective from Sunni community Hamad Ullah Farouqi stated that he himself was attacked twice in which he was severely injured and lost two colleagues. Despite the threats from militants he continued his struggle for peace with the help of Shia scholar Allama Ramzan. Ultimately, their effort bore fruit. However, he was the opinion that peace is a long haul. In order to ensure sustainable peace it is imperative to resolve to continue struggle and never succumb to militants who are hell bent upon killing innocent lives. SPO partners, political party steering committees, local community members, civil society networks and elected representatives shared the experiences of local initiatives in development in different regions of Pakistan. They presented inspiring stories of struggle by the marginalized communities who have succeeded to reopen schools, securing National Identity Cards for women, resisting force marriages, securing fisherman rights, burial of Hindu girl in Muslim cemetery, restoring land donated to welfare and interfaith harmony. The participants especially appreciated stories of the struggle of Sindh and efforts for the restoration of peace narrated by religious scholars Allama Ramzan Tauqeer and Hamad Ullah Farouqi in Dera Ismail Khan. The conference was attended by a large number of people from, Funding partners, civil society organizations, academicians and government officials.