SPO achieved full membership of global body Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP)
SPO has achieved another milestone of seeking full membership of global body Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP). HAP is a global body based in Switzerland, and works for the promotion of accountability and transparency in humanitarian affairs across the globe and support members for designing and adopting the accountability framework and associated features so that they are more acceptable for a wide range of government donors and funding organizations. HAP membership is increasingly becoming important for the organizations working in disaster preparedness and response. International humanitarian funding community is emphasizing on the standardization of accountability parameters so that the assistance is delivered to the survivors in a best possible transparent manner. Now, SPO is focusing on the development of organizational accountability framework so that SPO is more responsive and ready for adopting global standards and deliver the assistance in line with the parameters set by HAP. The membership of HAP will help SPO in developing linkages with national and international organizations who have humanitarian mandate and server disaster survivors across the globe. Click here for detail Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) web
Art for Peace – May 2012
Societies are most susceptible to the loss of cultural heritage during times of war. The cultural norms and political background; both of which are an integral part of any society, are deeply entwined. Disruption in either one has a direct impact on the other. During the last decade, the social and economic fabric of Pakistan has been deeply scarred by the so called “War Against Terror” which has given rise to the militancy and extremist elements in the country. A sense of fear and unrest prevails, especially in the severely affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). D.I. Khan is one such district where the life of the common man has been gravely affected owing to its geographical proximity to the tribal agencies and FR areas. The ripple effect of the extremist activities has reached out and engulfed the previously famous cultural hub of D.I. Khan. Exploitation of religious beliefs and practices at the hands of the militant and extremist groups has resulted in a general lack of acceptance towards all forms of art and music, which according to these self appointed religious authorities, are condemned and considered haram in Islam. As a result, quite a few local artists have had to relocate to other more peaceful districts in order to promote their art and craft. Suicide attacks, sectarian killings, and bombing in public and religious centers have been escalating over the years. Militant attacks targeting District Police Officer (DPO) D.I. Khan, Police Station Daraban, DSP City and DSP Kulachi in only the last four to five months are just a few examples of the ever increasing volatile security situation in the district. The civil society in D.I. Khan is struggling to bring, the much needed, peace to the region by engaging the prominent religious, social and political leaders of the community. SPO, a leading proponent of participatory development has ventured into numerous programs for alleviating good governance, improving social justice and promoting peace and harmony in the area. Over the years, SPO has organized numerous awareness raising events, in collaboration with its partner entities, for nurturing and promoting its cause for a socially just and tolerant society. Building on these efforts, SPO D.I. Khan in collaboration with Daman Civil Society Network (DCSN) arranged a three- day arts exhibition, titled “Art for Peace” to promote the local art and craft in which five prominent calligraphers and painters from D.I Khan, namely Ajab Khan, Dr. Muhammad Sharif, Mr. Farooq Sial, Resham Gul and Mr. Tanvir Khan showcased their art work. The exhibition aimed to bring together people from all walks of life to a common platform in order to foster an environment of peace and harmony. The over whelming turnout with a strong female participation (over 400 community members, including 50 women participated in the event) speaks volumes of the success of the event. The chief guest for the event was Dr. Mansoor Akbar Kundi, Vice Chancellor Gomal University who expressed great pleasure at the success of the event and said that such events will nurture a society that is tolerant towards each other irrespective of their age, gender, race, caste, creed or religious affiliation. Other prominent participants included Chief Executive SPO Naseer Memon, Station Commander Pak Army Brigadier Zahid Jamil Ahmad, Deputy Inspector General (D.I.G) Police, Regional Chief; National Bank Mr. Jaffery, District Social Welfare Officer Mr. Shahzaman Khan, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) D.I. Khan Head Mr. Noman Latif, Assistant Director Anti Corruption Mr. Shafiullah Gandapur, various heads of NGOs, representatives from print and electronic media, trade union, literary society, local women councilors, representatives from women lawyers fraternity and other key stakeholders from the community. Efforts of SPO in conducting this momentous event were greatly appreciated by the community members who emphasized that in these volatile times, the need for such cultural events was extremely important for peace building. The fact that the citizens of D.I. Khan, especially women, came to this event despite the high security situation, shows their willingness to finally break through this deeply rooted culture of silence. Recognizing the importance of such events, Dr. Mansoor Akbar Kundi, Vice Chancellor Gomal University declared that a similar exhibition will be held at Gomal University, to encourage youth of D.I. Khan to participate in such peace building endeavors in order to make them more socially responsible citizens.
Survey on Conflict Sensitivity in Pakistan
Introduction for Participants Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) is conducting a study to better understand issues that impact programme strategies and interventions in Pakistan. This understanding will assist with strengthening interventions and protecting the populations within which NGOs conduct their work. Additionally, it will provide an opportunity to share and learn with other organisations about the best practices being used in conflict sensitive programming, and assist with pioneering practical tools for use by development workers in Pakistan. The information that you will provide to the following online survey will remain anonymous. Instructions for Survey Download the survey in English or Urdu from Kindly electronically answer the 6 questions in the survey and the demographic details There are no restrictions on the limit of your answer Re-save the survey document with your answers in Microsoft Word and email as an attachment to the survey administrator at SPO on farahnazhaq@spopk.org Download the survey form Survey Form in English (MS Word) Survey Form in Urdu (MS Word) Survey Form in Urdu (Inpage)
Romantic rail that once used to be…discussed at Civic Café – Feb. 22, 2012
Romantic fascination and poor friendly service is what had made the rail a symbol of lifeline of the country. It is neither romantically fascinating anymore nor is it able to provide the people with economical way out to reach their destinations. Both these aspects came under discussion at the launch of Dr. Irfan Ahmed Baig’s new book “DedhSadi Ki Rail” arranged by Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) under its Civic Café` dialogue series. While the book represents writer’s 40 years experiences of travelling in rails around the country in company of his father who worked for Pakistan Railway at different stages of its evaluation and emergence as a strategic asset of the country, the speakers of the event talked about the deterioration this important poor friendly transportation system has gone through in recent times. Prof. Yonus Khalid said the book has beautifully captured very minor details of rail, railway tracks and life along the both sides of these tracks. “There definitely is a story that writer wants to tell here which is spread over one hundred and fifty years of Pakistan railways, as it had started on May 13th, 1861, when the first railway line was opened to the public, between Karachi andKotri, with a total distance of 105 miles” he said. Prominent poet and writer HarisKhaleeqsaid this book rotates around a triangle of writer’s love for his father who served the railway for years, rail itself and most importantly Pakistan. “This is story of history, glory and downfall of this very important institution of the country” said HarisKhaleeq. He appreciated writer’s academic detachment or objectivity which makes it a good research document in addition to being a great literary piece of work. Prominent writer NajamulSaqib said IrfanBaig’s book not only talks about railways importance in public life but it also traces the history of political movements and country’s development related to the life of rail and railway tracks. He said Derh Sadi ki Rail, can be a good reference document even for Railway officials if they want to know about the reasons of its downfall. SPO Chief Executive Naseer Memon connected the contents of this book with the development paradigm of the country that focuses on snatching away the assets and opportunities from the poor. Memon left the audience with a question on why poor friendly services like railways were vanishing while number of fancy cars was increasing by the day? ,He said, all over the world State owned enterprises are alleviating poverty, but in our country state enterprises are abrogating poor people’s services.“This book reminds us of the importance of railway being not only an effective and cheap source of transportation but also a beautiful picture of country’s landscape” said Naseer. Introducing the audience and the program, SPO Chief of Programs Zafar Zeeshan said the Civic Café is a space for all to discuss contemporary issues and developments. The basic idea behind the Civic Café is to strengthen the role of civil society through dialogue, and to provide space for discussion on various topics, building new relationships, and strengthening old ones. The participants of this forum are not to be from one particular group, class or school of thought, rather they hail from different walks of life.
In the absence of funds – The News – Jan 15, 2012
By Naseer Memon Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has said that only 40 percent of the funds have so far been received against the appeal launched by the UN. The UN launched an appeal for $ 356 million for support of the flood affectees in Sindh and Balochistan. So far, hardly $150 million could be mobilized. Whereas the scale of flood disaster this year surpassed the damages of previous year’s flood, donors’ response has been starkly lukewarm this time. So far, European Commission, US, Japan, UK and Norway have been the major donors. According to the latest figures of the NDMA, 520 people died during the flood. Approximately 34,000 villages were affected and 1.6 million houses were damaged which affected more than 9.6 million people. Rural economy in Sindh is ruined as cropped area over 2.2 million acres was damaged and more than 116,000 cattle heads were perished. According to the UN, the floods have wiped out 73 percent of standing crops, 36 percent of livestock, and 67 percent of food stocks in the 13 worst-affected districts of Sindh. Loss of crop and livelihood is a serious concern as these two are the key sources of livelihood in the flood affected areas. Sluggish response by humanitarian aid community is causing severe stress on relief activities. Major shortfall is in critical areas of food security (86 pc) drinking water (83 pc) and shelter (49 pc). As a result of that three quarters of the total affected households in Sindh and Balochistan have not received any shelter assistance. In winter, the need for shelter and blankets has increased. In Sindh and Balochistan, 3 million flood-affected people remain highly vulnerable and in need of immediate food assistance. According to aid agencies, over five million people urgently require agricultural support to resume food production and income generation activities. Clearly, this situation is leading towards a lurking human crisis in the coming days. World Food Program has also raised concern on the shortfall of $107 million to cover food needs of critically affected communities till Feb 2012. The agency has warned that if resources are not mobilised their stock will be exhausted by the end of November and they will be constrained to cut down the size of ration and number of people being assisted after December. The latest update of NDMA on 2nd Dec shows approximately 232,000 people still living in 755 camps, requiring all kinds of assistance. According to UNOCHA, around 25 percent of the 9 million flood affected population is in danger of contracting various kinds diseases as cases of malaria, cholera, upper and lower respiratory tract infections, and skin diseases have been reported. This situation certainly calls for urgent action on the part of government and humanitarian aid community. Donor’s response shows a downward trend in recent disasters. During 2010 floods UN appealed for $1.9 billion but only $1.3 billion were provided by donors. 11 most generous donors contributed $1.6 billion and the least generous 15 countries contributed only $33 million.Denmark contributed $23 million but Portugal with bigger GDP contributed nothing. France donated $ 4.2 million, nine times less than Sweden’s donation while having six times larger GDP. According to a report by an aid agency, Islamic Relief, there is a marked difference in donor response compared to Haiti’s earthquake. In Haiti 3.7 million people were affected and it received $948 per affectee in aid whereas in 2010 floods more than 20 million people were affected in Pakistan but only $122 per affectee was received. According to an analysis by an international aid agency, Oxfam GB, only $1.30 has been committed per person by international donors in the first 10 days of the UN appeal as compared to $3.20 committed in the same period during last year’s floods. The corresponding figures for 2005 earthquake was $70 and for Haiti’s earthquake was 495$. This trend clearly indicates that donor response does not commensurate with the scale of disaster. Except number of deaths all other accounts of damages in recent floods have been far greater than Haiti’s earthquake. Delayed appeal by the government, economic slowdown in Euro zone and US, lack of efficiency and transparency on part of government, lukewarm coverage by international media are considered as key reasons for the poor response by humanitarian aid community.The government underestimated the scale of disaster and the appeal for international aid came too late when millions were already shelterless. Also, major aid contributors, e.g. Europe and US, are reeling under economic meltdown. The US, after losing $US 550 billion in Afghanistan war, is facing worst unemployment in recent decades. Fourteen million unemployed Americans are a major cause of concern. After losing credit rating one step down, US law makers are bent upon axing international aid. Deep cuts in food and medicine for Africa and disaster relief aid are being seriously contemplated. US foreign assistance has declined from two percent of its federal budget in 70s and 80s to less than one percent in 2011. The House Appropriation Committee has proposed cutting assistance to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Similarly, major countries in European Union are facing a worst debt crisis. Gross domestic debt in Euro zone is now 85pc of its GDP. Budget deficit in Britain has reached 10.4 percent and in US is 8.9 percent. Unemployment in 16 to 24 years age group in UK has reached 14 percent during the last three years. A 10 percent cut in government spending is already on cards. In this scenario, international aid is likely to be more sluggish in the event of any future disasters. Countries like Pakistan need to re-appropriate its own resources more prudently to meet contingency needs. With alarming rise in the frequency of disasters, Pakistan needs to contemplate a long-term master plan for disaster risk reduction. A fraction of the huge sums of money required for relief and rehabilitation operations can help making better pre-disaster arrangements. The writer is Chief Executive of Strengthening Participatory Organization-SPO, nmemon@spopk.org
Moving from Disaster to Development – December 2012
(Gender Mainstreaming & Disaster Management) A three days training workshop on “Moving from Disaster to Development” with subtitle of “Gender Mainstreaming & Disaster Management “29-31 December, 2011, was organized by SPO Training Unit, Hyderabad. The main objectives behind the organization of this training were To develop a skilled human resource who should be well aware of such situations and can effectively help community, properly assist their organization and should help others with all their learned skills and shadow of international standards necessary to follow in all emergency activities and To impel SPO Training Unit towards an institutional approach where it should be known as a platform for different individuals to come and augment their skills in their appropriate field/ profession.The three days training workshop with 25 participants from different organizations was started with participatory approach and continued till end with same methodology. The training was comprised on gender mainstreaming and disaster management. Concept, basics, types, causes and cycle of disaster were discussed, introduction of HAP and Sphere standards were shared, gender concept, practical & strategic needs, vulnerability, its analysis, assessment and special care of vulnerability groups; gender roles, gender analysis under gender lens and gender mainstreaming in disaster were practically discussed in detail. All the participants were satisfied by participating in the training, they learned from scheduled sessions and were eager to join upcoming trainings to be organized by SPO.
Effects of Conflicts on Achievements of MDGs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Jan 2012
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is unlikely to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline in light of the current socioeconomic conditions and natural and manmade disasters, said speakers at a panel discussion on Tuesday. Panelists also regretted that development of social sector had never been a government priority as most of national revenues were spent on defence and debt servicing for the country being a security state.The discussion was arranged by the Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), the largest rightsbased civil society organisation, on `Effects of Conflicts on Achievements of MDGs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa`. Regional head of SPO Arshad Haroon told participants that MDGs were eight international development goals that all 193 UN members and at least 23 international organisations had agreed to achieve by 2015. According to him, the said goals are to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary educa-tion, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality rates, improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. `Disparity exists in imparting education to boys and girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as there are 14,770 schools for boys and only 7,838 for girls,` said academician Dr Fakhrul Islam. He said education sector was unlikely to achieve MDGs and that the situation was no different as for women`s share in employment as women made only 10 per cent of the workforce in the province against the desired 15 per cent. Dr Fakhr said in political sphere, there were still areas where religious and secular forces joined hands with each other to stop women from casting vote in elections. He said the Musharraf regime reserved seats for women in parliament, provincial assemblies and local councils but their participation in elections against general seats was very low. Chief executive officer SPO NaseerMemon said the Human DevelopmentReport-2011 placed Pakistan after Nigeria on the list of countries with the largest number of children out of school, while the country topped the list of four polio endemic states.He said unfortunately, Pakistan`s social sector spending was the lowest (two to 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product) in the region as even Afghanistan allocated seven per cent of GDP for the sector. Mr Memon said without proper planning and keeping in view of shortage of natural gas, Pakistan achieved the goal of conversion of vehicles to CNG as currently, around 2.4 million vehicles were running on CNG, the second biggest number af ter Brazil. He said there were three Ds defense, debt servicing and development but the major chunk of the budget was allocated to defence and debt servicing, while development sector was not a priority. Former chairman the international relations department of University of Peshawar Dr Ijaz Khattak said Pakistan was a security state, where entire focus was on security and that in such situation, accomplishment ofMDGs was next to impossible. He said a debate should be held on what kind of security the country needed and whether national priority should be protection of children by provision of education and better health facilities or border security. Noted pediatrician Dr Tufail Mohammad said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was nowhere near the goals of reducing child mortality rate and improving maternal health. He said unfortunately, there was not a single specialised children specific hospital in the entire province. He said around 48 per cent of the total population in the country were below 18 and were counted among children. Director Area Study Centre of University of Peshawar Dr Sarfraz said health system in the province in particular and country in general was mostly focusing on disease prevention, control and cure, but in all three spheres, the government had miserably failed to achieve desired results.He further said in some areas, schools and health facilities were bombed and under such circumstances, it was almosy impossible to achieve MDGs
Public Awareness on Disaster Preparedness through Radio Campaign – 2012
SPO has been working with vulnerable communities all across Pakistan for their capacity building for disaster preparedness and development of Community Based Plan for Disaster Risk Mitigation (CPDRM). During the course of our work with the communities, we have realized that social media can play a vital role in reaching out to the larger audience in the targeted community. So as part of CAFOD funded project titled “Restoration of Community Livelihoods in District Kashmore”, SPO has developed a series of 16 radio program in Sindhi language which will be broadcasted on FM Ghotki as per below given schedule. S# Program Date Pattern Time Duration 1 04-01-2012 Damages of flood ( documentary) 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 2 11-01-2012 Stories of the People self Sharing 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 3 18-01-2012 Interview with deveolpoment activists engaged In area 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 4 25-01-2012 Live Calls From Kandhkot regarding women,childProtection,Health & Hygiene 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 5 02-02-2012 Community voices on recent development 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 6 08-02-2012 Interview with Experts on Health & Hygiene 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 7 15-02-2012 To what extent life has been changed after the floods 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 8 22-02-2012 Stories of flood 2010 Govt: officials response 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 9 29-02-2012 Interview with Experts in DRR 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 10 07-03-2012 Interview with D.C Kashmore 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 11 14-03-2012 Interview with Regional Head of SPO 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 12 21-03-2012 Community voices on the Health issue 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 13 28-03-2012 Live Calls From Kandhkot regarding DRR 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 14 04-04-2012 Stories of the People by local activist 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 15 11-04-2012 Interview with Experts on Women & child Protection 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts 16 18-04-2012 A discussion on protection issues during emergencies 03:30pm to 4:00pm 30 minuts
Message of Peace and Love in Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s Poetry – December 13, 2011
Pakistan is blessed with a rich heritage of Sufism that promotes the message of peace, tolerance and harmony. In today’s world the ideals of peace and harmony could not be achieved until we reflect and internalize the message of Sufis who promoted this message since centuries. (SPO)Strengthening Participatory Organization from its forum Civic Café in Islamabad, referred to the message and poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689-1752).Shah Latif generally known as Bhittai vehemently condemned the act of aggression, which is the main cause of turmoil on this earth. Ms. Fahmida Riaz, a well known writer, poet, and feminist gave the lecture on Shah Latif Bhittai’s message of love and Peace through Sufism. She said, his poetry is elaboration of spiritual quest. While talking about his life and Sufism, she said Shah Latif has Sufi family background and was also interested in Molana Romi poetry, which resulted people called him direct animation of Molana Romi and sometimes compared with him. Although Sufi’s does not believe on competition, she added.She said Shah Bhittai was creator of Music; some of his Sur were created in musical nodes, followers are singing his famous Sur Kalyan for two hundred and fifty years. While talking about his message, she said, he was believer of spiritualism, and used to say that ritualism is not enough. She said, Shah’ s poetry is unique , even now after two hundred and fifty years ,his ideas of peace and love for humanity are thought provoking and mile stone as it creates magic of love for all. Ms. Fahmida Riaz while praising his glory said, he not only love Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH), but also praised Joggi’ s as they are also searching for God, and believed that this is the only possibility to love all human beings.Shah Latif’s giving his message of Peace to Mankind in his sur Kalyan, Patience, humanity adopt,For anger is disease-Forbearance bringeth joy and ‘peace’,If you would understand. (Sur Kalyan; Peace) Peace and Harmony is one of the basic components of SPO’s program, which is based on building social harmony among diverse groups to share and understand each other’s point of view and respect differences. It aims to build capacity and empower civil society networks and communities around social harmony and peace with a focus on restoring social harmony and building a culture of peace and participation, and partnering with all local stakeholders in the development process. Civic Café has an objective of providing a space for all to discuss contemporary issues. The basic idea behind the Civic Café is to strengthen the role of civil society through dialogue, and to provide space for discussion on various topics, building new relationships, and strengthening old ones. The participants of this forum do not represent any particular group, class or school of thought, rather they hail from different walks of life.