Pursestrings & Peoples Priorities | The Foundation’s analysis of development funds – KP Budget FY2020-21

The Foundation’s analysis showed that KP’s FY2020-21’s total outlay was Rs.923 billion, slightly more than the preceding year’s Rs.900 billion. Rs.318 billion was allocated for development -- Rs.149 billion for settled districts and Rs.83 billion for merged districts. Analysing the development budget, the Foundation confirmed that in response to Covid-19, the KP government allocated Rs.24.38 billion for Health, representing a whopping increase of 79.20% from the preceding year’s Rs.13.61 billion. According to government, it is the “biggest…

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Meeting with KP’s Finance Minister, Mr. Taimur Khan Jhagra The Foundation presents its Budget Analysis & Social Accountability Actions

The Minister commended the Foundation’s analysis and efforts: “budget transparency is fundamental,” he asserted. Development and current budgets must be linked to assess the full scope of investment/spending. Trends over the period FY2013-14 to FY2020-21 confirming that more than half of the ADP is placed under block allocation underscores the need to reduce block funds. However, delays in departmental input forces Finance to retain block allocations.   Discussing the delayed upgradation of Abbottabad’s DHQ, it…

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Feasibility Study, Community Lead Project

Under the ADB-funded: Building Urban Resilient Communities, a feasibility study for a pilot community lead project was conducted by the Environmental Consultancy & Options (ECO). Due to Covid restrictions, the draft study was completed in July 2020. It was reviewed by Oxfam that is lead implementing partner to ADB, government stakeholders and the Foundation. It was sent to the ADB in January 2021. Once approved, improvements in solid waste management, sewerage and drinking water will be undertaken in…

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“Women Leaders’ Groups-She Can Lead” a Partnership Program in Abbottabad

The three-year (July 2017-June 2020) partnership programme: She Can Lead (SCL) was implemented by the Foundation in collaboration with Oxfam Pakistan, with funding from Australian Aid. Due to COVID-19, the training of Women Leaders Groups (WLGs) from Districts Abbottabad, Haripur & Mansehra only included one representative from each of the 6 WLGs. The training helped participants better understand the need for the involvement of women in politics and governance. Experiences from SCL were also reviewed…

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Covid-19 Response: 43 handwash units installed to promote hand hygiene

Districts Abbottabad, Haripur & Mansehra, June 2020 In partnership with the district administration in Abbottabad, Haripur and Mansehra, the Foundation provided 43 hand wash units to promote hand hygiene and prevent the spread of the corona virus disease. The units were installed in public places selected to ensure access for women and children. The Foundation took lead responsibility for designing, manufacturing and installing the units, while the district administration is responsible for supplying water and…

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A series of 3 People’s Assemblies on LG system

Peshawar, Kohat & Islamabad 17, 19 & 31 December 2019 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s local government elected in 2015 completed its four-year tenure in August 2019. Amendments to the provincial legislation were passed earlier, in April 2019, to introduce a new structure of local government in KP. Local elections were due within 120 days, i.e., by December 2019. However, there is no apparent progress on the anticipated electoral process, as yet. The importance of local governments was…

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Programme Review & Planning (PRP)

The Foundation strives to be a learning organization. It has well-developed internal systems for planning and monitoring including regular PRP meetings in which all staff come together to analyse implementation experiences and explore ways to improve effectiveness & impact. Better teamwork is also an important purpose of the PRP. It generally runs over 2-3 days and is held in a residential setting to encourage team interaction. The 2019 PRP was held on 23-26 December 2019…

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Peoples Assembly on KP Budget FY2019-20

15 November 2019, Jalal Baba Auditorium, Abbottabad Since 2010 the Foundation regularly analyses development priorities in KP’s annual budgets and uses its findings to recommend reforms in the province’s public finance management. The Foundation is also assisting more than 200 CSOs in 12 KP districts to use social accountability for increasing citizen engagement in governance with the intent of improving the delivery of quality public services. To assist CSOs in connecting local social accountability actions with…

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Social Accountability: Democratic Innovations

3-4 October 2019, Islamabad The Foundation brought together its 50 CSO partners from 12 KP districts to draw lessons from their engagements with governments to improve delivery of public services. Strategies to consolidate & extend efforts were also developed. Working in regional -- Central, Hazara, Malakand & Southern -- groups, participants reviewed their social accountability experiences. Lessons were drawn out and prioritized, including the following: •       Collective action & platforms: Working in groups…

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Development plans shaped by & for the Poor – Tehsil Haripur

The Foundation facilitated a pro-poor planning process to improve the provision of social services in poor villages of VCs/NCs of Tehsil Haripur. These were selected by key local activists through well-being ranking held in Haripur on 3 July 2019. This was followed by intensive training of staff and field-based facilitators (FBFs) in participatory methodologies including Participatory Reflection & Action (PRA) and Stimulating, Learning/Listening, Appreciating and Transforming (SALT). This trained team facilitated a series of meetings in 63 villages…

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WLG Training & Networking

Under She Can Lead, implemented with Oxfam and two other NGOs, the Foundation supported a series of activities involving Women Leaders Groups (WLGs) from Districts Abbottabad, Haripur & Mansehra. 27 WLG members, three representatives of women’s and HR groups and 14 staff from Oxfam and the Foundation attended the events. They reviewed SCL’s journey since 2017. Then participants were trained in democratic governance and active citizenship. They discussed the importance of documentation like CNICs. Networking opportunities…

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Mein Rehbar Hoon

The Foundation produced and broadcast a series of eight radio programmes in collaboration with Pakistan Radio on: (a) women’s political participation, (b) voting rights, (c) CNIC, (d) economic opportunities, (e) local government, etc. The programmes featured distinguished speakers like Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, Chairperson, National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), and, Ms. Nighat Siddiqui, Additional Director General (Gender), Election Commission of Pakistan.

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Khuli Kutchery

The Foundation organized a khuli kutchery in Tehsil Municipal Hall Pabbi in District Nowshera in collaboration with the District Nazim’s office. The event was chaired by the District Nazim and was attended by 121 people, including 47 women. 140 resolutions were prepared for the khuli kutchery, of which about 60 were directly presented by applicants. Of these 32 related to drinking water, including demands for constructing hand pumps and repairing water supply. Calls to construct sewerage lines were also made. Citizens also demanded…

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Khuli Kutchery – Khwazakhela, Swat

The khuli kutchery was held in Model School, Khwazakhela in Swat. The event was jointly hosted by Tehsil Council-Khwazakhela, a Public Contact Committee (consisting of local CSO partners) formed for the khuli kutchery and the Foundation. 115 participants (including 20 women) attended the khuli kutchery, including public applicants, elected & non-elected LAs, PCC members and journalists. The Tehsil Nazim and other senior elected/non-elected duty bearers directly heard issues and needs of local people from nine VCs and issued directives to resolve these issues. 60 public…

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Team Foundation meet to reflect & move forward

Team Foundation reviewed the impact of its efforts & shaped future implementation strategies. Over three days, it took stock of its programmes implemented in 2018-19 and identified upcoming programme priorities. Using the framework of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency & sustainability each theme programme presented its experiences from1 May 2018–31 March 2019, effectively using photographs, animation and other material including a video. Under social accountability, careful selection of CSOs, iterative review & fine-tuning of module, consistent staff training,…

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Khuli Kutchery organised by the Foundation in collaboration with District Government Mardan & local CSOs

In collaboration with the District Nazim’s office, the Local Government Department and partner CSOs, the Foundation organized the first in a series of khuli kutcheries (townhall meetings) in Mardan under its Citizen Engagement for Responsive & Accountable Governance (Cerag) project funded by the EU. More than 100 people attended the event, including about 60 local people and CSO activists, 12 government officials and local councillors, 10 journalists and 10 CSO representatives from other parts of KP. Participating citizens discussed…

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National Women’s Day & Remembering Asma Jehangir

National Press Club - Islamabad The "gunahgaar" women & men who marched in Lahore on 12 February 1983 set the path for the outstanding achievements of the Women’s Action Forum. To commemorate this historic event, a conference was organized at National Press Club Islamabad by the Women Action Forum (WAF) & EVAWG. Mr. I.A. Rehman, Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, Ms. Tahira Abdullah, Ms. Bushra Gohar, Senator Sherry Rahman and Ms. Rashida Dohad recalled the trajectory of…

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Pakistan Scores 44 in Open Budget Index 2017

          Launched in 2006, the OBS is the world’s only independent, comparative assessment of the three pillars of public budget accountability: transparency, oversight and public participation. The sixth round of this biennial assessment, the 2017 survey evaluated 115 countries, including Pakistan. The OBS in Pakistan was completed by the Foundation, which has led it in the country since 2009. Drawing on internationally accepted criteria developed by multilateral organizations, the Open Budget…

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Local Government: A Consultation with Councillors , Jalal Baba Auditorium, Abbottabad

  More than 400 councillors (including about 70 women) from Abbottabad, Haripur & Mansehra discussed their first-hand engagement with the present LG in the province & recommended ways to strengthen it. This is the first in a series of consultations the Foundation will organise across KP. Final set of recommendations based on experiences of over 3,000 councillors will be conveyed to those shaping the new local government in KP and also Punjab.

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Peoples Assembly: Women’s Leadership in Politics & Public Life , Islamabad

  Awami National Party’s Senior Vice President, Ms. Bushra Gohar, said that the ECP must assert its role and authority. She commended the outgoing assembly for the passage of the Elections Act 2017. “This law will deter instances like the by-election of PK-95 in which not a single woman was allowed to vote,” she said. Ms. Aisha Syed of the Jamaat-e-Islami/MMA recommended transparent internal party procedures for nominating women on reserved seats. “Reservation of seats…

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Engaging 10,000 Young Voters Islamabad

      30 young women and men from Abbottabad, Mansehra & Haripur made plans to engage 10,000 other young voters. They were attending a training workshop run by the Foundation. The youth activists became more familiar with the importance of voting. Working in district groups, they identified priorities which the young want included in party manifestos.

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2018 Elections: Improved Media Reporting on WPP , National Press Club, Islamabad

      Hundreds of ideas for news stories around 6 themes on women’s participation in the 2018 elections were generated by about 50 journalists at a training organized by the Foundation under its She Can Lead project. Celebrated journalist/anchor Syed Talat Hussain led the training. Data on trends in women’s participation as voters, electoral contestants & legislators was reviewed. Recent legal & administrative affirmative measures were discussed, including reforms under the Elections Act 2017…

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More than 7,000 Women Registered as Voters Abbottabad & Haripur

    Round-the-clock, all-out efforts by the Foundation, NADRA & ECP helped 7,014 women in 50 very poor villages get their NIC & register as voters. NADRA officials say this is six times more than average numbers processed daily. The Foundation also identified 9,718 women who are among the 12.5 million women across Pakistan who do not have an NIC. The intensive six-week campaign was run with support from TDEA & UNDP.

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2018 Elections: the Foundation launches a campaign to assist more than 17,000 women in Abbottabad & Haripur to use their right to vote

    Celebrating the International Women’s Day, the Foundation launched a campaign to help more than 17,000 women in Abbottabad and Haripur to get their NICs and register as voters.  A training workshop was held in Abbottabad for 60 local volunteers inducted for the campaign. Speaking on the occasion, the Foundation’s Executive Director Ms. Rashida Dohad said: “we are committed to assisting women to play their due role in national politics. We will reach the…

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