OLIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN PAKISTAN
Copyrights reserved @amerrizwan
By. Amer Rizwan
The importance of pure, hygienic and nutritious edible oil for a healthy human life cannot be overestimated. In Pakistan despite ever-increasing demand for the edible or cooking oil and the yawning gap between the capacity of localized production and its demand, we have not been able to seriously focus on evolving an oil-producing strategy in the past. In the recent years, however, the Government has started encouraging and supporting the national production of edible oils such as canola, sunflower and soybean as well as exploring the possibility of sustainable production of other kinds of edible oils such as coconut, palm and Olive.
Olive is universally considered to be one of the most nutritious and wholesome sources of edible oil. Pakistan is one of those countries which are naturally endowed with vast forests of wild genre of olive, popularly known as Kau. Lack of awareness among the local populace and lesser government attention are primarily responsible for the increasing depletion in these olive forests mainly for fuel and other consumptive uses. Now courtesy the Government of Italy, an Italian variety of olive budding is being grafted in these remaining wild olive plants in NWFP, Baluchistan and Punjab provinces where the climate for the self-growth of olive is very congenial. Besides, siblings of the variety have also been cultivated in a great number in these areas. The actual national policy is to target the marginal land in remote hilly areas of the country, where no or few other crops may be cultivated, and generally considered as unproductive land. Soils are basically stony, infertile and are often placed on steep slopes. These are considered to be the most suitable conditions for the growth of Olive plants.
The project Promotion of Production and Commercialization of Olive Oil in Pakistan was launched in July 2007 courtesy the Italian Institute of Agronomy and its project counterpart Pakistan Oilseed Development Board. The latter is working under the administrative control of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.
Some of the initial targets of the project were the location of suitable areas for olive growing. One of the primary objectives of the programme is to create awareness among the local people to produce olive on their own as a cash crop.
In Tarnab farm near Peshawar, the plants are being given to the farmers hailing from the adjoining areas of Charsadda, Mardan, Takhtbhai, Swabi and Noshehra. Just view these grafted plants at the farm. They comprise all types of varieties. However, grafting, nourishing and looking after the plants need painstaking vigilance and technical expertise. At the farm, the farmers from other areas of the province get technical guidance as to how to go about the procedure of grafting.
Two significant projects in this regard are at Nikka Darra and Garam Thoon in Khanpur where at about 4 square kilometers area, four to five thousand such plants have been grown and developed. Grafting a plant is not a simple process; it needs deftness and not all the time it is braced with success. Some of the grafted plants have already started yielding fruit here. A single Olive tree yields about 20 to 40 kg of Olive fruit. Besides, using the Italian variety, Egyptian and Saudi Arabian varieties are also being grafted to get the positive results.
A continuous oil extraction unit is being used at Tarnab Farm Peshawar for demonstration and training purposes. The unit has been imported from Italy and it is meant to extract oil from the fruit. Fruit is put into the machine from an opening and after thoroughly cleaning it, the fruit is sent to the grinder where the edible oil is extracted. The liquid is passed through a final cleansing process and then the purified oil is seen oozing through a pipe to different containers. The farmers from other districts process their Olives and extract from them oil free of cost. This is mainly to encourage the farmers to grow and graft Olive plants. The machine has the capacity to process 500 kg of Olive per hour
Interview of Engineer
A recent study has revealed that almost as many as 800,000 hectares of land is suitable for this crop. It also recommends the cultivation of olive in better growing environments than those considered so far. This would also allow for high scheme plantations provided with irrigation systems and higher degree of mechanization.
Haripur Fruit Nursery Farm is yet another facility where Australian Olive plants are used for budding and grafting. The process has turned the local variant into an olive producing Olive plants.
One of the pressing imperative in this regard is to train the technicians at different levels and for the creation and improvement of the necessary infrastructures and facilities in support of this sector. Although the production of olive oil will mainly be marketed in Pakistan to satisfy the growing local demand for the product yet in the longer run its export to the other countries of the region can also be explored.
The locally produced olive oil would significantly help to improve the diet of the local people by providing them better quality nutritious oil especially compared with other kinds of fats being used currently. Moreover the introduction and commercialization of this crop in Pakistan would create more jobs for the local population, especially in areas in which farmers are facing difficulties in generating a reasonable income through traditional crops.
Posted by AMER RIZWAN at 3:01 AM
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (ERRA) Documentary Script Amer Rizwan
Copyrights reserved @ amerrizwan
Lofty green mountains, splashing waterfalls, meandering streams and towering trees in an idyllic landscape – Nature is at its best here; fully in tandem with the bloom of life. Life is in full action; excitement and optimism is reflected everywhere with a renewed sense of being and zest of life. The healthy environment, lovely fields along with smooth roads and exalted bridges add to joy, thrill and colours of life. The hustle and bustle of life in these areas, and the remarkable willingness and determination of the people of the areas to go to markets, their workplaces, educational institutions is worth seeing. No one could imagine this is the same area once devastated by the wrath of nature.
In sharp contrast to this, the situation prevailing just four years ago was simply horrendous; the areas could then best be described as a collective human sepulcher. Never before such a horrifying situation was witnessed by the hardworking people of the land. The slayer shiver, recorded 7.6 on the Richter Scale, did not spare anything in the affected areas ranging from houses and communication to health, education and agriculture. The mighty tremor wrought huge damage; 5808 education facilities, 750 governance buildings and over 400 water and sanitation schemes were destroyed. Over all nine districts of Azad Kashmir and NWFP with an inhospitable terrain, covering a 30,000 km area was destroyed. Most of these areas gave a deserted look with debris and ruins all around. The earthquake devoured 73,338 persons and severely injured 128,304 persons. The situation was aptly described by the then Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, “I am Prime Minister of a graveyard”
Beneath the wreckage and rubble, however, life was sprouting with a new zeal; the denouement bespoke of a new beginning of life; the dirge was fast converting into a song of life. Thanks to the diligence, persistence and dedication of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, the four major cities of Azad Kashmir and NWFP, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh and Balakot are being transformed into modern cities with beautiful and safe residential buildings, hospitals, educational institutions and road networks, and bridges.
Look at the District Development Complex with a beautiful Turkish style Mosque in its right and housing all government offices. Its establishment has improved public access to the government offices, enhanced inter-agency coordination and reduced communication costs creating an enabling environment for the communities as well as for the staff. These women development centres have already brought a considerable proportion of the women population of these areas to the mainstream of life. Happy faces, thrill and ecstasy reflect an overall change in every facet of life. Turning disaster into opportunity, ERRA has made this enormous transformation possible in a very short span of only four years.
There had been no institutional setup available for the response to the disasters like the October 8th 2005. ERRA was established under a notification dated 24th of October 2005 issued by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat as an autonomous organization in view of the expediency of the situation, to provide for the post-disaster damage assessment, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the earthquake-affected areas. ERRA immediately put in place a well-articulated relief, recovery, and reconstruction framework and divided the response into four well-defined phases; immediate, short-term, midterm and long term.
The turnaround is remarkable indeed. ERRA undertook to work in twelve different sectors unparallel in the area of post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation world over, including housing, urban development, education, health, livelihood, water and sanitation, environment, water and power, tourism etc.
Houses provide security to the inmates not only from the inclement weather but also from the more physical threats all around. House is the basic unit of an integrated social structure, a sine qua non for a peaceful, prosperous and forward-looking society. But October 2005 earthquake robbed the people of the affected areas from this facility.
Just behold these luminous houses with shiny roof tops and happy occupants in harmony with the beautiful nature presenting an almost dream-like situation. The owner-driven Rural Housing Program with assisted and inspected construction is ERRA’s Flagship program showing success rate of more than 90%. It has helped construction of more than 400,000 seismically safe houses for the earthquake-affected people. While the project is almost complete, it will leave about 700,000 trained human resource for seismically safe reconstruction.
ERRA is cognizant of the fact that the provision of clean water is one of the basic requirements of a self-sufficient house. Easy availability of clean water has been instrumental in better family health as well as reduction in women’s workload, besides preventing water-related diseases. Moreover, ERRA has also used the novel experience of Rain Water Harvesting as one of the best alternative and supplementary solution to mitigate water scarcity.
Scarcity usually hit hard the vulnerable segments of the society including women. Besides, introducing gender mainstreaming, ERRA has also coordinated the establishment of social safety networks that provide institutionalized protection facilitating their access to legal aid, medical services and livelihood opportunities. Such centres are being established in all the nine earthquake-affected districts. Community livelihood program that supports community level micro projects identified by the communities themselves, such as kitchen gardening, irrigation channels, provision of better quality of seeds etc. is yet another bold initiative taken by ERRA. The success of the initiative would go a long way in enabling the people of the earthquake areas to lead a self-sufficient life.
This provides an ideal environment for education and equally important is the body language. There is a greater desire for enlightenment on faces with lofty dreams in their eyes. The seismically safe educational buildings with trained teaching staff and modern day facilities are attracting high enrollment. ERRA implemented new techniques to fast track the pace of reconstruction and to bring back normalcy in the affected areas. Disability is no longer a disability for earthquake affected people who suffered injuries owing to this colossal tragedy. ERRA’s Medical rehabilitation program for disabled persons not only provides 8% quota for disabled persons to work and earn a respectable living, but the related centers provide best medical facilities to persons with disability, along with training community rehabilitation workers.
Bringing elected representatives on board, introducing the latest technologies, adopting a community-driven approach for reconstruction of schools, outsourcing designing of projects to meet timelines, third party material checking regime, smooth flow of funds to SERRA and PERRA, contactors facilitation centres coupled with a greater degree of transparency and media access are but some of the hallmarks of the new policy initiatives introduced by ERRA to further enhance reconstruction efforts. But mind it, ERRA is not just about brick and mortar, rather it aims at changing lives through interventions, partnerships and sharing knowledge. No doubt, ERRA has done wonders and set precedents for the world to follow.
No doubt, since its realization, ERRA has met unparalleled success but the progress made in its fourth year has outperformed the previous three years. Courtesy its hard-work, dedication and commitment, ERRA has won an enviable prestige with the latest steps like improvement in procurement and contract management, establishment of project implementation and coordination unit, transparency and flexibility in financial matters and granting greater autonomy to PERRA and SERRA. Not only are the efforts visible on ground but have attracted international appreciation also thus becoming one of the prides of the nation. And with integrity, accountability and transparency its guiding principles, ERRA is likely to be an example to be quoted in the field of post disaster management.
Lofty green mountains, splashing waterfalls, meandering streams and towering trees in an idyllic landscape – Nature is at its best here; fully in tandem with the bloom of life. Life is in full action; excitement and optimism is reflected everywhere with a renewed sense of being and zest of life. The healthy environment, lovely fields along with smooth roads and exalted bridges add to joy, thrill and colours of life. The hustle and bustle of life in these areas, and the remarkable willingness and determination of the people of the areas to go to markets, their workplaces, educational institutions is worth seeing. No one could imagine this is the same area once devastated by the wrath of nature.
In sharp contrast to this, the situation prevailing just four years ago was simply horrendous; the areas could then best be described as a collective human sepulcher. Never before such a horrifying situation was witnessed by the hardworking people of the land. The slayer shiver, recorded 7.6 on the Richter Scale, did not spare anything in the affected areas ranging from houses and communication to health, education and agriculture. The mighty tremor wrought huge damage; 5808 education facilities, 750 governance buildings and over 400 water and sanitation schemes were destroyed. Over all nine districts of Azad Kashmir and NWFP with an inhospitable terrain, covering a 30,000 km area was destroyed. Most of these areas gave a deserted look with debris and ruins all around. The earthquake devoured 73,338 persons and severely injured 128,304 persons. The situation was aptly described by the then Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, “I am Prime Minister of a graveyard”
Beneath the wreckage and rubble, however, life was sprouting with a new zeal; the denouement bespoke of a new beginning of life; the dirge was fast converting into a song of life. Thanks to the diligence, persistence and dedication of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, the four major cities of Azad Kashmir and NWFP, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh and Balakot are being transformed into modern cities with beautiful and safe residential buildings, hospitals, educational institutions and road networks, and bridges.
Look at the District Development Complex with a beautiful Turkish style Mosque in its right and housing all government offices. Its establishment has improved public access to the government offices, enhanced inter-agency coordination and reduced communication costs creating an enabling environment for the communities as well as for the staff. These women development centres have already brought a considerable proportion of the women population of these areas to the mainstream of life. Happy faces, thrill and ecstasy reflect an overall change in every facet of life. Turning disaster into opportunity, ERRA has made this enormous transformation possible in a very short span of only four years.
There had been no institutional setup available for the response to the disasters like the October 8th 2005. ERRA was established under a notification dated 24th of October 2005 issued by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat as an autonomous organization in view of the expediency of the situation, to provide for the post-disaster damage assessment, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the earthquake-affected areas. ERRA immediately put in place a well-articulated relief, recovery, and reconstruction framework and divided the response into four well-defined phases; immediate, short-term, midterm and long term.
The turnaround is remarkable indeed. ERRA undertook to work in twelve different sectors unparallel in the area of post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation world over, including housing, urban development, education, health, livelihood, water and sanitation, environment, water and power, tourism etc.
Houses provide security to the inmates not only from the inclement weather but also from the more physical threats all around. House is the basic unit of an integrated social structure, a sine qua non for a peaceful, prosperous and forward-looking society. But October 2005 earthquake robbed the people of the affected areas from this facility.
Just behold these luminous houses with shiny roof tops and happy occupants in harmony with the beautiful nature presenting an almost dream-like situation. The owner-driven Rural Housing Program with assisted and inspected construction is ERRA’s Flagship program showing success rate of more than 90%. It has helped construction of more than 400,000 seismically safe houses for the earthquake-affected people. While the project is almost complete, it will leave about 700,000 trained human resource for seismically safe reconstruction.
ERRA is cognizant of the fact that the provision of clean water is one of the basic requirements of a self-sufficient house. Easy availability of clean water has been instrumental in better family health as well as reduction in women’s workload, besides preventing water-related diseases. Moreover, ERRA has also used the novel experience of Rain Water Harvesting as one of the best alternative and supplementary solution to mitigate water scarcity.
Scarcity usually hit hard the vulnerable segments of the society including women. Besides, introducing gender mainstreaming, ERRA has also coordinated the establishment of social safety networks that provide institutionalized protection facilitating their access to legal aid, medical services and livelihood opportunities. Such centres are being established in all the nine earthquake-affected districts. Community livelihood program that supports community level micro projects identified by the communities themselves, such as kitchen gardening, irrigation channels, provision of better quality of seeds etc. is yet another bold initiative taken by ERRA. The success of the initiative would go a long way in enabling the people of the earthquake areas to lead a self-sufficient life.
This provides an ideal environment for education and equally important is the body language. There is a greater desire for enlightenment on faces with lofty dreams in their eyes. The seismically safe educational buildings with trained teaching staff and modern day facilities are attracting high enrollment. ERRA implemented new techniques to fast track the pace of reconstruction and to bring back normalcy in the affected areas. Disability is no longer a disability for earthquake affected people who suffered injuries owing to this colossal tragedy. ERRA’s Medical rehabilitation program for disabled persons not only provides 8% quota for disabled persons to work and earn a respectable living, but the related centers provide best medical facilities to persons with disability, along with training community rehabilitation workers.
Bringing elected representatives on board, introducing the latest technologies, adopting a community-driven approach for reconstruction of schools, outsourcing designing of projects to meet timelines, third party material checking regime, smooth flow of funds to SERRA and PERRA, contactors facilitation centres coupled with a greater degree of transparency and media access are but some of the hallmarks of the new policy initiatives introduced by ERRA to further enhance reconstruction efforts. But mind it, ERRA is not just about brick and mortar, rather it aims at changing lives through interventions, partnerships and sharing knowledge. No doubt, ERRA has done wonders and set precedents for the world to follow.
No doubt, since its realization, ERRA has met unparalleled success but the progress made in its fourth year has outperformed the previous three years. Courtesy its hard-work, dedication and commitment, ERRA has won an enviable prestige with the latest steps like improvement in procurement and contract management, establishment of project implementation and coordination unit, transparency and flexibility in financial matters and granting greater autonomy to PERRA and SERRA. Not only are the efforts visible on ground but have attracted international appreciation also thus becoming one of the prides of the nation. And with integrity, accountability and transparency its guiding principles, ERRA is likely to be an example to be quoted in the field of post disaster management.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Documentary Script for PPAF Milk Project by Amer Rizwan copyrigts @ Amer Rizwan
Documentary Script for PPAF Milk Project by Amer Rizwan copyrigts @ Amer Rizwan
Poverty is a condition characterized by deprivation of basic human needs including food, drinking water, health, shelter and education. It compels the less gifted members of a society to lead substandard, and in some cases subhuman life and has thereby debilitating effects on people's lives. Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) is the lead institution for poverty-focused interventions in Pakistan. It strives to bring about a more harmonious and cohesive social order based on the time-honored principles of human dignity and equality of opportunity. PPAF endeavours to achieve its target goals through wholesaling funds and civil society organizations for provision of financial and non-financial services at the grassroots throughout the country.
All PPAF developmental initiatives are conceived and conceptualized within a community-led, demand-driven framework. Set up as a fully autonomous private sector institution under section 42 of the Companies Act of 1982, PPAF enjoys facilitation and support from the Government of Pakistan, the World Bank and international donors.
PPAF is cognizant of the fact that children are the future of any nation and working for their health, welfare and well-being is one of the cornerstones of any national strategy. Milk being the most nutritious food staple must be accessible to children at affordable price. In children, in particular, the quantum of milk in-take is directly proportional to their proper mental and physical growth, and strong muscles. However most of the people living in the developing South, including Pakistan, are unable to take the sufficient in-take of this very essential ingredient of human food. The resulting malnutrition takes a toll on the performance and output of the children in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), being mindful of the situation, envisioned a novel idea of linking the school dropouts among the children to the phenomenon of malnutrition in Pakistan. It has already launched, in collaboration with Tetra Pak, National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) and other Partner Organizations, a project to develop and implement a school milk program. The primary focus of the program is to make available milk to school children in rural and peri-urban areas of the country either free-of-cost or at subsidized rates.
As a precursor to the full-scale program, PPAF launched a Rs. 22 million pilot project of School Milk Program under which schoolchildren were provided milk on daily basis in 50 schools in District Rahim Yar Khan. The basic objective is to feed milk to primary schoolchildren in Union Council Rasoolpur, Sadiqabad, District Rahim Yar Khan having a total enrolment of over 5,000 students. The six-month pilot project was launched in the first week of 2010 by PPAF in collaboration with National Rural Support Programme (NRSP). School Milk Program aims at encouraging the school going children and helps in raising their health and education standards.
Sheikh Zayed Medical College Rahim Yar Khan has been mobilized to manage a baseline study from the community health unit. With proper parental consent, the subject students were subjected to a medical examination courtesy Agha Khan hospital that included blood test, weight, height, BMI and physical and eye examination. The sample schools were one of the least equipped in terms of buildings, furniture, teachers and teaching aides. They were the ones which had little or none facilities at all. Ranging from the very structure of the school buildings to the worn furniture and inadequacy of the school staff, almost everything spoke volumes as to the low attendance and high dropouts in these schools. On the top of it, the students were rather physically weak suffering from skin and other diseases owing to the lack of calcium in their diet, and malnutrition which had an invariable bearing on their mental output. All these factors came together to paint a very grim picture of the situation. To begin with, PPAF joined hands with its other partner organizations, including NRSP to provide younger, more ambitious and energetic teachers to these schools. The new teachers worked very assiduously along with the regular teaching staff. All these organizations also made concerted efforts to repair and renovate the school buildings in order to make them an attractive place for the students to visit. Their collective effort did wonders.
Funds for the school milk program have been provided by PPAF from its own resources. Partner Organizations are required to ensure greater participation and motivation on the part of the targeted communities. This also includes the correct handling of milk cartons and the registration of all necessary data and information associated with the program. Besides, PPAF encourages its partner organizations to incorporate a community monitoring component into this methodology.
As part of this methodology, a pre-testing of the various flavours of milk to be distributed was carried out as part of community sensitization. 220 ml of flavoured milk in Tetra Brik Ascetic packaging was being distributed every school day in the targeted area. The particular flavour of the milk to be taken was left to the individual student.
Jamaldin Wali Sugar Mills is one of the local partners in the noble venture, not only by donating its warehouse space for the programme, but also by providing its vehicles for the carriage of milk to the target schools. The dairy supplier i.e. Tetra Pack managed the supply on a two-monthly basis to the warehouse, and school distribution was managed by the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) courtesy the transportation facilities made available by Jamaldin Wali Sugar Mills.
To ensure transparency and efficacy of the project, a proper record of the whole exercise both at the warehouse as well as at the school level was properly maintained by the monitoring staff.
Schools and partner organizations were responsible for the care and handling, oversight, registration and distribution of cartons, consumption of the milk and the collection & recycling of empty milk packs. PPAF ensured that each targeted school appoints a ‘School Focal Person’ who was to oversee the effective implementation of the Milk programme at the respective school’s end. Besides, Joint Monitoring Committees comprising of representatives of PPAF, partner organizations, Corporate Sector and beneficiary schools, were established to oversee the effective implementation of the project.
The activity was repeated at the end of the pilot project with the sample of the same students to determine the impact of the activity and the results show a stunning success. The successful implementation of the project ensued various health and nutrition-related benefits for the school children, nay for the entire society. Not only the students performed well thanks to their improved health, but also the attendance rates increased tremendously; dropouts were brought to zero. Owing to the commitment of the PPAF and the partner organizations and the motivation inspired in them by the new teachers, even students from the neighbouring schools started migrating to the sample schools situated in the Union Council Rasoolpur. IQ level of students witnessed an observable improvement.
Establishment of Counseling Committees comprising of the members from the community and those from the partner organizations was yet another great leap forward. Whereas PPAF and Partner Organizations provided the necessary supply and funding necessary for carrying out the project, the Local Counseling Committee made demands to that effect. On the whole both community and the service providers had to go hand in hand to make the project a great success. During the sessions of the community, the local people would apprise the partner organizations about their requirements and inputs about the effects of the project. Setting up of these counseling committees would go a long way, not only in effecting a sense of ownership among the community members, but also enabling PPAF and its partner organizations to implement the project more scientifically and effectively.
A noble drive indeed – but to ensure the sustainability of the program and effect a greater responsibility and accountability among the parents, they are to be convinced to make a token contribution for the purchase of milk for their children down the road.
The planned full scale milk programme is a gigantic task ahead for PPAF. However, it is determined to be equal to the task. It had planned to work restlessly for generating financial support from world charities, corporate sector and the government. Tetra Pak would continue providing special assistance in the implementation of this project. The execution of this program will go a long way in making Pakistani nation, healthier, wealthier and stronger, giving it resilience to face the challenges unleashed by the modern age with a new resolve and greater strength.
copyrigts @ Amer Rizwan
Poverty is a condition characterized by deprivation of basic human needs including food, drinking water, health, shelter and education. It compels the less gifted members of a society to lead substandard, and in some cases subhuman life and has thereby debilitating effects on people's lives. Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) is the lead institution for poverty-focused interventions in Pakistan. It strives to bring about a more harmonious and cohesive social order based on the time-honored principles of human dignity and equality of opportunity. PPAF endeavours to achieve its target goals through wholesaling funds and civil society organizations for provision of financial and non-financial services at the grassroots throughout the country.
All PPAF developmental initiatives are conceived and conceptualized within a community-led, demand-driven framework. Set up as a fully autonomous private sector institution under section 42 of the Companies Act of 1982, PPAF enjoys facilitation and support from the Government of Pakistan, the World Bank and international donors.
PPAF is cognizant of the fact that children are the future of any nation and working for their health, welfare and well-being is one of the cornerstones of any national strategy. Milk being the most nutritious food staple must be accessible to children at affordable price. In children, in particular, the quantum of milk in-take is directly proportional to their proper mental and physical growth, and strong muscles. However most of the people living in the developing South, including Pakistan, are unable to take the sufficient in-take of this very essential ingredient of human food. The resulting malnutrition takes a toll on the performance and output of the children in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), being mindful of the situation, envisioned a novel idea of linking the school dropouts among the children to the phenomenon of malnutrition in Pakistan. It has already launched, in collaboration with Tetra Pak, National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) and other Partner Organizations, a project to develop and implement a school milk program. The primary focus of the program is to make available milk to school children in rural and peri-urban areas of the country either free-of-cost or at subsidized rates.
As a precursor to the full-scale program, PPAF launched a Rs. 22 million pilot project of School Milk Program under which schoolchildren were provided milk on daily basis in 50 schools in District Rahim Yar Khan. The basic objective is to feed milk to primary schoolchildren in Union Council Rasoolpur, Sadiqabad, District Rahim Yar Khan having a total enrolment of over 5,000 students. The six-month pilot project was launched in the first week of 2010 by PPAF in collaboration with National Rural Support Programme (NRSP). School Milk Program aims at encouraging the school going children and helps in raising their health and education standards.
Sheikh Zayed Medical College Rahim Yar Khan has been mobilized to manage a baseline study from the community health unit. With proper parental consent, the subject students were subjected to a medical examination courtesy Agha Khan hospital that included blood test, weight, height, BMI and physical and eye examination. The sample schools were one of the least equipped in terms of buildings, furniture, teachers and teaching aides. They were the ones which had little or none facilities at all. Ranging from the very structure of the school buildings to the worn furniture and inadequacy of the school staff, almost everything spoke volumes as to the low attendance and high dropouts in these schools. On the top of it, the students were rather physically weak suffering from skin and other diseases owing to the lack of calcium in their diet, and malnutrition which had an invariable bearing on their mental output. All these factors came together to paint a very grim picture of the situation. To begin with, PPAF joined hands with its other partner organizations, including NRSP to provide younger, more ambitious and energetic teachers to these schools. The new teachers worked very assiduously along with the regular teaching staff. All these organizations also made concerted efforts to repair and renovate the school buildings in order to make them an attractive place for the students to visit. Their collective effort did wonders.
Funds for the school milk program have been provided by PPAF from its own resources. Partner Organizations are required to ensure greater participation and motivation on the part of the targeted communities. This also includes the correct handling of milk cartons and the registration of all necessary data and information associated with the program. Besides, PPAF encourages its partner organizations to incorporate a community monitoring component into this methodology.
As part of this methodology, a pre-testing of the various flavours of milk to be distributed was carried out as part of community sensitization. 220 ml of flavoured milk in Tetra Brik Ascetic packaging was being distributed every school day in the targeted area. The particular flavour of the milk to be taken was left to the individual student.
Jamaldin Wali Sugar Mills is one of the local partners in the noble venture, not only by donating its warehouse space for the programme, but also by providing its vehicles for the carriage of milk to the target schools. The dairy supplier i.e. Tetra Pack managed the supply on a two-monthly basis to the warehouse, and school distribution was managed by the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) courtesy the transportation facilities made available by Jamaldin Wali Sugar Mills.
To ensure transparency and efficacy of the project, a proper record of the whole exercise both at the warehouse as well as at the school level was properly maintained by the monitoring staff.
Schools and partner organizations were responsible for the care and handling, oversight, registration and distribution of cartons, consumption of the milk and the collection & recycling of empty milk packs. PPAF ensured that each targeted school appoints a ‘School Focal Person’ who was to oversee the effective implementation of the Milk programme at the respective school’s end. Besides, Joint Monitoring Committees comprising of representatives of PPAF, partner organizations, Corporate Sector and beneficiary schools, were established to oversee the effective implementation of the project.
The activity was repeated at the end of the pilot project with the sample of the same students to determine the impact of the activity and the results show a stunning success. The successful implementation of the project ensued various health and nutrition-related benefits for the school children, nay for the entire society. Not only the students performed well thanks to their improved health, but also the attendance rates increased tremendously; dropouts were brought to zero. Owing to the commitment of the PPAF and the partner organizations and the motivation inspired in them by the new teachers, even students from the neighbouring schools started migrating to the sample schools situated in the Union Council Rasoolpur. IQ level of students witnessed an observable improvement.
Establishment of Counseling Committees comprising of the members from the community and those from the partner organizations was yet another great leap forward. Whereas PPAF and Partner Organizations provided the necessary supply and funding necessary for carrying out the project, the Local Counseling Committee made demands to that effect. On the whole both community and the service providers had to go hand in hand to make the project a great success. During the sessions of the community, the local people would apprise the partner organizations about their requirements and inputs about the effects of the project. Setting up of these counseling committees would go a long way, not only in effecting a sense of ownership among the community members, but also enabling PPAF and its partner organizations to implement the project more scientifically and effectively.
A noble drive indeed – but to ensure the sustainability of the program and effect a greater responsibility and accountability among the parents, they are to be convinced to make a token contribution for the purchase of milk for their children down the road.
The planned full scale milk programme is a gigantic task ahead for PPAF. However, it is determined to be equal to the task. It had planned to work restlessly for generating financial support from world charities, corporate sector and the government. Tetra Pak would continue providing special assistance in the implementation of this project. The execution of this program will go a long way in making Pakistani nation, healthier, wealthier and stronger, giving it resilience to face the challenges unleashed by the modern age with a new resolve and greater strength.
copyrigts @ Amer Rizwan
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights & HIV
Script. coprights reserved @ amerrizwan
HIV and AIDS … the mere mention of the disease gets mixed reactions from literate and illiterate alike. Deep rooted social attitudes and stereotyping has made discussing AIDS, a taboo in Pakistan. Women, whether they are living in urban or rural areas, face one similar problem and that is of discussing their sexual health problems with their spouse or in-laws. Discussing family planning and safe sex is, most often, met with horrified glares. After getting married, women, whether they belong to any social strata, are expected to give birth to children one after another, with the physical pain that a woman has to endure while giving birth being ignored.
Only 21% of the women are educated in Pakistan and interestingly most of the programs that have been launched keeping in mind the sexual health problems of women have been successful in persuading them to use contraceptives but still the use of it is rare. The reason is simple that Pakistan is basically a patriarchal society where most of the decisions are taken by men. And due to their own lack of knowledge and dogmatic views on the subject, they don’t allow their women to use contraceptives.
Church World Service- Pakistan/Afghanistan, embarked as implementing partner for this challenging project under the DSW EuroLeverage Project. CWS-P/A is organizing HIV sessions in different parts of Pakistan to raise awareness among women regarding sexual and reproductive health rights.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) including HIV is an increasing problem in Pakistan as there is a lack of sexual health information among adults. Women in Pakistan are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because, married or not, they are often not in a position to easily negotiate the use of contraceptives to their mates or partners. And most importantly most of them live in poor economic conditions with no health care centers in sight.
Health experts estimate that there are over 85,000 HIV- positive people in Pakistan and about 50% of them are in the province of Sindh. According to UNAIDS almost 40% of new HIV cases occur among women. Accurate number on the women infected with HIV in Pakistan is not available.
[A story of a woman working in Mansehra as RHR trainer] [I will email you story by tomorrow]
Rural women are the badly affected, as they are unable to confide their problems to anyone leave alone discussing their sexual issues. The problems pertaining to sexual and reproductive health of a rural woman are not as easy to comprehend as it is filled with complexities which needs to be understood by keeping in mind their role and status in their families.
It won’t come as a surprise that only 45% of our population has limited access to health care centers and majority of them have to go through severe health complications due to lack of proper information on health related issues, which results in death of innocent people most of the times.
Quacks are most often the easiest, and by far the cheapest help, people belonging to the lower class can think of when the situation for them gets unbearable. Most of the quacks can be found sitting at road sides and those that have progressed or have made big money out of fooling people have opened their clinics to legalize this illegal trade.
Women belonging to the lower socio-economic class have no access to obstetric and health care information and on top of that they are married at an early age which adds to the problem rather than solving it.
The most innovative quality of this project has been the Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan staff’s way of conducting the HIV sessions and the active participation of women form different walks of life.
To counter such implications many organizations are working day and night to provide relief to the poor and uninformed are alike but Church World Service- Pakistan/ Afghanistan’s aims to provide knowledge to a mass audience regarding their reproductive health issues, with measures to prevent them from HIV/AIDS and most importantly to make people, especially men, sensitive in discussing the health and sexual issues with their spouse is distinctive, innovative and result oriented.
[CLOSING]
[END]
HIV and AIDS … the mere mention of the disease gets mixed reactions from literate and illiterate alike. Deep rooted social attitudes and stereotyping has made discussing AIDS, a taboo in Pakistan. Women, whether they are living in urban or rural areas, face one similar problem and that is of discussing their sexual health problems with their spouse or in-laws. Discussing family planning and safe sex is, most often, met with horrified glares. After getting married, women, whether they belong to any social strata, are expected to give birth to children one after another, with the physical pain that a woman has to endure while giving birth being ignored.
Only 21% of the women are educated in Pakistan and interestingly most of the programs that have been launched keeping in mind the sexual health problems of women have been successful in persuading them to use contraceptives but still the use of it is rare. The reason is simple that Pakistan is basically a patriarchal society where most of the decisions are taken by men. And due to their own lack of knowledge and dogmatic views on the subject, they don’t allow their women to use contraceptives.
Church World Service- Pakistan/Afghanistan, embarked as implementing partner for this challenging project under the DSW EuroLeverage Project. CWS-P/A is organizing HIV sessions in different parts of Pakistan to raise awareness among women regarding sexual and reproductive health rights.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) including HIV is an increasing problem in Pakistan as there is a lack of sexual health information among adults. Women in Pakistan are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because, married or not, they are often not in a position to easily negotiate the use of contraceptives to their mates or partners. And most importantly most of them live in poor economic conditions with no health care centers in sight.
Health experts estimate that there are over 85,000 HIV- positive people in Pakistan and about 50% of them are in the province of Sindh. According to UNAIDS almost 40% of new HIV cases occur among women. Accurate number on the women infected with HIV in Pakistan is not available.
[A story of a woman working in Mansehra as RHR trainer] [I will email you story by tomorrow]
Rural women are the badly affected, as they are unable to confide their problems to anyone leave alone discussing their sexual issues. The problems pertaining to sexual and reproductive health of a rural woman are not as easy to comprehend as it is filled with complexities which needs to be understood by keeping in mind their role and status in their families.
It won’t come as a surprise that only 45% of our population has limited access to health care centers and majority of them have to go through severe health complications due to lack of proper information on health related issues, which results in death of innocent people most of the times.
Quacks are most often the easiest, and by far the cheapest help, people belonging to the lower class can think of when the situation for them gets unbearable. Most of the quacks can be found sitting at road sides and those that have progressed or have made big money out of fooling people have opened their clinics to legalize this illegal trade.
Women belonging to the lower socio-economic class have no access to obstetric and health care information and on top of that they are married at an early age which adds to the problem rather than solving it.
The most innovative quality of this project has been the Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan staff’s way of conducting the HIV sessions and the active participation of women form different walks of life.
To counter such implications many organizations are working day and night to provide relief to the poor and uninformed are alike but Church World Service- Pakistan/ Afghanistan’s aims to provide knowledge to a mass audience regarding their reproductive health issues, with measures to prevent them from HIV/AIDS and most importantly to make people, especially men, sensitive in discussing the health and sexual issues with their spouse is distinctive, innovative and result oriented.
[CLOSING]
[END]
Monday, November 9, 2009
Group Photo in the Foreign Office Lobby
A Group Picture with foreign office officers and media-persons in the capacity of Assistant Director (Research) in the PP Wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Islamabad. Pakistan.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
LEST WE FORGET
All these fellow participants belonging to different countries successfully completed a course comprising modules on ‘Human Rights’ in Foreign Service Academy Islamabad Pakistan conducted by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva. (Switzerland) –February-March, 2005.
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