Author Archive: Ishfaq Khalil

BREAD FOR SURVIVAL

BREAD FOR SURVIVAL

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An Overview of Livelihood Patterns and Related Gender Issues in PATA Community of Southern Punjab

AWAZ Foundation Pakistan: Center for Development Services (AWAZCDS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Multan, commenced a study to have a comprehensive overview of livelihood patterns and gender issues attribute to it among PATA communities of Southern Punjab. Before commencement of the study, the consultant along with a four-member AWAZ team has forged a strategy of RCs coupled with case study and Traverse Walk. However , information was obtained through a checklist on group basis from both males and females. The sample-based study was carried out with adults 18 years and above age including 50% women participants, only in 10 villages of four Tumans: Buzdar , Qaisrani, Khosa and Leghari located in Tehsil Tribal Area of DG Khan District. The study reveals that most of PATA population is consist of Baloch tribes, has an average household size of 09 persons with almost equal gender ratio. Primary level educational facilities are accessible to 50% villages only, and in 17% of the villages educational facilities are non existent. Only in 30% of the villages primary level educational facilities are accessible to females. Consequently, 85.3% women are illiterate, 13.2% have passed primary and only 1.5% women have passed their Grade-8 level education. Many male and female are unable to read even Quran.

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Expression of Interest | Deadline 16th & 18th June, 2017

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  1. CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: TRAINING CONSULTANTS

Awaz Foundation Pakistan: Centre for Development Services- is striving for the Socio-economic development and political empowerment of marginalized communities especially women and young people across Pakistan since 1995. AwazCDS-Pakistan follows rights based approaches for sustainable development, poverty alleviation and achieving SDGs. AwazCDS Pakistan is seeking for qualified training consultant to develop and implement two days training manuals on Reproductive health (RH) & Gender based violence (GBV) on each of two trainings (Basic & Advance) for Ujala project.

Background

Ujala is a two year long project and consists on following components:

  • Gender-based violence
  • Access to comprehensive reproductive health services
  • Access to Life Skills Based Education
  • Challenging stigma, discrimination, attitudes related to RH & GBV
  • To stop early age marriages for safe motherhood

 Description of engagement/ deliverables:

  1. Develop training manuals in each for basic & advance trainings. (2 separate manuals in English for basic and advance).
  2. Draft training program outline, agenda, training related materials/handouts, presentations.
  3. Conduct two-days (2) training, each in all 4 provincial headquarters.
  4. Submit a report on the outcome of the training.

The working language of the training will be Urdu & English. The two trainings will be organized on July & September, 2017. Refresher will be conducted in first quarter of 2018.

 First training: Basic training will be conducted at all 4 provincial headquarters with provincial & district partners.

Second training: Advance training will be conducted at all 4 provincial headquarters with provincial & district partners.

Refresher: It will be conducted at all 4 provincial headquarters with provincial & district partners.

 Duration of trainings:

Basic and advance trainings will be of 02 days each at 4 Provincial levels.

Refresher will be of 01 day at each provincial level.

Selection criteria:

The ideal candidates should have:

Master’s degree in relevant field, Minimum (8-10) years of professional experience in civil society development, strengthening the capacities of civil society organizations, developing and providing capacity building training programs in the field of SRHR, SGBV, non-discrimination, inclusion of ethnic minorities, gender equality, human rights and social inclusion.

Undertaking for availability of trainer for the above mentioned trainings is required.

Application process:

Interested candidates are requested to submit the following:

– Current CV; – Names and contacts of three (3) references, proposed net daily rate, Brief description of proposed methodology and training outline. 

Please submit the requested documents to: job portal of HRDN no later than Wednesday, June 16th, 2017.

 

2. CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: Consultant for Developing Communication & Media strategy

Awaz Foundation Pakistan: Centre for Development Services- is striving for the Socio-economic development and political empowerment of marginalized communities especially women and young people across Pakistan since 1995. AwazCDS-Pakistan follows rights based approaches for sustainable development, poverty alleviation and achieving SDGs. AwazCDS Pakistan is seeking for qualified training consultant to develop Communication & Media strategy to address reproductive health and gender Based Violence.

Background

Ujala is a two year long project and consists on following components:

  • Gender-based violence
  • Access to comprehensive reproductive health services
  • Access to Life Skills Based Education
  • Challenging stigma, discrimination, attitudes related to RH & GBV
  • To stop early age marriages for safe motherhood

 

We are focusing to cater all kind of media (print, social & electronic) and to all possible stakeholders, Government & influencers. Strategy should be developed till July 10th, 2017.

Selection criteria:

The ideal candidates should have:

Master’s degree in relevant field, Minimum (8-10) years of professional experience in communication sector,  developing strategies in the field of SRHR, SGBV, non-discrimination, gender equality, human rights and social inclusion.

Application process:

Interested candidates are requested to submit the following:

– Current CV; – Names and contacts of three (3) references, Proposed rate, Brief description of proposed methodology and idea of Communication & Media Strategy.

Please submit the requested documents to: job portal of HRDN no later than Wednesday, June 18th, 2017.

Where Pakistan Stands on SDGs 2018

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With the adoption of 2030 Agenda, on September 25th 2015 by the heads of states of 193 countries under the aegis of United Nation’s General Assembly (UNGA), attention turned to the national level, where our governments at federal and provincial levels, working with a range of stakeholders, and struggling to establish a framework for implementation that identifies a realistic set of locally appropriate targets and indicators. In this context, it is much appreciative that government has already commenced the process of implementation of SDGs by approving National Framework for SDGs targets and indicators, notifying Parliamentary Task Forces on SDGs to oversight the implementation of national priority framework, establishing SDGs Units at Planning Commission of Pakistan and at P & D Departments at Provincial headquarters. However, most of the civil society, academics, private sector, local governments and other related stakeholders were unaware of these efforts. AwazCDS/Pakistan Development Alliance has carried out a quick mapping/ assessment on the current status of SDGs implementation at national and provincial level that identifies the accomplishments, opportunities, challenges and gaps to date. In order to highlight and share the key findings of the assessment, a series of policy to action forums were organized at national and provincial levels. Besides the criticism, the report shares equally strong voices of approval for the SDGs framework. SDGs framework is now considered an effective lobbying tool as it allowed the civil society to have their voices heard on issues relevant to their socio-economic development and political empowerment. The report acknowledges that SDGs have been useful in sensitizing governments, providing a platform, opportunity of collaboration, identifying gaps in social development. However this report also highlights the general limitations and poor ownership of governments at provincial and district levels, little involvement of grassroots communities and limited ability of state and civil society institutions including NGOs/ INGOs, political parties and privates sectors for integration of SDGs into country specific action plans.

The report shares the diverse opinion of people and related stakeholders regarding the implementation of SDGs. Some views are much critical that includes the lack of ownership by the governments, inefficiencies and the dominance of non-democratic forces over strategic level decisions making negatively affected the implementation of SDGs agenda. Furthermore, unreliable data used as baselines weakened the legitimacy of the proposed framework and SDGs implementation process. The report also shares more philosophical nature of criticism of the people regarding the approach of the SDGs and termed them quite ambitious in nature. These critics argued that human development goals should have been determined in respect of basic inalienable human rights instead of current top-down development approach.

To conclude, report in hand portrays accumulated efforts of assessment and policy to action forums that sets the way forward for the consideration and follow up of all related legislatures, decision makers, stakeholders and above than all The People of Pakistan who are the real beneficiaries and custodian of commitments made under Agenda 2030 for social transformation and sustainable development.

We really look forward to your kind feedback and support on our efforts at zia@awazcds.org.pk

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BASELINE EVALUATION REPORT

BASELINE EVALUATION REPORT MFS II JOINT EVALUATIONS

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To achieve MGDs 3, 4, and 6, focusing on women and engaging men is essential. Early marriages and resultant pregnancies coupled with the low socio-economic status of women put severe pressure on Pakistan’s health system. This, in turn, serves as a primary impediment to achieving MDG 5. Despite an increase in the age of marriage, 40% of all women in Pakistan were still married before the age of 18 in 2007. By the age of 19, 30% of the females were either pregnant or already mothers.

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Governance

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Board of directors — AWAZ CDS
S No. Name Designation E Mail ID
       
1 Professor Dr. Nasira Jabeen Chairperson jnasira@yahoo.com
2 Dr. Alwin Vincent Murad Vice Chairperson dr_alwin@yahoo.com
3 Mohammad Zia Ur Rehman Secretary zia@awazcds.org.pk
4 Mr. Khalid Saeed Treasurer ksaeed1953@yahoo.com
5 Dr. Ali Azmat Abedi Member abedi321@gmail.com
6 Dr. Sarwat Sultan Member drsarwat@bzu.edu.pk/ sarwatsultan@hotmail.com
7 Mr. Babar Shah Khan Member cepids@hotmail.com
8 Ms. Rashida Qazi Member rashida_qazi@yahoo.com

 

AwazCDS-Pakistan Senior Management

  
Name Designation Qualifications Email  
Zia ur Rehman Founder & Chief Executive
AWAZ Foundation Pakistan		 Masters in Mathematics & Postgraduates Diploma in NGO Leadership & Management with a specialization in Strategic Planning Postgraduates Diploma in Social Enterprise Development with a specialization in Managing People’s Organizations zia@awazcds.org.pk   
Raja Shafqat Ali Manager Finance/Accounts & Operations  MBA Finance finance@awazcds.org.pk  
Huma Aziz Manager MEAL & HID Masters in (English Literature) huma.aziz@awazcds.org.pk  
Marium Amjad Khan Manager Program MPhil Applied Psychology maryam.amjad@awazcds.org.pk  

 

 

Workshop on achievement of MDGs

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Academicians’ role sought for awareness

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MDGs, post-2015 development framework
November 08, 2014
Islamabad – “About 420 days are left to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and it requires attention of all stakeholders to do the evaluation of our commitments in order to set right targets in post-2015 regime. The world has already started setting targets for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whereas Pakistan should contribute in planning stage to set realistic targets for future.”
It was resolved by the participants of the dialogue on “Pakistan MDGs status and Post-2015 Development Framework” here at National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR), Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU).
Dr Eatzaz Ahmad, acting vice-chancellor QAU, informed that civic engagement would be taught as compulsory subject at Quaid-i-Azam University. He also emphasised over rethinking and revision of curriculum, especially of Pakistan studies and Islamic studies, and inclusion of topics related to socio-economic development and women empowerment in Pakistan.
Dr Syed Tahir Hijazi, member governance planning commission, said that MDGs were directly related to common people of Pakistan. He underlined the importance of role of academicians and higher education institutions in creating awareness about MDGs and post-2015 development framework. He also assured the cooperation of planning commission in this regard.
Mohammad Zia Ur Rehman, convener of Pakistan Development Alliance and Regional Coordinator Global Call to Action Against Poverty, informed that Pakistan was far away from achieving 16 targets set in the year 2000 and to be realised in 2015, under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are a set of 8 goals adopted by 189 countries. “Pakistan is spending less than 2% of its GDP on realisation of MDGs whereas it requires spending more than 10% of its GDP for next ten years to achieve the target,” he added.
Qadeer Baig, country director Rutgers WFP, underlined the importance of collaborative efforts by civil society, academicians, politicians, policymakers in order to improve social indicators of the country. Dr Ejaz Hussain, assistant professor Iqra University Islamabad, was of the view that natural and manmade disasters, economic development, political and institutional landscape and social constraints were the key challenges in achieving MDGs.
He suggested that good governance, rule of law, peace, security, inclusive economic growth and involvement of stakeholders could be helpful in achieving MDGs.
SM Awan, officer in-charge NIHCR QAU, extended vote of thanks and demanded for inclusion of topics related to MDGs in curriculum at primary, secondary, elementary and higher education levels. A documentary on current status of MDGs was also shared with the participants.

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Evaluation Report 2008

Evaluation Report Awaz Foundation Pakistan: Centre for Development Services-2008

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Certification is based on an objective, professional and critical evaluation. It is aimed at enhancing an organisation’s credibility as a nonprofit organisation, increasing its capacity to access philanthropic assistance, helping in diversifying its resource base and facilitating in obtaining tax benefits from the Government of Pakistan (under section 2 (36) read with section 61 and clause 58 of the 2nd schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001). The profiles of certified organisations are included in the Directory of Certified NPOs, the first of its kind in Pakistan. The profiles (also placed at PCP web site) include a brief history of the organisation, major programme activities, achievements and all such information that projects the organisation as a credible and effective partner.

The certification process identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation within the parameters it is being assessed, emphasises institutionalisation of systems and processes, and allows policy inputs/ recommendations for further improvement in its internal governance, financial management and programme delivery structures.

The Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) evaluated Awaz Foundation Pakistan Centre for Development Services (AwazCDS) for certification against standardised parameters in Internal Governance, Financial Management and Programme Delivery as contained in the Certification Model[1]. The evaluation (comprising a detailed desk review of organisational documents, a visit to the organisation’s head office, to its field offices at Ali Pur and Vehari and Vaseeb Development Committee (VDC) Almadina in Basti Ghulam Muhammad) was conducted in August 2008.