Collaboration between Government and Civil Society Organisations Pakistan

Collaboration between Government
and Civil Society Organisations
A Report by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy
Pakistan
Centre for
Philanthropy
Collaboration between Government
and Civil Society Organisations
A Report by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy
The Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) acknowledges financial support for this report
from the Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan) through the Civil Society Programme of the Aga
Khan Development Network (AKDN). PCP is an implementing partner organization for this
activity.
Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the official views of His
Highness the Aga Khan, the Aga Khan Development Network or any of its related agencies or
institutions C
Any reproduction of this report without prior permission of PCP and AKF (P) is discouraged.
The Aga Khan
Foundation (Pakistan)
The Pakistan Centre
for Philanthropy
Printed by xxxxx Islamabad
Cover and design, copy-editing, desktop composition and production management: Asad Zia Iqbal and
Mohammad Faisal Rana, Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, Islamabad
Published in May 2007
Preface
Ranked 134 out of 177 countries on
the Human Development Index (HDI),
Pakistan's social indicators remain as
pitiful as ever says UNDP's Human
Development Report 2006. According
to the UN Human Development Report
of 2004, a child born in Bangladesh,
India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and
other South Asian countries has a better
chance of enjoying a good standard of
living in terms of human development
than the average child in Pakistan. The
report categorizes Pakistan as the “worst
performer in South Asia” in terms of
human development.
Although the primary responsibility of
investment and management of
sustainable development lies with the
State, it is acknowledged that
government with its limited resources
alone cannot resolve the myriad social
and economic problems of Pakistan's
burgeoning population. The question
arises that if not the Government then
what other alternatives are available to
achieve sustainable development?
Elsewhere in the world the focus seems
to be on creating productive and viable
linkages with key stakeholders such as
the private sector and the civil society to
ensure the attainment of development
goals.
A partnership approach increasingly
adopted in many countries advocates
collaboration between the government,
the private and the civil society sector
for sustainable development. These
three key stakeholders in development
capitalize on their unique strengths in
responding to development issues. No
Government or Civil Society
Organization (CSO) has the means or
the resources to go the distance alone.
Collaborations require working with
and harnessing the resources of the
entire community in meeting the needs
of the vulnerable population.
Our social interface too has
experienced these paradigmatic
changes; an increasing number of
coalitions are being formed amongst
the public, private and civil society
sector to tackle the development crisis.
Being at the crossroads of a new and
challenging social paradigm, a need
was felt to delve into the dynamics of a
successful collaboration. The Aga Khan
Development Network (AKDN) in
consonance with its development
philosophy has started a new
programme that would enhance the
competencies of the civil society sector.
This exploratory research entails a
focused study of some successful
examples of existing Government-CSO
Collaboration and concurrently
attempts to identify what translates into
a successful collaboration.
In 1998, the AKDN commissioned
studies on 'indigenous philanthropy' in
Preface
I
Pakistan to advance the idea of selfreliance and reduce dependency on
foreign aid. The design required a
strengthened civil society supported by
an enabling environment working for
public benefit. This 'Initiative on
Indigenous Philanthropy' led to the
establishment of Pakistan Centre for
Philanthropy (PCP) in 2001. Since
inception PCP has been working to set
the state and civil society, together, on
the path towards a facilitative policy,
legal and fiscal environment for citizen
organizations in Pakistan. PCP's
competence, capacity and relevant
experience and engagement with civil
society manifested through its
programmes led to the AKDN-PCP
joint effort to undertake this baseline
exploratory study.
This study explores successful
collaborations between the
Government and CSOs across the
country by identifying concrete success
parameters. PCP documents this
researched information in the form of
case studies, highlighting the good and
mutually rewarding collaborations and
their advantages. Lastly the study also
attempts to define the obligations of
Government as well as CSOs and the
lack of effective mechanisms which
encumber the development process.
This study, being exploratory rather
than evaluative, sets the context and
opens up the door to further debate
and research to build upon the idea of
fostering strong and effective
collaboration between the government
and civil society.
The PCP Board hopes that this report
will prove to be an initial step in
fostering an environment of trust and
mutual understanding between the
Government and CSOs. The fruition of
these efforts would be strong and
effective coalitions between the
Government and CSOs necessary for
equitable growth and development
ultimately leading to improvement of
the quality of life of the least fortunate.
Acknowledgements
Symphony is created when all the notes
are in sync with each other; similarly a
valuable piece of research is the fruition
of many minds working in symmetry.
This report on “Government - CSO
Collaboration” will be a catalyst in
redefining the existing nature of
engagement between the Government
and CSOs.
support of the Manager Finance &
Administration, Syed Mohammad
Ahmad and Finance & Administration
Officer, Rashid Rafiq whose efficiency in
arranging the logistics was crucial to the
smooth travelling of the teams across
the country. A note of thanks to Aleeza
Akbar, Faisal Rana and Asad Zia for the
layout and design of the document.
First and foremost PCP acknowledges
the financial support provided for this
study by the Aga Khan Foundation
(Pakistan) through the Civil Society
Programme (CSP) of the Aga Khan
Development Network (AKDN). A word
of acknowledgement for Mr. Richard
Holloway, Programme Director CSP,
AFK (Geneva) and Mr. Gul Najam
Jamy, Programme Officer CSP, AKF (P)
for their valuable advice and
continuous support.
A special word of appreciation and
thanks to Senior Programme Manager,
Eazaz A. Dar for diligently leading the
team, providing invaluable guidance in
conceptualizing the report frame work
and in punctilious review and editing of
the report.
I would like to acknowledge and
appreciate the untiring and committed
efforts of our staff whose dedicated and
painstaking work made this report
possible; principal contribution of
Program Officers Ahmad Naqvi, Rafia
Rauf and Junior Programme Officer
Sara Haq for careful compilation and
analysis of the report. The
professionalism and the dedication of
the entire team in meticulously
designing and executing the project
deserve recognition: Asad Zia, Azhar
Mehmood and Faisal Rana for their
efforts in collecting data from both the
Government and the NGOs.
Recognition is due to the backstopping
We are greatly indebted to the NGOs
and Government officials for their
prompt response in providing us with
relevant data without which the
formulation and culmination of this
report would have not been possible.
Finally, a word of gratitude for
Chairman Dr. Shams Kassim-Lakha for
his sustained guidance and
encouragement in all aspects of this
daunting task. His and Board of
Directors support has been a source of
great inspiration for us to continue our
efforts in broadening the knowledge
base through research.
Shahnaz Wazir Ali
Executive Director
Acknowldgements
III
Executive Summary
Pakistan's diverse and pluralistic civil
society sector is a major player in the
development of the nation. The focus
of the present study was on identifying
mutually rewarding collaborations
between government and civil society.
To bring objectivity and evidence to the
findings the study starts with an
examination of the broader civil society
canvas and specifies it with examples
of collaborations between government
and different types of civil society
organisations operating in the country.
The analysis is based on the historical
and operational dimensions of
collaboration of 19 CSOs selected
from across the country. The data
collected has been compiled in the
form of this report i.e. a booklet of
Case Studies, which will be
disseminated in a national workshop.
The first of its kind study, it has
produced valuable lessons, which will
be shared in the national workshop
with stakeholders. We hope that the
national workshop will serve as a
platform for generating further
discussion about the nature and the
types of existing CSO and government
collaboration and to find ways and
means of fostering stronger and
effective partnerships.
The study can be divided in three parts
i.e. the introduction, the case studies
and findings/conclusion.
The first chapter gives an insight into
the why, what and how of
collaboration. After a thorough
discussion on the global dynamics of
collaboration, the debate then moves
onto the civil society scenario in
Pakistan encompassing the typical
NGOs and the non-traditional civil
society sector. A major volume of the
report reflects on the evolution of civil
society in Pakistan and how with the
passage of time the traditional
acrimonious relationship of the state
with civil society has given way to
constructive engagement. This chapter
also includes the methodology and the
constraints of the research.
The chapter concludes that in Pakistan
synergistic and constructive
engagement of CSOs with government
is still in its infancy, and most of these
engagements are associated with
service delivery interventions in areas
such as health, education, poverty
reduction and community
development. Concurrently research on
the broader civil society sector revealed
that most partnerships between
government and CSOs fall in the
classic consultative or service delivery
modes of engagements. Mutually
rewarding relationships remain few and
sporadic and have not contributed
substantially towards building strong
models for further replication. Most of
the symbiotic engagements are thus
found in the typical development
organizations i.e. NGOs a subset of
CSOs.
Not necessarily representative, the
second chapter is a catalogue of case
studies of NPOs working in diverse
sectors across the country. The
countrywide selection of NPOs was
done firstly to ensure that the data was
valid and reliable. Secondly a larger
and more diverse population sample
increases the universality of the
findings. Three CSOs each from
Balochistan and Punjab province, two
CSOs from NWFP and four from Sindh
province were selected and analyzed.
These 19 case studies compiled in the
form of a booklet will be translated in
Urdu language for the benefit of all the
stakeholders. Most of these CSOs work
in the traditional areas of health,
education, poverty reduction and
community development.
The concluding chapter draws out
major trends and lessons from this
study about the dynamics of
Government and CSO collaboration.
The terms of the study ask for 'research
and documentation of examples of
good and mutually rewarding
government-CSO collaboration in
development in Pakistan' with the
objective of findinf ways and means to
foster stronger and more effective
collaborations. Major highlights of
some overarching lessons that
emerged from this study are:
8
8
8
8
8 In Pakistan's development
scenario, one of the most often
highlighted chasms is the one that
exists between government and the
civil society sector. However, the
government has now come to the
realization that only by
collaborating with civil society can
the country's gigantic social
concerns be effectively addressed
and its development objectives
adequately met. Experience of
8
successful public-private
partnerships and collaborations in
social development initiatives in
other countries has also played a
part in encouraging governmentCSO collaboration in Pakistan and
manifesting it as a positive and
tangible reality.
Initial survey of government CSO
collaboration began with a bigger
canvas keeping in view the
diversity of CSOs for identifying
cross sector collaborations. The
survey exercise did not yield
encouraging results as the overall
response rate to questionnaire was
only 5% from the government and
25% from the CSOs
In a large percentage of cases, the
nature and dynamics of crosssector collaboration appeared to
be following conventional unidimensional lines.
Good government -CSO
collaborations were found to be
mostly in service delivery type
interventions of typical
development NGOs in areas such
as health, education, water,
sanitation, physical infrastructure
and the like.
No significant evidence of effective
collaboration of civic rights
organisations with the government
could be found. CSOs do not
want to compromise their
independence by collaborating
with the government on the rights
agenda. While the state views
CSOs that venture into advocacy
and human rights as anti state.
An analysis of the documented
best examples as case studies has
revealed the existence of three
types of cross-sector
collaborations: (1) ContractorClient Relationship ;( 2) Donor
Driven Relationship ;( 3) Marriage
of Convenience.
Acknowldgements
III
8 In the present study the existence
8
8
8
of Contractor-Client collaborative
model is only 17% of the
documented case studies, Donor
Driven Relationship was prevalent
in 17% of the case studies, the
cooperative collaboration through
Marriage of Convenience
appeared to be the operating
mode of 65% of the cases.
A paradigm shift in development
thought and practice has brought
about a distinct change in the
traditional roles of government
and CSOs that have defined
cross-sector collaborations in
Pakistan's social development
scenario.
Only 1% of the cases in the
present study provided evidence of
a relationship where the two
parties were jointly involved in
policy formulation.
It was also noted that a CSO
could have varying types of
collaboration with the government
at different points during its life
cycle.
Some challenges faced by CSOs
included:
8 CSOs have to ensure the
continued involvement of the
government in all stages of a
8
8
project for its successful
implementation.
The prevalent attitude that policy
framing is the privilege of the
government only.
In collaborations in which the
government acts as the financier,
delay in the release of installment
of funds has been noticed as a
recurrent problem.
Reservations of government on the
other hand impressed upon the fact
that while the CSOs play a positive role
in creating awareness but most of the
times the issues are over emphasized.
In addition, the officials felt that the
degree of involvement should be the
same at all stages of the project,
usually CSOs start with a closer
interaction, which fizzles away as the
project nears its completion.
Acronyms
AKRSP
AKF (P)
AP
BRSP
CCB
CBO
CO
DC
DCO
DDC
DG
DTCE
FATA
FBS
GBTI
GEM
GOP
GRO
HDI
IRC
KPP
LGO
MMS
MO
NRB
NGO
PCP
PFC
PRCs
PRSP
PRSP
RSP
SHG
SRSP
TMA
UC
VO
WO
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme
Agha Khan Foundation, Pakistan
Andhra Pradesh
Baluchistan Rural Support Programme
Citizens Community Boards
Community Based Organisation
Community Organisation
Deputy Commissioner
District Coordination Officer
District Development Committee
District Government
Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federal Bureau of Statistics
Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati Idara
Gender Empowerment Measure
Government of Pakistan
Grass Root Organisation
Human Development Index
Indus Resource Centre
Khushal Pakistan Program
Local Government Ordinance
Mahila Mandal Samakhyas
Market-Oriented Organisation
National Reconstruction Bureau
Non-Governmental Organization
Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy
Provincial Finance Commission
Provincial Finance Commissions
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
Punjab Rural Support Programme
Rural Support Programme
Self-Help Groups
Sarhad Rural Support Programme
Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration
Union Council
Village Organisation
Women's Organisation
Acknowldgements
III
Contents
2
C a s e S t u d i e s 25
Balochistan
1
Participatory Integrated
Development Society (PIDS)
25
Society for Empowering
Human Resources (SEHER)
26
Society for Community Support &
Primary Education in Balochistan (SCSPEB)
28
Environmental Protection Society (EPS)
35
Pakistan Village Development
Programme (PVDP)
36
NWFP
I n t r o d u c t i o n 01
Dimensions of Civil Society
02
Family Planning Association
of Pakistan (FPAP)
41
Changing Social Dynamics
03
Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati Idara (GBTI)
43
Pakistan Milieu
03
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA)
45
Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP)
47
Road to Reform
Research Methodology
Punjab
3
Finding of the study
74
What makes a collaboration successful?
Issues and Challanges
Recommendations
Sindh
Northern Areas
Health and Nutrition
Development Society (HANDS)
51
Indus Resource Centre (IRC)
52
ISRA Islamic Foundation (IIF)
54
Marie Stopes Society (MSS)
56
Aga khan Rural
Support Programme (AKRSP)
61
Danyore Local Support
Organization Gilgit
63
Karakorum Area Development
Organization (KADO)
64
AJ & K
A Pictorial View
Annex
66
Marafie Foundation (MF)
Professional Development Centre North (PDCN) 67
Area Development Organisation (ADO)
4
Government - CSO Collaboration
73
Appendix 1: Research Matrix
91
Appendix 2: Survey Questionnaire
83
Appendix 3: Short-listed Organisations for
field survey and interviews
List of Tables/ Graphs
Graph 1: Questionnaires send to stakeholders
Graph 2: Sector wise response of stakeholders
Graph 3: Response on questionnaires
Graph 4: Relationship between Govt and Civil Society
About the Centre
PCP Board of Directors
Inside back cover
Back flap
Introduction
1
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone:
The collapse and revival of
American community, New York:
Simon and Schuster, 2000.
Financial and physical capital in the
past were considered to be the only
necessary ingredients for the
development of society however new
thought and actions reinforced by
recent events have enabled us to
recognize the importance of social
capital. Social capital refers to the
human resource assets, norms and
networks that enable collective action.
The central premise of social capital is
that such networks have value and are
critical for poverty alleviation and
sustainable human and economic
development. The concept of social
capital now frequently used in the
development world impresses upon the
need for a greater degree of
collaboration amongst the public,
private and the citizen sector.
the answers or the competencies to
respond to the burgeoning development
issues. Working separately, the different
sectors develop activities in isolation
often competing with each other
resulting in duplication of efforts and
causing wastage of scarce resources.
This working in parallelism over a period
of time undermines synergies and
development of societies. Collaboration
is therefore essentially a mechanism
designed to deliver effective, integrated
and sustainable solutions to cultural,
social, economic and environmental
challenges by building concerted
approaches. There is no gainsaying the
fact that a of new mix resources,
competencies and synergies offers
solutions to some of the world's most
pressing social and economic problems.
The question arises as to what is the
rationale for collaboration, why does
the state or civil society need this
interdependency. Collaborative
partnerships have been crucial in
bringing about major economic or
political changes in countries
undergoing transformations. This
“Collaboration approach” is redefining
the traditional roles of government, civil
society and business and is offering
innovative solutions to developmental
challenges.
The focus of Centre's this enquiry is on
examining the nature of relationship
between two crucial partners in social
development i.e government and civil
society. The role, functions and
responsibilities of government are well
defined but the role, domain and
legitimacy of civil society is still a topic of
intensive debate and discourse. This
field based social action research
provides an insight and confirms that
there is immense value to government
civil society collaboration; structural and
attitudinal issues and problems that act
as barriers can be overcome with
appropriately designed approaches and
interactions. This report aims at
highlighting the value of collaboration
between government and civil society,
For a state to advance into the ranks of
developing countries, it is imperative
that all sectors (public, private and civil
society) make specific and coordinated
contributions. No sector alone has all
identifies issues involved and showcases
a few successful and mutually
rewarding collaboration. This
endeavour can be springboard to
further research and debate for finding
ways and means to foster even stronger
and more effective collaboration
between the two. The following sections
present the subject at hand as has been
examined.
to highlight that Civil Society as an
umbrella term refers to almost all groups
outside government. Civil society - the
principal player in articulating the needs
of various groups - creates awareness
about key issues in order to influence
policy formulation and decision-making.
It is christened as the “third sector”, an
entity distinct from government and
business.
Dimensions of Civil Society:
According to AKDN-PCP understanding,
civil society organizations (CSOs)
encompass a vast array of organizations public benefit or mutual benefit
organisations - both formal and informal.
They are a host of not-for-profit or nonprofit associations through which society
voluntarily participates in the political and
socioeconomic development processes.
They include all institutions such as non
governmental organisations (NGOs),
right based groups, charities,
philanthropic foundations, professional
associations, trade unions, labour unions,
cultural and religious groups, social and
sports groups, media, chambers and
community groups covering cooperatives
and community development
organizations.
The variety of roles, diversity of
functions and broad range of CSOs
makes it difficult for development
practitioners to reach a consensus on a
single definition of CSOs and
categorisation. An Asian Development
(ADB) Report divides CSOs into four
categories on the basis of their
orientation. The first includes Charitable
CSOs who strive to meet the basic
needs of the poor such as provision of
food, shelter, medicines, and cash
donations. Service CSOs are a second
category, they provide health, family
planning and education services;
communities are integral to the
implementation of their programmes.
Participatory CSOs, a third category
are those based on the concept of selfhelp projects, where local people are
involved particularly in the
implementation of a project by
contributing cash, tools, land,
materials, labour and participation of
community begins with the need
definition and continues into the
planning and implementation stages.
Lastly are the empowering CSOs these
are 'rights' NGOs whose aim is to help
poor people develop a better
understanding of the social, political
and economic factors affecting their
lives and to increase their self-reliance.2
Their main role is characterised by
lobbying, advocacy and campaigning.
Community groups play significant roles
at the local level and are considered as
genuine indigenous organizations. They
take many different forms and can be
described as private voluntary
organizations (PVOs), community-based
organizations (CBOs), voluntary
development organization (VDOs) and
people's organizations (POs). CSOs are
typically established through volunteerism,
mostly working without any remuneration
and most CSOs continue to draw and
depend upon volunteerism.3 The figure
below gives a clearer view of the non
profit sector.
2
Asian Development Bank, The
Urban Poor and Basic
Infrastructure Services in Asia
and the Pacific. Manila, 1991.
3
African CSOs Speak on the World
Summit on the Information
Society
November 2005, United Nations
Economic Commission for
Africa.
For ease of understanding, it is prudent
Introduction
02
This sector provides a host of services to
society including social service delivery,
empowerment of disadvantaged
communities, advocacy for basic
human rights, capacity building,
development of infrastructure and
influencing policies. According to the
research conducted by the Johns
Hopkins University through its
Comparative Non-profit Sector project
the “civil society sector has emerged as
a major economic force in addition to
being a major contributor to social
development and political
participation”.4
Changing Social Dynamics
4
John Hopkins Study 2002.
5
Abdullah Paracha, Saad,
Devolution Plan in Pakistan,
August 2003.
Devolution is the transfer of power and
resources to lower-level authorities
which are largely or wholly independent
of higher levels of government and to
local elected representatives.
Devolution is not unique to a particular
country but is increasingly reflective of a
global trend: for greater empowerment
of the people. Most developing
countries are embracing
decentralization whether in Latin
America, Europe or East Asia. Need for
political stability and more effective and
efficient service delivery are the primary
reasons for devolution. Dispensing
formal political power to elected local
level politicians is an emerging global
trend. Devolution is expected to achieve
higher economic efficiency, better
accountability, larger resource
mobilization, lower cost of service
provision and higher satisfaction of local
preferences. Devolving resource
allocation decisions to locally elected
leaders can improve the match between
the mix of services produced by the
public sector and the preferences of the
local population. Decentralization is
considered to be particularly beneficial
for rural development in disadvantaged
locations. It usually entails a net transfer
of fiscal resources from richer to poorer
areas and leads to an increase in the
quantity and quality of expenditures in
these areas.5
This new governance paradigm while
recognizing the significance of civil
society in the development process, calls
for a strong collaboration between civil
society and the state. Collaborations
provide the multi-actor, integrated
solutions often required by the scope
and nature of the problems being dealt
with. Each player brings with itself
unique skills and competencies that
supplement the ongoing development
activities.
Collaborations foster greater benefits
such as giving the players access to a
wider pool of resources, expertise,
experience, dynamism and innovation to
addressing complex challenges and
issues, efficiency by means of shared
costs and effective delivery systems,
capacity building of work force and lastly
collaborations also ensure long-term
sustainability of development efforts.
Participatory development
The notion of participatory development emphasizes broader involvement of all
people in the productive decision-making processes, in access to education, health
and other public services and a more equitable sharing of the benefits. The fuller
involvement of society at large in the planning and implementation of development
activities is a basic element of the notion of participatory development. This implies
that, rather than governments doing the job alone, they should provide a framework
for the population to take part in the decision-making process, to encourage
communities to provide critical contributions in the delivery of services needed by
the population. This in no way means by-passing government, but merely implies
channelling development activities through the use of civil society organizations and
other decentralized channels. It is also clear, on the other hand, that effective
progress towards realization of the objectives of participatory development requires
fundamental changes in basic attitudes, national planning and implementation
systems and in relationships with governments, especially for coordination and
dialogue on policy issues.
Source: African CSOs Speak on the World Summit on the Information Society
November 2005, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Government, the mainstay of
development plays a pivotal role by
providing funding and support to the
CSOs for development. Without a
strong establishment and provision of
an enabling environment the civil
society sector would be paralyzed;
CSOs on the other hand enhance
operational performance by
contributing local knowledge, providing
technical expertise and leveraging
social capital. They also bring
innovative ideas and solutions as well
as participatory approaches to solving
local problems. CSOs are now moving
beyond merely delivering social
programmes or services. They are also
making valuable contributions in the
development of social and economic
policies and in monitoring the impact of
policies and programmes at the grass
roots level.
In this backdrop of multi-stakeholder
dependency, civil society remains a
crucial player for the implementation of
sustainable development. The better civil
society is organized - the higher its level
of social capital - the better it is able to
express this social demand and to
provide leadership in the effort to meet
it. Social capital is formalized in civil
society organizations (CSOs), voluntary
associations, organizations, movements
and networks that live and work in the
social space outside the state and the
private sector. The last few decades have
seen phenomenal growth in CSOs who
Introduction
04
work in a vast array of sectoral and
interest groups, including agriculture,
environment, development, health,
human rights, indigenous peoples,
peace, population, religion, trade,
youth and women. The growing
importance of CSOs on the
international stage and the positive
roles they play is an affirmation of the
fact that “civil society is as much part of
today's global governance as
governments”.6
global warming, degradation of the
natural environment, terrorism and the
risks of proliferation of weapons of
mass-destruction further amplify the
need for concerted and collaborative
partnerships. There are an everincreasing number of examples of such
arrangements at local, regional,
national and international levels that
have made tangible and significant
contributions to sustainable
development.
Cross-sector collaboration is not new.
Some level of social and economic
inter-dependence forced or voluntary has always been fundamental to all
developmental endeavours. Historically,
government-CSO relations have been
characterized by mutual antipathy and
distrust but now with the increasing
pressures on the natural environment
together with growing social and
economic inequities; the need for
integrated solutions to glaring global
problems has become more imperative.
Collaboration translates into the
governments garnering the support of
non-state actors by broadening and
deepening the ownership of the
coalition and by engaging all
stakeholders as fully as possible. Civil
society organizations by their very
nature tend to be closer to the
grassroots level and hence feel the
pulse of their communities as compared
to the government. CSOs often have
constituencies that they can mobilize at
levels that government may find difficult
to reach.
The World Bank first began to interact
with civil society in the 1970s through
dialogue with CSOs on environmental
concerns. Today the World Bank consults
and collaborates with thousands of
CSOs throughout the world, such as
community-based organizations (COs),
CSOs, NGOs, social movements,
labour unions, faith-based groups, and
foundations. The World Bank has
learned through these three decades of
interaction that the participation of
CSOs in government development
projects and programs brings
effectiveness and transparency to the
projects.
Global Scenario
6
Statement by the United Nations
Resident Coordinator Nicola
Harrington at the Nansen
Dialogue Network Balkan
Regional Conference on Conflict
Prevention and Peace Building,
Igalo, Montenegro, Serbia &
Montenegro, 4 November 2004.
Recent global events such as the
demographic explosion, ideological
conflicts, cultural and religious tensions,
growing inequity and poverty, the
disparity between rich and poor, forced
migrations, the oppression of women,
UNDP engages with civil society
organizations at all levels to promote the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
and support people in their efforts to
build a better life. Substantive
collaborations with CSOs are of greater
strategic importance than ever before
given the integral role of civil society
actors in development. There is growing
recognition that engagement with CSOs
is critical to national ownership,
accountability, good governance,
decentralization, democratization of
development co-operation and the
quality and relevance of official
development programmes. Ricardo
Report's recommendations are enough
evidence of this fact. Similar examples
of seeking collaborations with CSOs in
various countries can be found on part
of international organisations such as
FAO, UNICEF, ILO and UNHCR etc.
Government - CSO collaborations have
also made crucial contributions to
reconstructions in conflict zones around
the world. In this post-conflict scenario,
collaborations are an essential
mechanism of building and
strengthening civil society, businesses
and government. It is beyond the
capacity of war ravaged governments
or any individual sector to alone deal
with the massive development
challenges. Post-conflict reconstruction
process requires coordinated efforts from
all stakeholders, through identification
and synergizing of mutual strengths and
capabilities. Together, government, the
private sector and civil society
collaboration make up a formidable team
for successful reconstruction. Similar
examples are found in Afghanistan,
Palestine and Sudan, where despite
extremely difficult situations; the
breakdown of government apparatus
called for and ensured collaboration
between government and civil society
orgainsations.
Post-Conflict Partnership
Mozambique
Against a background of post-colonial exigencies and disappointing economic
development, Mozambique experienced full-scale civil war throughout the 1980s.
However, the introduction of multi-party democracy created the necessary conditions
for resolving conflict in Mozambique and addressing the economic devastation
caused by the protracted war. A little over a decade ago Mozambique transited from
a civil war situation to peace. Mozambican Civil Society played a significant role in
the creation of an enabling environment for sustained peace and reconstruction.
The activities of civil society in Mozambique are also carried out in the context of a
viable partnership with government and the private sector. For its part the
government has encouraged the involvement of civil society in the reconstruction
process and therefore, has acted to facilitate both the establishment and work of
CSOs in several ways. The increased number of indigenous CSOs substantiates this
after the peace agreement in 1992.
Source: UNECA. "Profiles of African NGOs in Peace and Conflict Resolution:
Selected Country Cases, 1999
Apart from the development agencies,
governments and CSOs in many
developed and developing countries
are forging collaborations to deal with
endemic social problems.
Bangladesh's social indicators have
greatly improved over the past 15 years
and this can be attributed to the multiplayer approach adopted by the state.
Some ground breaking interventions
include credit delivery to the poor,
development of non-formal education
program to cater to needs of the poor
children especially girls and mobilization
of villagebased community health workers
to provide services at the doorsteps.7
In Latin America, major players such as
the Inter-American Development Bank,
CIVICUS (the World Alliance for Citizen
Participation), the Synergos Institute (an
anti-poverty development organization)
and the Ford, Inter-American and Mott
foundations have joined forces with
national consortia of NGOs to implement
7
The World Bank. Bangladesh
Development Series Paper No 11.
Miguel Darcy de Oliveira and
Rajesh Tandon, Emergence of
global civil society , Issues of
Democracy, USIA Electronic
Journals, Vol. 1, No. 8, July 1996.
V i l l a g e a n d Wo m e n D e v e l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n s ( V O S / W O s )
06
a common action agenda in support of
civil society. Governments are also
being challenged to open up to new
collaborations with citizen organizations
to promote social development.8
In India a campaign against the use of
child labour in the carpet industry was
successfully carried out in collaboration
with Government, the South Asian
Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS)
and the Centre for Rural Education and
Development Action (CREDA). The
campaign initially focused on bonded
carpet-children which later widened out
to all children working illegally in the
carpet industry. Since 1983, enormous
progress has been achieved in this
regard. NGOs have worked with the
judiciary and government officials to
enforce existing laws; they have been
able to threaten export markets
sufficiently to effectuate some changes
in industry without actually
implementing a boycott. They
established the labelling scheme
(Rugmark) and they have also had a
significant impact on the reduction in
child labour in the specific industries.
This campaign significantly worked on
moving forward the debate on child
labour in the entire country.9
Pakistani Milieu
The government recognizes that
Pakistan's social indicators lag well
behind even of those countries at
8
Miguel Darcy de Oliveira and
Rajesh Tandon, Emergence of
global civil society , Issues of
Democracy, USIA Electronic
Journals, Vol. 1, No. 8, July 1996.
9
Chapman, Jennifer and Thomas
Fisher, The effectiveness of
NGO campaigning London:
NEF, 1999.
comparable levels of income. Low public
expenditures on health and education,
either expressed in per capita terms or
as a share of GDP, has been one
important factor contributing to
Pakistan's poor performance.
The social reformers and development
practitioners in Pakistan believe that
collaboration between government,
private sector and civil society is now the
only solution to the country's growing
social concerns. There is also a growing
belief that Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) can only be attained
through this cross sector partnership.
Each sector has a range of
competencies, aspirations and styles of
operation that through successful
collaborations could achieve a common
vision.
In Pakistan, the civil society sector has
emerged as a significant force in
promoting social and human
development in the last decade and its
contribution is recognised by all
stakeholders (government, national and
international donors, media and the
ordinary citizens). Civil society
organisations are privileged associates
of national and international
development agencies in delivering
social services in various areas. This has
duly been acknowledged in various
policy papers of Government of Pakistan
such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP), PSDP, Vision 2015 and
“The poverty reduction strategy recognizes the significant role that NGOs can play
in social service delivery, advocacy, and empowerment. However, the arrangements
do not exist to identify credible Not-for-Profit Organisations (NPOs) that can be
trusted for contributions from corporate philanthropists towards social investment.
Certification of NPOs will help bridge that gap. As a first step, the Government has
authorized the PCP for such certification.”
Source: PRSP 2003; Para 5.190 5.191
Civil society in Pakistan like elsewhere
in the world encompasses a diverse and
broad range of non-state actors
including NGOs, CBOs, NGO
coalitions, faith-based organizations,
professional associations, trade unions,
labour unions, citizens groups,
voluntary organisations media,
chambers of commerce and industry
and associations with diverse interests
that work with or against the
government. Though confronted with
definitional issues, Johns Hopkins-SPDC
study of 2002 shows the number of
registered nonprofit organisations in
Pakistan as 56,000 and another
30,000 as not registered. These
organizations vary a great deal in terms
of their size, scope and effectiveness.
They strive to address issues ranging
from religious instruction, education,
health, agriculture, micro- finance,
small enterprise development and
housing to community policing,
consumer protection and civil rights
advocacy. This study also provides the
base line data helpful in dispelling
some misperceptions about the civil
society: that CSOs' revenue base is
mainly indigenously generated i.e 5%
comes from the donors and 6% is
contributed by government and only
because of confrontational stance of
2% right based advocacy organisations
on certain issues, it cannot be said that
CSOs have antagonistic relationship.
are donor driven there is
Despite due recognition by the
government, CSOs contribution to
society and congruity of purpose, the
relationship between government and
the civil society sector is sometimes
marred by mistrust and scepticism which
hinders smooth functioning and
achievement of mutual interests. Yet as
emphasized in the World Development
Report 2004, collaborative and
dynamic relationship between civil
society and the state is crucial to
achieving good governance and
sustained development. There is also
marked evidence that participation can in
many situations improve the quality,
effectiveness, and sustainability of projects
and strengthens ownership and
commitment of government and
stakeholders. Changes in the traditional
socio-economic spaces have prompted
an evolution in the way the state and the
civil society interface. The state
traditionally focused on civil society in its
operations and dialogue. However,
nowadays there is general acceptance
that the state must reach out to the entire
spectrum of the civil society and not just
to the typical development NGOs
Approaches to Collaboration
While examining collaborations between
government and civil society, it is prudent
to first view its nature on the basis of
theoretical framework and then proceed
to ground realities. Any relationship of
CSOs with government is naturally
subject to a host of issues and problems.
The independence and autonomy of
CSOs depends primarily on the
regulatory framework and policy stance of
government, even in democratic countries
government is usually wary of giving
carte blanch to them. This history of
mutual distrust can be attributed to a
number of factors; the wider outreach
and impact of CSOs work, particularly
the competitive edge at the grassroots
level is a source of skepticism and
resentment amongst government officials,
secondly CSOs' claim to know the pulse
of community especially at the grass roots
level is a major contention between these
two players and lastly CSOs that have a
reformist agenda are again derided by
the government for creating discord in the
society. CSOs that have an ideological
congruity with that of government tend to
be the most successful working in this
V i l l a g e a n d Wo m e n D e v e l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n s ( V O S / W O s )
08
system, a slight breach of which leads
to their facing hurdles in attainment of
development goals.
Government and CSO relationship
Support
Neutrality
Hostility
Governments
Posture
Activity of NPOs
Service
Delivery
In totalitarian societies, on the other
hand, CSOs simply cannot operate
independently for their existence is not
acknowledged by the government.
Often Government assistance and
support is turned down for fear of it
translating into control. Amnesty
International is one example whereby
they have strict policy against accepting
any form of Government assistance,
financial or otherwise. Despite the work
that CSOs do, it is important to note
that not all CSOs are apolitical and
uncontroversial. A good number of
them may contribute nothing to the
good of society such as religious
extremists, xenophobic organizations
and extremist revolutionaries and
radicals. Some have suspect
undemocratic structures: transparency
in operations and accountability of such
organizations is highly questionable.
Nevertheless CSOs have a tremendous
impact in our lives and it is the
responsibility of the state to provide an
environment where they can flourish
and make positive contributions to the
society.
The relationship between the state and
civil society is determined by many
contextual factors, a fundamental
example of which is the ruling political
regime and the type of approach a
Service Delivery/
Advocacy
Advocacy
specific government adopts toward
organized interests expressed in civic
action. James Manor identifies possible
types of approaches through which these
two players interact.
Laissez -faire approach: A passive
approach that refrains from strong
engagement with civil society but may
enable the organization of citizens in
independent civil society organizations.
Co-optation approach: Governments
seek to co-opt some or all interests in an
attempt to control civil society through
relationships of dependency
Patronage approach: Similar to the
cooptation approach, however this
approach usually divides citizens'
interests along 'client' lines.
Consultative and Proactive
approach: Governments seek to
mobilize all or the majority of their
organized interests in order to build
political consensus. This approach may
create a climate of strong citizen
engagement in public debate and action
however it can surpass the boundaries of
independent and critical mobilization.
These complex and multiple levels of
engagement of government with civil
society and vice versa define the
parameters in which they both interface.
Existent legal, institutional and policy
frameworks also play an integral role in
formulating an environment for
constructive and synergistic
engagement between the two.
In Pakistan a centralized regulatory
regime, unhelpful Federal and
Provincial laws and intricate fiscal and
tax regimes administered by
bureaucratic elite limit a liberal and
inclusive environment in which civil
society can engage with government.
Despite the prevailing non-conducive
"engagement environment", there are
some if not many points where the
government interacts with the civil
society.
Devolution of power and
decentralization manifests the paradigm
shift in the policy of the government.
This avant-garde shift envisages greater
opportunities for meaningful and
effective collaboration between the
CSOs and the government in Pakistan.
Though in the nascent and evolutionary
phase, “resistance” is now being
gradually replaced by “engagement” as
the dominant approach because both
CSOs and governments have begun to
understand that neither can singlehandedly meet the development
objectives. Successful examples of
public-private partnerships in social
development initiatives across the globe
have helped create a strong case for
government-CSO cooperation among
key stakeholders in Pakistan as well.10
Sequential collaborative process:
In Pakistan, today's rapidly changing,
continually evolving and most
demanding society no single institution
is sufficiently equipped to perform all
functions alone. Cognisant of this fact
there has been an increasing trend in
government and civil society
organisations (CSOs) to explore
opportunities of working together.
The different working strategies adopted
in this collaboration equation vary
depending both on the type of settings as
well as the degree of willingness of those
involved. However, apparently these
efforts directed towards forging
collaborations seem to move on a
developmental continuum of complexity
and commitment ranging from the most
informal to the most elaborative and
empowering. The stages in this continuum
are generally categorized as:Networking: Essentially characterised by
an exchange of information for mutual
benefit, networking is generally
considered to be the most informal of
cross sector linkages.
Coordination: Adopted for acquiring
mutual benefits as well as for achieving a
common purpose, coordination involves
both exchange of information as well as
altering of activities. Compared to
networking, coordination involves more
time, high levels of trust and greater
organisational involvement.
Cooperation: In this working strategy
besides exchange of information and
alteration of activities an added feature is
the sharing of resources (human, financial
and/or technical). Compared to the
previous two, cooperation requires
substantial amount of time, higher levels
of trust, greater organisational
commitment and formalization of
activities between the two sectors through
legal agreements.
Collaboration: Placed at the highest
level of the continuum, key principles of a
collaborative partnership involve
emphasis on building capacity for mutual
benefit, producing policy change and
developing long term ownership of the
10
Asian Development Bank,
Institutional Strengthening of
Government-NGO cooperation,
2005.
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10
collaborative purpose, process and
outcomes. In a collaboration, the
sectors involved work together for
achievement of a common objective by
exchanging information, altering
activities, sharing resources and
enhancing each other's capacity. In this
process which is marked with
considerable time commitments and
increased levels of trust, both partners
end up sharing responsibilities, risks
and the rewards.
Of the four working strategies a
collaborative partnership is the only one
which is characterised by a common
vision, meaningful power sharing,
mutual decision making and long term
sustainability of the collaborative efforts.
Moving towards a Successful
Collaboration:
Collaboration is a constantly changing
and continually evolving process and
like any other effort requires constant
nurturing. To help build collaboration to
a level where it achieves the status of a
mutually beneficial, constructive and
well-defined relationship entered into by
two different partners and is at the same
time successful in achieving the shared
vision and mission of the collaborative
effort, certain fundamental principles
need to be kept in focus at all times.
T
Establishing Common
Grounds
In a collaborative setting, the
participants involved are not members
of a single organisation. Consequently,
their training, experiences, values,
perceptions and needs differ markedly.
In such a situation, building a climate
of trust and openness is of utmost
importance. Identification of mutual
interests, similar problems, shared
aspirations so as to arrive at common
working ground takes precedence. It is
imperative that a common
understanding of the issues at hand, a
joint plan for problem solving with short
term outputs as well as long term
outcomes, combined setting of priorities
and a mutually agreed strategy for
addressing the challenges to be
encountered is finalised at this stage.
Emphasis on this as an essential prerequisite of collaborative engagement is
primarily because occurrence of conflict
and disagreement in an atmosphere of
distrust where there are no skills and
norms for constructive engagement will
result in the failure of any collaborative
effort. These early actions contribute far
more to the utility as well as
sustainability of collaboration than any
subsequent actions.
T
Developing Consultative
Environment
Collaboration by its nature is highly
interactive. To constructively deal with
problems or conflicts arising during this
sustained interaction among participants
it is essential that lines of communication
be kept open between the sectors. In
collaboration one essential premise is
that answers to all questions and
solution of all problems come from the
participants involved. Therefore, both
sectors must be kept involved from the
start with the objective of ensuring
mutual discussion and mutual
agreement at all steps of the interface.
Collaborations are influenced by the
diversity of participants involved and
plagued by their variety of self interests.
To promote and safeguard the
collaborative process in such a case, an
environment enlisting total participation
and maximum support of the partners
from the beginning is an absolute
essential. Such an environment is
generally characterised by each side
having the willingness to make internal
changes required for a cross sectoral
working relationship and nonacceptance as well as nonimplementation of unilateral decision
making.
T
Sharing Resources
Contributions sought are based on
broad definitions of capacities, assets
and resources. Both the government
and civil society have substantial human
and technical resources that can be
made available in creating synergies.
Besides the obvious financial resources
these include, knowledge of new
research, information gathering, access
to local communities, planning
expertise, legal help, specific expertise
on a wide variety of subjects,
development of monitoring system and
documentation of record. In a
constructive collaboration, both nonfinancial as well as financial
contributions are equally valued. For
this reason both the sectors duly
acknowledge contribution of one
another to the equation. This mutual
respect for each other's nature and level
of contribution results in an
engagement where power is equally
shared and justly used. (ftn)
T Focusing on the common goal
Collaborations will succeed and
therefore will be sustainable only when
an understanding of the broader
purpose permeates the attitudes and
behaviour of the partners. This shift
from narrow, parochial interests to a
broader perspective is subtle and
evolving. In such a case the two sectors
will not cease pursuing their individual
interests however the difference will be
in their realisation that self interest can
only be obtained through the
achievement of the broader goal.
This shift is a profound one that marks
a turning point in the life of a
collaborative effort. For this is the time
when a collaborative endeavour moves
from a 'We -They' to an 'Us' scenario.
Constructing and sustaining a
collaborative climate for the long run
largely depends on promoting and
encouraging such a shift.
T Building each other's capacity
A collaborative endeavour aims to
facilitate mutual relationship among those
working together for a common purpose.
It seeks to increase those capacities of the
partners that are relevant for addressing
the challenges identified by the two
sectors. The basic premise of capacity
building is based on the acknowledgment
and mapping of each others assets,
recognition of the values contributed by
each partner and the realisation that each
sector can play an integral role in
enhancing the others capacity.
A collaboration committed to capacity
building focuses on facilitating friendly
access to resources that normally may be
restricted to only those with authority,
status or money; providing whenever
possible, specifically requested skill
development opportunities in an
appropriate manner and setting and most
importantly, sharing risks as well as
responsibilities in challenging
circumstances.
T Devising Policy
Collaborations must have some advocacy
and policy input role. For without it
collaboration would be nothing more
than an attempt directed towards activities
such as, gathering of data or provision of
services required. To take the
collaborative process to higher levels of
inclusiveness and effectiveness it is
essential that the collaborative structure
has an advocacy focus that aims at
bringing required, relevant yet innovative
changes in the prevailing policy and
strategic framework.
T
Ensuring Sustainability of the
Collaborative Effort
A successful collaboration attempts to
ensure continuation of its efforts beyond
V i l l a g e a n d Wo m e n D e v e l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n s ( V O S / W O s )
12
the termination of the initiative itself.
Generally, for the purpose supportive
and inclusive methods are adopted
which ensure that, responsibility for the
future sustenance of the collaborative
product is given to the people most
affected by the endeavour.
Collaboration is known for being
empowering in nature and
empowerment essentially involves
working with people rather than doing it
for them. For this reason, community
participation and transfer of resources
to community is generally adopted as
the mechanism for ensuring long term
sustainability of the collaborative effort.
Finally, it needs to be kept in mind that
it takes time to create a well designed,
mutually rewarding and constructive
collaboration. Establishment of
respectful, trusting relationships
between partners results from
understanding each other's beliefs,
motivations and for accomplishment
and defining as well as addressing
challenges in a manner that provides
opportunities for both partners to share
in their solutions, these are procedures
that emerge slowly, steadily and
through constant nurturing.
Partnering for Change
The Aga Khan Development Network
(AKDN) one of the pioneer
development networks in Pakistan, is a
group of development agencies which
includes the Aga Khan Foundation
(AKF), Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), Aga Khan Education
Services (AKES),Aga Khan Fund for
Economic Development (AKFED), Aga
Khan Planning and Building Services
(AKPBS), Aga Khan Health Services
(AKHS),Focus Humanitarian Assistance
(FOCUS), Aga Khan Trust for Culture
(AKTC),University of Central Asia (UCA)
and Aga Khan University (AKU). AKDN
is committed to improving the social
development index by addressing issues
ranging from health and education to
architecture, culture, micro-finance,
disaster reduction, rural development,
promotion of private-sector enterprise
and strengthening of the civil society.
The network's civil society activities focus
on extending, improving and sustaining
health, education and welfare services
for the poor by forging collaborations
involving government, businesses and
citizen organizations. Besides responding
to the endemic social issues of the
country, the Network relentlessly
engages in research to come up with
innovative yet pragmatic solutions to
streamline the nascent civil society
sector.
In line with this tradition, the Network
recently launched a Civil Society
Programme (CSP) simultaneously in 8
countries having five components aimed
at building the competencies of the civil
society sector. Under this programme
AKDN and PCP collaborated to conduct
the instant exploratory research on
government-CSO collaboration in
Pakistan.
This joint collaboration of AKDN-PCP is
aimed at achieving the shared vision
and philosophy that government and
civil society have important roles to play
in nation building, and particularly in
development efforts to improve the
quality of life of the marginalized. The
synergy that would arise as a result of
mutual trust and strong collaboration
between the Government and the CSO
will undoubtedly be a potent force in
reforming the social development
interface of our country.
Methodology
The focus of this enquiry was more
exploratory than evaluative. This
research was carried out in a brief
period of four months. Research tools
Graph 1: Questionaire sent to Stakeholders
Government
EDO - CD of
101 Districts
200 Civil Society
Organisations
were extensively used to add objectivity
to the study. Primarily data was
collected through conducting interviews,
distributing questionnaires and carrying
out focus group discussions while
annual reports various resource
material and internet research served as
secondary information sources.
The process of this social action
research began with laying out the
design, finalising the approach and
research tools. A comprehensive
research matrix was developed
containing the stepwise details. An inhouse discussion and review of primary
data of NGOs, who applied for
certification, was conducted to shortlist
relevant NGOs. To develop a strategy
and work plan for the study, a series of
consultative meetings were held with
concerned stakeholders i.e. CSOs with
experience of working with the
government, Social Welfare Department
officials, Education and Health
Departments, National Education
Foundations as well as Punjab and
Sindh Education Foundation and
international donor agencies. On the
basis of guidelines provided in the
sessions, a questionnaire was
developed to collect information and
for examining all possible types of
collaboration between government and
the CSOs (Appendix 2). The
questionnaire along with a covering
letter explaining the purpose was sent to
around 200 CSOs across Pakistan. For
this purpose, the database of civil
society organisations or nonprofit
organisations available with PCP was
used. The questionnaire was also sent to
the Executive District Officers, Community
Development (EDO CD) of the country's
101 districts. Of these 22 cases
demonstrating significant constructive
collaboration were selected and after
thorough analysis of the inputs received
and in view of the nature and objectives
of the study, a sample of 19 CSOs was
short listed for publication.
In order to gain insight into the history,
growth and role of CSOs and theoretical
aspect of collaboration between CSOs
and government, resource material and
relevant literature was consulted along
with a web search.
In spite of a month long period involving
rigorous follow up and reminders, the
response rate to the given questionnaires
was not encouraging. A 25% response
rate from the civil society sector and that
of only 5% from the government was
received (graph 1 and 3).
Graph 2: Sector wise response of stakeholders
Others
13%
Poverty Alleiation
13%
Health
17%
Capacity
Building
16%
Education
41%
A detailed field plan was chalked out
which involved visits to selected CSOs,
holding of exhaustive interview sessions
with the concerned government officials
and CSO staff and visits of the project
sites. Credibility of the data obtained was
further enhanced by recording the
feedback of beneficiaries. Field
researchers also obtained some project
related documents such as
Memorandums of Understanding (MoU)
signed between the government and the
V i l l a g e a n d Wo m e n D e v e l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n s ( V O S / W O s )
14
CSO, project proposals, budgets,
monitoring forms and audit reports.
These documents now form an essential
part of PCP's extensive research
database.
Graph 3: Response to Questionnaires
200
200
180
160
140
To ensure nationwide representation,
CSOs from all four provinces and AJK
& NA were selected. Apart from the
provincial representation aspect, CSOs
were also selected keeping in mind their
sectoral interventions and the nature of
their collaboration with different tiers of
the government. The data collected was
extensively reviewed and analyzed and
compiled in the form of this report i.e a
booklet of Case Studies. The report will
subsequently be translated and
published in both as well. Besides
sharing the report findings with
stakeholders in a national workshop,
the report will be widely disseminated.
The national workshop will serve as a
platform for generating further
discussion about the nature and the
types of existing CSO and government
collaboration and to find ways and
means of fostering stronger and more
effective partnerships.
Limitations
Any intellectual discourse or endeavour
such as research is bound to confront
some challenges and difficulties. The
field based and exploratory research
also faced many challenges and
constraints. Of foremost importance is
the limitations of approach and basic
design of research. The study is first of
its kind, and a significant challenge has
been to set the baseline both in terms of
information, data and methodology.
Secondly, setting the contextual
background in the design keeping in
view the complex and ever evolving
Pakistani milieu of both civil society and
government was further exacerbated by
definitional issues. While conducting
the field surveys for this report, the team
120
100
80
101
60
25%
Civil Society Organizations
40
20
5%
Government
0
Addressee
Respondants
had to face certain practical constraints
which should be kept in mind. Firstly, the
team was faced with time constraints as
the allocated time was four months and
the research team had to ensure
geographical and sectoral
representation. Also, there were access
to information and availability of data
constraints since statistics were seldom
consolidated at different tiers of
government and the team was faced
with non-availability of secondary data.
Due to the insignificant interest of
various government departments and
CSOs, the response rate to
questionnaires was discouragingly low
i.e 25% from CSOs and 5% from
government departments. The traditional
cultural impediments contributed to the
limitations as several Women's
Organizations could not be interviewed.
Furthermore, the team was faced with
mobility constraints in the northern areas
of Skardu and the hot and humid areas
of inner Sindh.
Broader canvas of the study
Pakistan's civil society sector boasts of a
long and varied past and an equally
diverse and inspirational present.
Keeping in mind the diversities of the
civil society sector in Pakistan and to find
examples of mutually rewarding
collaborations between government and
civil society, a non exclusive approach
was adopted. In the present study, an
attempt was made to start with the
examination of the broader civil society
canvas and find examples of
collaborations between government
and different types of civil society
organisations operating in the country.
PCP's in-house database of NGOs and
of a few other CSOs were consulted
and studied. The collated and/or
reported evidence of governmentCSO
interface was analysed to see if nature
of engagement qualifies as a mutually
rewarding, constructive and meaningful
collaboration. Unfortunately the
concrete successful collaborative
examples were only found with the
typical development NGOs.
A few sample cases of broader civil
society organisations examined are:
Pakistan Engineering Council
(professionals association)
The Pakistan Engineering Council was
established as a corporate body under
an Act of the Parliament, PEC Act No. V,
on January 10, 1976 (amended vide
Ordinance No.XXIII of 2006). The
Council's Board comprises of both
government and non government
members. This body being an extended
arm of the government performs the
regulatory functions on behalf of the
government such as registration of
engineers, architects and consulting
engineers, accreditation of engineering
programmes of universities, setting
standards and development and
endorsement of engineering products
etc. On the other hand it is a
representative body of engineering
professionals and serves as a medium
for a particular segment of civil society
i.e professional group's concerns,
voices and perspectives for transmission
to policy making authorities of the
government. PEC also serves as a
platform for consultation and collective
policy input of the professionals in
relevant legislations. It performs the
function of enforcing code of conduct as
well.
A cursory analysis of this statutory
autonomous body reveals that in spite of
the apparently pervasive and dominant
role of the government in the
establishment and subsequent functioning
of the Council, PEC has attempted to
make this engagement of equal footing.
Acting as a fully representative body of
the engineering community in the country,
the Council plays a cooperative role and
participates actively in Consultative and
Advisory Committees/Boards constituted
by successive governments and provides
necessary inputs in the decision making
process. It assists the Federal Government
as a Think Tank, provides support in
conducting technical enquiries and
recommends remedial measures on the
subjects referred. PEC's relationship with
the government has not always been
smooth since the Council has also been
trying to contest the agreements entered
into by the Government Ministries and
various other Development Organizations
with the International Financing Agencies
which are overwhelmingly in favour of the
foreign consulting engineering firms and
construction companies and patently in
violation of the PEC Bye-laws. Over the
years, despite differences in opinions and
policy matters, an active and vibrant
relationship has developed between PEC
and government on the principle of
mutual co-existence. In this arrangement,
PEC in its role as a regulatory body acts
as an extension of the government, while
at the same time maintaining its
professional identity as a representative
voice of the engineering community of
Pakistan.
Pakistan Medical & Dental Council
(professional association)
Pakistan Medical & Dental Council was
constituted in accordance with the
V i l l a g e a n d Wo m e n D e v e l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n s ( V O S / W O s )
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recommendations of a Health
Conference held at Lahore in
November 1947 by adopting the Indian
Medical Council Act 1933 with a view
to regulating Medical Education in
Pakistan. Government members are
nominated and various segments of
medical professionals are represented
by election on the governing body. The
objective of PM&DC is to establish a
uniform minimum standard of basic
and the higher education in medicine.
The Council not only lays down the
minimum standards for the degrees of
MBBS, BDS, and higher qualifications
like MD, MS, MDS and other
postgraduate diplomas like DO and
DLO, it also issues licences to medical
practitioners in the country and enforces
code of ethics.
The Council is financially independent
and generates its finances itself. The
Council in view of its civil society
character also protects the interest of
medical professionals in the country
and on their behalf provides policy
input to the government regarding
relevant legislations. It is a supreme
body and takes all policy decisions. It
does not receive any grant from the
Government yet has very close working
relations to promote good standards in
the field of medical science.
Pakistan Electronic and Media
Authority (PEMRA) & Pakistan
Broadcasting Association (PBA) (media)
The Government-Media relationship is
a fiery topic that has generated great
attention in the field of media studies
throughout the world. The concept of
freedom of the press is also under
discussion especially in developing
countries. Governments in almost all
the countries of the world try to exert
control over the mass media. In
Pakistan, the print media is privately
owned and the government influence is
indirect through regulatory laws such as
the Press and Publications Ordinance.
According to the results of the study,
government exercises considerable
influence on print media content in
Pakistan. The print media is supervised
by the Ministry of Information.
Professional associations such as All
Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) and
Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors
(CPNE) are the civil society bodies that
protect interest of journalists and the
sector.
In recognition of the changing
environment and a demanding public,
today there are multiple choices in terms
of TV channels and radio stations
ensuring free flow of information at our
door steps. Pakistan Broadcasting
Association (PBA) comprises of all
electronic networks including FM radio
stations, cable networks, TV channels,
multi-channel multipoint distribution
services (MMDS) or wireless cable,
Internet protocol TV channel distribution
services (IP).
Pakistan Electronic and Media Authority
(PEMRA) constituted under the PEMRA
Ordinance 2002 on 1 March 2002. It
regulates functioning of satellite TV,
Teleport for broad casting services and
direct-to-home television distribution
services(DTH). Through this service,
subscribers or end users, receiving
signals directly from geo-stationary
satellites. The Authority is responsible for
facilitating and regulating the
establishment and operation of all
broadcast media and distribution
services in Pakistan established for the
purpose of international, national,
provincial, district and local or special
target audiences. Its mandate is to
improve the standards of information,
education and entertainment; enlarge
the choices available to the people of
Pakistan in the media.
Research shows that at the policy level,
there exists a constructive engagement
between the government, its sector
specific regulatory authority and
representatives of different media
associations. It involves getting
feedback from the stakeholders at all
stages of decision making and holding
workshops and seminars for the
purpose of capacity building. The
quality of the equitable engagement
between Pakistan Broad Casting
Association and Pakistan Electronic
Media Regulatory Authority was found
to be enabling and rewarding for both
partners based on mutual accountability
and transparency and sharing of
information. It is evident on the part of
the government to involve regulating
authorities at the policy level, capacity
building and holding discussions with
the objective of ensuring that the voice
of people is heard and issues are
resolved with the consensus of the
majority, under the rules and
regulations of the PEMRA Ordinance.
Consumer Protection Networks
(public benefit right based
organisations)
A rights-based civil initiative Consumer
Protection Network (CRCP) is
registered under the Trust Act, 1882
and was established in 1998. It largely
works through local fund-raising and
engaging volunteers. It is working with
the mission "to articulate and promote
the interests and rights of citizens and
consumers at all socio-economic levels,
with a particular emphasis on the
inarticulate and disadvantaged groups;
and facilitate the emergence of an
organized movement in Pakistan, so
that the citizens could have legally
enforceable rights." The Network for
Consumer Protection is a national,
public interest, not-for-profit civil society
organization. It is registered with
Securities Exchange Commission of
Pakistan under Section 42 of the
Companies Ordinance 1984. The
organization came into being in 1992 as
an "Association for Rational Use of
Medication in Pakistan" in the wake of
illegal drug trafficking. It is working with
the mission “To protect and promote the
interest of all Pakistani consumers: by
educating them about their rights; by
providing them independent information
about goods and services; and by
informing them about government's
performance as protector of their rights,
especially the poor consumers. To
promote the interest of consumers by
facilitating their organization and by
advocating for pro-consumer policies that
also address structural inequities. The
organization also promotes responsible
and sustainable consumption practices in
society, as well as the development of
alternative systems.”
Both these networks are primarily working
in advocacy and awareness raising,
consumer mobilization, law suggestion
and governance along with areas of
research and publications. CRCP is
involved in training, and fund-raising
activities as well. Within these core
program areas, CRCP focuses on various
sectors, which include essential and basic
goods and services sector as water,
health, public utilities which include
telecommunication, electricity, oil and
gas, institutional mechanisms for
regulation and legislative frameworks.
During its initial years, The Network
advocated policy with a mission "to
promote rational use of drugs and
essential drugs concept and in order to
optimize the usefulness of drugs and help
bring equity in their access". A watch dog
role was also assumed to keep an eye on
spurious drugs, non-available essential
drugs and drug pricing. Building on this,
The Network for Consumer Protection has
become a national consumer protection
organization with a broad mandate and
multi-pronged strategy.
V i l l a g e a n d Wo m e n D e v e l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n s ( V O S / W O s )
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Both the networks are engaged in
building the capacity of the legislative
organ of the federal Government to
perform its basic functions namely,
citizens' representation, oversight of the
executive and law-making. They are
also facilitating civil society to get
involved in the legislative processes and
to hold the legislature accountable. In
addition, Consumer Rights Commission
of Pakistan (CRCP) is working towards
the improved use of media and
research in legislative endeavours. So
far their engagement with the
government has been in the shape of
trying to influence policy, serving as
pressure groups, filing public interest
litigations, lobbying and campaigning
for enactment of consumer protection
legislation in Pakistan. However the
networks are still in infancy in Pakistan.
They need to mature and grow in order
to attain the state of a mutually
rewarding coexistence with the
government.
Labour Unions in Pakistan (rights
based organisations)
Labour class serves the national
economy as the largest segment of
working class Pakistanis. Only about
three per cent of the total labour force
in Pakistan is unionized. The Trade
Unions in Pakistan are involved in
Collective Bargaining for a labour
contract between employers and
employees. In 1949, an All Pakistan
Confederation of Labour with affiliates
in East and West Pakistan was
established, which later got affiliated to
the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU). The existing
three national level trade union
federations of Pakistan are namely All
Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions
(APFTU) formed in 1960; Pakistan
National Federation of Trade Unions
(PNFTU) formed in 1962 and All
Pakistan Federation of Labour (APFL)
formed in 1966. These have affiliations
with international similar organizations
and local industrial sectors
These unions have had their highs and
lows in terms of their relationships and
engagement with government. At times
these were banned and at others
government sought their collaboration.
Some of the instances of their
collaborative partnerships with
government are: a series of Rapid
Assessments of bonded labour in nine
different economic sectors undertaken
by top Pakistani researchers, under the
guidance of the Bonded Labour
Research Forum (BLRF) with active
collaboration of Ministry of Labour. The
RAs were collected and published in a
single Compendium under the
Government logo. Technical support
through a full time Bonded Labour
Advisor has been provided to the
Ministry of Labour. This is an example of
both positive and at times
confrontational collaboration. ILO also
closely works in collaboration with these
labour unions in Pakistan.
Citizens Police Liaison Committee
(CPLC)
This is a unique example of civil society
organizing itself in the form of a citizens
group, which was mainly driven by
citizens' security concerns and protection
of their interests. CPLC was formed two
decades ago in Karachi on citizens
initiative, mainly of the business
community in the backdrop of rising law
and order and crime situation in the city.
Since its creation CPLC has been
successful in filling the void created by
the absence of community policing
system in the country. CPLC works in
tandem with city police and assists in
tracing criminals, keeps record and
crime statistics, helps in investigation
and serves as a forum to redress public
grievances against police. The members
of CPLC finance the committee office
and activities expenditures themselves
and are totally independent. Police
department heavily relies on CPLC for
assistance and the Government of
Sindh after seeing its benefits and utility
has assigned official status to the
Committee by a gazette notification.
Analysis of examples
Pakistan's diverse and pluralistic civil
society sector is growing and evolving
rapidly. Analysis of some of the existing
examples reveals that collaboration
between government and broader
range of CSOs is mainly need based
and driven by necessity for mutual coexistence. These range from mere
engagement to networking or may
evolve to cooperation and coordination
but seldom culminate to effective
collaboration. The following dynamics
are highlighted:
Technically, a professional association
is an organization existing to further a
particular profession, guard interests of
concerned professionals and maintain
and enforce standards and ethics in the
profession. Analysis of above examples
of professional associations indicates
some take the form of a hybrid body
regulating the relevant sector on behalf
of the government and relaying the
voices, concerns and policy suggestions
to government on behalf of the
professionals. However, it goes to say
that establishment of these associations
is not triggered by the initiatives of their
members or that they do not represent
the interests of the members or speak
for the protection of their rights. Instead
the existing scenario should be seen
against the backdrop of the regulatory
and standard setting role of the said
associations, the government
necessitates its involvement in these
associations as being a strategic need.
It is apparent from an analysis of the
case studies of the associations that being
hybrid and intermediary organisations,
the nature of interaction between them
and government is not only frequent but
also long term. But such an interface
cannot really be classified as
collaboration. For collaboration
essentially entails the coming together of
two distinct entities in a mutually
beneficial and well defined relationship
for the achievement of common goals. In
the case of professional associations the
apparently predominant role of the
government in structuring and functioning
of these associations appears anything
but a collaborative effort. In the existing
dispensation these associations appear to
be acting more as an extension of
government rather than working
alongside it as equal partners involved in
a constructive engagement.
Historical development of civil society
sector in Pakistan is characterised by both
conflict and coordination depending
upon the CSO's nature of activity. On the
whole, the relationship between state and
civil society is illustrated most aptly by the
dichotomy in attitude of the government,
with the government's posture leaning
towards facilitation in case of
organisations engaged in service delivery
and of hostility in case of those engaged
in social or political advocacy.
This implicit government policy of
regarding the advocacy and/or rights
based organisations as being on a
confrontational course with the
government was also evident from the
sample of case studies analysed. The
absence of frequent, active and long term
engagements between the government
and such organisations is indicative of the
government's apparent discouragement
of the advocacy role of CSOs in the
context of sensitive social, religious and
political issues. Over the years, various
acts of government against labour
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unions, human rights organisations and
the like, demonstrate the government's
modus operandi with regard to
advocacy and rights based
organisations.
It would not be fair to lay the complete
onus of an absence of collaborative
interface on the government. It needs to
be kept in mind that the CSOs acting as
citizens' representatives and advocates
of civil rights issues also do not
themselves want to compromise their
independence by collaborating with the
government.
The prevailing situation has hence
resulted in two sectors working
separately often in isolation, mostly on
a confrontational course with each
other, at times duplicating efforts, and
causing wastage of resources and in
turn failing to deliver effective,
integrated and sustainable solutions to
social, religious and political
challenges.
Public benefit non-profit
organisations are essentially involved
in service delivery and social welfare
work. Due to the nature of their work
and because these organisations play
an integral role in complementing the
government's initiatives and
interventions, government's interaction
with them has increased substantially
during the last 2 decades. The
introduction of fiscal incentives, a
system of partial grant funding and a
more liberal approach towards public
private partnership are all steps taken
with the objective of consolidating the
role of public benefit non-profit
organisations. On the other hand, these
organisations realize the indispensability
of government's role in effective
execution of their interventions.
In Pakistan just as role of civil society is
gradually evolving through the years,
similarly the terms of engagement
between this sector and that of
government are also being re-defined.
With hybrid and intermediary
professional associations on one end of
the spectrum and independent advocacy
and rights based organisations on the
other, a somewhat balanced approach is
only evident in the case of public benefit
NPOs. It is hoped that with the passage
of time this relationship existing in the
two civil society segments would
gradually alter and mature to that of a
mutually respectful and beneficial
concrete collaboration of equality as
found to exist between the government
and public benefit dvelopment NGOs.
The present study has focused on
exploring, identifying and analysing case
studies of successful collaborative
engagements between the government
and the public benefit organisations. In
Pakistan synergistic and constructive
engagement of CSOs and government
is still in its nascent stages. Mostly these
engagements are associated with service
delivery interventions in areas like
health, education, poverty reduction and
community development. The reason for
this is that such an arrangement offers
immediate outcomes with relatively well
defined processes being complementary.
Similar to the general trend around the
world CSOs that venture into advocacy
and human rights are perceived to be
anti-state or foreign agenda pushers.
Concurrently research on broader civil
society sector revealed that most
engagements between the government
and CSOs fall in the classic consultative
or service delivery types of engagements.
Mutually rewarding relationships remain
few and sporadic and have not
contributed substantially towards
building strong models for further
replication. Most of the symbiotic and
mutually rewarding engagements are
thus found in the typical development
organizations i.e NGOs a subset of
CSOs. Analysis and documentation of
such rewarding partnerships will pave
the way towards viable models for
government and CSO collaboration.
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22
Case Studies
Balochistan
The province of Balochistan in Pakistan is the largest in the country
by geographical area. It contains most of historical Balochistan and
is named after the Baloch. Balochistan is located at the eastern
edge of the Iranian plateau and in the border region between
Southwest, Central, and South Asia. It is geographically the largest
of the four provinces at 347,190 km² and composes 42% of the
total land area of Pakistan. The population density is very low due
to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of water. The southern
region is known as Makran. The central region is known as Kalat.
Very cold winters and hot summers characterise the climate of the
upper highlands. Winters of the lower highlands vary from extremely
cold in the northern districts to mild conditions closer to the Makran
coast. Summers are hot and dry, especially the arid zones of
Chaghai and Kharan districts. The plain areas are also very hot in
summer with temperatures rising as high as 120 °F (50 °C).
Balochistan has a population of around 8 million inhabitants. The
Baloch form the majority in the south and east of the province,
while the Pashtuns are the majority in the north and 769,000
Afghan refugees can be found in the province. The unicameral
Provincial Assembly of Balochistan comprises 65 seats of which 4%
are reserved for non-Muslims and 16% for women only. Balochistan
is divided into 27 Pakistani districts. There are five main public
universities in Balochistan, as well as several private institutions.
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Participatory Integrated
Development Society
(PIDS) --- a ray of hope
District Awaran is at a distance of 16
hours drive from provincial capital
Quetta. The terrain is dry and rugged
with minimum sources of perennial
water exacerbated by scanty rains. In
terms of drinking water supply, the
situation is even more alarming. Less
then 15 percent of the population has
access to safe drinking water in
Baluchistan. This Trans Indus province
with few dry and seasonal river basins
has no small dams, check dams or delay
action dams for water storage. Local
people use their indigenous wisdom in
building earthen dams to store flood or
rain water in all parts of Baluchistan.
The only dam built in the 1960s, on
Hub River is not sufficient to cater to the
needs of the entire province.
Cognizant of the situation, PIDS was
established in 1999 by few concerned
citizens who worked for Baluchistan
Rural Water Supply Sanitation Project
(BRUWAS) a joint venture of
Government of Baluchistan and Royal
Netherlands Government. The
organization focuses on improving
drinking water supply, sanitation and
hygiene through five programmes and
strives for achieving quality output
through combined input of social
mobilization, community participation,
women involvement and through
creating sense of ownership for
sustainable development.
In a span of seven years, PIDS has
established linkages with government,
donors, partner organizations and the
local community to bring about social
development in one of the most
"If there had been some water,"
remarks Aftab Aziz who worked on a
recent study to assess the impact of the
drought here, "the fields would have
been green and the entire valley would
have been bustling with human
activity”.
backward areas of Baluchistan.
Collaborating partners of PIDS include
UNICEF, Local Government. & Rural
Development Department (LG&RDD),
Public Health Department (PHED),
Primary Education Department (PED),
Catholic Relief Services Pakistan, World
Wide Fund (WWF), Trust for Voluntary
Organization (TVO), UNDP, Frontier
Resources Centre and NGORC.
Collaborations with the government
include (1999-2000) PHE Social
Mobilization and Capacity Building
project in four towns Kuchlak, Kharan,
Mastung, and Hub, Sanitation
Acceleration Tehsil Package with District
and Tehsil Government, School
Environment Improvement and
Community Water Supply Scheme,
QKAEMP with City District Government
and Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey
with Planning & Development
Department.
In 2000, the Government of Baluchistan
allocated funds for provision of safe
drinking water through installation of
hand pumps and capacity building of
the beneficiaries in Ziarat, Kalat and
Awaran districts. PIDS with its history of
working in close collaboration with poor
communities and a high success rate of
its previous projects with different
international donors was the ideal
candidate to carry out implementation of
this project. Through community
participation, PIDS has so far installed
1,259 pumps in ten districts of
Baluchistan benefiting approximately
150,000 people. For PIDS, the
collaboration translated into the efficient
utilization of resources, sustainability and
improved project implementation
through transparent execution of the
project.
Collaborations often help parties
overcome handicaps that they would
find difficult to address individually.
Government had the resources for
pumps but lacked the capacity, outreach
and particular social skills required to
implement the project and PIDS with its
expertise in this field and strong
community linkages assisted the
government in provision of water to the
far flung communities. Whether it is
education, health or any other sector the
benefits of these synergistic
collaborations cannot be ignored.
An examination of this successful case
study of collaboration helps us safely
conclude that the desired concrete
outcome of the collaborative projects
providing safe drinking water to the
communities of far flung areas was not
only need based but was mutually
rewarding as well. The analysis of this
case however reveals that the role of
government in this particular
collaboration was restricted to the
provision of finances for the project.
The government advertised the project
in the press and PIDS got selected on
the basis of its institutional history of
working with communities and its
capacity for social mobilisation. An
MOU was signed however no proper
monitoring mechanism was developed
by the government to assess the
progress of project implementation.
PIDS implemented and monitored the
project itself as their reputation and
chance to work again with the
government was at stake. This
relationship at best can be termed as
patron client relationship as no output
other than the provision of water could
be found. Neither the relationship
continued after the project nor did any
policy level changes take place as a
result of project implementation. No
mechanism was developed to
incorporate lessons leanrt into any future
ater supply project.
Society for Empowering
Human Resources
(SEHR)------ empowering for the futur
Violence, abuse, negligence,
exploitation and discrimination remain a
threat throughout the life cycle of
prisoners including juveniles, women
and senior citizens in Pakistan.
Inconsistent and limited jail reforms, an
overburdened and insensitive judicial
system, mistreatment of prisoners, lack
of efficient coordination between jails
and interior and foreign
ministries/departments and outdated
and orthodox jail manuals are the
factors which make prisoners more
vulnerable. Access to transparent and
speedy justice remains a dream for
many.
Government of Pakistan introduced and
Case Studies
26
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
instructed the provincial government to
ratify and implement the Juvenile Justice
System Ordinance (JJSO). Although
most of the provincial governments
ratified the rules, yet neither probation
and parole officers have been
appointed nor jails turned into better
places to provide a better environment
for juveniles. In these circumstances
some of the condemned innocent
children come out as professional and
hardened criminals after a stint in the
jail.
SEHR was created with a vision of
developing a pro-poor
(minorities/children/women) alternative
model to normalize their imbalanced
relationship with the society. It works to
achieve a violence-free environment that
is suitable for growth, whilst protecting
and restoring human rights. SEHR is
recognized for its efforts with regard to
protection and upholding of human
rights and its policy level engagement
and political advocacy. SEHR works on
all dimensions of those “Rights”
including those of juvenile prisoners,
women prisoners, Foreigner's Act
prisoners, minorities and women in
shelter homes. It's major programmes
include Legal Empowerment, Women
Empowerment and Child Protection.
SEHR works in collaboration with many
reputed international advocacy agencies
namely OXFAM-GB, Save the Children
UK, Save the Children Sweden, Group
Development and UNDP. SEHR also has
strong linkages with government at both
the federal and the provincial level and
this close rapport helps SEHR in
implementing various projects with the
assistance of the government.
In 2004, SEHR on its own initiative
working with foreign prisoners through
its Legal Aid programme observed
during the visits to Mach and Quetta
District Jails the condition of juvenile
and women prisoners and decided to
…Ibrahim son of Saifal an inhabitant
of Dhadar Village in Baluchistan was
convicted in a robbery case
incarcerated in 2004 and had a
traumatic experience. The juvenile
exhibited behaviour associated with an
extreme state of shock, experienced
insomnia and refused to take interest
in any of daily activities. After several
sessions with a psychologist he has
now returned to his normal self and
takes keen interest in studies especially
computer classes. He aspires to be a
computer teacher just like his teacher.
(SEHR: Annual Report 2006)
work for their betterment. At the same
time Ministry of Law, Justice and Human
Rights invited organisations working for
jails improvement for consultation with a
view to see what both parties could do
to improve the situation of human rights
in Baluchistan. SEHR already having
prepared a proposal regarding juvenile
and women prisoners with the assistance
of Save the Children Sweden put forward
the proposal for government to consider.
The collaboration started with signing of
an MOU between two partners. In
2005, the project of Rehabilitation of
Children in Conflict with Law (RCCL) was
started in Mach and Quetta jails by
SEHR through financial support of Save
the Children Sweden (SCS) and the
government. It carries the broader
objective of rehabilitation of juveniles
and is an effort to facilitate their
integration back into society through
various interventions within the jail. The
project aims at providing multiple
facilities to the juveniles that includes
formal education, literacy courses,
computer literacy, legal aid, religious
teaching, psychotherapeutic counselling,
vocational skills training and
recreational activities. Moreover the
project anchors within itself the capacity
building of jail staff and of juveniles on
CRC, JRS, JJSO and Jail Manual and
sensitization of relevant departments,
facilitation in reconciliation efforts and
monitoring the status of human rights in
the province. Vocational skills training in
tailoring, calligraphy and handicrafts are
given to help these juveniles earn
livelihoods after gaining their freedom.
Religious and legal education is also a
part of the curriculum which would
further broaden their horizon especially
where their rights are concerned.
While SEHR carries out these activities
with the funding provided by an
international donor agency, the
Regional Directorate of Ministry of Law,
Justice and Human Rights-Baluchistan
assists SEHR in training of police and jail
officials on human and child rights,
Pakistan Prison Rules and Juvenile
Justice System Ordinance 2000.The
Ministry regularly monitors the
performance of the trained officials and
assists SEHR in collecting data on the
juvenile prisoners. This comprehensive
multi-stakeholder capacity building
initiative undertaken to improve the
condition and rehabilitation of juveniles
through intensive sensitization has
enabled the poor and victimized people
to find meaning in their bleak lives.
the response and role of government
was very positive and not only did the
government support SEHR in achieving
the mutual objectives of the project but
also agreed to support the NGO in
initiating other projects with Social
Welfare and Police Departments. The
subsequent collaborations with other
government departments are a proof of
the success of the first partnership.
Another important development which
took place during the course of this
collaboration is the joint preparation of
Child Protection Bill by the Ministry and
SEHER. The Bill will be presented in the
Baluchistan Parliament by the Ministry
and the chances of its approval are
bright. If the Bill is implemented, it will
be a major policy shift on the part of
government regarding Juvenile
Prisoners.
The collaboration between SEHR and
Government is perhaps one of the best
examples of a twofold relationship. It
clearly shows that not only the
programme delivery was productive in
nature but also that reform means were
mainstreamed and policy level changes
emerged as an outcome of the
relationship.
During the study it was observed that
through out the duration of the project
Society for Community Support
for Primary Education in Baluchistan
(SCSPEB) ----- building synergies
for education
The demand for quality education is well
established in Pakistan and especially in
Baluchistan where enrolment rates
remain alarmingly low. However in the
last two decades, Government of
Baluchistan has made some attempts at
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28
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
revamping the education system in the
province especially the structure of
primary education. There are 22,000
settlements in Baluchistan with only
11,000 primary schools which means
that 50% of the population has limited
access to primary education. During the
course of implementing education
reforms, the government realised that it
would not be possible to achieve its
reforms objectives without involving
CSOs as their expertise in social
mobilisation of communities is well
established and can be applied for
government's education reforms. It was
decided that most of the schools will be
established as informal schools at initial
stages. Congruity of goals led to
collaboration between provincial
government and CSOs in the education
sector.
The SCSPEB, has been working in
Baluchistan for the past fourteen years
promoting partnerships between
communities and government on a
sustainable basis through social
mobilization and capacity building. The
Society was established as an NGO in
1993 as a result of a successful
experiment in which 20 Community
Support Process (CSP) schools were set
up in Loralai in 1992. Initially Society
worked with the technical and financial
assistance of the Directorate of Primary
Education (PED), Trust for Voluntary
Organisations (TVO) and UNICEF and
by 1996 had established 360 CSP
schools through community
participation.
The Society's innate philosophy is to
promote human development by
utilizing community mobilization
strategies to establish governmentcommunity collaboration. Society
realizes that promoting education as a
whole, especially for girls, requires
support from all stakeholders: parents,
community, schools, education
department and local government. It is
only through the active interest and
sense of shared responsibility of each
stakeholder that access to and quality of
education can be ensured.
In 2001, SCSPEB received the
prestigious UN Award from the UN
System in Pakistan for its inspirational
contribution for promoting female
education in the remote rural areas of
Baluchistan and for developing the
Community Support Process (CSP)
model. Society is the only organization in
Pakistan to have been awarded this
prestigious honour. Other major
interventions include establishment of
Community Support Process, Village
Development Committee, Home
Schools, Fellowship Program, Social
Mobilization Component, Adolescent
Health Life Skills, Primary Education
Quality Improvement Programme
(PEQIP), Parent Teacher School
Management Committee (PTSMC), the
Increased Primary School Participation of
Girls (IPSPG) programme, and Afghan
Refugees Education Project (AREP). The
Organization is an inspiring example of
fruitful and effective collaboration not
only with the government but World
Bank, UNICEF, TVO, CIDA, UNDP, ADB
and government of Netherlands.
Society has worked with government
from the very beginning of its inception
and most of its projects have direct
linkages with the Education Department
and Ministry of Education. Over the
years, Society has remained steadfast in
its aims by establishing over 2400
formal groups/committees with 50%
female committees, organized and
working in various social sectors for the
development of the area. This generated
a positive impact and developed an
outreach contact with the far-flung areas
of Baluchistan where most basic facilities
are not available. In villages where
formal groups are organized, the
SCSPEB had conducted various phase
wise trainings to build the capacity of
illiterate people to make them effective
and efficient partners in developmental
activities. These trainings develop a
sense of ownership within the local
community to maintain the basic
facilities provided to their village.
SCSPEB believes in community
participation for sustainable
development and its processes have
proved that sustainable development is
possible provided communities are
involved. Society was chosen by Aga
Khan Foundation Pakistan to implement
the Releasing Confidence and Creativity
(RCC) Programme in Baluchistan. RCC,
a USAID funded Programme, focuses on
supporting practices and structures in
communities, schools, NGOs and the
government that effectively promote
Early Childhood Development. The RCC
Programme concentrates on
encouraging innovation and developing
techniques that can be replicated by
government and NGO partners. For
these reasons, the provincial
governments have been intimately
involved in the planning and support of
the Programme.
Another collaborative initiative is the
Community Girls Middle Schools
(CGMS) emerging from the fact that
middle schools are not adequate in
numbers to provide access to the
primary passed girls and existing
government resources are not enough
to fill this gap. Therefore, the need for
an innovative and sustainable model
was felt which could provide a middle
education facility to the primary pass
girls of the rural areas through the joint
support and supervision of the
government and community. In April
2003, SCSPEB with the support of
Development in Literacy (DIL) initiated
the pilot project of Community Girls
Middle Schools in three districts
(Mastung, Pishin and Ziarat) of
Baluchistan by establishing 10 such
schools (within existing government
schools) through public private
partnership. Each of the middle schools
not only serves the particular village in
which it has been established but at the
same time also addresses the needs of
the primary pass girls in nearly 30 to 50
villages. Before the establishment of the
schools an intense activity of cluster
identification was done. In this context
60 clusters were identified in four
districts (Pishin, Mastung, Ziarat and
Quetta) out of which only 10 clusters
were found to have potential and were
selected for school establishment.
Quetta district had been dropped
because the identified clusters were not
fulfilling the set criteria.
Working in the seven districts Ziarat,
Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Mastung, Chaghi,
Loralai and Lasbela in Baluchistan,
SCSPEB has brought revolutionary
changes in the classrooms; various
training courses have been conducted to
train teachers in making learning more
interesting and innovative. Since the
implementation of the Programme
enrolment has increased considerably
due to the restoration of people's faith in
government schools once again.
Government supported the CSOs with
all their resources and expertise and the
CSOs on their part implemented the
project which proved to be a very rich
learning experience. Currently the
reputation of Society as one of the
leading CSOs in the field of education is
mainly because of its successful working
relationship with the government. As a
result of Society's contribution in the field
of education, the Baluchistan
government is now convinced that CSOs
provide the most efficient platform to
launch educational projects at the grass
root level.
30
NWFP
North West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is the smallest in size of
the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Pashtuns
(Pakhtoons). Neighbouring regions include Afghanistan to the west
and north, and the Northern Areas and Kashmir to the northeast
and east. The NWFP has an estimated population of roughly 21
million that does not include more than 3 million Afghan refugees
and their descendants in the province.The major language spoken
in the NWFP is Pashto, Hindko and Seraiki. The majority of the
population speaks pashto while Hindko is the predominant
language in the erstwhile Hazara division and seraiki is spoken in
Dera Ismail Khan. The Provincial Assembly of North-West Frontier
Province is unicameral and consists of 124 seats of which 2% are
reserved for non-Muslims and 17% for women only. There are 24
districts in NWFP. The trend towards higher education is rapidly
increasing in the province and the NWFP is home to Pakistan's
foremost engineering university (Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute),
which is located in Topi, a town in Swabi district. The University of
Peshawar is also a notable institution of higher learning. The
Frontier Post is perhaps the province's best-known newspaper and
addresses many of the various issues facing the local population.
Pashto folk music is popular in NWFP and has a rich tradition going
back hundreds of years. The main instruments are the Rubab,
mangey and harmonium.
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Environmental Protection Society (EPS)
---- building a better tomorrow
Social and economic deprivation
besieged Gogdara Village in Swat
valley. The community had serious
concerns over the dilapidated
infrastructure, poverty and gender
disparity prevalent in the village.
Community Managed Infrastructure
(CMI) initiative of EPS & MRDP brought
far reaching effects in the village. Street
side drains and street pavements costing
Rs. 1,655,135 were constructed with the
help of a 10% share from the
community.
Founded by idealistic young university
graduates in 1991, EPS is an attempt at
raising awareness about planned
urbanization and environmental
conservation. EPS operates in Pakistan's
mountainous areas, which have seen
tremendous degradation over the past
half century. Lack of proper planning
and good governance, increasing
population and migration to the region
have also added to the degradation of
the physical, social and cultural
environment of the region. Since its
inception, EPS has been working closely
with local communities. Field experience
has highlighted that local communities
contribute significantly towards the
physical development of their
surroundings, if properly mobilized and
if their developmental initiatives are
technically supported. Actively
promoting social development, EPS
facilitates the forming and capacity
building of Community Based
Organizations (CBOs).
EPS believes that sustainable
development can only be achieved if all
the stakeholders- government, civil
society sector and community take a
proactive and a collaborative approach
Investing in our rural roadways and
bridges is more than just investing in
concrete and steel; it is also an
investment in our future “Kit Bond”
“We feel that EPS was very
conscientious about its work and was
fully involved in planning, designing
and implementation, monitoring and
repair and maintenance of the project.
EPS has also made us realise the value
of self reliance. We now look forward
to more of such Community Managed
Infrastructure initiatives”…community
members-Village Gogdara
towards development. This philosophy is
reflected in all its collaborative with
Federal Ministry of Environment GoP,
SNPO, United Nations Development
Programme, IUED-Geneva University,
DFID-British Council, Primary Education
Project Government of NWFP, Water Aid,
and Community Infrastructure Project.
Malakand Rural Development Project
(MRDP) initiated in 1999 by the NWFP
Government and co-financed by the
Asian Development Bank encompassed
multi-sectoral areas of development and
strove for active participation of local
communities. Primary objectives of
MRDP were to increase productivity of
the low income groups and built
capacity of rural women in districts of
Buner, Swat, Shangla and Malakand
Agency. MRDP required the assistance of
local NGOs in area development
initiatives for reduction of rural poverty
through human resource development,
improved social services delivery and
development of infrastructure. EPS with
its previous history of working with CBOs
in the area was the ideal partner for this
collaboration.
EPS was provided funding by MRDP for
the establishment of the Social
Organization Units (SOUs) in Swat. The
purpose of these SOUs was to actively
involve the community in the
development process thereby fostering
realisation about the value of self-help.
The community identified the areas that
needed attention and EPS assisted by
providing them with operational
support. EPS established two SOUs, one
in Lower Swat and the other in Upper
Swat as its field office to accelerate the
project activities and provide easy
accessibility and ease to the local
communities. EPS prepares work plans
for the SOU as it has the responsibility
of maintaining the financial records and
reporting on monthly and quarterly basis
as required by the Project Management
Unit (PMU) of MRDP. Besides this, EPS
conducts training for capacity building
of the communities, assists in resource
mobilization of marginalized groups and
lastly EPS facilitates other
implementation partners in networking
with the communities.
The essence of synergy comes out very
succinctly in this government-CSO
collaboration, for both of them it is a
win-win situation. The government lacks
the administrative capabilities to work in
far flung areas, which is remedied by a
local NGO's understanding of the
culture and region, widespread
networking and its extensive outreach.
As for the local NGO it gets financial
assistance from the government to
enable communities of the area to
progress from the rudimentary
development stages.
This particular type of collaboration
though very successful in achieving its
objectives, has its fair share of
controversy. The organization has some
strong reservations about the working
methodology of the Project Management
Unit (PMU). They believe that the basic
objective of establishing a separate PMU
was to facilitate the CSO so it can work
independently of all bureaucratic
hurdles. However PMU turned out to be
another bureaucracy with that the
officials concerned thinking of
themselves as superiors; this caused
hindrances in the management of the
project. EPS is completely at ease with
other government departments and pays
tribute to them. They believe if CSO is to
work only with the departments, it would
be a lot more feasible than the current
system of working under PMU. Despite
on ground successes, this collaboration
indicates to attitudinal problems on part
of the government functionaries.
Pakistan Village Development
Programme (PVDP)
--- empowering the masses
PVDP is one of the dynamic civil society
organisations in the NWFP region. Since
its inception in 1999, the organisation
has undertaken projects that other
NGOs often considered unmentionable
in a closed society like Pakistan. Its
objectives have been to encourage,
build and strengthen the technical and
management capacity of development
organisations (CBOs, NGOs and
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C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Government Line Departments), it aims
to support as well as develop replicable
models of and strategies for sustainable
development based on community
participation and local resource
mobilization. PVDP has also targeted its
efforts towards supporting initiatives for
sustainable community based gender
sensitive development with particular
focus on Reproductive/Primary Health
Care, Non-Formal Education, Drinking
Water Supply and Environmental
Sanitation and has attempted to create
linkages between different stakeholders
including development organisations
(private and public) for sustainable
development
Over the years some of PVDP's major
interventions have been Civil Society
Human and Institutional Development
Programme (HID- CHIP), Swat Kohistan
Education Programme (SKEP), HIV/AIDS
Awareness, Care & Support Programme,
Enhancement of Adolescent Health Life
Skills Programme (EAHLS), Life Skill
Based Education Programme (LSBE) and
Buner Girls Education Programme.
PVDP has carried out these interventions
with support from international partners
such as Civil Society HID Programme
(CHIP), Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), Muslim
Care, Catholic Relief Services
(CRS/Pakistan) and World Population
Foundation (WPF). However, the
significant characteristic of all these
programmes has been the continuous
involvement of related government
departments/ministries in all stages of
programme design and development.
Life Skill Based Education Programme
(LSBE) was launched in 2003 by WPF-P
in all four provinces of Pakistan through
its partner NGOs. Of these the
organisation selected for carrying out
this programme in NWFP was PVDP.
Since WPF-P's funded LSBE needed to
be implemented through the medium of
Investing in our rural roadways and
bridges is more than just investing in
concrete and steel; it is also an
investment in our future “Kit Bond”
“We feel that EPS was very
conscientious about its work and was
fully involved in planning, designing
and implementation, monitoring and
repair and maintenance of the project.
EPS has also made us realise the value
of self reliance. We now look forward
to more of such Community Managed
Infrastructure initiatives”…community
members-Village Gogdara
schools, PVDP decided to establish
collaboration of an administrative nature
with the Local Government, at the district
level as well as provincial government,
from its very inception. Thereby, ensuring
government's involvement as well as
assistance at all levels of Programme
planning and implementation. The initial
reluctance on the part of government
was mitigated by conducting a survey of
10 Government schools and
demonstrating the gravity and extent of
problems faced by adolescents of this
country. Consequently, permission from
the government for the implementation
of the Programme was obtained by
signing of an MoU.
Besides enlisting involvement of
Government in the initial phases, PVDP
ensured close and regular participation
of government at all levels. Since the
organization was to use the premises of
government schools for programme
implementation, selection of 25 schools
(12 boys, 12 girls and 1 madrassa) was
done with government's involvement.
The teachers required in each school
were selected from within the teaching
faculty with the full involvement of the
concerned school Principal. Even for the
development of the Life Skills Manual
that was to be implemented in the
schools involvement of the concerned
government officials was sought and the
manual was finalized in light of their
feed back. Moreover once compiled the
manual was formally approved by the
Department of Schools and Literacy.
Collaborating closely with government,
international partner organizations and
local communities through its
participatory integrated approach, PVDP
has contributed significantly to the
development work in the NWFP region.
LSBE is a unique collaboration between
a donor, government and civil society
that has achieved many milestones.
It is indeed an evidence not only of
PVDP's quality of work but also of its
fruitful collaboration with the
Government that in spite of NWFP
Government's ban on NPOs working in
government schools in November 2004,
PVDP was allowed to continue its
activities in the schools. Moreover, in
2005 National AIDS Control
Programme (NACP) evaluated this
programme and impressed with its
apparent success provided additional
funding for extension of this programme
to the private sector schools of the
province with especial emphasis on
creating HIV/AIDS related awareness in
the youth.
between the government and PVDP has
resulted in the professional training of
over 160 teachers and personal
grooming of over 6000 students in 25
Government and 45 private sector
schools of Peshawar. Sensitization of
parents and formation of a number of
support groups for ensuring successful
continuation of this Programme is an
added advantage. The case of PVDP
proves that the collaboration between
government and CSOs is shaping up
nicely in NWFP and with government
realising that working together, both
parties can bring change in a more
effective manner. PVDP is quite hopeful
that they are very close to bringing some
policy level change which will make the
collaboration more smooth and
efficacious. The stance of government
regarding role of PVDP and its work on
sensitive issues like these has altered
since the progress of the project was
made available to them and currently
government fully supports PVDP.
Today, this productive collaboration
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Punjab
Punjab is Pakistan's second largest province at 205,344 km²
(79,284 square miles) and is located at the northwestern edge of
the geologic Indian plate in South Asia. The provincial level-capital
and main city of the Punjab is Lahore. Nearly 60% of Pakistan's
population lives in the Pakistani Punjab. Most areas in Punjab
experience fairly cool winters, often accompanied by rain. By midFebruary the temperature begins to rise; springtime weather
continues until mid-April, when the summer heat sets in. The
population of the province is estimated to be 86,084,000 in 2005
and is home to over half the population of Pakistan. The major
language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi. The Provincial Assembly
of the Punjab is unicameral and consists of 371 seats of which 2%
are reserved for non-Muslims and 17% for women only. There are
35 districts in Punjab, Pakistan. The literacy rate has increased
greatly since independence. In 2003, over 53% of the population of
the province was estimated to be literate by the Labour Force
Survey. The province is home to many well known historical sites
including the Shalimar Gardens, the Badshahi Mosque, and the
ruins of the ancient city of Harrapa. The Anarkali Market and
Jahangir's Tomb are prominent in the city of Lahore as is the Lahore
Museum, while the ancient city of Taxila in the northwest was once a
major centre of Buddhism.
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Family Planning Association
of Pakistan (FPAP)
---- facilitating a progressive tomorrow
According to the first census in 1951,
Pakistan's population was 34 million but
the social and cultural taboos made
even the broaching of the subject
formidable. Unreceptive to family
planning, official circles too were
sceptical of the embryo Association's
aims. To them it was only a club for few
eccentric members. A Volunteer s
reminisces, even the Health Department,
a top notch institution in Karachi, was
against family planning. People, too,
were not cooperative. Promoters of
family planning were not only hurled
with abuses but were also pelted with
stones. Only a few dared working in the
Family Planning Association of Pakistan.
Its success today is a result of tireless
efforts and belief.
The FPAP symbolizes the voluntary
movement for population planning in
Pakistan. Its founding members were a
group of dynamic and educated women
who faced considerable opposition to
family planning. Seeking to attain
reduction in fertility through
improvements in access to and quality
of reproductive health services, FPAP as
an NGO, initiated its efforts to contain
population growth. In order to
strengthen the movement it became the
10th member of the International
Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in
1953, a year after the World
Organization's foundation but continued
running on donations and charity with
endeavour and persistence for the
welfare of the people.
The Association has extensive field
experience, management capacity,
professional and technical competence
and above all a corps of committed
volunteers who at all levels provide
support and fully participate in FPAP's
programmes. FPAP follows a holistic
approach, which is innovative, flexible
and primarily aims at working with and
through the people right from the
grassroots level to the individuals at the
policy making levels. Major intervention
areas of FPAP include reproductive
health and family planning services,
community based reproductive health
extension program, reproductive health
extension, facts for life program and
Islam and Family planning. To control
the bourgeoning growth of population,
FPAP has been successful in effecting
relationships with a broad range of
international organizations such as
UNESCO, UNICEF, CIDA, UNFPA, DFID
(UK), David & Lucille Packard
Foundation, Kredit Fur Wiederaufbau
(KfW),Oxfam and Save the Children. It
also works as a partner with government
of Azad Jammu Kashmir, Pakistan Armed
Forces and City District Governments of
Lahore, Chakwal and Kohat. Today FPAP
is the largest non-government
organization in the social sector and
alongside the government is the key
provider of family planning services in
Pakistan.
In view of the dismal state of
reproductive health and family planning
facilities existing in Azad Jammu &
Kashmir, the Department of Health
(DoH) and FPAP joined hands in 1976
for the provision of family planning
services to the AJK population through
the existing health infrastructure. This
collaboration was further strengthened
with the assistance of the World Bank
under the “Northern Health Project
AJK”. Under this project a
comprehensive joint venture was
launched for provision of family
planning services in all districts and
Tehsil headquarter hospitals, rural health
centres and Mother & Child Health
Centres of AJK. Under the MoU signed
between AJK Department of Health
(DoH) and FPAP, 82 % of the
expenditure was to be provided by
World Bank through the AJK
Government and the remaining 18 % by
FPAP.
After completion of the project, not
wanting to lose this important initiative
and recognizing its impact on macro
economic development plans and on an
individual's quality of life, another
development project titled
"Strengthening the Reproductive
Health/Family Planning Services in AJK"
was prepared by the Department of
Health, AJK. Acknowledging the time
tested AJK Department of Health (DoH)
and FPAP collaboration which was
central to the success of the initial
project, the public/private sector
collaborative approach initiated under
National Health Program (NHP) was
retained. The proposed project aims at
continuation and strengthening of
reproductive health and family planning
services at all health outlets. The AJK
Cabinet Development Committee
approved the project on March 24,
2003. The Project with a total estimated
cost of Rs. 79.798 million, of which
65% will be provided by the AJK
government and the remaining 35% by
Family Planning Association of Pakistan
will be implemented over a period of 48
months.
RH&FP services extends over a period
exceeding quarter of a century. This is
proof enough of success and mutual
trust. FPAP contributes positively to
achieving the national goals set by
Government of Pakistan for improving
the quality of life of its citizens with active
and effective community participation.
This dynamic collaboration has led to
the offering of RH and Family Planning
Services at 538 locations including
through 279 service outlets i.e. BHUs,
MCH & RHCs, 61 Private Practitioner's
clinics and 151 Community Based
Distribution points. Besides, three private
hospitals and one Mobile Contraceptive
Unit taking services to the clients'
residence, other advocacy programmes
like girl-child and women empowerment
closely linked to the service delivery have
benefited some 182 women and
children. Four Community Units
established one each in Mirpur, Kotli,
Rawalakot & Muzaffarabad/AJK
undertake advocacy activities at the
community level to generate RH&FP
clients and support for the project.
According to FPAP sources, this is the
first example of collaboration where the
proposal of a CSO was included in the
PC-I of government. This self
explanatory example shows the
significance of this particular
collaboration as it has not only achieved
its targets through transparent
programme delivery but also brought an
important policy level change in the
working of government, which was
unprecedented before. CSOs should
take a leaf out of FPAP's book to develop
their own strategies when it comes to
work in close collaboration with the
Government.
The history of this collaboration between
FPAP and the AJK Government for
Case Studies
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C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati Idara (GBTI)
--- paving a path to progress
The availability of electrical power at an
affordable price has long been
identified as one of the main hurdles to
the industrial and economic growth of
Pakistan. WAPDA has continually sought
to maximize the country's capacity for
hydropower-generation and reduce the
ever-increasing burden of imported fuel.
However the implementation history of
all Mega Hydro Power and Water
Reservoir Projects in Pakistan or
elsewhere reveals that those responsible
for the execution of these projects face
myriad of issues during the
implementation phase. On one hand
they encounter the technical challenges
and on the other they face a range of
social and economic issues emanating
from the displacement of human
settlements. While the agencies
responsible for the execution of these
projects are well equipped to deal with
the technical issues they lack the skill
and the knowledge required to handle
the social and economic dimensions.
This realization on part of the World
Bank and WAPDA helped create a
provision for establishing a project
NGO called Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati
Idara in the Ghazi Barotha Hydropower
(GBHP) project area.
The specified project area was scattered
over three districts in two different
provinces Swabi and Haripur in NWFP
and Attock in Punjab. It included 19
main councils having 100 villages with
total population of 364,696. Since
National Rural Support Programme
(NRSP) already had its presence in most
of the villages of District Attock, the task
of setting up GBTI was assigned to it.
For the purpose, an endowment fund of
Rs. 100 million was provided by WAPDA
in 1995. In addition WAPDA also
committed to provide Rs 176 million to
facilitate the implementation of
Integrated Regional Development Plan
(IRDP) for the social and economic
development of the area. Against the
disruption to the local community the
construction work employed about
13,500 local people. Over the course of
time the capital influx into the local
economy had a significant impact on the
economic growth of the area.
GBTI was given the mandate to deal
with social and economic dimensions
that arose as a result of displacement of
GBHP affected communities of the three
districts. The scope of GBTI's services
include, compensation for lost assets of
the affectees through land acquisition
department; helping the skilled and
unskilled manpower of the affected
communities avail employment
opportunities created by the project;
assistance of the involved line
departments including WAPDA in timely
and smooth processing and payment of
compensation claims and finally to
launch an Integrated Regional
Development Plan to minimise the
poverty of affected and other poor
communities living in the area.
Since its inception till the end of 2002,
GBTI has remained largely engaged in
monetary compensation to affectees and
also helping them to get employment in
GBHP. As a first step, GBTI set up an
'Affectees Facilitation Cell' (AFC) which
acted as a social mediator to assist
various stakeholders of GBHP,
particularly WAPDA and displaced
communities. Furthermore, to deal with
land compensation GBTI facilitated the
organisation of a Land Valuation
Committee (LVC) for each affected
village, comprising a representative of
WAPDA, two representatives of the
affected village, a representative of
GBTI and the Assistant Commissioner
who headed the committee meeting. In
addition the Land Acquisition Collector
(LAC) who had the final decision making
authority on rewarding the
compensation also participates in the
meeting as an observer.
Through the stated process GBTI
ensured the payment of compensation
to around 30,000 affectees belonging
to 55 villages. GBTI also facilitated the
recruitment of over 8000 skilled, semi
skilled and unskilled unemployed
people of the area. After having
completed the tasks to a large extent by
the end of 2002, GBTI diverted its focus
on IRDP. Meanwhile GBTI's established
AFC continues to deal with the left over
land compensation and other issues
which continue to surface on a
continual basis.
To design an Integrated Regional
Development Plan for poverty reduction
of the displaced community a study was
conducted by WAPDA to ascertain those
community needs which they were
willing to address themselves provided
they were given social and technical
guidance as well as financial assistance.
The study revealed that communities
needed skills enhancement to take
advantage of growing demand of
various services in the market, access to
basic health and education facilities,
capital development to set up micro
businesses, infrastructure development
and access to services and information.
The study also impressed upon the need
to provide equitable job opportunities to
local women.
To undertake the communities'
development in a sustainable and
effective manner, GBTI adopted the tried
and tested social mobilization
methodology of Rural Support
Programmes (RSPs), which is holistic in
nature and tries to build around those
needs that the community members are
willing to address themselves. IRDP
encompasses the provision of social
guidance to communities through
organizing them into viable community
organisations; capital formation through
encouraging communities to save and
providing them access to credit facility;
infrastructure development; skills
enhancement; provision of health care
and education and access to modern
agriculture technology. Even though the
token IRDP funds released so far by
WAPDA have been utilized in full, GBTI
still continues to implement the
development work through its own
resources. Plans for continuation of IRDP
once again through this governmentCSO collaboration are also in the
pipeline.
GBTI's successful collaboration with the
government in the past and likely
continuation in the future owes itself to
the joint ownership of the project by the
parties concerned. Moreover the attempt
on the part of GBTI to keep
communication lines open through the
holding of regular coordination meetings
with WAPDA officials and ensuring their
close involvement in the undertaken
activities by regular submission of
monthly, quarterly and annual progress
reports has gone a long way in ensuring
a smooth ride. The ex-officio
representation of Member Water WAPDA
in GBTI's 16-member Board of Directors
has also endorsed the involvement of
government in all stages of GBTI's
project planning, design,
implementation and monitoring. GBTI's
adoption of a multi-disciplinary
approach for their development
initiatives, in which their team of
development practitioners has worked in
Case Studies
44
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
close interaction with the community
members and especially the
Government, has enabled the
organisation to deal with the
complexities involved in the social
mobilization process in a more
transparent and effective manner.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA)
--- spreading light
Education for All (EFA) the second of the
eight Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) requires children everywhere in
the world to at least complete primary
schooling by 2015. Education statistics
in the Punjab province of almost 84
million people are deplorable even
though Punjab has slightly better
education indicators than other
provinces; it still trails behind in
comparison to low-income areas in the
region. The rate of participation in the
education sector is very low with 47
percent male and 43 percent female
primary net enrolment rates. In terms of
adult literacy rates, Punjab is also
among the lowest in the region, with
only 36 percent of women and 57
percent of men considered literate.
To improve these appalling figures
Punjab Government in 2003 embarked
on a wide-ranging reform agenda to
improve fiscal management, promote
devolution and improve service delivery
starting with education. Low family
income, high costs of school materials,
poor quality of teaching and inadequate
infrastructure were determined as the
main constraints to providing greater
access to education. However, targeted
interventions through the reform
program are beginning to show results.
Primary school enrolment in the
province registered an increase of
900,000 children under the first phase
of the Education Reforms particularly the
girls. Thousands of girl students are
receiving stipends, free text books are
reaching the students in a timely manner
and local community and CSOs
involvement is showing encouraging
results.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) is a trust
based organization that endeavours to
promote education as a comprehensive
process for human and social
transformation. It aims to create an
education system which provides quality
education without discrimination on
basis of gender, class, religion, colour
and ethnicity and to address the issue of
bottlenecks in education through timely
resource mobilization and influencing of
public policy. ITA's core programs
include the school improvement
program, school enrichment program,
School Improvement Network Pakistan
(SINP), Child Labour Initiatives and
Alliance Formation for Scaled Up &
Inclusive Action (AFED).
ITA with the support of it partners is
striving for an education system that is
free, accessible, fair and provides quality
teaching to the students. US Department
of Labour, CIDA, CIAN, IEARN, INTEL,
ILO; ESRA, USAID, UNESCO, Ministry of
Social Welfare and Special Education
and Punjab Education Foundation have
collaborated with ITA one way or the
other to remove the malaise existing in
the current education system. ITA is
working with the government on a
number of initiatives like the school
adoption program, training of teachers
of marginalized private schools and
enhancing competencies of government
school teachers.
Punjab Education Sector Reform
Program (PERSP), a major initiative on
behalf of the Punjab Government has
through the Directorate of Staff
Development (DSD) launched a
Continuous Professional Development
(CPD) framework for public school
teachers and education personnel. DSD
in collaboration with ITA has set up a
cluster based concept of District Teacher
Educators (DTEs) and for this purpose
they developed a core team of District
Teacher Educators (DTEs). ITA was
chosen by DSD because of its expertise
and part history to train some 120
DTEs. In a similar collaboration with
Punjab Education Foundation, ITA is
working on improving education
standards in private schools in
marginalized and less affluent areas. ITA
provides services for capacity building of
teachers from underprivileged private
areas through cluster based training
workshops. These training interventions
are exclusively for low income private
schools in urban, semi-urban and rural
areas of the Punjab province.
Their school adoption programme is yet
another example of mutual benefits
accrued through synergies affected by
linkages with the public private sector.
Through this programme the existing
infrastructure of government schools is
improved with the collaboration of
corporations and ITA. While developing
the intervention plans and estimating the
costs involved, the professional expertise
of the corporations, the CSOs, and the
government are utilized.
the prolific level of development that can
be realized through constructive
engagement. The government in
collaboration with an experienced and a
goal driven CSO achieves its goal of
imparting quality education through well
trained teachers. Whereas, the ITA in this
case gets exposure through working with
the government which facilitates the
CSO in establishing linkages with
foreign donors. It involves a mutual
understanding between partners at every
level of collaboration which basically
forms the basis of a successful
partnership. This is what exactly
happened in the case of ITA where all
government departments, be it
education department or the directorate
for staff development, all government
officials were available to ITA with their
resources and expertise. In the school
development programme particularly,
the education department was very
happy with the performance of ITA as the
CSO has made ground breaking
changes in government schools which
not only benefited the community at
large but also enabled the government
to take notice of such improvements and
bring these to other schools as well.
The improvements in government
schools have convinced the government
to expand its horizon and involve as
many CSOs as possible to come and
adopt as many schools as they can so
that the chain of good work does not
discontinue. It is unfortunate that no
policy level change has taken place so
far at the government level to make
these kinds of collaborations mandatory.
However if this team work continues, it is
hoped that one day this kind of policy
level shift will indeed take place.
This collaboration between the
government and ITA speaks volumes of
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C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP)
--- empowering communities and
strengthening self help
The genesis of PRSP can be traced back
like other RSPs in the country to the
success of AKRSP in early eighties. PRSP
was established through a Punjab
Government initiative as the fourth RSP
in the country in 1998 with a provincial
government endowment. It was
registered as a nonprofit organisation
under Companies Ordinance 1984.
The distinguishing feature of RSPs is the
institutionalising the concept of social
mobilisation and self help which has
now become the backbone of almost
every development works even in public
sector. The areas of PRSP intervention
are social mobilisation, human resource
development, natural resource
management, physical infrastructure
building, capital formation through
savings and micro credits, social sector
delivery in health and education and
linkages with government and donors.
PRSP's collaboration with Government
has been a natural outcome since its
very existence emanated out of
government support. Since then it has
been working as any other CSO for the
achievement of poverty alleviation in the
rural areas of Punjab through
community mobilisation and micro
credit. Later education department
allocated Rs. 16 million for the
establishment of 80 non formal schools
in the rural areas. PRSP allocated Rs. 2
million to each of its 8 regions for the
establishment of schools. With in a short
span of time the organisation was able
to establish the targeted 80 schools. Rs.
2 lac for each school were invested in
saving deposit schemes and monthly
profit was used for running expanses of
schools including teachers' salary thus
making it a sustainable venture. The
success of this collaborative venture led
to a subsequent another partnership
between PRSP and provincial Education
Department whereby another 300 non
formal schools were established in the
province.
Another collaborative endeavour of both
materialised when Government through
its Khushhal Pakistan Programme
allocated Rs. 80 million for infrastructure
projects. All projects were to be
implemented through participatory
approach where communities were
asked to share the 20 % of the total
cost. This project again proved to be
highly successful as the dilapidated
infrastructure in the province particularly
in rural areas badly needed
improvements. The success of these
projects brought more collaborative
projects to PRSP such as Pakistan
Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) signed
an MOU with PRSP and funded for its
micro credit programme and physical
infrastructure programme on a very
large basis. The first phase of agreement
ran for three years in which PPAF not
only provided seed money for
institutional support but also gave funds
to run the micro credit project and
community physical infrastructure
project. The project was further extended
into 2nd and 3rd phases because of its
success and each time the amount of
funding was larger than the previous
one. Currently PRSP is one of PPAF's
most important and successful partner
achieving new heights with each passing
year.
The commonality of development goals
and supplementary nature of
collaboration has now led the
government to entrust PRSP the
responsibility to run Basic Health Units
(BHUs) initially in rural areas of Rahim
Yar Khan District but its operations have
extended to five more districts of Punjab.
The project was implemented after
careful planning in partnership with
health department and it has proved to
be a successful one manifested by much
improved conditions of these BHUs in
rural areas. Likewise, PRSP also
collaborates with government for their
National Programme for improvement
of Water Courses to the extent of Punjab
where PRSP jointly runs the programme
with irrigation department.
An analysis of these joint interventions
reveals that PRSP's core strength in
social mobilisation and ensuring
community support has been vital in the
success. Other contributory factors to
success are the commonality of
development goals, umbilical
relationship of PRSP with government
and clear cut modes and rules of
partnership through signing of MoUs.
All projects that PRSP implemented with
Government were successful as far as
the achievement of targets was
concerned and the extension of almost
all the programmes is a proof to that.
PRSP has formed village education
committees to ensure the smooth
running of its schools whereas in other
projects it has formed the project
committees and COs to ensure the
proper implementation and monitoring
of infrastructure projects. PRSP also has
its own Monitoring and Evaluation wing
that constantly monitor the progress and
report to both its own head office and to
the government.
criticism as well. The biggest criticism is
that neither the government nor the
organisation on its own volition has so
far opted for its external evaluation and
actual impact assessment. Another fierce
criticism is regarding the micro credit
programme where PPAF provides credit
amount for 6% interest rate whereas
PRSP further disburses the amount to
communities for 20% interest rate thus
making the poor, poorer the critics say.
The health programme of PRSP is also
under strong criticism because of the
lack of social mobilisation activities
regarding the programme. It was
believed that BHUs will work more
efficiently if communities are to be
involved in the process which
unfortunately in this case did not
happen. PRSP staff is running the show
and communities' involvement is
anything but visible. The role of
Government instead of being proactive
has just been that of heavily relying on
RSPs without adequate monitoring and
impact assessment provisions though
marriage of convenience has led to the
success of most collaborative projects
and satisfactory targets obtained.
Despite successes on record, PRSP like
other RSPs have their fair share of
48
Sindh
Sindh is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is
home to the Sindhis. Sindh is located on the western corner of
South Asia, bordering the Iranian plateau in the west.
Geographically it is the third largest province of Pakistan, stretching
about 579 km from north to south and 442 km (extreme) or 281
km (average) from east to west, with an area of 140,915 km².A
subtropical region, Sindh is hot in the summer and cold in winter.
Temperatures frequently rise above 46 °C (115 °F) between May
and August, and the minimum average temperature of 2 °C (36 °F)
occurs during December and January. The annual rainfall averages
about seven inches, falling mainly during July and August. The
1998 Census of Pakistan indicated a population 30.4 million, the
current population can be estimated to be in the range of 36 to 38
million using a compound growth in the range of 2% to 2.8% since
then. The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is unicameral and consists of
168 seats of which 5% are reserved for non-Muslims and 17% for
women. There are 23 districts in Sindh, Pakistan. Education in the
province is widespread and the province has a high literacy rate
compared to other parts of Pakistan, mainly due to the importance
of Karachi.
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Health and Nutrition
Development Society (HANDS)
--- helping hands
A small scale initiative of one man has
over the years become the largest NPO
to be working in rural Sindh. This
phenomenal success can be attributed to
Dr. Abdul Ghaffar Billoo who along with
his friends has been working in rural
Sindh to provide basic health facilities to
the people who could have neither
access nor afford these facilities.
HANDS, is a non-profit registered
organization working since 1979 with a
mission to improve primary and
secondary health facilities, quality of
education and to alleviate poverty
through capacity building. HANDS works
in public and private sectors and is
benefiting more than 2 million people of
5000 villages in districts Hyderabad,
Sanghar, Badin, Thatta, Shikarpur,
Sukker, Dadu and others. HANDS with a
community participatory approach
initially worked in health and education
but now has extended it's interventions to
community development, water and
sanitation, credit and savings, gender,
advocacy and networking and human
resource development and has more
than 1,895 Community Organizations
(male and female).
HANDS has collaborated with both
international agencies and government
to bring about a social transformation in
rural Sindh by empowering the local
community. Over the years HANDS has
collaborated with World Population
Foundation, UNICEF, INFAQ
Foundation, The Aga Khan Foundation,
The Aga Khan University, USAID, Trust
for Voluntary Organizations (TVO) and
John Hopkins University USA. At the
national level with Sindh Education
Foundation, Ministry of Women
Development, City District Government
Karachi, Government of Sindh,
National Commission for Human
Development and Education Sector
Reform Assistance Program (ESRA).
HANDS' different programmes running
in collaboration with government are
Reproductive Health Programme in 13
districts of Sindh, Tawana Pakistan which
is funded by the Ministry of Women &
Development Government of Pakistan,
Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal and The Aga Khan
University Karachi, Releasing
Confidence and Creativity (Early
Childhood Development) sponsored by
The Aga Khan Foundation in
collaboration with USAID and is
operational in district Hyderabad, The
Fellowship School Programme (District
Hyderabad) in collaboration with the
Sindh Education Foundation (SEF),
scholarships to students supported by
INFAQ Foundation.
Applauding their development
initiatives, World Population Foundation
(WPF) in collaboration with District
Education Department chose HANDS as
the implementing partner for their Life
Skills Based Education Programme
(LSBE) in Sindh. The project aims to
improve the health and life skills of the
school going youth (2- 17 years) in
district Matiari Sindh. After successful
collaboration, WPF started the second
phase of the LSBE project funded by
National Aids Control Program in
2006.
To analyze the impact of the
programmes, a review meeting was
organized in which people directly or
indirectly involved in the project, were
invited for their feedback. District
government officials, religious scholars,
parents, Head Master/Mistresses,
educators, adolescents and media
representatives all candidly appraised
the pros and cons of the project whilst
impressing upon the need for strong
liaisons between the government, public
and the private sector for future
interventions.
When HANDS started working in rural
areas of Sindh, their only objective was
to reach out to the poor and provide
them with basic medical treatment and
consultations. It was only when they got
first hand information about government
facilities regarding health and education
that they decided to join hands with the
government to improve the situation.
Before taking any further step in that
particular direction, they revisited their
mission and vision statements and
incorporated their decision to work
closely with the government so that it
can be reflected in both letter and spirit
in their mission. HANDS is among those
few CSOs who have made it part of
their mission to collaborate with the
government in order to not only bring
improvements in the quality of life of
poor people but also to assist the
government in bringing about positive
changes at both policy and institutional
level. HANDS' interventions in
collaboration with government are
proof of both partners success in
achieving common goals.
The most significant change can be
observed in the health sector where they
have adopted two Tehsil Hospitals in
Rural Malir and Matiari. These hospitals
are being run by government doctors
but with the supervision and
consultation of HANDS through which
they not only donated some basic
equipment but also helped them in
establishing nursing schools where most
of the resources were generated by
HANDS. These collaborative initiatives
were made possible only when
government realized that HANDS's only
objective is to help out the poor in every
way possible. Once the trust was
developed then it was a very smooth
running and now both parties are very
comfortable with each other.
Indus Resource Centre (IRC)
--- giving a better tomorrow
IRC, Kulsoom's saviour was founded on
the learning and experience of NGO
Resource Centre, a Project of Aga Khan
Foundation as its rural model in
Khairpur Sindh. NGORC worked for the
managerial capacity building of 35
Community Based Organizations
(CBOs) through training, networking
with government and information
dissemination without providing any
financial support. The project ended
after four years but a few committed
employees felt that the full potential of
community was not being utilised to the
maximum and planned to continue their
activities. Ms Sadiqa Salahuddin, former
Director of NGORC played an important
role in bringing some like-minded
people to a new platform where they
could work with more freedom. The
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52
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
platform was named 'Indus Resource
Centre'. Building upon NGORC's
activities, the Centre started its
operations from Khairpur district in
2000 and within 3 months, operations
extended to Dadu district. As per their
mandate, collaborative programmes
with selected CBOs were developed and
efforts were made to enhance their
individual and institutional capacity. The
cross cutting themes included
mainstreaming gender, human rights,
education, cultural heritage and
environment. With the passage of time a
new dimension was added to their
programme, which effectively changed
their course of action. This was
designing and implementation of
innovative development models. The
mission of IRC is to mainstream the
marginalized communities and join the
struggle for a liberal society through
human and institutional development
(HID); and refining innovative,
contextual and cost-effective community
based development models.'
IRC is collaborating with a range of
stakeholders to facilitate a process
whereby the communities will get equal
opportunities for growth and
participation in local and national
affairs while meeting the key
development targets at the grassroots
level. Various projects have been
initiated in close collaboration with
government agencies. The major
beneficiaries of the interventions are
communities, women, youth,
government, civil society organization.
IRC's program “Quality Improvement
Support” to government schools in the
villages by working closely with district
education departments. IRC inputs
include teachers training, reactivation of
School Management Committees,
infrastructural improvement support,
establishment of Learning Resource
Centres and the provision of extracurricular activities. Indus Resource
Since Kulsoom Channa was a little girl
she had dreamt of becoming a
teacher but her father, a poor illiterate
man, would not permit her. At a tender
age she was diagnosed with
tuberculosis and the doctors instructed
that the only cure was the intake of
regular medication. As a naive little
village girl, Kulsoom did the
unthinkable, she informed her father
that she would only take the
medication if he allowed her to go to
school. Faced with a determined
daughter and a life and death
situation, the father agreed and
enrolled her into Sojhro Junior School
when she was eight years old.
Kulsoom, while completing middle
school, despite initial opposition, she
remained undaunted and won respect
of teachers and passed exams with
flying colours. She developed interest
in subjects like 'Girls Education',
'Village Women' and 'Gender
Discrimination'. Due to her good
English, teachers and students have
nicknamed her 'President Bush' in the
school. Kulsoom also generates
income from embroidery and sewing,
which helps her in contributing to
household expenses.
Centre is playing a central role in
facilitating the provincial government's
task in provision of quality and cost
effective education to the down-trodden
of the society by very effectively using the
benefits of synergistic partnerships.
IRC's basic strength is social
mobilization, an element where
government is not very strong as it lacks
the professional capabilities of
mobilizing people and coalescing them
into self-help groups. IRC brings the
capacity for social mobilization with
them which is essential while working
with the communities at grassroots level.
The teacher training component of IRC
is the best example of pooling strengths
of both parties. IRC on its part
developed the training manual,
prepared the training calendar and
invited the government teachers to
participate in the training. Education
department has made sure that not only
all the teachers attend but the
department also monitors their
performance when teachers go back to
their schools, implement the new
teaching techniques and return to the
training programme with the feedback.
EDO Education along with his deputies
visits all the schools to ensure the proper
implementation of classroom techniques.
This model looks exemplary where both
parties are contributing to improvement
in teaching methods with the overall
objective of revamping the education
system. Although the collaboration is
successful at the operational level and
IRC is contributing local level changes
but no impact on policy could be found
as a result of their successful
collaboration. IRC on it's part has time
and again made various
recommendations on different aspects
of education governance and
pedagogical techniques but due to the
complicated bureaucratic procedures
and some reluctance from Government,
no concrete development has taken
place in this regard and the project has
been limited to the provision of teachers
training and quality education to the
students in the selected schools
strengthening of teachers competencies
and other successful interventions by
IRC have not been considered for
scaling up or incorporation into the
institutionalised government systems.
The government's inability or lack of
understanding and will to implement
'change' and to scale up 'successful
pilots' is a pattern that occurs in most
cases and is evident in this case too.
Succesful collaboration remains limited
to a project approach and application
through the system is often missing
ISRA Islamic Foundation (IIF)
--- enlightening lives
The statistics on visual impairment or
blindness are staggering. Poverty and
blindness are a formidable combination,
devastating many people in the
developing world incapacitating them
with dual disability. Loss of sight often
remains a neglected handicap in our
part of the world. The World Health
Organization (WHO) considers Pakistan
as a priority country for blindness
prevention and treatment. It is estimated
that blindness is prevalent in
approximately 1 % of a population of
over 160 million. This means that there
are more than one and a half million
people in Pakistan who are blind. The
principal causes are: Cataract - 66%,
Corneal opacity - 12%, Refractive error
- 11%, Glaucoma - 3%, Others - 8%
ISRA Islamic Foundation (IIF), founded
by famous Ophthalmologist Dr Ghulam
Qadir and his friends, has been working
in Pakistan for the last 16 years and
although the hub of its activities is
Hyderabad but the organization is also
working in other parts of Sindh and
Baluchistan. The main objective of ISRA
is to contribute in the field of education
and health. Currently the organization
has established one medical college
along with a university for Business
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Education and Information Technology.
Other than that the organization has
established quite a few hospitals for
poor, needy and disadvantaged.
Al Ibrahim Eye Hospital Karachi is the
brainchild of Dr Saleh Memon, an
eminent ophthalmology professor with
30 years of work experience with Jinnah
Hospital and Medical College. After
retirement, his aspiration was to
establish an eye hospital that would
cater to the needs of the poor and the
disadvantaged. He was approached by
Dr. Ghulam Qadir Kazi who had a
similar dream of starting a new hospital
for the prevention of blindness in the
province of Sindh. Initially established
on a small leased government hospital
located in a Community Centre, this
hospital on its present premises near
Malir started with 33 beds for eye
diseases. To support the hospital, capital
expenses were donated by the
government, whereas, to meet the
recurring cost, donations from ISRA
foundation were utilized.
The hospital today is among the finest
eye hospitals in Karachi with the latest
facilities, modern equipment and
qualified staff. The distinguishing feature
of the hospital is that it is run on pure
philanthropic basis and patients are
treated totally free of cost. Most of the
Karachi's rich individuals and donor
organizations including Infaq
Foundation are regular donors of this
Hospital. The hospital has an outpatient
department, state of the art equipment
and four suites for Operation theatres
with recovery area, surgeon lounge and
sterilization area. Al-Ibrahim Eye
Hospital has so far treated over 85,000
patients, performed over 6000
surgeries, including 4,200 intraocular
implants and 260 vasectomies for
bleeding eye conditions, has successfully
conducted 16 National and 05
International Eye Camps and latest
achievements include the construction of
the state of the art OPD Block with 12
clinics. After the success of the hospital
in Memon Goth, ISRA Foundation has
established two more Eye Hospitals with
the same name in Kunri District
Tharparkar Sindh and Kharan
Baluchistan where eye patients are
treated free of cost. The institutional
arrangements were similar to the
previous hospitals with the government
providing the land and the building for
the hospitals.
ISRA and the government enjoy a very
mature long term relationship which is
based on core assistance in the form of
provision of land and building to ISRA
for hospitals. This is a classic example of
a collaboration in which the government
has secured wider outreach to the
ordinary citizens, ensuring better health
care facilities and the CSO with growing
capacity and resources is playing a vital
role in addressing social issues.
Although the arrangement is considered
to be successful, government facility is
being utilized and the CSO on its part is
managing service provision with its own
resources but there are some missing
elements. Government does not monitor
the progress at the hospital and neither
does it check the condition of the
building, maintaining absolutely zero
contact since the building was handed
over to ISRA. The CSO on it's part did
attempt to involve government in
running the affairs of the hospital and
also tried to contact Pakistan Bait ul Mal
for continuous funding but withdrew all
it's efforts due to the lengthy
bureaucratic procedures of government.
There is no denying the fact that Al
Ibrahim Eye Hospital is providing free or
cheaper treatment to the eye patients
from across Pakistan and the quality of
treatment and operations is in line with
best standards. The government
contribution cannot be denied as the
availability of main infrastructure has
played a vital role in establishing the
hospitals in both Sindh and Baluchistan.
Marie Stopes Society (MSS)
--- collaborating for change
The Marie Stopes Society (Pakistan), a
non-profit organization was established
as part of the MSI Global Partnership in
1991 with funding and technical support
from Marie Stopes International (MSI),
aiming to provide reproductive health
services in Pakistan in close
collaboration with the Ministry of
Population Welfare and Ministry of
Health. The joint interventions to address
the health needs of the poor, range from
reproductive health clinics, family
planning services, and the MCHs
(Mother Child Health Centre) in the.
During field survey, it was noticed that
after MSS upgraded the government
health facilities, a committee comprising
the EDO Health, Taaluqa Nazim, Union
Council members, RHC Medical
Superintendent, NGO representatives
and an MSI Representative were
assigned to supervise the functioning of
the units. The Nazim of Thari Mirwah
expressed reservations about the
regularity and effectiveness with which
this committee will be able to supervise
the MCH and look after the equipment
brought in by MSS. The Nazim insisted
that MSS should directly supervise the
MCH Centre and inform the committee
if any trouble-shooting was needed. This
suggestion was not in line with the role
that MSS had envisaged for itself and
neither does it leave much scope for
community ownership. MSS had
intended to upgrade the MCH centre
and hand it over to the committee.
These shifting goalposts are a major
encumbrance in their objective of
involving the community in this battle for
District Khairpur is sparsely populated
with an approximate population of two
million people the majority residing in
rural areas. Agriculture is the main
source of livelihood and the overall
literacy level of the population is
extremely low and even lower
especially amongst women. Amidst
these conditions of abject poverty,
health care is not given much attention
especially related to the Mother Child
Health. The health statistics present a
woeful state; Doctors per 10,000
population on the average are 2.31,
the nurses 0.51 for every 10,000
people and there are only 2.54
hospital beds per 10,000 of
population
provision of basic services.
MSI because of its recognised
performance and positive effects on the
community was nominated to be part of
the District Health Management Team
(DHMT) by the EDO when it was formed
in 2000 and has been regularly
attending its meetings. The objective of
the DHMT is to strengthen the capacity
of health planning and management
and oversight at the district level. The
DHMT should not be over-estimated as
a 'channel for advocacy or meaningful
collaboration since its a joint oversight
mechanism'. The MSS experience so far
shows that government does not view
NGOs as collaborators in planning but
as a resource that can be drawn upon
for promotion of activities. MSI was for
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example, actively involved in the
DHMT's sample survey of health needs
but the impact on government's
planning has been negligible. DHMT
meetings were held on a quarterly basis
and according to them, even when the
DHMT meetings were held, decisions
taken were not implemented.
Although the collaboration examined
was not very smooth in the beginning
and faced many constraints during the
planning and implementation phase,
however on the basis of successful
programme delivery on MSS's part, it
has now engaged in several other joint
programmes with different government
departments. Other collaborations at
the district level include working more
closely with the Lady Health Worker
(LHW) Programme. LHWs are
collaborating with MSS in referrals to
outreach camps. MSS has also taken
the initiative of inviting LHWs for RH
training. MSI has operational links with
the DPWO's (District Population Welfare
Officer) office. During the PCP research
team visit, the DPWO offered the
services of doctors who could help at
MSI outreach camps. He was
particularly keen that TL be included as
part of the services being given in
Khairpur so MSS could organize camps
in rural areas and follow up. He pointed
out that as government had only male
technicians, women could not come to
government camps. MSI continues to
coordinate with the DPWO as it has
been doing in the past and is utilizing
government doctors in its camps.
The existing erratic relationship with the
government needs to be reviewed
extensively for these constraints not only
limit and hinder the CSO's work but can
also reflect poorly on government and
it's willingness and capacity to draw
value from these opportunities. This
experience shows that no matter how
successful the ground performance is, if
the relationship is not institutionalised
through robust processes and
accountability and assessment are not
built, long term results are unlikely.
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Northern Areas
The Northern Areas or Gilgit-Baltistan is the northernmost region of
Pakistani-administered Kashmir. The area west of the Indus River
was known as the Gilgit Agency until October 1947. At the last
census (1998), the population of the Northern Areas was 870,347.
Approximately 14% of the population was urban. A total area of
Northern Areas is 72,496 km². There are 6 districts and 7 towns
are in Northern Areas. Urdu is the lingua franca of the region,
understood by most inhabitants. The Shina language (with several
dialects) is the language of 40% of the population, spoken mainly
in Gilgit, throughout Diamer, and some parts of Ghizer and other
languages includeBalti, Wakhi, Burushaski, Khowar, PashtoThe
Northern Areas are divided into six districts in three regions: the two
Baltistan districts of Skardu and Ghangche, two Gilgit districts of
Gilgit and Ghizer and two Diamer districts districts of Astore and
Diamer, . The main political centres are the towns of Gilgit, Skardu
and Chilas. The Northern Areas border the Wakhan corridor of
Afghanistan to the northwest, the Xinjiang territory of China to the
northeast, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to the southeast,
the region of Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir to the southeast
and the North-West Frontier Province to the west. The climate of the
Northern Areas varies from region to region. Five of the Eightthousand (above 8,000m) peaks of the world are in the Northern
Areas of Pakistan.
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Aga khan Rural
Support Programme (AKRSP)
--- leading towards change
AKRSP contributes significantly to the
social uplift of the entire country and it's
role in the development of the Northern
Areas of Pakistan is quite phenomenal.
In education, rural development,
capacity building of women and men or
provision of healthcare facilities, the
impact of genuine development effort is
visible everywhere. The way AKRSP has
instilled into the community the values of
self-sufficiency and self-reliance, is a
brilliant achievement in itself. The
importance that the local communities
have started to give to education,
particularly of quality, surpasses many of
the rural communities in Punjab or other
provinces.
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme
(AKRSP) is a project of Aga Khan
Foundation (AKF) working since 1982 in
the Northern Areas of Pakistan to
eradicate poverty and to improve the
socio-economic standards of the
community. Over two decades of work
with diverse stakeholders including
communities, local and central
government in Pakistan, international
donors, professional agencies, academic
and research institutions have given
AKRSP a unique perspective. AKRSP on
the request of the NWFP government
established an autonomous organization
in 1989 the Sarhad Rural Support
Program (SRSP) to replicate their Rural
Support Programme. The success of
AKRSP and inception of SRSP soon
inspired the creation of similar RSPs
across the four provinces. In 2004, there
were nine RSPs working in more than 70
of the 106 districts of the country and
today they are working with more than
43,000 community originations
According to the 2001 household
survey conducted by AKRSP in NA, the
female literacy rate is 30 % as
compared to the male literacy rate of
66 % .Contribution of women to the
off-farm per capita income, which is Rs
8718, is estimated to be below 5% but
in the on-farm per capita income,
which is Rs 6074 their contribution is
about 90%. For centuries, women
have remained confined to their
traditional roles and are severely
disadvantaged in terms of access to
development opportunities.
representing over 1 million households.
AKRSP's pioneering work in the
Northern Areas (NA) includes the
creation of village and women's
(VOs/WOs) organizations, growth of
micro-finance sector, enhancing
government's support to community
rural infrastructure projects, natural
resource management, enterprise
promotion and women's development.
AKRSP also has experience of running
different projects through public private
partnership, which include the livestock
improvement project funded by Prime
Minister's Secretariat, Agri-business
project funded by Agri-business Support
Fund, establishment of gems cutting
and polishing institute in Northern Areas
sponsored by Competitiveness Support
Fund and Self Employment project
funded by Planning & Development
Department of Northern Areas.
President of Pakistan launched a
package for NA with the primary
objective of reducing poverty and
empowering disadvantaged segment of
the population particularly women. It
was felt that the women of the NA have
limited role in business and enterprise
development whereas their role in farm
related activities was more extensive,
therefore to bring women into the
mainstream development process their
income generation skills needed to be
enhanced and built. Through this
project, the government planned to give
financial support and training to some
2000 deserving women. The Planning &
Development Department (PDD) of
Northern Areas gave Rs 70 million
package for the “development of
women” to two local CSOs for the
execution. One of them was AKRSP.
Rs.35 million project spread over
duration of one year aimed to promote
enterprise culture in Northern Areas by
providing business sensitization, business
management training, business plan
development training and marketing
support training to the local women
entrepreneurs. Apart from the training,
AKRSP also offered master trainers,
product development facilities and
vehicles for mobility and outreach to
resource persons throughout the
Northern Areas through its wellestablished network of Women
Organizations. A steering committee was
established to supervise the execution of
the project. The committee developed a
monitoring and evaluation mechanism
to ensure the timely release of the funds
and strict adherence of all the policies
regarding the project.
In the last two decades, AKRSP has
contributed extensively to the
development of NA however, these
development needs are not only
changing but also increasing with time.
AKRSP alone cannot cater to the needs
of the area and the government finds it
an equally challenging task despite
having large resources and authority.
AKRSP is one the most successful and
well-recognized CSOs that has been
mobilizing communities towards local
infrastructure development with the
assistance of the government.
Collaborating in the area of “women
development” helped both the
government and AKRSP in achieving
mutual benefits and in having a lasting
impact on the lives of poor women. This
collaboration has been instrumental in
capacity building and sensitization of
not just 2000 women but so many
families as well. Through self-growth,
women will now be less dependent on
their families and would contribute
significantly to the income generation
and livelihood of the family.
Financial resources and expertise of the
government combined with the
indigenous knowledge and rapport of
AKRSP with the local community bring
to this a credible sense
Of ownership and long-term
sustainability. Even after the termination
of the project in 2007, both parties
hope that trainers and the facilities will
continue to assist women in their
business ventures, subsequently
improving livelihood of the people. Joint
monitoring and evaluation by AKRSP
and PDD moves the traditional service
delivery engagement to a more dynamic
and a rewarding relationship. In today's
challenging environment, synergistic
relationship is only way to find dynamic
solutions to the complex development
issues.
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Karakorum Area Development
Organisation (KADO)
--- empowering communities
The Northern Areas constitute five
districts spread over an area of 72,496
km with a population of 0.880 million.
Social indicators in these areas are
deplorable with the overall literacy rate
of only 33%. For male population it is
40% whereas amongst women it is only
25%. The situation is even worse in farflung districts like Ghanche (14%) and
Diamer. There are only 2,026
educational institutes, which include 14
colleges, 4 IT centres and only 1
university. Opportunities for women are
far limited as compared to men,
especially at professional and the higher
education level.
KADO is a Hunza based organization
working in the Northern Areas (NA) of
Pakistan. It was established in 1990s as
a Community Based Organization to
promote Karakorum handicrafts .Over
the years, it has undertaken other
projects based on the needs of the
community like Hunza Environment
Committee, Centre for Rehabilitation of
Physically Disabled, I.T. based projects
like Internet Provision, Wireless Areas
Network in Nagar valley and E village
projects in the Hunza valley. With the
increasing number of activities, the need
for an umbrella organization became
vital whose purpose would be to
professionally manage and operate the
projects. Established in 2006, KADO
now also focuses on poverty alleviation
and empowerment of women through its
Karakorum Heritage Development
Programme (KHDP), which helps women
from marginalized areas in sustaining
their families. KADO in collaboration
with AKRSP has started a gem cutting
and polishing centre, which will train
some 100 women and men in the art of
jewellery making. KADO also plans to
develop Business Incubation Centres,
which will stem into competitive and
profitable business ventures.
Presidential Programme for NA included
a package for Women Development and
Empowerment. Planning & Development
Department (PDD) of NA designed a
“Skill Development” project for
empowering women with IT skills.
Computer illiteracy is widespread
amongst women in the Northern Areas,
the objective of this programme is to
impart IT skill training to women as a
step towards involving them in the
development of the society. The project
was proposed to be outsourced to a
local NGO due to the Government
Departments human resource
constraints. KADO with its previous
experience and expertise in IT sector was
the ideal candidate in assisting the
government in the establishment of
Women Vocational Training (IT Skills) in
six districts of Northern Areas.
Through this project, 34 selected
government & private schools and
vocational training centres were
equipped with computers. In addition,
3500 women/girls were provided
computer training. KADO being the lead
implementing agency legally has the
option of subcontracting the work to a
third party in cases where it deems
necessary. Planning of the project i.e.
distribution of centres in the districts and
site selection is jointly done by
Government and KADO representatives.
In almost all the identified places School
Management Committees (SMCs) have
been established by KADO, in some
areas the Community Based
Organizations (CBOs) played a pivotal
role in implementing the project. These
CBOs and SMCs deal with day-to-day
management related issues. Monitoring
of the project rests with KADO,
government representative and SMC of
concerned schools where IT centre was
established. Joint as well as separate
visits by KADO representative and
research officer from PDD ensure the
frictionless running of these centres.
SMC charges a minor fee of Rs 50 from
the school students and Rs 100 per
month from the outside learners to
ensure the sustainability of the project
after funding from the government ends
in June 2007. School teachers are also
trained as master trainers. This was to
ensure continuity of the training even
after completion of the project without
incurring any additional cost.
This is a unique case study in which the
government and a CSO collaborate in
an area other than the traditional areas
like health, school education,
infrastructure etc. This IT initiative on
behalf of the government and KADO
has provided computer literacy to
around 3500 women and girls. Capacity
building and empowerment of the
women will bring many positive changes
in the social fabric of the communities. It
is a classic example of a symbiotic
relationship, in which the government's
contribution goes beyond mere
financing. The government along with
KADO is actively involved in the training
of schoolteachers, module development
and in monitoring of the funds received.
Another feature that makes it a
successful and a constructive
collaboration is the sustainability of the
project even after the exit of the two
major stakeholders. Recognition of the
community as a major stakeholder and
their involvement has given even more
viability to the endeavour.
Marafie Foundation (MF)
--- building blocks
No change in a society is possible
without education. The people of
Baltistan were trapped in the vicious
cycle of illiteracy and poverty. Marafie
Foundation is helping them break free
from these shackles by improving the
existing educational set-up. An in-depth
analysis of the state of education
showed that there were no facilities for
elementary education. At the middle
school level, the low standard of
education was encumbering their
chances of admission in professional
colleges and of attaining executive level
jobs in the corporate sector and in
armed forces.
Marafie Foundation is a renowned
Kuwait based family philanthropy
foundation. Despite the beauty of the
area they were aghast at the low levels
of development. The low socioeconomic indicators overshadow the
natural splendour of the Baltistan. The
population surviving on threadbare
resources was in urgent need of facilities
such as education and healthcare.
Pakistan chapter of the foundation was
established for welfare of the residents of
Baltistan. Despite the presence of fertile
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lands people were found living in
adverse conditions. The Marafies have
donated considerable funds for health
care, education and various other
projects for the social uplift of the
Baltistan Area. Development in these
sectors, they believe can bring a vital
change in the overall social landscape
of the area.
Marafie Foundation has focused its
attention mainly on health and
education sectors. It also invests
generously in other community projects
and concentrates on the welfare of
children and empowerment of women.
Extensive consultations with the
government and other local NGOs are
held to ensure that there is no
duplication of efforts. They strive to
complement and supplement the efforts
of various agencies so that common
goal of development remains central to
their programmes.
The initial task was to acquire and build
infrastructure for the schools, for which
community involvement was deemed
necessary. The community provides
either free land or labour for school
construction; the idea here was to give
them a sense of ownership and
involvement in the project. On
completion of the buildings, these are
handed over to the government
education department, registered and
well-established NGOs or the
community for operation and
management. Marafie Foundation
continues to support these schools
through grants to meet any specific
need indicated to it by the management
of the schools.
Public School Skardu established in
1992. Marafie Foundation arranged the
funds for the extension of facilities on
request of the school board. As per the
growing need to accommodate the
increasing enrolment of students, rooms
were constructed in different phases
starting from 1996. Grant for two rooms
has been recently sanctioned and
proposal for another two rooms is in the
pipeline. A two-storey block comprising
of three classrooms and one hall was
also constructed in the Government
Girls High School which imparts
education to some 954 females. Apart
from work in the education sector,
Marafie Foundation continues to extend
funding for provision of equipment and
construction of government dispensaries
and so far 33 dispensaries have been
handed over to the district health
department.
Marafie Foundation provides funding for
schools, local community gives the land
and the government undertakes the
construction of the additional rooms in
schools etc with the support of
community members. This collaborating
troika is only the beginning in addressing
a pressing social problem. Smooth and
frictionless coordination amongst the
stakeholders; government, the
community and Marafie, is essential in
improving quality of life of the locals by
offering them better health and
education opportunities.
This collaboration at best can be termed
as a “marriage of convenience”, even
though the locals have benefited from
this engagement yet its long-term
sustainability is seriously questionable.
Some of the dispensaries handed over to
the district health department, on
monitoring were found closed. Reacting
strongly, Marafie foundation took up the
issue with the government and was
successful in the reactivation of the
dispensaries. This incident substantiates
the fact that without active support and
monitoring from the government and the
foundation, the projects will not flourish.
The foundation continues to provide
financial support to the government yet
without a proper monitoring and feed
back mechanism; the partnership would
not yield the desired outcomes.
Local Support Organization (LSO)
Danyore Gilgit
--- harnessing opportunities
Union Council Danyore, situated 8
kilometres from main Gilgit city and has
a total population of 21,000 spread in
eight main villages. Village
organizations and Women
Organizations were established by
AKRSP to work on self-help basis for
reduction in poverty. Network of VOs
and WOs in the union council Danyore
needed an umbrella organization with a
professional approach to bridge the gap
for social development and thus a local
support organization was established in
2005. A local support organization is a
flexible intermediary organization
between AKRSP and other prominent
development support systems and
grassroots level development institutions
including VO/WOs and other village
based institutions. Twenty six WOs, 13
VOs and 11 CBOs are members of
Danyore local support organization.
The relationship of LSOs working in the
Northern Areas of Pakistan is highly
dependent on government departments
as identification of any other funding
source is very difficult for such small
organizations. Usually VOs, WOs\CBOs
identified the urgent development needs
of the community which were never
realized due to the paucity of funds and
the inability to find donors for funding.
The Local support organization (LSO) is
responsible not only for the
management but also for the
identification of funding sources for the
network. Danyore LSO hired three
professionals i.e. a social mobilizer,
The Government of Pakistan will
provide every type of support to such
development organizations. The NGO
is working in the right direction to
provide help for the poor of the area
at the grassroots level, particularly the
women folk of the society. (Abdul Latif
Khan, Chief Secretary Northern Areas)
monitoring and evaluation officer and
an accountant whose salary comes from
AKRSP.
LSO contacted different departments of
the government for funds to address the
identified needs of the community. The
Government's Department of Agriculture
wanted to extend its services to improve
the socio-economic standards of the
people living in the area. LSO's
approach turned out to be a big
opportunity for the government who not
only wanted greater access to the local
population but the services of a
committed organization for better
utilization of available resources. This
led to the establishment of collaboration
between government and LSO Danyore.
In addition to the Department of
Agriculture, LSO developed linkages
with other line departments like
Livestock, Health, Education and
Environment but the most important one
was with Department of Agriculture.
This collaboration raised the
performance standards for both the
government and LSO Danyore and has
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yielded tremendous benefits for the
community. Working in close
collaboration with Agricultural
Department, the LSO has changed the
traditional work methods of this Agri
community. Ecological conditions were
quite favourable for double cropping,
growing of off season vegetables
through green houses and honey bee
keeping but lack of proper processing
facilities accounted for loss of
considerable amount of livelihood.
However after government and
Danyore's intervention things changed
drastically. Some 600 females were
trained in mineral block preparation-a
food supplement for mulch animals at
three times less the prevailing market
rate, 350 village women were trained in
processing the fruit and using the
surplus in other forms edible forms,
poor farmers were provided seeds of
vegetables and fruit crops and were also
trained in growing off-season vegetables
which would ensure revenue streams
throughout the year, community
members were given training by the
Agriculture Department in artificial
insemination, poultry rearing, rearing
and provision of improved breeds of
animals to increase per unit yield of
their crops.
This collaboration might not look very
significant considering the larger picture
of government CSO collaboration at
the national scale. However the fact that
a small level organisation that truly
represents the poor community of rural
Northern Areas succeeded in making
contact with the government officials
and a very successful one which proves
many points. For example if this
approach can be implemented
throughout Pakistan, the fate of rural
areas can be changed in a very short
time because people will contribute on
self-help basis. Another conclusion
which can be drawn from this
collaboration is that the process and
service delivery was absolutely
transparent as the people who were
managing the project belong to the
same community and are thus
answerable to everybody. This
partnership also shed light on the
working methodology of AKRSP as it was
their initiative to establish LSOs in
different areas. RSPs are also working in
other areas of Pakistan and if they adopt
this approach, the rural development in
Pakistan can take a whole new shape in
a short span of time.
Professional Development
Centre North (PDCN)
---A stepping stone
The Aga Khan Education Services
(AKES) is one of four agencies of the
Aga Khan Development Network
(AKDN) supporting educational
development activities education. AKES
currently operates more than 300
schools and advanced educational
programmes that provide quality pre-
school, primary, secondary, and higher
secondary education services to more
than 54,000 students around the world.
Programmes to improve educational
quality have been built into the AKES
system since the early-1980s. Fieldbased teacher training was launched in
Pakistan's Northern Areas in 1983.
School improvement experiments began
at the same time in Sindh province in
Pakistan, where AKES introduced childcentred teaching methods. AKES is
committed to achieving excellence by
continuous improvement of its
programmes services and processes.
Offering superior education to students
is perhaps the most important factor in
creating a successful future for
generations that will have to cope with a
rapidly changing environment. AKES
focuses upon employing cost-effective
and efficient management practices,
investing in staff and teacher training,
and striving for quality outputs.
The Institute for Educational
Development of the Aga Khan University
was created to provide a permanent
institutional base that could sustain
initiatives in education. AKU-IED has
also been working in collaboration with
the Government of Pakistan and other
developing countries to help improve
the quality of education. AKU-IED
faculty has made a significant
contribution to the development of
public sector educational system in
Pakistan, which has been widely
acknowledged at federal, provincial and
district levels
The Professional Development Centre
North (PDCN) was established as a joint
collaborative venture between Aga Khan
Educational Service Pakistan and the
Aga Khan University-Institute for
Educational Development. PDCN
started work in 1999 in Northern Areas
in collaboration with all education
stakeholders i.e. the government, AKES
and private sector in their effort to
improve the quality of education.
Presently it is working with the generous
funding provided by the European
Commission and Aga Khan Foundation.
The mission of PDCN is to develop and
adopt activities & strategies that will lead
to improvement in the quality of
education in the Northern areas. PDCN
aims to work in collaboration with
government and local organizations,
build local capacity, conduct research to
test ideas and influence policy, and
develop assessment & evaluation
procedures in order to improve the
existing practice.
The core function of the PDCN is
professional development of in-service
teachers and Whole School
Improvement Programme (WSIP). Key
supporting functions include
management trainings for school heads,
middle and senior educational
managers, curriculum development
research and women support group
(WSG). These activities are playing a
vital role in the development process
either directly or indirectly. The most
striking feature of this training
programme is the state of the art
infrastructure and learning equipment,
for most of the government school
teachers, acquiring skills in such an
encouraging learning environment is
unthinkable.
Besides the core Programme, PDCN has
designed various courses for
professional development of officials,
teachers and community of the Northern
Areas. It includes eight types of courses,
Certificate of Leadership and
Management, Leadership and
Management workshop for government
officials and NGOs of Northern Areas.
Modules of these trainings are approved
by the AKU-IED after a thorough scrutiny.
Government officials are involved in
developing the contents of these
modules and trainings are conducted in
collaboration with officials of
government departments.
For the development of faculty, potential
teachers from government and private
sectors are selected and provided an
opportunity to get a Masters degree in
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Education from AKU-IED. To maintain
the quality of trainings, it was decided
that all the faculty members should
acquire master degrees from AKU
Karachi. 2877 persons have graduated
from PDCN over the last 8 years in
different courses with a ratio of 56
percent of females.
The increasing inability of governments
to fund even the primary cycle of
schooling from tax revenue is producing
an ad hoc set of 'cost-sharing'
arrangements. The Foundation is
attempting to turn this unsatisfactory
situation to advantage by experimenting
with mechanisms, such as
collaborations, mini-endowments, which
allow parents and communities a wider
role in managing and co-financing their
children's education within specific
cultural, social and economic contexts.
UNICEF launched a Programme Child
Friendly School, in collaboration with
the government for improvement of 40
schools. These government schools are
being improved by the collaboration of
PDCN. UNICEFs satisfaction with the
existing setup has increased the funding
for the schools as well as the number of
schools for improvement up to 55.
Deputy Director Education and his staff
have been provided training by PDCN
and training modules, planning and
monitoring visits are all prepared jointly.
Furthermore Mother School Committees
have been formed along with the School
Management Committee (SMCs) to
improve the schools. Federal
Government High School Kashrote
situated in the heart of Gilgit City is one
success story among many. This 34
room school spread over an area of 34
kanals is imparting quality education to
some 950 girls from prep to grade tenth.
All the twenty two teachers were
provided on job training for a year by
PDCN. The school administration has
also been provided a mobile library
facility by PDCN. Principal of the school
who had received certificate of
Leadership and Management from
PDCN was conferred upon the
Presidential Award for Best Performance
for her commitment and dedication.
The Government, faculty, parents, and
children all play a vital role in the
development and operation of AKES
programmes. This synergistic philosophy
is supported by AKES's educational
approach of enhancing academic
instruction with a wide spectrum of extracurricular activities. Collaborating with
several partners, the Aga Khan
Foundation network of organizations
brings forth a positive change in the
existing educational setup. The
collaboration between Education
Department and PDCN has proved to be
a successful one where both parties are
mutually contributing towards ultimate
goal of improving the education system
of the country.
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Azad Jamu & Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir is part of the Pakistani administered
section of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Northern
Areas; its official name is Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It covers an
area of 13,300 km² (5,135 mi²), with its capital at Muzaffarabad,
and has an estimated population of almost 4 million people. Azad
Kashmir is nominally autonomous, with its own elected President,
Prime Minister, Legislature, and High Court. The state is divided into
two administrative divisions which in turn are composed of eight
districts. Azad Kashmir is cold, mountainous in the North whilst it
has a hot and subtropical climate in the southern Mirpur regions.
Area Development Organisation (ADO)
--- broadening horizons
These noble intentions of Mr. Sagheer,
the CEO of ADO led to the genesis of a
cluster based organization which strives
for the social and economic prosperity
of the Muzaffarabad District. Established
in 1998, by mutual collaboration of
International Fund for Agriculture
Development (IFAD) and UNDP, ADO
engages people at the grass roots level
for social and economic development.
Although this organization initially
worked only in Kaimanja Union Council
but now its outreach has been extended
to the whole of the Muzaffarabad
district. ADOs sectoral area of activity
includes primary education, social
organization, disaster relief and physical
infrastructure development. Major
donors include National Education
Foundation (NEF) and CIDA. Key
interventions include a micro-credit
project, link road project, vocational
training project, shelter home project
and primary education program.
ADO has been instrumental in creation
of many CBOs in the Muzaffarabad the
purpose of which is to involve the local
community in all spheres of
development. Education is one area that
needs attention on an emergent basis
for there are villages in Muzaffarabad
district where absolutely no means of
education are available. ADO with
assistance of NEF has launched the
community model schools project.
Essentially this scheme was established
with the aim of reviving and revitalizing
ailing government primary schools
through coordination and mobilization
of parents and community. So far, 12
schools have been established in
different union councils of Muzaffarabad
where both girls and boys are provided
quality education by teachers trained in
OPF College on behalf of NEF.
Both ADO and NEF jointly identify needs
based on community requirements and
willingness to adopt the project. In this
tri-partite collaboration the community is
responsible for planning the location of
school, fee structure and nomination,
remuneration and monitoring of the
teachers. ADO is responsible for the
establishment of the Community
Education Committee (CEC) which
monitors the operational and the
financial aspects of the project. NEF is
responsible for the timely release of
funds for the school, training and
monitoring of the teachers and provision
of books/uniforms for the students. To
ensure the long-term sustainability of the
schools it was decided that the
community would be encouraged to
contribute to the project in the form of
either savings or through education fees.
ADO established a community school in
2001 in Palhotar Community Union
Council Langar Pura, which was handed
over to NEF in June 2002.This school
facilitated more than 150 students from
three nearby villages Palhotar, Laya and
Nagar. As per the agreement, the
community donated land. Playing an
active role in the management of the
school the CEC meets up at least once
in a month to discuss the matters related
to the school like attendance of students,
drop-out rate, finances, oral/verbal test
of students and discipline related
matters. Monitoring of the activities is
done collectively by ADO representative
and NEF coordinator. ADO and NEF
together are performing a pivotal role in
provision of basic education for all
through multiple delivery systems with
special focus on disadvantaged
communities and girls by direct support
to schools in the form of grants and
loans.
This is a mutually rewarding
collaboration that brings together the
key stakeholders i.e. Federal Directorate
of Education, parents, teachers, children
and ADO for the eradication of
illiteracy. The collaboration can be
termed equitable since both partners
bring something of value to the
collaboration. Government essentially
through funding and expertise while
ADO implements and monitors the
project. Upfront it comes out as a typical
“contractor- client relationship” in which
the government has outsourced a
project to a CSO and beyond the
project there is no interaction between
the two players. However in this case,
though the government funds, its role is
far more complex than that of a mere
regulator. NEF besides regulating plays a
vital role along with ADO in involving
the community to ensure sustainability
and viability of the project.
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Findings of the Study
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
In Pakistan's development scenario, one
of the most often highlighted chasms is
the one that exists between government
and the civil society sector. The country's
history presents at best a mixed
landscape of a constructive engagement
of the two. However, over the last two
decades the civil society sector in
Pakistan has emerged as a significant
force in promoting social and human
development. The government has also
come to the realisation that only by
partnering with civil society can the
country's gigantic social concerns be
effectively addressed and its
development objectives adequately met.
Acknowledgement of the same can be
found in various policy papers of the
Government of Pakistan such as the
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP),
Vision 2015 and Education System
Reforms Program (ESR) etc. Examples of
successful public-private partnerships
and collaborations in social
development initiatives in other
countries have also played a part in
encouraging government-CSO
collaboration in Pakistan and
manifesting it as a positive and tangible
reality. Today, this shifting paradigm of
cross-sector collaboration in Pakistan
owes itself to the combined effort of
both these internal as well as external
factors.
Another impetus to the norm of
Government-CSO collaboration was
provided by the concept of Rural
Support Programmes (RSPs). This unique
idea of RSPs, set up as hybrids with non
government legal status and yet very
close government involvement;
emanated out of one of the most
structured approaches to poverty
reduction by the Aga Khan Rural
Support Programme (AKRSP)
implemented in the northern areas of
Pakistan since early eighties. The
resounding success of AKRSP model
prompted the Government of Pakistan
to replicate the model in other parts of
the country. Today the network of RSPs
consist of ten organisations, which
include five major RSPs and five other
similar nonprofit organisations and have
mobilised almost one million people
who are members and approximately
72,000 Community organisations (COs)
formed for both men and women. RSPs
aim to reduce poverty and improve the
quality of of life of rural communities by
harnessing their potential to help
themselves. The approach involves
mobilising communities and supporting
them to improve infrastructure, access to
credit, raise farm productivity, and
develop enterprise and their livelihood.
Some of the prime examples of RSPs
have been included in the case studies
section highlighting the collaboration
aspect.
AKDN-PCP joint effort aims at exploring
the nature and scale of this
paradigmatic shift and to 'research and
document examples of good and
mutually rewarding government-CSO
collaboration in development in Pakistan'
with a few find ways and means to foster
stronger and more effective
collaborations. During the course of this
research which spanned over a brief
period of four months and involved the
documentation, analysis and showcasing
18 case studies, the following
observations were made:
1.
Initial survey of government
CSO collaboration began with a
bigger canvas keeping in view the
diversity of CSOs for the purpose of
identifying cross sector
collaborations. The exercise could
not yield encouraging results as an
overall response rate to
questionnaire was 5% from the
government and 25% from the
CSOs. It could only be inferred that
that either due to the absence of
significant collaboration between
the two sectors, there simply was
not anything to report or any
previous or existing collaboration
were perceived by the concerned
parties to be insignificant in nature,
scale and outcomes so as to merit
any mention.
2. From the data obtained, limited
examples of constructive interface
between the two sectors could be
identified. In a large percentage of
cases, the nature and dynamics of
cross-sector collaboration appeared
to be following conventional unidimensional lines. With most of the
reported collaborations manifesting
similar patterns, mode of
functioning and terms of reference,
only a few stood out as significantly
constructive and vibrant
collaborations. The existing state of
affairs may primarily be due to the
reason that in an environment
where the civil society sector
generally considers the government
as unresponsive, allegedly corrupt
and coercive and the government
regards the CSOs as disreputable
and unreliable, any change in the
existing paradigm is likely to take
time. The very few credible
examples of equitable
collaborations identified during the
course of this study is evidence not
only of the fixed perceptions each
sector has about the other but also
of the somewhat pre-determined
framework in which cross sector
collaborations occur.
3.
It is a known fact that the CSO
context in Pakistan encompasses a
wide realm and provides a host of
services to society in a variety of
areas. However, it was noted that
the government and broader civil
society such as professional
associations, media, citizens
groups, right based labour unions,
trade unions etc though found to be
engaging (some times
confrontational) with each other for
mutual co-existence but the nature
of relationship vary from mere
engagement to co-option but not
mature collaboration as such. Good
government -CSO collaborations
were found to be mostly in service
delivery type interventions of typical
development NGOs in areas such
as health, education, water,
sanitation, physical infrastructure
and the like. The conventional
project based service delivery mode
is probably due to the fact that, it
has a relatively well defined process,
results in the most immediate and
concrete outputs and the CSOs
involved in the process are, by their
very nature of operations, not a
source of any serious threat to the
government and its existing policies
and are rather complementary.
Graph 4: Relationship between
Government and Civil Society
Infrastructure and
finance
22%
Finance and
technical
50%
Infrastructure and
technical
28%
4.
For the last many years the civil
society sector in Pakistan is playing a
vibrant role in advocacy for basic
human rights, consumer protection,
civil rights and the like. However,
from the data obtained no
significant evidence of effective
collaboration of civic rights
organisations with the government
could be found. Apparently, this
absence of significant collaboration
may be attributed to both sectors.
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C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
On the part of government,
CSOs that venture beyond service
delivery and into advocacy and
human rights tend to be perceived
as being on a confrontational
course with the government.
Government opinion therefore
favours welfare associations or
service providers over civil rights
which are often labelled as antistate or following foreign agendas
or fifth columnist. Whereas CSOs
acting as citizen representatives and
advocates of civil issues, do not
wish to compromise their
independence by collaborating with
the government. Moreover,
organisations of this sort tend to get
support more from donor agencies.
This in turn enables them to work
freely as lobbyist for rights based
causes.
5. An analysis of the documented best
examples as case studies has
revealed the existence of different
types of cross-sector collaborations
each having its own defining
characteristics and mode of
operations. Details of these are
provided as under:
5.1 Contractor-Client Relationship
Rooted in tradition this
relationship is essentially
defined as the government
awarding grants to a CSO for
the execution of an assigned
task or project activities. In
Pakistan, a pervasive threat to
the sustainability of civil society
organisations is the lack of a
constant and steady inflow of
funds. Therefore, a CSO at
times in its search for funds
may end up compromising its
organisational goals and
objectives for ensuring financial
viability. In these situations the
decision to accept the role of
the government as that of a
patron becomes for the CSO,
the only available choice.
The quality of the consequent
monolithic engagement
between the CSO and
government is neither enabling
nor asset building. In this
unbalanced relationship, the
organisation's involvement in
the planning and design of the
intervention and assessment
after its completion remains
almost non-existent. The stated
objectives, area of focus,
procedural framework and
desired outcomes are
determined by the government
with little or no input or
participation from the CSO. The
organisation is selected
primarily as a vehicle for service
delivery through formal
tendering procedures.
On the other hand, the
customary perception on the
part of the government that the
CSOs primarily aim to profit
from government funds and
thus must be tightly controlled
to thwart irresponsibility,
prevents the government from
adopting any other role than
that of a regulator.
This nature of collaboration
previously found to be quite
widespread, now appears to be
on the decline. This change in
status quo owes itself to the
change in attitudes, perceptions
and expectations of the two
sectors. In the present study the
existence of this collaborative
model in only 17% of the
documented case studies also
provides corroborative
evidence of changing strategies
and a desire to re-define
traditional roles.
5.2 Donor Driven
Relationship:
Each year the government
allocates a certain percentage
of revenue in the annual
budget for development related
activities. These allocations are
supplemented by the funding
provided by international donor
agencies and bilateral
assistance, aimed at facilitating
the government in the execution
of its development initiatives.
However, in recent years
international donors and
funding agencies have adopted
policies that ask for
collaborations with civil society
organisations. This is in line
with their role of promoting the
civil society sector as an
implementing partner in
community based development
projects and is based on their
acknowledgement of this sector
as an effective partner in social
development.
Over the last decade
organisations such as the World
Bank, UNDP, DFID and USAID
appear committed to
institutionalising linkages
between the government and
civil society organisations. For
this reason their Country
Assistance Strategy (CAS)
documents particularly refer to
the inclusion of and interface
with the civil society sector for
all development related
initiatives. Today, funds given to
the government by these and
other similar agencies for
development initiatives come
with conditionality for inclusion
of CSOs in programme
activities. It is perhaps as a
result of this emerging
paradigm that institutions such
as the Pakistan Poverty
Alleviation Fund (PPPAF),
National Commission for
Human Development (NCHD)
and Devolution Trust for
Community Empowerment
(DTCE) and Khushali Bank all
have a strong nongovernmental stakeholder
component in their
programmes.
As for CSOs, this donor drive
acts as an impetus for
collaboration with the
government in two distinct ways.
Large CSOs aspire to become
implementers for programmes
led by development support
agencies and bilateral or multilateral donors, for these projects
allow CSOs to charge costs,
overheads, salaries as
subcontractors. Whereas, CSOs
that are relatively new players in
the game are aware that
successful collaboration with the
government can act as a very
good reference, thereby
enabling them to seek direct
funding from national and
international donors sometime
in the future. For them a
successful collaboration with the
government paves the way for a
fruitful partnership with an
international donor
organisation.
In the given study, this type of
cross-sector collaboration was
found to be prevalent in 17% of
the documented case studies.
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5.3 Marriage of Convenience
Triggered by common goals,
this essentially symbiotic
relationship is based on an
acknowledgement on the part
of both the CSOs and the
government of each others role
in national development; an
appreciation of each others
strengths and a mutual respect
for each others indispensability.
The defining feature of this
cooperative collaboration is a
pooling of institutional
knowledge, resources
(financial, technical and
human) and expertise by the
two parties.
Typically, in such cross-sector
collaboration the interest of the
government in collaborating
with the CSOs lies in the fact
that involvement of the local
community plays a defining role
in ensuring successful execution
as well as sustainability of an
intervention. Whereas, for the
CSOs collaborating with the
government guarantees easier
access to government related
support services which
facilitates them in the successful
implementation of locally
needed social services.
In such a scenario the
government measures its
engagement with the CSO in
terms of grant in aid, amenity
plots, land on lease, and
contribution to endowment
fund, logistical support,
permission to work in a certain
area (for instance, prisons,
schools, hospitals) or greater
technical support. Whereas, a
CSO brings to the table its
firmly entrenched local roots,
indigenous knowledge, both in
depth as well as wide spread
access to communities, social
mobilization skills, ability to
address age old problems in
innovative ways, information
base about recent
developments, latest trends and
new research in the concerned
area of focus, regular and
rigorous monitoring
mechanisms and
documentation and record
keeping abilities.
In this collaboration both parties
are fully cognizant of the
benefits that such a
collaboration accrues to each
other. The government realizes
that collaboration with CSOs
will lead to the utilization of its
resources both financial as well
as technical in a far better and
more cost effective manner.
Whereas, a CSO is aware of
the vital role that collaboration
with the government can play in
its struggle for legitimacy, social
recognition and wide scale
acceptability of its activities. In
the present study in 65% of the
documented case studies, this
cooperative collaboration
appeared to be guiding the
mode of operations.
6. A review of the prevailing rate of the
different types of cross sector
collaborations mentioned above
indicates a distinctive change in the
traditional roles that have defined
cross-sector collaborations in
Pakistan's social development
scenario.
Initial inroads made in this largely
un-chartered territory were
characterised by either unbalanced
collaborations with one party
playing a dominating role over the
other or with extrinsic rather than
intrinsic, need based factors playing
a major role in initiating
collaborations. However, what is
coming forward now is a
burgeoning willingness for joint
ventures. This is largely based on
the realisation that for the mutual
benefit of the concerned partners as
well as for ensuring that people are
better provided for, finding common
grounds and compatible ways of
working are an absolute essential.
At present the dynamics of this
emergent trend appear to be
governed by an aspiration of
sustainable social development in
the country with a focus on mutually
rewarding consequences,
avoidance of potential areas of
conflict and desire for enhanced
credibility in the eyes of the other.
7. Although, policy formulation is
essentially the prerogative of the
government; input in its formulation
is the right of all concerned
stakeholders. Civil society
organisations with their local
indigenous knowledge can play a
critical role in getting the voice of
the people heard in the higher
forums of policy formulation.
Whereas, at the same time
involvement of the civic sector in the
process, provides the government
assurance that its policy framework
reflects the aspirations of the people
and responds to their needs, which
will in turn ensure a greater degree
of compliance at the time of its
implementation.
In spite of the obvious significance
of such a collaboration and the fact
that it appears to be scaling the very
heights of cross-sector engagement,
only 1% of the cases in the present
study provided evidence of a
relationship where the two parties
were jointly involved in policy
formulation. However, here this low
prevalence rate should not be
attributed primarily to an initial
reluctance on the part of
government to open doors to the
civil sector. Rather, it should also be
kept in mind that the process of
policy input lies at the higher end of
social development processes.
Therefore, only those civil society
organisations can effectively
contribute in this process which have
reached the level of professional
maturity, which enables them to give
sound intellectual input in the
process.
This occurrence of strategic
government-CSO collaboration
although at present quite limited
should be viewed in the context of
an expressed willingness on the part
of the government to involve CSOs
in policy dialogue and the
increasing ability of the CSOs for
using their variant practical
experiences for viable input and
feasible suggestions in policy
development.
8. During the course of this study, it
became apparent that
GovernmentCSO collaborations
exist on a spectrum with one end
marked with a uni-dimensional
approach focused on time bound
hard core delivery projects and the
other characterised by collaboration
in policy and planning occurring in
an atmosphere of equity,
transparency and mutual harmony. It
was also noted that a CSO can
have varying types of collaboration
with the government at different
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points during its life cycle.
In as much as a successful
collaboration is determined in terms
of, 'getting the work done' the
different modes of engagement
reviewed in the course of this study
will have to be considered
successful for they have all
succeeded in achieving the
specified objectives, meeting the
targets and completing the
concerned project interventions on
time. However, a distinct shift in
trends towards a symbiotic coexistence is evidence enough that a
truly successful collaboration is
considered to be one that is
characterised by, sharing of
knowledge and relevant
information, pooling of resources,
introduction of mechanisms for
institutionalising closer coordination
between the two, inclusion in policy
dialogue and exploration of
possible avenues for joint
collaboration for continued and
sustainable social development and
citizen empowerment.
9. An analysis of the documented case
studies reveal that collaborative
endeavours exist between different
types of CSOs on one hand and
different levels of
governmentdistrict, provincial and
federal, on the other. This
interaction between a certain type
of CSO and a certain level of
government is determined
principally by the nature,
geographic focus and objectives of
a certain intervention. During the
course of the study it was observed
that, in spite of the inherent
differences in the type, nature and
scope of these cross-sector
engagements the issues voiced as
having a detrimental effect on the
success of collaboration were the
same across the board.
The challenges reported to be faced
by CSOs during their interface with
the government essentially consisted
of:
a) Continued involvement of the
government in all stages of an
undertaken intervention is
essential for making
collaboration successful.
However, in any joint venture
the government officials
designated with the task of
maintaining close and constant
contact with the concerned
CSO is generally so overloaded
with other work that this
collaboration with the CSO fails
to get either due importance or
the required level of priority.
The communication gaps
between the two sectors are
further widened when in line
with government traditions the
designated government official
interacting with a CSO is
transferred. In such cases,
the delay in appointment for the
vacant post and the time
needed to orient the new person
with the dynamics of
collaboration greatly hinders the
smoothness of the process. In
this
respect, the
replacement of a prodevelopment government
official by one who is sceptical
of the role of CSOs in social
development creates another
hurdle.
b) Policy framing is the job as well
as the privilege of government.
However, any sudden changes
in policy framework especially in
events when the concerned
Civil Society sector is neither
involved nor informed about
the same can seriously
jeopardize any ongoing crosssector collaborations. More so,
since in accordance with new
developments the CSOs have
to re-plan their activities and
re-design their strategy that
requires time as well as
resources. Besides this, since in
a cross- sector engagement it is
the CSOs that engage with the
community, any changes in
policy may also alter the
commitments made by the
CSOs with the community
members. This besides creating
unpleasantness may also prove
detrimental to the long term
credibility of a CSO.
c)
In collaborations marked with
the government acting as the
financer, delay in the release of
instalment of funds is a
recurrent problem. The lengthy,
cumbersome, time consuming,
complicated bureaucratic
procedures make it quite
difficult for the CSOs to access
the available financial resource
in time. This creates great
financial burden for the CSOs
since they have to ensure timely
execution of the undertaken
intervention.
The government on the other hand
was found to have the following
reservations:
collaboration which apparently
begins on a high note of close
interaction soon fizzles away.
The result is a situation where
the interactions between the two
sectors are few and far between
with the government gleaning
its share of information about
the project from the material
provided by the CSOs on an
infrequent basis.
b) CSOs play an important role in
creating awareness in the
community about different
issues. However, in most cases
these organisations over
emphasize the issue.
Consequently, the issue ends up
attracting far more attention
than it actually deserves. This at
times results in arousing the
communities on a
confrontational course with the
government.
This exploratory study while confirming
the need for strong and effective
collaborative arrangements between
government and civil society
organisations, also highlight issues and
challenges involved. It is hoped that on
one hand showcasing these inspiring
examples of collaborations will
encourage others to follow suit and on
the other it will generate discourse and
debate amongst stakeholders on how to
foster the collaborative spirit and further
improve the existing collaborations
stronger and more effective.
a) There is an absence of
continued effort on the part of
CSOs to keep the concerned
government officials involved
during different stages of a
project's implementation. The
Case Studies
84
Annextures
Activity
To identify good and
mutually rewarding
collaboration for
development of
Pakistan
Research Matrix for AKDN 's Civil Society Programme
Sub Activity
Target Groups Research Tools
Identifying the
Letter to EDO (CD) all
collaborations between Government
Pakistan
Govt. and CSO
Civil Society NPOs applied for
Organizations certification to PCP
Assumptions and Risks
Low response of Government
Officials
Low response from CSOs
Identification of
Indicators that define
strong and effective
collaboration
Government
Civil Society
Organizations
Government
Civil Society
Organizations
Develop Questionaires
Selection of sample
stratified
random
sampling
Government
CSOs
Documentation of
the entire
informations
Output
List of Govt. CSO
collaboration
throughout Pakistan
NPO networks
Earthquake
Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation Authority
(ERRA)
Analysis of
International models
Flag a few questions
on various websites
like PCP, Gateway,
Net NGOs
Meeting with NPOs or
network of NPOs
having partners
exercising Govt. CSO
collaboration
Meetings and
discussion based on
the list of indicators
Review of Questionaire
from any development
professional
Sample selected
Questionaire through
Interviews
Questionaire through
FGDs
Unwillingness of NGOs to use
their websites
Questionaire for
Government Officials
Unrepresentative of all the
provinces
Questionaire for Civil
Society Organizations
Material for case
studies
Material for case
studies
Bad weather, Difficult access
to remote areas of AJK and
Northern Areas
Unavailability of concerned
persons
Data Collection
Recording observations
Final write up
List of indicators for Low respose from the
effective Government Government
and CSO
collaboration
Incompatibility with
international models
Draft of case studies
Editorial work
Finalized case studies
Case Studies
86
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy
January 26, 2007
AKDN-CSP-4.1
Proforma for Govt.-CSO Collaborations
1.
Name of respondent: ______________________,
Designation: _____________________,
Date filled: ________________
Department: _____________________
Organisation: ______________________________
2.
Title/ name of the collaboration activity: _____________________________________________
3.
Name of the collaborating Partners (with name)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________
4.
Need for collaboration
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________
5.
Objectives of the collaboration
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________
6.
Collaboration initiated by: (please tick)
Govt. / CSO/ Beneficiary Community
7.
Terms of Partnership/ collaboration signed: (please tick)
Yes/ No (if yes, please attach a copy)
8.
Duration of the activity (months):
Planned _________
Time frame:
From _____________
To _______________
9.
Financial resources involved (Rs.)
Govt.
CSO
Beneficiaries
TOTAL
10.
Geographical Coverage: (please tick)
11.
List down all locations (District wise)
Planned/ committed
_______
_______
_______
_______
Actual __________
Actual/ recieved
_______
_______
_______
_______
village/ UC/ tehsil/ district/ province/ country
1) __________________
2) __________________
3) __________________
4) __________________
4) ___________________
6) ___________________
12.
No. of direct beneficiaries:
Males ______
Females ______ Total ________
13.
No. of beneficiary households
________
14.
Type of partnership: (please tick) equal partners/ contributing partners/ contractor/ sub-contractor
15.
Involvement of CSOs and beneficiaries in:
Planning
Implementation
Post completion/ Maintenance
Monitoring
Evaluation
CSO
Beneficiaries
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
16.
Reporting mechanism:
Progress: (please tick)
monthly/ bi-monthly/ quarterly/ six monthly/ annually
Financial: (please tick)
monthly/ bi-monthly/ quarterly/ six monthly/ annually
(please attach reporting formats if any)
17.
Targets:
Planned:
_________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Achieved:
_________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
18.
Any litigation involved: (please tick)
Yes/No (if yes, give details)
19.
Relevant project officer in Govt: (Name and designation) ________________________
20.
Relevant project officer in CSO: (Name and designation) ________________________
(Signature of respondent)
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88
C O L L A B O R AT I O N B E T W E E N G OV E R N M E N T A N D C I V I L S O C I E T Y O R G A N I S AT I O N S
Annex III
Short-listed organisations for field survey and interviews
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Participatory Integrated Development Society (PIDS)
Society for Empowering Human Resources (SEHR)
Society for Community Support for Primary Education in Baluchistan (SCSPEB)
HANDS
Indus Resource Centre (IRC)
ISRA Islamic Foundation (IIF)
Marie Stopes Society Pakistan (MSS)
Environment Protection Society (EPS)
Pakistan Village Development Programme (PVDP)
Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP)
Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati Idara (ITA)
Idara Taleem o Aagahi (ITA)
Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP)
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP)
Karakorum Area Development Organisation (KADO)
Marafie Foundation (MF)
Local Support Organization (LSO) Danyore Gilgit
Professional Development Centre North (PDCN)
Area Development Organisation (ADO)
Mountain and Glacier Protection Organisation (MGPO)
Cooperation for Advancement Rehabilitation and Education (CARE)
Sudhaar
Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO)
National Rural Support Organisation (NRSP)
Balochistan Rural Support Organisation (BRSP)
Case Studies
90
About the Centre
It is this vision of a galaxy of eminent citizens of the country, now on
the Board of the Centre, which helped established this only
infrastructure organisation dedicated to the cause of philanthropy
promotion. Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) emanated out of
an original research on philanthropy and is an outcome of
recommendations of 'International Indigenous Philanthropy
Conference of 2000'; attended by His Highness the Aga Khan and
President Musharaff, who supported the idea of fostering an enabling
environment for civil society and creation of PCP to promote
structured and strategic approach to enhancing philanthropy for
social development.
PCP is an independent nonprofit support organisation with a mission
to promote the volume and effectiveness of philanthropy for social
development in Pakistan. The Centre is licensed under section 42 of
the Companies ordinance 1984.
Instead of getting into the direct service delivery mode or making
donations, PCP being a support and facilitative organization, seeks
to facilitate altruistic efforts of others i.e national and international
donors (individual, corporate & diaspora) by establishing effective
linkages between the donors and nonprofit organisations (NPOs).
This requires bridging the information and credibility gap that exists
in the sector and is often a major impediment in the promotion of
philanthropy. In line with the vision and mission and to achieve the
objectives, PCP has designed innovative programmes (i) standard
setting Nonprofit Organisation Certification (ii) Philanthropy Support
Services: mobilizing corporate philanthropy for education under
Public Private Partnerships (3Ps) and an online web based
development market place Philanthropy Portal (2P) Give2Pakistan (iii)
expanding the philanthropy knowledge through evidence based
Research and (iv) Communication and Advocacy to enhance societal
understanding of philanthropy and development.
Pakistan Centre
for Philanthropy
1-A, St 14, F-8/3
Islamabad
Tel: (9251) 2855903-4, 2855078-9
Fax: (9251) 2855069
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.pcp.org.pk