Development of Project Ideas and training on ECHO Guidelines, German Red Cross (Pakistan)

During this 6 weeks consultancy mission, I developed various project ideas for GRC’s portfolio to be handed in with various back donors. The elaborated project ideas dealth with the topics of 1.) Strengthening the basic health infrastructure in KP Province, 2.) Humanitarian response to the current IDP crisis in KP Province, and 3.) Improvement of food security and nutrition status of communities in Sindh province.

I will elborate a bit more on the latter one:

Sindh Province is prone to a number of hazards, the most prominent being recurring floods, as the past three years have shown on a devastating scale. Other hazards that regularly affect Sindh Province include cyclones, droughts, sea intrusions, earthquakes, epidemics, several types of public health emergencies and civil unrest.

The province is particularly prone to river and flash floods due to weather patterns and its topography, the low and flat Indus Basin. The excessive waters of the Indus river and its tributaries pass through the province on their final stretch before emptying into the sea. The run-off from the hills of Balochistan in the North-West additionally contributes to the excess water congregating in Sindh. The river Indus is famous for changing its course on regular intervals, exposing ever more communities to the risk of flooding.

Badin and Thatta districts of Sindh have witnessed major floods in the last years due to unique weather patterns, climatic conditions and river discharge. This led to phenomenal human, infrastructural and livelihood losses within the communities. On the other hand, these districts are also prone to droughts, due to inconsistent rainfalls, leading to widespread problems for the communities in terms of agriculture, drinking water and food security.

This designed project aspires to ‘’contribute to building community resilience in order to reduce negative effects of shocks on the vulnerable population of Badin and Thatta districts, Sindh “. The specific goal of the project is to enhance the capacities of Badin and Thatta communities and the PRCS in Sindh to effectively prepare for, withstand, respond and recover from the effects of disasters. This will be achieved through the strengthening and expansion of the existing preparedness and response units and the mainstreaming of effective early warning and early action. These measures are in line with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society’s (PRCS) monsoon contingency planning. Main activities include the strengthening and expansion of both the urban and rural communities’ disaster preparedness and response capacities. Villages of the on-going project will receive refresher trainings and additional villages will receive initial training and equipment. Furthermore, technical and physical early warning capacities of vulnerable communities in Thatta and Badin will be improved and awareness regarding risk reduction and preparedness will be enhanced among the communities.

Furthermore, I conducted a training on ECHO funding guidelines and criteria with the in-country delegation, in order to prepare them for the upcoming ECHO HIP 2015.