Peace & governance

Peace & governance

Governance is the exercise of authority to address public affairs. This authority can be political, economic or administrative. The use of this authority is always based upon certain rules and laws of society established by its members. Good governance is to run administration according to these defined laws for the welfare of the people. Bad governance means digression or subversion from these laws. Good governance guarantees safety and security of the people and creates an atmosphere conducive to progress and prosperity. Bad governance begets a number of social crises. Poverty, corruption, illiteracy, energy crises, terrorism, economic crises are all results of bad governance. 

Peace and governance program at Mojaz Foundation aims at working for maximum transparency and peoples’ right to information and records held by public bodies through the use of Social Audit. Focus areas under this program include: Public Awareness about the need and importance of right to information and transparency in governance, organization of policy dialogues, seminars and workshops, Capacity building of all stakeholders, Information requests initiative.

 

Objective of the Program:

To promote peaceful society by advocating citizen rights, increasing transparency and accountability in realm of basic social services and strengthen civil institutions by extending support in service delivery.

 

Contributes to SD Goal 16, Targets 

16.6 “Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels”

16.7 “Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels”

16.10 “Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements”

 

Mojaz strengthened civil institutions by extending support in service delivery by implementing project “Prime Minister Health Card Distribution” in district Narowal and “Punjab Saaf Pani Company program” in Southern Punjab (Rajanpur and Muzaffargarh) and in Narowal, Gujrat and Sialkot. Mojaz supported 7600 households through extending support to the government in giving accessing to the health cards that would improve the health status of poor and marginalized to a large extent. 

 

During 2015-2016 Mojaz implemented long terms project in Southern Punjab and Narowal that aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in the basic social services delivery by establishing social audit committees including local men and women members. These projects significantly contributed to the SDGs target of “developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels and ensuring public access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislations and international agreements”.

 

Mojaz is part of the working group on Open Government Partnership (OGP) that the government of Pakistan is a signatory of since December, 2016.

Number of Projects

Total Funding

Total Beneficiaries

Women/girls beneficiaries

Community Empowerment through the Rehabilitation of Flood Affectees in Muzaffargarh, South Punjab

Title:

Community Empowerment through the Rehabilitation of Flood Affectees in Muzaffargarh, South Punjab

Objective

1.  Formation/Revival of Grassroots organizations and networks at village, UC and district level.

2.  Training of Community Representatives in need identification, project planning and monitoring.

3.  Dialogue with the local leadership, district administration and district level humanitarian forums.

4.  Town halls and Caucuses for advocacy and media campaigns at the district level for sharing priorities and gaps for the rehabilitation efforts.

5.  On job training of community representatives in project implementation and execution skills through the implementation of small infrastructure projects for the rehabilitation of communal infrastructure at the village level.

Duration

6 Months

March-2011 till August-11

Target Group/Beneficiaries

Flood Affected Community

Supported by

FOSI-Foundation Open Society Institute

Geographic Focus

Pakistan/Punjab/District Muzaffargarh/Tehsil Muzaffargarh/4 UCs

Description:

Empowering flood affected communities for meaningful participation in the recovery and rehabilitation program in the severely affected flood damaged rural areas of District Muzaffargarh, South Punjab.  Mojaz mobilized vulnerable communities into socially viable forums and networks through human and institutional capacity building and ensured transparency and accountability for the rehabilitation and recovery process in their respective communities.

July 2010 floods affected over 6.0 million people.Infrastructure and agriculture losses ran into billions of dollars.According to the assessments conducted by United Nations, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank and the database of NDMAs and PDMAs nearly 3.5 million acres of agricultural lands faced severe damages. The estimated cost of the total destruction was PKRs.80.73 (US$ 9.7) billion. In Punjab twelve districts were several and the project area of Mojaz Foundation; District Muzaffargarh, was the worst among these twelve districts. In Muzaffargarh over 95% of standing crops were washed away and more than 70% of houses were damaged. Government, aid agencies, local and international NGOs and communities had come forward to respond to the mammoth challenge of recovering from this trauma. The community and the local district and Union Council level public administration and community representatives were unable to play any significant role in the rehabilitation of the village level communal infrastructure.Lack of experience,dis-engagement of the community; local community based organizations, community citizen boards were left out, in the planning, and implementation process of the recovery and rehabilitation.

Therefore MF implemented the project to make sure that the communities were involved in the planning and execution of the activities related to rehabilitation. Community organizations were formed at village level and federated into organizations at UC and Tehsil level. Infrastructure was rehabilitated and the community institutions were linked with the local government for better and effective planning

Achievements:

  • Formed 100 community organizations, 25 village organizations and 4 Local Support Organizations
  • Established 20 community forums at UC level
  • Renovated 4 Union Council Offices by creating space for sharing problems and progress on rehabilitation
  • Rehabilitated 25 municipal infrastructure facilities
  • Provided economic opportunity to 400 people who worked as labor for the rehabilitation of the municipal infrastructure facilities in their respective village schemes.
  • Trained 225 of community representatives in identification, project planning, Implementation and monitoring.
  • Trained 25 community representatives in organizational skills.
  • Organised 20 caucuses organized at the district level.

 

Social Audit of a public school in Narowal

Title

Social Audit of a public school in Narowal

Objective

1. To increase community participation and stake in the monitoring of public finances (in this case education budget) and how they are spent

2. To build capacities of community on the use of Social Accountability Tools

3. To promote the use of Social Audit in the  monitoring of public service delivery finances

4. To improve quality of education by enhancing the capacity of communities to hold education authorities accountable for the management of schools’ resources

Duration

10 Months

Nov-14 till Sep-15

Target Group/Beneficiaries

Community in Tehsil Narowal and government representatives

Supported by

Foundation for Open Society Institute (FOSI)

Geographic Focus

Pakistan/Punjab/District Narowal/ Tehsil Narowal

Description:

The overall purpose of the proposed project was to increase government transparency and accountability in the sphere of public finances in education through involving and strengthening community organizations.The project strengthens and capacities civil society on social audits in order to demand transparency and accountability from the government in the realm of public service delivery.Community and civil society organizations get capacitated in use of various social accountability tools.The project aimed at creating an enabling environment for transparency and accountability in the spending of finances for public service delivery. For the purpose of the project one government school was selected as the case.

“Social Audit in Education ” the project was implemented in Narowal with the financial support from FOSI. Under this project Social Audit Committees were formed, BaseLine Survey of the project area was carried out, training of SAC was organised on how to conduct Social Audit and networking with other NGOs, CSOs, Media persons and district government officials was done both for seeking information and for bringing them on board. Awareness raising on social audit and Right To Information Act was carried out before the Audit started. The findings of the Social Audit were then disseminated by organizing Public Hearing. At the end of the project a  short documentary was also prepared..

 

Achievements:

  1. Formed Social Audit Committee comprising 30 members (16 male and 14 female) in Village Eisa Nagri.

  2. Organized a number of corner meetings and FDGs to create awareness among the community having stake in the target school for social audit.
  3. Carried out 22 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with men and women
  4. Organized orientation Sessions with SAC to prepare them for the Social Audit
  5. Conducted 119 meetings with social activists, journalists, media persons, government officials and Ex-elected representatives to share project objectives and activities with them.
  6. Implemented Public Awareness Campaign to raise awareness on social audit and Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013
  7. Organized public walk. At the end of the walk the community members presented a resolution to the General Secretary of National Press Club to seek media support for effective implementation of PT&RTI Act 2013 in all public departments of district Narowal.
  8. Developed Training Manual for Social Audit Exercise
  9. Formation of Sub-Committees by SAC as per their expertise and assigned the work with deadlines to them.
  10. Preparation of Social Audit Report and Recommendations
  11. Organized orientation Session on ‘’Social Audit in Education’’ for the media fraternity at National Press Club, Narowal.
  12. Disseminated social audit findings in the local community through street theater, public sessions, and corner meetings and one to one meetings by SAC to mobilize the community to participate in public hearing.
  13. Organized Public Hearing to Share Audit Findings and Results. More than 600 community members attended the public hearing.
Health Cards Distribution and Awareness Campaign

Title

Health Cards Distribution and Awareness Campaign

Objective

To effectively mobilize and equip community in the project villages to:

  1. Distribute the cards/printed material to the families (enrolment).
  2. To spread awareness regarding health insurance schemes and the use of health cards for getting health care in the empanelled hospitals.

Duration

03 Months

Sep- 16 toNov-16

Target Group/Beneficiaries

160624 household in Narowal

Supported by

State life Pakistan

Geographic Focus

Pakistan/Punjab/District Narowal

Description:

Mojaz Foundation in collaboration with State Life of Pakistan effectively mobilize and equip community in the project villages to:

a.         Distribute the cards/printed material to the families (enrolment).

b.         To spread awareness regarding health insurance schemes and the use of health cards for getting health care in the empanelled hospitals.

The health cards were distributed among 160724 households with awareness regarding the use and the panel of hospitals in their respective areas.

Achievements:

·         Distribution of health cards among 160,724 households

·         Awareness raising amongst the households regarding their use.

Social Audit of public schemes

Title

Social Audit of public schemes

Objective

  1. To further strengthen the  community to  be able to make the relevant government departments accountable in delivering the services to the communities.(in this case Agriculture and Social Welfare Department)
  2. To build capacities of community, civil society and SAC on the use of Social Accountability Tools
  3. To promote the use of Social Audit in the  monitoring of public service delivery finances
  4. To create awareness among project community on various services provided by the government( in this case  Zakat and agriculture subsidies)

Duration

12 Months

Oct 2016 till Sept 2017

Target Group/Beneficiaries

Local Community in Narowal

Supported by

Foundation for Open Society Institute

Geographic Focus

Pakistan/Punjab/District Narowal

Description:

The overall purpose of the project is to increase government transparency and accountability in the realm of public service delivery by involving and strengthening local communities.

The project was the second phase which was designed on the basis of learning from the first phase that was implemented for a year covering one government school.

The project strengthened and capacitated civil society and especially SAC (already established during last similar project completed in December 2015) on social audits in order to demand transparency and accountability from the government in the realm of public service delivery. The community got capacitated in use of social accountability tools. The project facilitated in creating an enabling environment for transparency and accountability in the spending of finances for public service delivery and better social service delivery by the Social Welfare Department and Agriculture department.

Achievements:

  • SAC Formation
  • Baseline Survey,
  • Training of SAC,
  • Collaboration and networking (NGOs, CSOs, Media persons and Punjab Government officials) Awareness raising on social audit of Public Schemes ad PT&RTI 2013 act,
  • Social audit, 
  • Disseminated findings of social audit,
  • Organized Public Hearing and developed documentary.
Strengthening CRVS in Pakistan through the appropriate use of digital technologies

Title

Strengthening CRVS in Pakistan through the appropriate use of digital technologies

Objective

Communication for Behavioral Impact (COMBI): Uses an integrated communication campaign to bring about an increase in the demand for birth registration services.

Technology: Deploys the Future State Technology Architecture for CRVS, as applied for birth

Registration.

Process Improvement: Documents a simplified and standardized process for birth registration incorporating additional form fields required to create vital statistics and the production of statistical reports.

Training: Provides training on the technology solutions, process changes and the production of vital statistics to improve knowledge and skills at all levels.

Legal and Policy: Creates the legal and policy environment to support technology and process changes and ensure a rights based approach.  

Duration

Target Group/Beneficiaries

Local Community

Supported by

Plan International

Geographic Focus

Chiniot

Description:

Plan International, Pakistan is implementing programs and projects in accordance with a Country Strategic Plan[1] (CSP) and five Country Programs[2] (CPs) covering the period July 2015 – June 2020. The CPs includes Education, Health, WASH, Livelihoods, Child Protection, and Disaster Risk Management.

Plan’s child-centred community development (CCCD) approach helps ensure that children, families and communities are active and leading participants in their own development through child centered rights-based programming which capacitates children and their communities, civil society organizations, union council  members and partners for demanding better services while at the same time ensuring transparency and accountability and strengthening grassroots organizations and local leadership, increasing people’s political awareness, citizenship and ability to create and sustain programmers that help children to realize their potential and for building practical alternatives. Ensuring the participation of marginalized and gender mainstreaming is an essential element of our work.

Strategically Plan works in Partnerships with diverse actors. Plan works closely with communities and local authorities and CSOs in all districts, sub-districts and union councils where it operates. Plan International, Pakistan also has substantial collaboration and partnerships with National, Provincial Government, and District Line Departments, National, International and local CSOs along with community based organizations.

Achievements: