CWS-P/A through its Strengthening Humanitarian Assistance (SHA) unit continues to provide technical support and guidance on quality and accountability standards to humanitarian agencies. This latest update summarizes the organization’s quality and accountability initiatives in Asia between July-December 2011.

Download the attachment below to read more about CWS-P/A’s Regional Update on Quality and Accountability.

During the year, CWS-P/A distributed livestock to 414 flood affected families in Shangla District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and emphasized components of livestock rearing. These included silage making from whole maize plants to understanding feeding details depending on the composition of different recipes and animal breeds.  The recovery project in includes a comprehensive and sustainable approach benefiting communities. This is through participatory methods, capacity building, and most importantly upholding the dignity and local customs of communities.

In a needs assessment conducted by CWS-P/A, the district of Thatta exhibited signs of being highly prone to various types of disasters. Recognizing the huge loss to housing during the 2010 floods, the organization initiated a housing project to support 500 flood affected families.

During mid-December, over one hundred people including national and local media, representatives of national and international nongovernmental organizations including UN-Habitat and UNDP, Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of Thatta, and the local community attended the ground-breaking of CWS-P/A’s housing project. The ceremony followed months of planning and coordination with the communities, the relevant government departments, the UN Early Recovery Group, and the focal person for the Shelter Cluster.

CWS-P/A’s Strengthening Humanitarian Assistance (SHA) program recently completed the Urdu translation of HAP 2010 Standard in Accountability and Quality Management. The translation was shared with and reviewed by the Accountability and Learning Working Group (ALWG) in Islamabad to ensure quality, promote its use, and continue CWS-P/A’s coordination efforts with all ALWG members.

In early December, CWS-P/A commemorated World AIDS Day in Mansehra District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. This yearly tradition included awareness walks, sessions, and poster competitions with school children, community elders, community health workers, and health unit staff members. Students also received hygiene kits to encourage them to incorporate good hygiene into their daily routines.

As part of its response to the 2011 floods in Sindh, CWS-P/A operates eight mobile health units (MHUs) in four districts which include Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Thatta, and Badin. This life-saving service provides rural communities access to quality healthcare that is otherwise unavailable or inaccessible for them. An average of 120 patients receives consultations each day through the MHUs.

Operating in an environment of conflict and increasing disasters, CWS-P/A continues to mainstream Local Capacities for Peace (LCP) and the principles of Do No Harm into its organizational and programmatic interventions. Additionally, CWS-P/A believes that the application of the concepts of LCP and Do No Harm principles places communities first during decision-making processes and as assistance is delivered through diverse projects.

This World AIDS Day, CWS-P/A continued to raise awareness on HIV & AIDS in Mansehra District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Awareness walks, sessions, and poster competitions were held with school children, community elders, community health workers, and health unit staff members.

Understanding the security needs of NGOs operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, CWS-P/A recently held a one-day workshop, ‘Building Organizational Risk Management,’ under its Promoting Good Governance (PGG) program. With the aim of allowing organizations to fully benefit from security related context changes, CWS-P/A’s publication, ‘Safety & Security Handbook for NGOs,’ was distributed among the twenty-nine participants. The publication provides general safety and security guidance to help organizations develop their own policies, systems, and plans.

Khan Mohammad Lashari Village in Mirpurkhas District is a depiction of devastation with fallen houses, dead plants, and ruined gardens across its landscape. However, hope still grows in this rural village. It is here that Mohammad Hassan and his sister, Jannat, have been reunited under one roof, where they both face great losses and express hopes for improved conditions. Brought closer by the floods, families find the strength to persevere until better days arrive.

Pakistan’s worst flooding in 2010 affected the lives of 20 million people across the country as floodwaters spread throughout the four provinces. More than 5.3 million jobs were lost. CWS-P/A’s rehabilitation response included the restoration of livelihood opportunities through a unique approach comprising of skills training. These skills included carpentry, masonry, welding, plumbing, and electrical work taught at the training centers in Thatta and Khairpur districts. Currently at its center in Thatta, the third group of trainees is undergoing courses which will end in December 2011. The 125 course participants will receive diplomas affiliated with the Trade Testing Board in Sindh after successful completion of exams relevant to their trades. The graduates will also receive tool kits from CWS-P/A that are suitable for them to start practicing their trades. Students look forward to joining their predecessors who are earning a living by their trades.

While the UN has achieved only approximately a fifth of its relief target and aid agencies on the ground are faced with funding challenges, the situation for flood survivors still remains bleak. Exposed to risks of disease, malnutrition, and food insecurity survivors are now burdened with lowering temperatures and the hardships of the winter season. Through media, humanitarian agencies continue to emphasize these challenges, particularly the funding shortfall and immediate health concerns.

ISLAMABAD, November 2, 2011 – Three months after widespread flooding that has affected over 5 million people in southern Pakistan, a critical shortage of funding and broad international disinterest has left millions of people at risk of illness, malnutrition and cold as the winter closes in.

Sixty-three year old Rowato Kolhi received more than a food package at CWS-P/A’s distribution point in Umerkot District, Sindh. He found caring people and a chance to tell his story. Rowato who was very sick with a fever was sighted sitting in a corner of the distribution center holding his token. One of the partner’s staff members noticed him and informed the CWS-P/A team. Rowato was immediately called in, provided a space, and advised to rest. It was when he felt a little better that he collected his food package.

Months after CWS-P/A completed a school reconstruction project in Mansehra District, Pakistan, students who attend these schools received school kits to help promote the continuation of their education. The reconstruction of ten schools was a rehabilitation initiative for areas affected by the earthquake of 2005.

Because major disasters spare little, the education sector suffered greatly during the 2005 earthquake. Thousands of children died when their school buildings collapsed. Providing a safer school environment was the first step to getting children back in school. Each of the ten school buildings was reconstructed according to Sphere and earthquake-resistant guidelines and was equipped with electricity, better lighting, fire buckets, extinguishers, safety grills, and sanitation facilities. At least 700 students benefited from this initiative, with enrollment figures rising even before reconstruction was complete.

During recently conducted groundwork for CWS-P/A and SEEDS Asia’s collaborative initiative on the Mobile Knowledge Resource Center (MKRC), identification of fifteen villages in fourteen union councils to benefit from upcoming workshops was completed. The training will focus on disaster education and risk reduction with students, teachers, and community members in Thatta District, Sindh Province. This is part of the overall initiative of MKRC, which aims to increase rural communities’ awareness on disaster preparedness and risk reduction through a variety of activities that are made possible through the mobile center.

CWS-P/A recently expanded its training on ‘Classroom Pedagogical Skills’ to Afghanistan. This latest milestone in CWS-P/A’s goal of improving the quality of education in Pakistan and Afghanistan commenced on World Teachers’ Day as an acknowledgment to the important role teachers have. On October 5, thirty-one teachers including female trainers from CWS-P/A’s local partner participated in five days of comprehensive activities. CWS-P/A engaged the participants through an approach that emphasized learning by doing.

With the continued objective of making discussions on HIV & AIDS more acceptable in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, CWS-P/A’s initiatives range from raising awareness to providing communities with access to systems for necessary treatment and testing. Depending on identified needs and interest at the local level, CWS-P/A explores opportunities for sharing knowledge and building capacity with respect to HIV & AIDS. Most recently, CWS-P/A identified an opportunity with staff at the community health center in Badin, Sindh. Six health staff members participated in CWS-P/A’s orientation session that addressed basic information on HIV & AIDS, sexual health, rights, stigma, myths, and discrimination. The training also equipped participants with knowledge and confidence to further share information with community members.

With an average of forty-one deliveries per month in CWS-P/A’s Comprehensive Health Center (CHC) located in Sultan Poor District, Nangahar Province, Dr. Ferozan Hameed, Mother and Child Health Coordinator, shares her concerns about women’s health. “Often women lack folic acid and iron, and fruits and vegetables remain missing from their daily intake of food, but a lot of this is because of poverty.” The doctor states hypertension, iron deficiency, and anemia as the common health concerns among women in Afghanistan. “The choice of having between six and seven children is another contributor that is weakening women’s health.”

The meteorological department has forecasted widespread rain from Tuesday to Thursday in southern Balochistan and lower Sindh. With the onset of winter adding to the challenges of affected families, shelter, particularly winterized, remains greatly needed. The plight of affected families is also being worsened by sky-rocketing food prices. Recently the country has witnessed high prices in almost all of the basic essentials. Reports have also shown medicines in Pakistan costing much more than neighboring India.