Sarhad Rural Support Programme SRSP

SRSP endeavors to improve delivery of Social Sector services through awareness raising events, establishment of community schools, establishment of adult literacy centers and various education and health related trainings. So far 73 community based ‘model’ schools, enrolling almost 5,000 poor children, especially girl child, have been established. SRSP has also been supporting improvement in delivery of education at provincial level through development of district education plans, developing systems and technological packages. SRSP has been a major player in reviving the education system in earthquake affected areas. Rebuilding of schools, providing access to almost 17,000 children, developing teachers’ capacity and developing schools facilities has been some of its notable achievements.

SRSP is committed to involve both women & men for addressing poverty issues. A continuous effort is undertaken to address women’s practical and strategic needs within the prevailing socio-cultural environment. SRSP’s Gender programme is operational at three levels. i.e organizational, programme and external level. With gender policies and gender action plan in place, SRSP with its gender infrastructure has been one of the leading organizations to promote gender mainstreaming in NWFP.

Physical Infrastructure, Water and Environmental Sanitation The communities are involved in planning, implementation, operation and maintenance of small-scale, need based environmental friendly, micro-infrastructure schemes. So far, SRSP has initiated/completed  5030 small-scale infrastructure projects including irrigation channels, micro-hydro projects, drip irrigation, mini dams, farm to market roads, protection bunds/retaining walls, drinking water and sanitation schemes and street pavements with local communities. These schemes with a total cost of 1238258 billion PKR benefit 308,540 men and women community members.

Natural Resource Management Innovations, usage of new and appropriate technologies, research and demonstration, creating an interface of communities and relevant line agencies and working through two different models i.e. Arid Zone Model and Mountain Model are few of the core features of SRSP’s Natural Resource Management component.

Contributing to the overall vision of the organization, the microfinance program strives to reduce financial vulnerabilities of the disadvantaged by providing them with the opportunity to have an easy access to an institutional microfinance services. To deal with diverse patterns of livelihood in the province, SRSP employs three different models of microfinance i.e. Rural model, Urban Model and Village Banking Model. Instead of having one product that fits all, a complete product line is on offer to the target group that caters to the credit needs of various market segments. The average mark-up rate on all products comes to 15 percent, however each product demands its distinct client eligibility. Up until today, almost half a billion rupees have been extended in micro-loans to more than 50,000 clients (50 percent women) with an average loan size of 10,000 Rupees, which shows that the microfinance services by large have been made available to poor and financially vulnerable.

After the earthquake of 2005, SRSP emerged as the largest local intermediary organization involved in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction working in NWFP.

SRSP because of its wide geographical presence and experience of working in the communities is ideally placed to provide relief in emergencies. It has also demonstrated experience in housing reconstruction, livelihoods, community built infrastructure, education and psycho-social programmes.

SRSP has been proactively engaging local communities in assessing the impact of its interventions at local level. Logical tools are used for designing and implementing projects effectively. Regular monitoring is a core feature at all levels of SRSP and communities have also been given a primary role in monitoring and evaluating programme impacts. SRSP has also been able to develop capacity of government line agencies in participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation.

In order to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development, SRSP makes continuous efforts towards institutional development and capacity building at the community level. This is done through harnessing people's potential to help them-selves by establishing a network of grassroots level institutions at the village level. With the above objective in mind, the HRD section of SRSP was established in 1996; with a focus to design and implement institutional strengthening and capacity building training for community leaders, activists, extension workers and its staff.

SRSP, with generous assistance from donors, corporate bodies and individuals has provided invaluable assistance to IPDs in Swat, Buner, and Upper Dir. As we enter the reconstruction phase SRSP will continue to assist people of these areas. Your support and assistance would be welcome. We will keep you updated on the progress.

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