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Director, Save A Family Plan India,

Aiswaryagram, Parappuram P.O., Kanjoor Via, Ernakulam District, Kerala State, India – 683 593

Phone: 0484-2462130, 2462230, 2466324 & 3943325

E-mail: augustineb@safp.org safpi@safp.org

Editorial Team:

Fr. Augustine Bharanikulangara and Mr. Jacob. P.O Issue Number 2 July - September 2009 We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Govt. of Canada, to this Newsletter. www.acdi-cida.gc.ca

President’s Message Director’s Desk SAFP has ever thought and practiced in line with national and international developmental planning and decisions. SAFP’s commitment to this line of thinking has contributed vastly to integrated development of the poor, environment protection, establishing gender mainstreaming and implementing good governance. The 8th millennium development goal requests every one in the world to develop a global partnership for development which again stresses to develop further an open trading and financial system that includes commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction nationally and internationally. Heeding to this declaration of United Nations Save A Family Plan intends to focus on global issues especially in terms of good governance. Accordingly the SPED III program (Sustainability through Participation Empowerment and Decentralization III) is envisaged with a new dimension of social work. The priority in this program is to equip and capacitate the villagers of 580 villages in the 10 states of India so as to access the government resources which are available for them. India has rich resources and the government has various schemes and programs for reduction of poverty. Unfortunately many villagers are unaware of this and the administrative mechanism does not take the pain to reach the benefits of theses schemes to the poor, needy and vulnerable. Much more pathetic is the condition when people are not aware of their rights and right to fair living. Well, SPED III will have to face many challenges when viewed in this new perspective. Such challenges should be mitigated in the right way resulting in thrill of doing genuine social work. I welcome all partner NGOs of SPED III to this new dimension of social work. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has been supporting many partner NGOs through SAFP for the last 30 years. I take this opportunity to express our gratitude to CIDA for its continued support for the developmental activities in India. In the SPED II interim evaluation report of CIDA it was recommended that many partner NGOs be graduated. The reason explained was CIDA is satisfied to note that such NGOs are well established and self-reliant, quite positive indeed. I express my since gratitude to all graduated partner NGOs for the cooperation extended through working for the poor in collaboration with SAFP and CIDA. Fr. Augustine Bharanikulangara

Follow up training on Gender Mainstreaming to the selected SHG members at Shreyas, Bathery

Monitoring and Audit Visits

• Monitoring visits were conducted in the partner NGOs of Pala, Allapuzha, Kothamangalam, Thamarassery, Kottayam, Palakkad, Coimbatore to assess the follow up training on gender mainstreaming to the selected SHG leaders and members.

• Mr. Jose visited Varapuzha DSSS for internal audit and evaluation of SAFP program.

• Mr. Joy participated in a meeting conducted by Credibility Alliance (NGO) at Ashirbhavan, Ernakulam regarding accreditation of NGOs.

MDG Housing Program The objective of the MDG Housing program is to help the poorest of the poor to value their lives and thus to promote their life security and personal dignity. SAFP aims a solution for the issue of housing with the optimum participation of the community and maximum social capital mobilization. To examine the possibilities for the model housing

program, SAFP intends to construct 30 houses in three partner NGOs. On the basis of the results and learning which will be generated by this action research process, SAFP will create replicable models of housing program and develop a logical report for documentation. Mr. Joy made monitoring visits to Kothamangalam, Cochin and Kottayam to visit the families selected and to monitor the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) conducted by the partner NGOs. Training for SAFP staff Training on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation for all staff members of SAFP was conducted at Aiswaryagram on 28th August 2009. The resource person was Dr. Joseph Sebastian from IGSSS Delhi. Feast Celebration Fr. Augustine’s feast day was celebrated with a prayer and lunch on 29th August 2009. All the staff members of SAFP and Aiswaryagram participated in this program. Ms. Sija from SAFP Canada and her family members were the special invitees for the day. Family Development Program Visit of staff from Canada Mrs. Sija Jacob from Canada visited 6 partnering NGOs and conducted training for RB co-coordinators in three regions - Ernakulam, Trivandrum Arch and Bathery. She left for Canada on 1st September 2009. Benefactors visit Bro. Francis Zambon and Mr. Joseph Zambon came from Canada and visited a few family development program families on 10th August 2009. Discussion Fr. Augustine, Ms. Sija, Ms. Usha Ms. Sindhu and Sr. Elsy had a discussion with Bishop Sebastian Adayanthrath at Major Archbishop’s House Ernakulam regarding making the Family Development program more effective and meaningful. Appointment of animators 5 Animators are appointed for field visit in Ernakulam DSSS. They are provided with one day training at Aiswaryagram. They also made a trial field visit to have a rapport with the families, to find the need assessment and to verify the SB/FD balance of the families.

Trainings for Family Development Program coordinators One day trainings were conducted on software program for RB coordinators in three regions at Ernakulam, Trivandrum Arch and Bathery for the clarifications on software program. Field visit In the month of July, August and September family visits were organized in the partner NGOs of Pala and Varapuzha for the verifications of new applications. 180 families were visited. Visits were also done in Iringalakuda, Thuklay, Bathery and Trivandrum Arch to monitor families who are receiving the support for the year of 2007. Visits were also done in the partner NGOs of Kanjirappilly, Thiruvalla, Iduki, Kottapuram and Kothamangalam. 194 families were visited whose applications are submitted for approval. During the visit some corrections were done in applications such as name of the applicant, planned IGP, reason for considerations and photos. SPED III 2009-2014: Sustainability through Participation, Empowerment and Decentralization Save A Family Plan (SAFP) is implementing a five-year program in India in partnership with CIDA/CPB, for the period beginning April 1, 2009 and ending March 31, 2014. The program will focus on creating a systematized process of capacity development that will equip communities to begin addressing their poverty-related issues. Cost-shared funding through Voluntary Sector Program (3:1) will provide $3.5 million to match SAFP’s $1.1 million, for a total Canadian investment of $4.6 (CAN) million. Local contributions will be provided by Indian partner organizations (minimum 20% cash/in kind). SAFP proposes to implement this program through 29 regionally-based NGO partners in 10 states: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chatissgarh, Gujarat, and Delhi. The program will directly benefit 580 rural villages with poor and marginalized communities, as well as numerous teams of staff and volunteers in India. In Canada, large numbers of Canadians will be reached through public engagement activities. With extensive experience in India working with the poor since 1965 and involvement in various CIDA-funded development projects and programs since 1978, SAFP is well-equipped, from an organizational perspective, to effectively and responsibly manage the proposed 5-year program. A recent program evaluation concluded that projects were implemented both efficiently and effectively, and key results were achieved in all intervention areas. Such evaluations, including the 2005 CIDA Gender evaluation, are greatly valued and have assisted SAFP

in reflecting critically on its Community Development work in India, and on shaping it to be more responsive to the needs of the poor. In the perspective planning process in the villages a large number of issues were identified. Issues that were identified have been broadly described as deep-rooted, complex, and inter-connected. They can be categorized under the general headings of Governance, Environment, Health, Education, and Gender, and include major development issues: poor or inaccessible public services, corruption, caste and gender discrimination, human trafficking, bonded labour, poor maternal health, food insecurity, malnutrition, poor sanitation, alcoholism, non-enrolment of children in school, illiteracy, degraded land, poor yields, water scarcity, etc. There is an awareness that numerous and varied Indian government projects and schemes, and public services and facilities already exist to address many of these issues; however, the reality in India is that the above provisions are not properly delivered or easily accessible, nor is legislation enforced in favour of the poor. In light of this, and with respect to India’s and Canada’s commitments to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, CIDA’s mandate, Government of India’s Plans and priorities, and overall Aid Effectiveness, SAFP is implementing this program which facilitates the widespread learning and use of a ‘core-process’ for empowerment of village communities. Through localized participatory and scientific processes, this methodology supports continuous analysis and learning leading to local ownership, control and sustainability. Specifically, the ‘core process’ includes: • creating an issue-focused critical awareness among the primary stakeholders • initiating a participatory micro-planning process • mobilizing local resources and public schemes and services for the implementation of

activities identified as part of micro-planning • engaging in concurrent monitoring, reflection and evaluation processes so as to

generate knowledge and insight from experiences

Although the country’s economy is healthy, India’s Human Development Index ranking is 128th out of 177, and over 40% of the population is still living below the (recently revised) World Bank poverty line of US$1.25 per day (2005). Targeted in SAFP’s this program are populations that contribute to these statistics: rural communities whose members live below the poverty line, and have significant numbers of marginalized communities: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, religious minorities, and Other Backward Communities (OBCs). These people have a right to benefit from India’s growing prosperity, and SAFP believes that facilitating a ‘core process’ among these communities and individuals will be the beginning of positive change. OBJECTIVES

• Participatory assessments that were part of the preliminary planning process that prefaced this proposal submission have identified a large number of local issues and problems in rural India that can be broadly categorized into issues of health, education, governance, environment, and gender.

• Inferences drawn from an analysis of these issues have guided the development of

an appropriate strategic focus and direction for SAFP’s proposed program. The analysis has also brought further understanding of the complexities of the problems and of the interconnectedness of various factors underlying their cause, which reflect the diverse socio-cultural, political, economic, and knowledge dynamics at work in communities and their effect on individuals’ life situations. These are mostly related to caste and religious discrimination, gender discrimination, social stigma, and social customs and practices, all influencing attitude and behaviour. This results in disempowered populations that are excluded from participating in local decision-making that affects their development, and denies them their rights and justice. The key developmental objectives of SPED III, in light of the above are as follows:

• To create a process leading to a critical consciousness of issues and problems

within communities, and to develop the capacity of people and organizations within that community to plan strategies to address them and effectively make use of available local resources and services.

• There are a significant number and variety of these, including various pro poor

schemes, programmes and legislations that have been introduced by government and designed for delivery by PRIs. However, access to and use of these resources is poor and ineffective.

• Building capacity in this regard is critical to bringing about better results from public investments and services.

• To develop local capacities for initiating a core process approach, specific

participatory micro-planning processes, respective to each village, will allow communities to set specific objectives and plan for results regarding their own direct initiatives

CORE PROCESS SAFP not only recognizes the need for effective long-term development strategies in communities, but also ones that allow communities to acquire the skills to capably address problems and issues in a participatory and scientific manner. The proposed program envisages facilitating a core process whereby primary stakeholders actively participate in the process of gaining rights, control and ownership over their development results. The stages of the core process are given below. 1. Generating awareness, sensitivity and consciousness on various issues and problems by creating a village-level data base and information bank; there is an evolutionary process of knowledge building that leads to social actions. Awareness of human rights, social justice, constitutional rights and privileges, etc. is an essential part of that evolution.

2. Household and Community level issue-based micro-planning (person-centered, family and location specific micro-planning); this helps stakeholders to gain control and ownership over the process. Once the plans at the community level are set, they can be integrated with those at the Panchayat (local government) level. 3. Household and Community level local initiatives/actions; this involves mobilizing local resources and accessing government schemes and services for the implementation of community plans. 4. Household and Community based Monitoring and Reflection; this is to establish participatory internal monitoring and evaluation systems at the community level. This will reinforce the community learning and action dynamics in a sustainable manner. Each successive activity in the core process is built upon the results of the preceding activity. The main focus is to facilitate empowerment of village communities to gain rights, control and ownership over the process and results of addressing issues. The expected results are that primary stakeholders will gain analytical and experiential knowledge on the issues; they will be able to develop plans and strategies in a scientific and systematic manner; they will be able to effectively make use of local resources, public services/facilities, and government schemes and projects to address their issues; and they will gain capacity to advocate for the purpose of influencing public policies and programmes. The methodology is such that each village community will focus on addressing one issue in the first year and one in each succeeding year. Essentially, the core-process is a knowledge-building process that leads to behaviour change and action. INTERVENING SECTORS

1) Economic growth 2) Food security 3) Education 4) Health and Hygiene 5) Gender Main streaming 6) Environment 7) Capacity building and good governance