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Protection & Learning Centers
for Flood Affected Children in Sindh
Project Partner: UNICEF-Sindh, Pakistan
Project Implementation Districts: Badin, Nawabshah (SBA) and Sanghar
In October
2011 PODA expanded its partnership with UNICEF Sindh to provide
immediate and urgent protection services for 20, 000 flood-affected
children by setting up 50 Protection and Learning Centers in three
districts.
With support from UNICEF we are setting up 20 Protection and Learning
Centres/Places each in Nawabshah and Badin and 10 in Sanghar
districts, at selected locations where large scale flooding and
consequent displacement has taken place.
This
project is providing
immediate and urgent protection services for 20, 000
flood-affected women and children in these three districts.
The objective is to improve the safety and humanitarian conditions of
an estimated 50, 000 women and children. An estimated 1000
beneficiaries through each centre established. The fifty centres
established in the three districts shall provide necessary protection
and shelter to the targeted beneficiaries through an integrated
mechanism of social protection. These 50 centres established shall
provide essential emergency response support and serve as integrated
emergency response and social support centres with reference to
protection mechanisms and services delivery towards these vulnerable
groups, provide them with referrals in emergency non formal education,
recreational facilities, health checkups and access to health
services, besides psycho-social support and counselling sessions for
groups of women and children.
PODA aims to provide essential emergency response support towards
vulnerable groups of women and children. The organization shall
coordinate with local authorities in the three targeted districts and
engage a team of outreach officers and social mobilizers consisting of
males and females both to identify and address the critical needs of
the above vulnerable groups that have been worst affected, as well as
particular hazards and risks confronting them. One field team shall be
deployed through each centre and facilitate in locating and
highlighting displaced groups of women who require protection from
threat of social abuse, violence, forced labour, discrimination and
who have had limited or no access to basic necessities such as health
care, hygiene, sanitation, and psycho social support needs. Many of
them still require urgent support in order to meet their regular
nutrition as well as safe drinking water supply needs.
The outreach teams shall provide pivotal support through facilitating
with necessary information and identify support mechanism on how to
report missing and separated children, and incidents of violence,
discrimination, abuse, and exploitation against women and children
both. They would in the process also seek to address priority issues
and grievances in coordination with relevant humanitarian and
government partners.
The protection and learning centres proposed here would serve to
provide displaced and most vulnerable groups of women and children a
support mechanism and system whereby they could have easy access to
basic protection, education, health care and counselling needs in
order to cope with emergency situation. During this time they shall
also be sensitized on significance on basic preventive mechanism
against water borne diseases, towards importance of consuming safe
drinking water and of ensuring a safe protection mechanism whereby
they can seek guidance and support for prevention and protection
against all forms of violence, abuse, discrimination as a consequence
of emergency situation and hence limited support at family
institutional level.
Qualified
resource persons would be involved for providing awareness raising
and facilitating non formal education, recreational, counselling
sessions for women and children, besides facilitating them with
knowledge building on health and hygiene issues and providing them
basic emergency health services as appropriate. The staff shall
include women who have sufficient exposure in dealing with trauma and
GBV cases, and those with understanding on how to provide protection
to women and children during emergency situations.
Over the period of three months and later during the recovery phase,
the project activities will be implemented and monitored closely in
partnership between UNICEF and PODA. To ensure good use of available
resources and best possible results, PODA will ensure close
coordination with local authorities and other humanitarian partners as
per the requirement during the emergency response as well as recovery
period and beyond.
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'Charter of Rights for Women in Disaster Situations'
Click on the picture below to get full text
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Read
about
Recognition
of PODA’s disaster relief work during 2005-2009
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PODA
TAKES JOURNALISTS TO MARDAN |
Pathetic condition of flood victims raises many questions
Saadia Khalid
Monday, July 25, 2011
Dilapidated
homes, broken streets, poor sanitation and hopeless faces this is the
picture of the flood-affected areas of Mardan district where people are
still trying to come out of the disastrous impact of the tragedy they faced
a year ago while the predictions of upcoming floods are adding to their
worries.
During a visit of Samarbagh and Rang Naray, the pathetic condition of flood
affected people raised many questions over the performance of the government
which has not taken enough steps for the rehabilitation of flood victims
while the predicted floods are just round the corner.
Whatever construction you are witnessing here is not because of the
government but because of us. We have not been given any compensation or
relief by government, said Fatima Bibi, a woman sitting in Women Friendly
Space (WFS).
The WFS is a project by Potohar Organisation for Development and Advocacy (PODA)
where the flood affected women are provided an opportunity to learn skills
including stitching, embroidery, decoration pieces and many more and to earn
their livelihood respectfully. The visit of journalists to the flood
affected areas was also facilitated by PODA.
In a ramshackle structure, the women of surrounding areas were gathered to
learn skills from their instructor deputed by PODA. Sitting on muddy floors
without electricity, the women, though wiping off their perspiration
repeatedly, were eager to learn and also to explain their problems.
It s good that we have learnt skills and also utilising it in our lives but
it is an unfortunate fact that we are unfortunate that we don t have access
to market, said Mashhoqa Bibi. She said that male members of their family
don t allow visiting markets while they don t have reliable middleman who
could introduce our work to market.
PODA Coordinator Najam-us-Sahar, while talking to this scribe, said that in
the next phase of their project, they were trying to develop linkages
between the skilled women and market. Our team has visited various markets
of Mardan and Peshawar to explore the opportunities for the skilled women,
she added.
It was something interesting to listen that women during the reconstruction
of their homes equally participated in the work with their male
counterparts, however they are not allowed to go out of homes for earning
livelihood.
My husband does not earn anything and is drug addict. I didn t have anything
to eat when I was pregnant and whatever I had, I used to feed it to my
children. As a result I gave birth to a under nourished baby, said Rehman
bibi who is now teaching skills to the teacher.
She said that since they don t have any medical facility nearby, so they
often face such problems due to unhygienic living conditions.
She said that the non-availability of proper medical facility nearby
sometimes create adverse problems for women. The women who need to deliver
to a baby have to wait for a long time until some public transport is
available for her. Meanwhile there is no trained midwife in the vicinity of
the village who could handle the case in the absence of doctor, she said.
She in utter disappointment said that she was expecting the same for the
upcoming generation too. We all are disappointed by the government. Our
children are on mercy of circumstances as they neither have access to health
nor to education, she said.
The ladies present on WFS told the media persons that there was only one
primary school for girls and boys each in this village. Those who could
afford send their children to city for higher studies, while rest has to
discontinue the education of their children, said Shabanam Bibi.
When asked about the prediction of upcoming floods, all women were having
the same answer and that was, What else do we have now to protect. Our homes
are not reconstructed yet. The education and health facilities are still out
of our reach.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=59421&Cat=6
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Women's caravan ends with rally in front of parliament |
Myra Imran
Thursday, May 26, 2011
To
highlight the miseries of the flood-affected women, the women caravan
concluded its long march in the form of a protest demonstration in front of
the Parliament House.
The women’s caravan that started on Tuesday comprised a large number of
women and girls from flood hit areas. They demanded women’s prioritisation
in the flood rehabilitation process and budgetary allocation for women
support programme. On this occasion, women and girls shared their personal
stories and testimonies. They said that poverty has turned women into
beggars. One such woman is Manzooran Mai from Taunsa (southern Punjab), who
said she had turned to begging to feed her six children. Girls like Farzana
shared that they have had to leave school, as their parents cannot afford to
buy books and pay school fee.
They said that they have not been issued Watan Cards while in some cases
they are unable to draw money from the bank through Watan Cards. Umaima, 14,
from Kot Adu (southern Punjab) alleged that only rich are getting support
from the government while the poor are at the mercy of the nature.
They also presented the charter of demands prepared by flood-affected women
all across the country. The charter says that women are the most vulnerable
and most marginalized in the society and worst affected by floods therefore
the rehabilitation package must be announced by the government specifically
focusing on the needs and priorities of women.
It says that only 5 per cent of women survivors got Watan Cards and
thousands of them are not even registered yet. Many of those who have got
the cards couldn’t get the first instalment while the second instalment is
not even announced after eleven months of floods.
Specific demands include that women must be involved in the planning and
implementation of reconstruction and rebuilding by the government and
international and national NGOs and both government and non-governmental
agencies working with the displaced population must recognise and address
special needs of the flood-affected women and girls.
It urges the government to address lacunas in the issuance of Watan Cards
and demands that the government must immediately provide data of how many
women and girls were affected in the floods and how much loss they suffered.
It suggests that land distribution should be made part of the flood
rehabilitation package and women should be allocated land in all the
provinces. It further demands income-generating opportunities for women such
as livestock provision, vocational centres, and revolving funds.
“Women and girls have been the worst victims of 2010 floods due to their pre
existing vulnerabilities. After almost a year of the devastating floods,
millions of women are still desperately striving to rebuild their lives and
livelihoods. Therefore it is imperative that government and NGOs keep their
focus on women’s rehabilitation. Only strong, empowered women can build a
safe and prosperous society,” said ActionAid Pakistan’s Country Director
Jemal Ahmed while addressing the women’s assembly at the conclusion of
women’s caravan at the National Press Club.
He said that floods have pushed rural women into further poverty and
suffering, but they have immense resilience and courage of conviction, which
is why they are here to tell the world of their problems. “Government must
allocate budget for women support programme, which means they should be
given Watan Cards, proper shelter and income generating opportunities,” he
added.
Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy (Poda) Director Sameena Nazir
highlighted that the impact of floods is not over yet. “There are still
millions of internally displaced families that are seeking to rebuild their
lives. Therefore budgets should be allocated at federal and provincial
levels so that poor people can be supported to overcome the flood
devastation.”
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=49148&Cat=6
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PODA Organizes
Training on Psychosocial Counseling in Disaster Situations
Potohar
Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA) organized a 4-days
training for humanitarian relief workers and social activists and
volunteers in collaboration with Teachers Without Borders (TWB) USA &
Chendgu University, China and Roshni Helpline and Pakistan Association
for Mental Health (PAMH) in Karachi from 11th to 14th March 2011.
The participants
included 20 woman and 21 men representing NGO workers, nurses,
students, psychologists, teachers, journalists, medical doctors, human
rights activists, artisan, lawyers and community development
professionals.
Mr. Yu Lu Wang,
Assistant Professor of Psychology from Chengdu University, China and
Ms. Li Hong Xu, Professor from Teachers’ Training College, Chengdu
University, China conducted the sessions on techniques and skills for
psychosocial counseling in disaster situations. The two trainers have
extensive experience in providing psychosocial counseling to the
victims of 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China.
The
training provided the participants orientation about assessing and
handling patients with post trauma counseling techniques in
disaster situations. The participants learnt about the Individual
Counseling Techniques and Group Counseling Techniques. The
teachers from China used role play, practical activities, groups
work and also held sessions on Theories of Behaviorism to explain
the essential skills that all counselors must have. The
participants learnt hands on techniques and skills.
At the end of the 4 days training course the certificates distribution ceremony was held at Hotel Sarawan in Karachi. Ms.
Sameena Nazir Executive Director PODA, Mr. Sharfuddin Memon,
Advisor to the Home Department,
Government of Sindh and Mr. Aamir
Farooqi, Senior Superintendent Police (SSP), Jamshed Town Karachi
distributed the certificates. Sameena Nazir said that we need to
prepare for disasters in the times of peace so that we can provide
assistance to disaster victims in a professional and efficient
manner. She shared that in 2005 when Pakistan faced an
unprecedented earthquake disaster PODA was not prepared to respond
and we did not have staff trained in psychosocial counseling or
disaster relief and response work.” We decided as an institution
that we must build our capacity to respond to disasters
effectively and professionally”, she said adding that now in 2011
PODA has 10 highly qualified staff who can start and implement
disaster relief projects in any part of the country. This training
was part of our on-going work to provide training to new PODA
staff, volunteers and social activists to be ready and keep on
developing their skills and learn the new techniques to work in
disasters.
Mr.
Sharaffudin Memon in his remarks thanked PODA for organizing the
training and shared that his office has been actively supporting
PODA’s work in Kemari Camp Karachi. SSP Mr. Amir also said that
the close collaboration between the police and citizens is
critical for effective response to any disaster ranging from flood
to any riot or other situation. The two teachers from China said
they are very pleased to be in Pakistan because Chinese people
consider Pakistan its best friend. They said that psychosocial
counseling is a specialized skill that should be used with
knowledge and carefulness. They said they plan to organize
follow-up trainings.
At the end of the
Training Distribution Ceremony, to show solidarity to the victims of
Tsunami in Japan the training participants observed one minute silence
and also pledged to start a donation drive for the people of Japan.
The donations will be sent to the embassy of Japan in Islamabad. As a
first step all the training participants gave cash donations
themselves and raised Rs. 10,000 on the spot.
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World Teachers’ Day
Since
1994 the
World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on October 5th annually. The
theme of 2010 day is "Teachers without borders’’ to emphasize the
contributions and importance of teachers during disasters and emergencies.
As Pakistan has witness the biggest flood disaster in 80 years the World
Teachers' Day has been more significant this year than ever before.
Whether the teachers are in an area struck by natural disasters or in
conflict zones or in remote rural communities, they play a vital role in
rehabilitation process. During the current chaotic situation in Pakistan
after the deadly deluge shook one fifth of the country, role of teachers has
become even more crucial in stabilizing and rehabilitating students,
families and communities of the flood effected areas. High priority
responsibilities have been assigned to the teachers to ensure the proper
provision of physical and psycho-social protection which can be both
life-saving and life-sustaining.
PODA also understands the significance of teacher’s role in physiological
rehabilitation, in this implication, members of Rural Women teachers Network
Chakwal organized consultation meeting with the support of PODA on 10th Aug
2010 at Government girls High School Chakwal and during this meeting they
highlighted not only the problems of teachers but also issues of humanity
during flood in the country. Ms Farwa “Rural women Teacher” and Ms Zubaida
“Rural Teacher” lead the Rural Women Teachers Network and they initiated
collection of cash donation from network members first and then from
participants of meeting and they collected Rs.6000/= cash during this
meeting. After that consultation (Miss Shaista Manzoor,teacher in primary
school of Dohman, Ms Shaista Temoor “Headmistress of Govt Girls High School
Dhudial” Mrs.Zahoor-Un-Nisa Nazish rom govt girls high school Mulhal
mughlan,Mrs Farwa Abid Headmistress of Govt Girls Elementary School
Chaknarang,Mrs.Zubaida teacher in Govt Girls community model school Bheen)
active members of Rural women teachers network continued collection of cash
and in kind donations (food items ,clothes, shoes, Kitchen Utensil’s, and
toys for children)from their families, relatives, friends, their respective
communities and do packing of material and sent their contributions to the
survivors of flood affected areas of district Mianwali,and Khushab with the
facilitation of PODA team. A group of teachers in District Mianwali is
contributing their times and efforts for the help of survivors of flood
affected people in the most flood affected areas like Purani Mari Indus,
Utla Pattan ,Ghulam Khail, Kukkran Wala in district Mianwali.
According to the stats, the number of teachers in need of humanitarian aid
is estimated to be almost 100,000, in this context The Pakistan Teachers'
Organizations’ Council (PTOC), the All Pakistan Government School Teachers’
Associations (APGSTA) and the Central Organization of Teachers (COT) used
their extensive national networks to distribute aid, concentrating on the
provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtoonkhoa and Azad Kashmir which were
worst affected by the region’s deadliest floods in 80 years. The
humanitarian aid program also included health care services and trauma
counseling for more than 1,000 victims.
Devoted to their mission, teachers from
all over the country visited the effected areas, set up small schools and
many temporary learning centers. In these centers, children had the
opportunity to learn in a protected environment. Caregivers not only taught
the basic primary-school subjects through semi-structured learning but also
encouraged artistic expression and recreation, which helped the children
deal with the stress they are under. It is hoped that due to untiring
efforts of our teachers, physiological rehabilitation will go side by side
with the structural rehabilitation and will help have long term effects on
our nation as a whole.
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