Development Alternatives News Update

Institutions Systems Branch (ISB)

Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme is a large, non-governmental effort against poverty in India. Supported by Department for International Development (DFID), a UK Government Department working to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty, the PACS Programme is being implemented in more than one hundred poorest districts of six contiguous states, the programme has been designed to determine and implement the most effective strategies to empower the poor and build the capacities of local communities. 

Progress Status 

The quarter ending June has witnessed a lot of movement across the six PACS states.  MEAL implementation processes is in full swing. The focus has largely been on gathering backend data from the projects currently under implementation.  This culminated in the state syntheses, followed by the National Synthesis Meeting held in Bangalore towards the end of May.  The analysis has clearly indicated the direction the programme is taking and has depicted visible signs of change that are now being documented. 

Capacity building initiatives have been going on and a series of workshops on CSO Governance were conducted in the state of UP.  New partners were inducted through the Project Management Training conducted in Jhansi, apart from the customized trainings on micro-enterprise and livelihood promotion workshops in Bihar and UP. 

The Resource organizations' quarterly review meeting took place on 2^nd and 3^rd of June in New Delhi.  This was attended by all the support organizations, with over seventy five consultants in attendance.  This was also an opportunity to bid farewell to Dr Dennis Pain of DFID and welcome on board Dr Sushila Zeitlyn in his place. 

The Projects Selection Committee (PSC) met on the 1^st and 2^nd of April.  Twenty four projects were presented to the PSC by the management Consultants and 17 projects were given due approval.  The next meeting is scheduled for the 8^th and 9^th of July, 2005 and the MC is engaged in the process of proposal appraisals and proposal development support to potential partners. 

PACS has recently initiated a Learning Forum for Livelihood Promotion for persons with disabilities and the meeting was attended by 46 organisations on the 23^rd of June in New Delhi. 

The Drought Forum activities are also in full swing.  A short study has been conducted to define a gender integration strategy for the programme. 

The National Conference on Empowering Livelihoods: State Policy, Private Initiative and Civil Society Action is scheduled for October 24-26, 2005.  This will be preceded by state level conferences where state-specific issues will be discussed and strategies evolved.

Environment Systems Branch (ESB)

Training Programme on Bio-sand Filter

 In collaboration with a Canada based organization, Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST), Development Alternatives recently conducted a four day training programme on “Household Bio-sand Filter”, from 8^th to 11^th June 2005, at TARAgram, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. 

he training was focused mainly on the application of Household Water Treatment (HWT) options, especially the removal of turbidity and pathogens through Bio-sand filters (BSF). It comprised hands-on construction of all components of the filter, with the participants gaining knowledge on water issues globally and locally, the importance of water management as well as the dissemination of simple yet affordable technologies for the rural area. The importance of implementing solutions for water treatment at the local level, with locally available resources and community participation to ensure sustainability, was also stressed at.   

 The trained participants included 21 NGO personnel working as water and sanitation educators/ trainers, community stewards and water filter technicians. As a result of the training, an informal network has been set up to share experiences and exchange learning, with DA as the anchor. 

TechnologySystems Branch (ESB)

Conference : Good Environmental Practices for Reconstruction in Tsunami and Earthquake Affected Areas 

The Green Conference and Expo, held from June 21-23^rd at Banda Aceh, brought together professionals from Indonesia and the rest of the world to share environmental best experiences and knowledge related to Reconstruction in Earthquake affected areas and in conditions similar to the Tsunami aftermath. DA was invited to the conference to co-ordinate the discussion on ‘Sustainable Building Practices’ and develop, in a stakeholder centric process, indicators of sustainability which can be used to guide decision making in the various Reconstruction projects. The session was conducted under the themes of Sustainable Building Practices in Eco-Housing; Green Building Materials and Job creation and capacity building. Indicators have been developed to address concerns of Security of Land Tenure; Social and Cultural relevance in House design; Diversity in building materials; Long term commercial energy needs, Participatory design and planning and Livelihood planning along with habitat planning. The indicators will now be validated by various stakeholders in the Reconstruction and be shared with various agencies involved in reconstruction. Further, the indicators will be used to evaluate the options in building material and house design by the Architectural Clinic which is being set up to facilitate design and technology choices for Tsunami reconstruction. 

Training- Production of precast RCC Choukhats

A traning programme for production of RCC door/window frames- choukhats- was organized at TARAgram, Orchha from June 5^th -9^th , 2005. The technology has been developed by Society for Sustainable Action and Rural Development (SARA) which has collaborated with Development Alternatives for large scale application of the technology. As a first step, masons were trained at TARAgram in production of choukhats using wooden moulds and making choukhats  in three different kinds of finishes. This will now be followed up by installation of choukhats in rural housing in Bundelkhand and preparation of an business package to disseminate the technology through creation of small enterprises.