Sustainable Livelihoods Programme in Pakistan
| Background | Objectives | Strategy | Expected Outcomes | Financial Data | Project List |

Background

The Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) Programme, which is presented in paragraphs 26-30 of the CCF document, is one of the three main sub-programmes of the CCF, along with governance and gender. The SL Programme is aimed at addressing poverty eradication in the context of the poverty and environment nexus. The high incidence of poverty in both rural and urban areas, population growth and on-going development efforts are putting ever increasing pressure on the country's limited natural resources. Deforestation, desertification, water and air pollution and other forms of environmental degradation have reached alarming levels. A reversal of this trend calls for the promotion of sustainable public and private consumption and production practices, and a greater awareness of the need to incorporate environmental considerations into poverty eradication and economic development efforts.

 

Objectives

The National Conservation Strategy (NCS) approved by the Government in 1992, provides the basic framework for redirecting policies and priorities and mobilizing and re-allocating resources to managing natural resources and the physical environment in ways that are ecologically sustainable and economically and socially viable. The SL Programme aims to support the continued implementation of the NCS through two streams of initiatives. The first, which constitutes the main thrust of the programme, consists of local area development initiatives targeted at supporting development efforts that will benefit people in selected low-income rural and urban areas, where environmental degradation and the incidence of poverty are most acute. The second stream of initiatives, which draws on funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other funding mechanisms, focuses on addressing global environmental concerns and supporting national efforts to meet the country's commitments to the international conventions on biodiversity conservation, climate change, combating desertification, and others. More specifically, the Programme will comprise of the following reinforcing components:

1. Area Development: This component will include area-specific programmes in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Balochistan and Northern Areas, which are among the most disadvantaged regions of the country. The scope and design of each of these programmes will depend on the specific needs and demands expressed by the communities. Conceived as models of community-based poverty eradication, these programmes, developed in collaboration with IFAD and WP, aimed at expanding people's choices and opportunities for sustainable use of land, water and other natural resources. They draw on the lessons learned from the experience of successful rural support programmes. Reducing the vulnerability of poor people and communities living in flood-prone areas along the Indus River in Punjab will constitute an added dimension of this component. The same community-based models will be applied to land reclamation and rehabilitation and sustainable farming practices in areas most severely affected by water logging and salinity in the province of Punjab. The latter initiative is being developed in collaboration with, and with substantial cost-sharing on the part of, Australian bilateral development assistance.

2. Improvement of the Urban Environment: Building on the successes of the Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment (LIFE) Programme for mobilizing poor communities in low-income neighborhoods, this Programme will promote community-based self-help initiatives and collaboration with local governments with a view improve solid waste management, health, education and income-generating opportunities. This component of the programme has been initiated under a Preparatory Assistance phase of the programme for Improvement of Livelihoods in Urban Settlements (PLUS). Concurrently, through the establishment of public-private partnerships, another component of the programme seeks to help reduce the environmental degradation and pollution created by industrial effluents in Kasur and other production centers. It will provide incentives to the private sector to comply with established environmental quality standards and invest in cleaner technologies. Similarly, GEF funded initiatives will provide incentives for businesses to set-up gasoline and diesel motor vehicle tune-up centers in the main urban centers, and develop the commercial use of renewable energy.

3. Biodiversity Conservation This component will support national initiatives to conserve biodiversity by promoting sustainable use practices and developing the income-generating opportunities that local communities can derive from the preservation of wildlife and natural habitats. The programme comprises efforts to help map the designated agro-ecological zones of the Indus River valley, wetlands, adjoining and semi-arid areas, and the mountainous areas in the north of the country, which contain biodiversity of global significance. It will develop databases to reflect the status of these ecological systems and species and monitor their evolution, and develop and implement strategies and community-based approaches needed to manage and maintain biodiversity in these areas. This component of the programme will be mainly funded from the GEF, with core funding used to provide necessary leverage, as in the case of the proposal for a full scale Biodiversity Conservation with Community Development project which is currently being finalised.
 

Strategy

The programme will contribute to achieving the above objectives by supporting a process of empowering people, especially low-income groups and communities living in poverty in the least developed areas of Pakistan, by expanding their economic opportunities through sustainable agricultural production, income generation, employment, and access to social services, basic infrastructure and other requirements for sustainable livelihoods. The Programme design and implementation strategy will be based on a people-centered approach, through community mobilisation. It will facilitate the involvement of all stakeholders and beneficiaries at all stages of programme development, as well as draw on local knowledge and practices to develop technical solutions. Building national capacity to address development issues and Programmes in a multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral perspective, as well as, advocacy and resource mobilisation are integral parts of this strategy.

Expected Outcomes

The baseline data and benchmarks required to measure progress in achieving the above objectives will be developed in collaboration with national counterparts, project personnel and beneficiaries as an integral part of programme start-up and implementation.

Financial Data

For the period 1997-2000 the SL Programme will require US $ 17.4 million in TRAC. Resources to be mobilised through third party cost-sharing, GEF and other non-core sources are targeted at US $ 25.9 million.

Projects

On going

In Process

Additional Information

Additional information about the Sustainable Livelihoods Programme in Pakistan may be obtained from the Director (Development) in the office of the United Nations Development Programme, as below:
 


Office of the United Nations development Programme,
9th Floor,UN Offices, Saudi Pak Towers,
F-7, Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Tel.(92-51) 279082,822072-79 Fax: (92-51) 279080,279083


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