Where we work

North West Frontier Province (NWFP)
In NWFP, one of the provinces most severely affected by the 2005 South Asia earthquake, Concern is working on recovery and rehabilitation programmes in the Siran valley and Sub-district Balakot in Mansehra.

In Siran Valley, Concern, in partnership with local NGO Haashar, is assisting approximately 16,000 people in earthquake recovery and rehabilitation.

In Sub-district Balakot, Concern is implementing earthquake recovery and livelihoods rehabilitation activities in partnership with local NGO, RDP, targeting 45,000 people.

Rehabilitation phase interventions include:

• Provision of materials for building transitional shelters
• Revival of agriculture and small businesses
• Repair & reconstruction of rural infrastructure
• Disaster preparedness and
• Environmental conservation

Balochistan Province
Awaran Rural Development Programme
Working with a local Quetta based partner, Water, Environment and Sanitation Society (WESS), Concern is engaged in a long term livelihoods programme in Awaran district, which focuses on:

• Improving access to water for drinking and for domestic and agricultural purposes,
• Flood irrigation & flood protection schemes,
• Improving access to health care (particularly mother and child health care),
• Vocational training,
• Establishing and strengthening community based organizations and
• Developing market linkages for the sale of locally produced handicrafts

Quetta Urban Development Programme:
Quetta city, the capital of Balochistan province, has in the past decade experienced an influx of Afghan refugees fleeing the conflict in their homeland, as well as waves of migrants from rural parts of the province who have abandoned their drought ravaged land in search of alternative means of making a living.

In Quetta, Concern is working with local partners Innovative Development Organization (IDO) and the Society for Empowering Human Resources (SEHER), on a long term development programme which targets the extremely poor, vulnerable and marginalized communities in the slum areas (katchi abadis) of the city.

• Formation and strengthening of Citizen Community Boards (CCBs),
• Strengthening & capacity building of local government institutions & elected representatives,
• Provision of environmental health services through CCBs,
• Livelihood improvement interventions including vocational skills training and the development of linkages with government and private sector training institutions and financial institutions and
• Advocacy initiatives on resource mobilization and the protection and restoration of human rights

Working Children’s Programme, Quetta City
Conditions of extreme poverty in Quetta City force thousands of children, many of whose parents are unskilled daily wage labourers, to work in order to help support their families. Children in Quetta work as domestic servants, street hawkers, daily wage labourers, shop/workshop assistants and carpet weavers, but the majority work as garbage pickers.
Working children in Quetta are exposed environmental hazards, physical & sexual abuse, drug addiction and HIV & AIDS due to their extreme vulnerability and risky behaviour and are deprived of their basic rights to education, health, leisure, and the freedom to simply be children.
Concern is working with local NGO, WESS, to provide approximately 1,800 working children (about 50% of whom are girls) with access to 3 drop-in centres where they benefit from:

• Food,
• Hygiene facilities,
• Child-focused health education,
• Treatment for basic ailments and a health referral system for more serious illnesses,
• Non-formal education,
• Vocational training
• Recreational activities such as outdoor games, toys, arts, and crafts,
• Advocacy and awareness-raising on child rights and child protection for working children

Punjab Province
Rawalpindi Rural Development Programme
Kotli Sattian is one of the six tehsils (sub-districts) of District Rawalpindi, Punjab province. Basic amenities and public utilities are virtually non-existent, there is no sanitation system and people have to travel long distances on foot to reach health or transport services.

Concern has been working in Kotli Sattian since 2003. Our current Rawalpindi Rural Development Programme, which will benefit 45,000 people, aims to achieve sustainable improvements in the health and livelihoods of the community in Kotli Sattian.

Programme components include:

• Improving access to health and awareness of health related issues,
• Water and sanitation,
• Environmental conservation,
• Improved livelihoods opportunities/small enterprise promotion,
• Formation and strengthening of Community Based Organizations and
• Devolution collaboration between the community and the government

Rawalpindi Urban Development Programme
The urban poor in Rawalpindi have little access to basic services such as water, solid waste disposal, drainage and health services and livelihoods opportunities are limited.

Concern and our partners, Alfalah Development Organization (ADO) and Pakistan Institute for Environment-Development Action Research (PIEDAR), through the Rawalpindi Urban Development Programme, aim to help approximately 300,000 urban poor people to realise their rights and strengthen their capacity to take action to improve access to basic services, within a devolved government structure.

The programme focuses on:

• Strengthening collaborative mechanisms and urban management systems,
• Increasing and improving access to primary health care and reproductive health services,
• Improving and increasing access to water, sanitation and solid waste management and
• Improving livelihood opportunities and promoting small-scale enterprises.

Sindh
In Mirpurkhas and Sangarh

Flood Rehabilitation: Nov ’06 – April ‘07