Fiscal year 2010/11 - Poverty Alleviation Fund, Nepal

Executive
Director’s
Report
Making Communities Empowered
In
our continued crusade against poverty, the reporting
year has remained important for many reasons.
Firstly, different impact evaluation studies have
confirmed that PAF has helped to raise per capita
consumption, average income, food sufficiency, child schooling
and access to services and women's empowerment. PAF has
also created and improved community assets in rural areas
benefiting large number of the rural population. These findings
are the results of a comprehensive and independent follow- up
study done in 2010 in the 6 sample districts conducted by TU
and two separate studies on social re-assessment and revolving
fund by PAF itself.
Secondly, PAF was able to receive the additional financing of
US$ 75 million to strengthen its impact on the lives of the poor
and cover additional poor households under the programme.
The government of Nepal and WB signed a grant agreement on
July 13, 2011 for the additional funding for the ongoing second
phase of PAF. Also, PAF has added more strategic partners
during the year as several Memorandum of Understandings
(MoUs) have also been signed with different organizations at
central level to facilitate different task as well as to facilitate
collaboration in implementation of sub-projects at community
level with complementarities.
Seven years on the ground, a total of 17,898 community
organizations (COs) of poor are registered with PAF, out of which
PAF has already inked agreements with 16,819 COs. In their bid
to sustainability and institutional growth, communities have also
begun to build federations, network of COs and co-operatives.
So far, 53 Multi-purpose co-operatives and 547 federation
of COs have already been formed. The PAF supported COs
are currently pursuing 16, 576 Income Generation and 3039
Infrastructure related sub-projects till the end of the reporting
period.
Reaching Out to the Poor
PAF is now currently working in 40 poorest districts defined
by the Central Bureau of Statistics while additional 19 districts
are also covered under separate innovotive window and Nepal
Development Market Place (NDM). Among the 40 districts,
PAF is working in 71 per cent of total VDCs (87 per cent in 25
districts and 50 per cent in 15 districts).
All five districts of the Karnali zone are covered by the
programme. Till date, programme has reached 134 VDCs i.e.
100 per cent of 134 VDCs in Karnali and benefitted 54,329 poor
households while Programme is covering Ten (10) districts in
Terai (Mahottari, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Kapilbastu, Siraha, Bara,
Bardiya, Dhanusa, Parsa, Saptari) and benefitted 159,647HHs
covering 590 VDCs (i.e. 17 per cent of poor HHs and 52 per
cent of VDCs). Out of 146 border VDCs of Kapilbastu, Mahottari,
Rautahat, Sarlahi and Siraha among above Terai districts, PAF
program coveres 95 VDCs (i.e. 65 per cent) and benifitted
20,015 HHs
Further, innnovative pocket programme is still continued in
Makawanpur, Morang, Kanchanpur and Chitwan districts. It has
reached additional 13,376 poor households in 48 VDCs in those
districts.
In an overall scenario, PAF has covered 470,021 poor HHs
as CO member beneficiaries, among which a total of 65.8
per cent members falls under hardcore poor category (food
sufficiency less than 3 months among other criteria fixed by
the communities), 25.41 per cent members falls under medium
poor category (food sufficiency more than 3 months but less
than 6 months among other criteria set by the communities), 8.6
per cent members falls under poor category (food sufficiency
more than 6 months but less than a year among other criteria
set by the communities) and 0.2 per cent members falls under
marginal “non-poor” Category.
Likewise, CO member households constitutes 29 per cent Dalit,
28 per cent Janajati, 3 per cent Muslim, 30 per cent Brahmin/
Chhetri and 10 per cent other caste and ethnicity. Gender-wise,
74 per cent are female members in COs.
Similarly, the key position holders in the community organisation
such as president, treasurer, secretary constitutes, 34 per cent
Dalit, 27 per cent Janajati, and 2 per cent Muslims and 29 per cent
Brahman/Chettri, and 8 per cent from other caste and ethnicity.
Gender-wise, 62 per cent key position holders in CO are female.
When per centage beneficiery of PAF by caste and ethnicity is
compared with district per centage ethnicity composition(as
ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT (2010/2011)
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