Framework for Economic Growth, Pakistan - Planning Commission

International conference on “Framework for Economic Growth, Pakistan”with financial education, training and microcredit.We also supporting multipurposecommunity library for continuing educationof 250,000 out of school youth.Adolescent Development Program (ADP) isone of the important programs inBangladesh focusing to improve the qualityof life of vulnerable adolescents and youth(14 to 21 years), especially girls withcoverage of 260,000 girls in 8,660 clubsorganized. We are providing life-skills basededucation and livelihood training,community participation through forums,rallies, adolescent fairs, organize culturalcompetition, cricket tournament, safeswimminginitiative etc. to identify andgroom talent. Another program being run byBRAC is “Social and FinancialEmpowerment of Adolescents and Youth”(SoFEA) to empower adolescents and youth(15-24 year) socially and economically sothat they can lead their lives with confidenceand dignity. Programme includes buildingcapacity through life-skills based education,livelihood training, financial education,microfinance, and community participationfor long-term sustainability of the clubs.Another important program is “CommunityEmpowerment Program” which forms socialcapital of marginalized people and assists instrengthening local governance throughcapacity enhancement of women unioncouncil members and builds up mechanismfor transparency and accountability at grassroot level. BRAC supports a network of12,000 people with 750,000 membershipsall over Bangladesh.Approach of the Community EmpowermentProgramme is as follows:- Making the marginalized people awareof their rights,- Empowering them to claim theirentitlements, and resist exploitation byfacilitating functioning of communitybased organizations,- Making the local government moreresponsive to the needs of themarginalized people,- Developing direct linkages between thepeople and different tiers of local govt.We are engaging communities to redressinsecurity and violence to ensureparticipation of all level of people in thecommunity (men, women, youth, adolescentboys and girls, local elites, localgovernment, police) activities. We havegiven consideration to ensure women’s andadolescent girls’ participation in planning,implementation and monitoring of projects.The community safety and security concernsare identified and prioritized for actions bythe community themselves by followingparticipatory approaches. The communitythemselves develop action plans to addressthe concerning issues identified. Communitymobilization for effective utilization ofsanitary latrines involves formal andinformal community and religious leaders,seeks participation of educationalinstitutions and engages media and otherlocal civil society groups.BRAC is also working for the extreme poorunder the program entitled “Challenging theFrontiers of Poverty Reduction andTargeting the Ultra Poor” (CFPR-TUP)”. Itis a unique case of community participationand contribution in combating extremepoverty in rural Bangladesh which hasespecially targeted ultra poor householdswho are provided:a) Grants of small assets,b) Intensive training on management ofassets, andc) Free medical care, for a period of twoyears to graduate them out of extremepoverty.It costs US $ 320 per households to providethis facility. A total of 400,000 householdsalready graduated through the programme.76