It has been one year since the monsoons caused devastating floods in Pakistan and millions of people are once again at risk. As we shared earlier, we are evaluating a number of long-term sustainable solutions to address infrastructure needs in vulnerable areas.

 

In the meantime, we are pleased to report that our Flood Recovery and Rehabilitation program is on track and most of the initiatives are close to successful completion. Here are some highlights of the progress since we provided an update last month:

Micro-infrastructure

• Program: Rehabilitation of micro-infrastructure systems for clean drinking water and irrigation
• Partners: Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) and Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP)
• Regions: Swat district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
• Impact: 33 micro-infrastructure systems impacting over 25,000 people
• Progress:
• Micro-infrastructure projects have been initiated in all 33 targeted villages, directly affecting 3,940 households (higher than the targeted number of people).   
• SRSP and RSPN have successfully completed 19 projects and work is underway on the remaining 14 systems. 
• The projects include rebuilding of pukka water systems as well as sanitation and street pavement schemes (photo shows street pavement work underway in Rahimabad, Swat).  
• Water quality tests are being carried out at all project sites, in order to guarantee purity.
• RSPN and SRSP are also establishing Women Community Organizations in the project area, by assigning Female Social Organizers to engage them.  

 Livelihoods & Entrepreneurship 

• Program: Rapid Livelihoods Rebuilding via Livestock
• Partners: Relief International (RI)
• Regions: Nowshera district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
• Impact: 2,500 people in 650 households
• Progress:  
• Relief International has completed beneficiary verification and all door-to-door visits have been successfully conducted with the help of the community organizations. A token system was designed to link verified beneficiaries with the goats provided to them, ensuring transparency and proper distribution.
• Two suppliers of lactating goats were selected for the program after a competitive review which included monitoring through quarantine periods.
• Capacity building of program beneficiaries was conducted through intensive training on livestock rearing, housing, feeding, and disease management. Following the training, each of the 650 beneficiaries in the selected 5 union councils were provided one lactating goat, which will be a valuable asset and source of income for their households.

 

For details on these projects and other program we are supporting, please visit Our Programs.  

We believe that effective community and government engagement is vital as we work towards change in Pakistan.

Upcoming Events 

 

SAVE THE DATE!

Discussion forum with USAID Administrator Dr. Raj Shah

September 19, 2011, 10 am, at the Asia Society, New York

 

APF has invited Dr. Raj Shah to share an update on USAID's work in Pakistan. Dr. Shah will highlight progress on USAID's development programs in Pakistan and outline the organization's strategy going forward. APF is hosting the forum in collaboration with Asia Society. The event will be an interactive session, providing a unique opportunity to engage with Dr. Shah. We look forward to participation from the Pakistani-American community. Please save the date and we will share event details shortly.

Recent activites

 

Here's a snapshot of some community activities APF has been involved in recently:

• Discussions on Capitol Hill, Washington DC: The American Pakistan Foundation was invited to join leaders of the South Asian American Forum (SAAF) as they met with key members of Congress. APF was asked to provide input on effective solutions to development issues in Pakistan and suggestions on engaging the Pakistani-American diaspora in this regard.  

• USAID Ramadan Iftar, Washington DC: CEO Awais Khan was invited to join USAID Administrator Dr. Raj Shah at an Iftar to celebrate Ramadan. The Iftar was attended by a broad cross-section of the diplomatic and development community.

 

Community News  

• Abdul Sattar Edhi has been highlighted as "Pakistan's only true living hero", by journalist Pamela Constable in the Washington Post. The article is an excerpt from her new book on Pakistan, "Playing With Fire: Pakistan at War With Itself".  

• Founder and President of Heartfile, (our Spotlight on Giving feature this month), Dr. Sania Nishtar received an innovation award from the Rockefeller Foundation, in recognition of her health advocacy work in the region.


• Dr Umar Saif, Associate Professor at the School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, has been named as one of the "World's Top Young Innovators for 2011" by The MIT Technology Review. He is the first Pakistani to receive this honor.

• A Pakistani female police officer, Shahzadi Gulfam has received the 2011 International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in recognition of her outstanding performance with the UN peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste. 

• 24-year old Pakistani American Moin Khan is driving across the world with A Different Agenda: to promote a positive image of Pakistan.