Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

8
Substantial development activities are presently carried
out by an increasing number of CBOs established
under the different projects and programmes of the
Government and NGOs, but they are not yet legally
recognized. It would therefore be prudent to legitimize
the CBOs to enable them to operate as legal entities
with mandates to deal with other private and state institutions.
This will be accomplished by a provision in the
proposed environmental legislation for the NWFP.
8.5.2
NGO Funds from Govern m e n t
The Ministry of Environment, Urban Affairs, Forestry
and Wildlife of the Government of Pakistan instituted
an NCS NGO Fund for financial assistance to organizations
involved in environmental work. Presently
Rs. 30 million per annum is allocated for this fund.
Although administered federally, the provincial
Governments have a major role in channeling these
funds to NGOs. The Government of NWFP is responsible
for receiving applications and making recommendations
to the Federal fund management committee,
which the provincial Government itself sits on.
Finally, the Environment Section of the PE&D
Department is also responsible for monitoring the use
of these funds. IUCN is involved in this process at the
Federal level as a member of the Management
Committee, and at provincial level in the selection
and recommendation of these applications to the
Federal-level management committee.
In addition to this, a Fund for Sustainable
Development (FSD) will be established in the NWFP
that will be accessible by NGOs and CBOs. This is
further described in chapter 17.
8.5.3
N O N - G O V E R N M E N T A L O R G A N I Z A T I O N S
NGO Cell
As discussed earlier, it is no longer feasible for the
Social Welfare Department to be responsible for
coordinating all NGO work, particularly that of
development and environment NGOs. Hence the
PE&D Department will establish a focal point for coordinating
the work of development and environment
NGOs in the NWFP.
88 SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY
The NGO cell will coordinate the development
and implementation of the NGO support component
of the SPCS. It will be a focal point for all NGOrelated
activities in the province for the
Government, and will liaise between the Sarhad
NGO Ittehad and other representative NGO bodies.
The NGO cell will also be a focal point for the
Federal Government’s support to NGOs, and help
the Environment Section of the PE&D Department
with the receipt and processing of NGO requests
for grants from the environment fund in the Federal
Ministry. It will also establish and maintain an
NGO data base for the NWFP.
8 . 5 . 4
N G O - G o v e rnment Coord i n a t i o n
Both the Government and NGOs in the NWFP have
recognized the need to coordinate their work in sustainable
development. Hence both at provincial and
the district level, NGO-Government Coordination
Councils need to be set up. NGOs should be represented
by nominees of the Sarhad NGO Ittehad,
while the Government should be represented by the
PE&D Department and relevant line departments at
provincial level, and by the District Commissioner
and line departments at district level. These bodies
should meet at least once every three months.
The members of coordinating bodies will aim to
be aware of and coordinate each other’s work plans;
to receive inputs from line departments for NGO
work; to allow the Government to be responsive to
concerns expressed by NGOs; and to get NGO support
for greater community participation in development
work carried out by the departments.
8.5.5
Human Resource Development
Two of the main drawbacks that NGOs in Pakistan
face are difficulty in recruiting experienced or
trained staff in NGO work; and a lack of awareness
of NGO work and practices by staff of Government
line departments and policy-making bodies. In the
NWFP, this problem of difficulty in recruiting trained
staff is particularly acute. To address them, the strategy