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43. SUPPORT ACTIVITIES – NON FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

3.1. Training needs assessment for the graduated CDAs

This part has been elaborated in point 1.3 of the Coordination section.

3.2. Needs assessment for Minya CDAs/NGOs

The Director of Minya fully supported by the Program Officer in cooperation with the Management and the Advisory Committee members, after setting up the criteria of selection for the CDAs, proposed a roster of 20 CDAs. This activity lasted about one month involving the gathering of information in the standard model developed by the Program and the field visits. For the CDAs inspected a profile has been made and is attached to this report.carried out the selection of around 5 CDAs. A formal ceremony was held on the 21st of April at the Governorate meeting hall, headed by H. E. Governor of Minia, Director of the Italian Cooperation, MISA Undersecretary, and the program administrators. Board Members, Religious and Representatives of the local communities participated in this day. During this ceremony, the second group of four CDAs signed their agreements and received their contracts.

3.3. MISA Capacity building

besideBesides the training provided to MISA staff, specific activities have realized to enhance the capacity ogf the Ministry to tackle with poverty issue. MISA library has been rehabilitated in collaboration with the fund of the arabArab league, by providing air conditioning to the premises.

A computer training center has started to be rehabilitated and will be provided with state of the art technology including ISDN telephone line and internetInternet connection.

This part has been elaborated in point 1.3 of the Coordination section.

Further to the Program’s activities, a proposal for the establishment of a MISA support Unit is being prepared in order to enhance the collaboration among foreign and Egyptian NGOs, to tackle advantage of the Italian-Egyptian debt swap resources.

3.4. Technology

مربع نص: Information and Communication Technology is an increasingly important factor in the knowledge economy of the modern epoch. Even if during the past semester in all the CDA running the Revolving Funds has been completed the equipment with computer stations with all the accessories, some problem have been encountered, regarding the performance of the computers themselves. While the computer courses continued in specialized training centers, an IT specialist of the Program has started paying regular visits to every CDA to complete the on the job training and provide any kind of technical assistance related to hardware and software.

A web page for each CDA has been designed and downloaded in to PAP web page.

Loan Truckingtracking system

The Program started the collaboration with the IT Company COMPUBASE for the design and the set of a loan track system for the Revolving Fund. After numerous attempts to find an agreement and to adapt the system proposed by the company to the program requirements and system, PAP decided to change provider. After a market survey, and after various discussiondiscussions, visits, the Program selected the ABA association that has a recognized reputation in the market. However, view the remarkable price, further discussion are still ongoing and the final decision is still to be taken and

After a market survey, and after visits and discussions as it did not respond to the PAP approach requirements.

with the IT Provider COMPUBASE that was designing and testing a loan truck software the Program had to find another Company for the purchasing the loan trucking system for the Program and CDAs. Aalternatives will be explored during the next semester, including the adoption after modification of the social Fund system.

3.5. Gender

مربع نص: Women empowerment: Gender equality and equal opportunities are crucial if an even development and social justice are to be achieved. The whole society has to be involved into its own path to a better life. Special affords have to be exerted to enable women playing their active role in society. After receiving one year of non-formal education course through CEDPA’s “ New Horizon Program”, 431 females in the age bracket 12-40 of six different CDAs in Giza graduated last May. The Graduation Ceremony hosted by PAP and CEDPA showed the effectiveness impact of the Program. The participants performed sketches, songs, poems and success stories on stage. They focused mainly on women’s rights, gender equality, reproductive health and combating hazardous health habits and practices.

The six CDAs in the communities are very interested in replicating the educational program to reach further females in the community. CEDPA started a new training for more facilitators in September. After the training these facilitators will go back to their communities and deliver their experience to other girls and women. The number of trainees will to be increased to produce a widespread impact on the community.

The “New Horizon Program” is very suitable for Minya Governorate with its prevalently rural environment. The replication of the Program in Minya is foreseen as soon as the credit mechanism is set up and is fully working.

4.6. Libraries

In the framework of the support activities that aim at improving beneficiaries life condition and quality a library at the Premises of the CDA of Omranya Gharbia has been established. Setting up a library is a complex and difficult task which required particular technical skills. After assessing the real need of the CDA catchments area in terms of cultural/educational facilities, together with the Board Member of the CDA were agreed on the opportunity and the utility to setting up library that could support the schools in the surroundings.

Therefore the Program in order to set up the library employed a Consultant responsible of all technical details. Besides the library has been fully equipped with ad hoc furniture, personnel recruited and formed and now books purchased. In October the library has been inaugurated at the presence of The Italian Embassy, the Ministry of MISA Dr. Amina El Ghinda and the Governor of Giza Mr. Mahmoud Abou Lail, among the other.

3.5. Gender

Major Achievements

1- Details of Non-Financial Activities

In order to improve the quality of life for poor families, PAP has given special attention to address other community basic needs; PAP assisted the CDAs to form committees and trained them on how to:

1- Conduct Community Needs Assessment (CNA) in order to identify urgent basic community needs.

2- Design projects and develop project proposals to address these needs.

3- Implement, monitor, and evaluate community development activities based on the identified community needs.

Community needs assessment processes were conducted in rural and urban Giza communities, which are: El-Desemey, Dahshour, Abo-Ragwan, and Omraneia Gharbeia. The results of the needs assessment confirmed 6 basic community needs, which are as follows:

1- مربع نص: Need for Tap Water: High number of families do not have access to tap water, and they are drinking contaminated pump water, or they get tap water either from their neighbors, or from few public tap water.

2- Need for Proper Sanitary system: High number of families do not have access to hygienic sanitary systems

3- Women Need for Having Identity Cards: High number of women in these communities does not have Identity Cards, and though, they do not have access to governmental and non-governmental services.

4- Women Need for having Birth Certificate to become able to issue IDs.

5- Large Number of Women & Children are exposed to smokes coming out of the traditional Bread Ovens.

6- Community Culture and Education Enhancement

During this reporting period, PAP signed 10 agreements with 4 CDAs , (El-Desemey, Dahshour, Abo-Ragwan and Omraneia Gharbeia) in order to address the above identified community needs.

total of 4,241 families representing more than 15,800 people have directly benefited from these activities, out of that, 564 extended families have connected tap-water to their houses after having been drinking contaminated water, 36 extended families have their own hygienic sanitary system, and finally, other 3,641 poor women have

had access to basic governmental and non-governmental services after having issued their identity cards.

Addressing water needs in three communities:

To address the community water needs, PAP started implementing water projects with EL-Desemey, Dahshour, and Abo Ragwan CDAs to help an initial number of 191 in El-Desemey, 611 families in Dahshor and 275 families in Abo-Ragwan to connect tap water from the main water pipeline to their houses.

مربع نص: The persistently high share of water used in agriculture (including ambitious, intensive irrigation programs) is starving other users, industrial and domestic, in the case of the latter also helping to worsen health problem. from Arab HDR 2002

In order to reach a holistic approach and to maximize the benefits of the limited financial resources, and mainly to enhance the financial capability of the CDA, PAP granted the amount of LE. 90,000 for the above mentioned CDAs (LE. 30,000 per each) to run a credit mechanism. Each CDA is to use this amount to disburse loans of LE 300 to targeted beneficiaries with 7% as annual administrative fees. The loan is to be paid back in 16-month period. Then the CDA will revolve the collected installments to other beneficiaries and so on.

The time writing this report, a total of 564 families in three villages (186 families in El-Desemey, 257 families in Dahshour and 121 families in Abo-Ragwan villages have already connected tap water in to their houses, they feel a fundamental change have occurred to their living condition.

Moreover, PAP applied a new approach that aims at:

- Building the CDA capability to deliver services to the community members;

- Speeding-up the tap-water connection process to a wider number of the targeted families.

- Changing the CDAs’ attitude to become rather fund-raisers than grant recipients.

To reach that, PAP disbursed additional amounts (as credit) to both Dahshour (LE. 30,000) and El-Desemey (LE.15,000). The two CDAs will use this money for water loans and will pay back to PAP the principal only, in ten equal monthly installments, the 2 CDAs will benefit of gaining the interest (7%). The time writing this report, both CDAs have repaid two installments each.

As a result of the revolving of water loan fund, the number of beneficiary families is increasing and thus, the water installation cost per family is getting reduced, it is supposed to be LE. 300, but because of revolving the water fund, the average cost of PAP investment has reduced to become LE. 239.

Addressing sanitary needs:

Before intervening in sanitary problems, it was obvious that it is a very technically sound problem, it needs bigger amounts of financial resources than available to address, and moreover, people must be aware of the importance of having sanitary system in their houses.

To intervene in such complicated area;

مربع نص: Hygienic condition and minimum sanitation condition to give back people the sense of self respect as human being First, PAP hired a technical consultant to assess the technical aspects of a low-cost sanitary system, the consultant visited the three villages, he defined the quality of soil, the level of the table-water, the density of the population and other technically related factors, and he provided a complete report with different alternatives for low-cost sanitation where the cost varies from LE.1,800 up to LE.50,000, also the consultant recommended the cheapest one (LE. 1,800). مربع نص: The recommended sanitation system consists of a three chambers’ septic tank connected with up-flow filter.

PAP decided to pilot this sanitation system in Dahshour community only, though it is to be replicated in other communities if it is successful.

In order to reach a holistic approach and to maximize the benefits of the limited financial resources, and mainly to enhance the financial capability of the CDA, PAP allocated the amount of LE. 30,000 to Dahshour CDA to run a credit mechanism. The CDA is to use this amount to disburse loans of LE 800 (about 45% of the cost of the septic tank) to each beneficiary family (extended families) with 7% as annual administrative fees. The loan is to be paid back in 18 months period. The monthly installment is about LE. 50.

1. Then the CDA will revolve the collected installments to other beneficiaries and so on.

2. The time writing this report, 36 extended families have constructed their own septic tanks, which allowed them to save money previously used to dislodge sit pit.

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