Climate Change Interventions, Pakistan

Project name:  Youth for Environment Literacy and Climate Change Interventions in Pakistan

Project location:  Punjab Province, Pakistan

Website: http://caritas.org.pk

Project description:

According to climate change index Pakistan is 6th country in the world worst affected country by the impacts caused by climate change although Pakistan is contributing minimum towards climate change. Rapid changes in environment has influenced badly mean and country is facing floods, drought, food security, low productivity and yield in agriculture, Endemic morbidity and mortality,shortage and issues of fresh water availability. The impact of climate change will also aggravate the existing social inequalities of resource use and intensify social factors leading to instability, conflicts, displacement of people and changes in migration patterns. This situation has made the lives and livelihoods of a common person very complex in many ways. These challenges are not only for Pakistan but for the entire world and at different levels integrated efforts are being planned and implemented in different countries.

In the context of Pakistan Government, Civil Society and people living at Community level need to sit, think, plan and implement long term, sustainable and environment friendly initiatives those may be a change factors at local level but and become the part of global contributions for climate change. Proposed project Youth for Environment Literacy and Climate Change Interventions in Pakistan is step for the same cause. Project has been designed while focusing on youth and engage them through this project to play their energetic contribution and efforts to reduce and mitigate the effects and challenges caused by climate change. Project will work on three main focus areas firstly aware the youth about the issues and challenges of environment and climate change in world generally and in Pakistan specifically through different proposed actions. Secondly at youth level possible practical interventions will be carried out those will complement towards the climate change and thirdly youth will be empowered and will get employment opportunities to initiatives through the concept of Youth District Nursery (Entrepreneurship Opportunities) for youth this part of project will generate some employments for youth but more than this will play a vital role in the sustainability of this project. Project has been designed for one year starting July 2017 to June 2018 for three districts of Punjab Province named Sialkot, Narowal and Gujranwala district which flood prone districts and facing lot of climate change challenges and issues. In this project youth will work for environment literacy and practical interventions at grassroots level in target communities. In proposed project 3 districts, 30 communities, 1500 youth (Environmental Mobilizers) will be directly targeted while 10,500 indirectly part of project while all together 12,000 will be total beneficiaries while 10 awareness seminars, 2 training workshops with 100 youth members, printing of visibility and awareness material having posters, flyers, t shirts, sun shades etc for project visibility in different activities. Project has plan to set up 3 District Youth Nursery which will provide jobs to 10 youth members and it will be their small entrepreneurship opportunity. It will produce plants of different trees and will play a vital role in project sustainability . During the implementation of project initially 10,000 plants will be planted in a year in two plantation seasons in Pakistan 5000 in each plantation season.Govt Provincial Forest Department will provide plants on subsidized rates. After the completion of the project as sustainability of the project these district level nurseries will plant trees in their respective district through the involvement of 7500 active youth activities trained and motivated through this project.How this project will play a significant role for sustainable environment in three targeted districts in Pakistan.

Goal and purpose of the project:

Engaging Youth Potential for Sustainable Environment and Climate Change at Grassroots level in 3 Districts of Pakistan focusing on 12000 youth (1500 Directly and 7500 Indirectly) in one year (July 2017 to June 2018)

Main Goal is to build the awareness and resilience of youth in Pakistan and purpose is to use the potential and strength in society building and engage them effectively and efficiently in for sustainable environment in the global context of climate change as youth in Pakistan is almost 60% of our total population which have a great potential for this cause. In this proposed Project will focus on three areas which are as under:
1- Awareness Raising and Capacity Building through seminars and 02 training workshops
2- Plantation of 10000 trees in three targeted districts
3-Provision of Entrepreneurship Opportunities for 10 youth members

In this project 12000 youth members will be part of this project and after the completion of project 12000 these three districts living in Sialkot, Narowal and Gujranwala will have a organized, well motivated team committed to work for environment and climate change at grassroots level even after the completion of the project.

Motivation of the applicant / applicant team:

Caritas Pakistan is community development oriented organization working in Pakistan since 8th December 1965.Organization has its head office based Lahore Pakistan and seven regional offices in Quetta Hyderabad, Karachi, Faisalabad, Multan, Lahore and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Caritas Pakistan is focusing on Livelihood and Food Security, Climate Change, Peace and Social Harmony, Disaster Risk Reduction, Gender, Emergency Response during Natural and Man made Disasters. Caritas Pakistan is working on environment and climate change in Pakistan for many years focusing on youth, students, women, farmers, involving civil society organizations, like minded network. Currently and in previous years Caritas Pakistan and work on awareness and sensitization over the issue of climate change through seminars, training workshops, printing of awareness material and its distribution to different stakeholders which described above, in all parts of Pakistan with the collaboration with Federal and Provincial Government and its Forest Department thousand of plants were planted as a practical actions. Currently Caritas Pakistan has implementing a four years campaign titled One Million Tree Plantation Campaign (2016-2017) and this is the second year of that campaign. In 2017 till now in the first plantation season 35000 samplings has been planted as a practical contribution of organization toward Climate Change in Pakistan.

As proposed project is concerned we are more than assure that is project is designed involving youth to play their constructive role for environment and climate change related challenges and issues in Pakistan, This concept is unique and planned for such three district where majority of people living facing the challenges and problems caused by the rapid changes because of climate change. This project and its proposed activities will not only focus on environment and climate change but also positively play important role in the other sectors such as their over all social, economical issues as well as youth is practically involved in this project. We are very much motivated about this project and strongly believe that youth can be a agent of change and sustain this change in coming years.

A team comprises of five members have been planned for the smooth implementation of the Project.Team and their assigned designations are as follows

1- Project Coordinator 01
2- Project Officer 01
3- Social Mobilizers 03

These team will not responsible for the smooth implementation of project in targeted districts, communities and also report to donor as per the set time frame which will be biannually and final report at the end of the project in June 2018.

Use of prize money:

If Caritas Pakistan win this prize money Euro 15000. The amount will be utilized for one year starting from July 2017 to June 2018.

75% of total amount of prize will be directly utilized as the program cost which will be implemented for the different activities of the proposed project while 20% amount prize money will be utilized for administrative , traveling cost. How 100% amount of prize money comprises Euros 15000 will be used for the proposed project.