January 11th 2008

Mr. Tim Draimin
Executive Director
Tides Canada Foundation
680 – 220 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 2M9

Dear Mr. Draimin,

Re: Grant # TC06-1188 – Save A Family Plan
Final Report

As per the Grant Agreement Letter dated December 12, 2006,  a grant of  $14,955.59 made by The Funding Network-Toronto Fund was directed towards Save A Family Plan’s (SAFP) current Family and Community Development program, “Sustainability through Participation and Decentralization (SPED) II – 2006-2009” in India. The Funding Network-Toronto grant was used in conjunction with a matching grant (1:3) that was received with SAFP’s key funding agency, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). 

The main goal of this three-year program is to contribute to the reduction of poverty by ensuring the efficient management of natural resources, increased educational status, improved health condition and improved economic conditions. This program continues to be done in partnership with 51 non governmental organizations and over 52,000 grass roots community based organizations known as Sanghams/Self Help Groups (primarily women). The target area for this program is in 116 impoverished villages throughout the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

All programs and projects were developed through participatory needs assessments (Participatory Rural Appraisal/Participatory Learning & Action) and community research (Participatory Action Research) with the partnering families. Some of the key activities of this program include: Integrated Watershed Development, Promoting Basic and Primary Education, Improving Health Status of Communities, Promotion of Sustainable Livelihood Initiatives and Micro-Enterprises (microcredit), Gender Mainstreaming, Environmental Consciousness Building, Capacity Building and Promoting Good Governance. Within all aspects of the programming, Environmental and Gender Impact Assessments are undertaken. Participatory research, monitoring and evaluation processes are also conducted including all of the stakeholders using Results Based Management (RBM) Frameworks.

Based on the above allocated funding, The Funding Network-Toronto contributed to approximately 1.8% to the following consolidated Achievements to Date:

Integrated Watershed Development

• 32 full-time coordinators (23 males, 9 females) appointed in each of 32 villages
• One-day Planning and Evaluation meeting for each of 32 NGOs (staff, animators, sangham leaders: 414 male, 732 female)
• 3-day PAR (Participatory Action Research) watershed workshop, 32 SPED Coordinators (9 female, 23 male)
• People from 32 villages gained knowledge and skill in water and soil conservation methods
• Direct beneficiaries: 1,077 sanghams; 8,522 individuals (3,531 males, 4,991 females)
• 32  gender-balanced Watershed committees formed
  

Location-specific watershed intervention activities:

• 587 farmers converting domestic waste into organic manure (495 female, 92 male)
• 10 new house construction (5 male-headed families and 5 female-headed)
• 96 houses reconstructed (24  male, 72 female)
• 783 wells/ponds protected from contamination by round wall (337 male, 446 female)
• 92 families constructed sanitary latrines (35 male, 57 female)
• 15 acres of land made paddy cultivation in farmer suicide area
• 19 beneficiaries from SHG/farm club
• 1,345 SHG members received awareness training on social and human values (540 males, 805 females)
• 1,642 trained on NRM/Natural Resource Management (1024 female, 618 male)
• 553 family members got Entrepreneurial and skills training
• 553 families started IGPs including poultry and animal rearing
• 587 involved in organic farming resulting in more vegetative coverage of watershed area
• 32 watersheds in 32 villages being developed  
• 583 beneficiaries from Rainwater harvesting  tanks construction
• 43 beneficiaries from bio-gas plants construction
• 146 beneficiaries from wells recharged
• 103 beneficiaries from springs developed
• 8,901 m stone bunds constructed
• 4,180 trenches constructed

Promoting Basic and Primary Education

• 60 community educators in 20 NGO partners appointed (28 males, 32 females)
• Improved adult literacy and basic educational skills of 1,545 (469 males, 1,076 females)
• Increased community awareness on education (adult and formal) in 60 villages
• Arranging special coaching for 2,359 school going children(1,243 males, 1116 females)
• 1,003 children under the age of 14 re-enrolled in school (460 males, 543 females)
• Increased parental participation in education of children in 60 villages
• 1,398 school dropouts between 15-30 years (389 males, 1,009 females) learned a new vocational skill e.g. driving, tailoring, motor mechanics

Improving Health Status of Communities

• 23 health coordinators (5 male, 18 female) appointed  in 23 partner NGOs
• Health awareness programs conducted for 3,583 beneficiaries in 69 rural villages(901 male, 2,612 female)
• Nutrients and medicines supplied to 2,516 (856 males, 1,660 female)
• 69 villages have increased community health awareness
• Improved community access to public health centres in 69 villages
• Awareness training  HIV/AIDS in 69 villages
• 8 HIV/AIDS prevention programs

Promoting Sustainable Livelihood Initiatives/ Micro enterprises

• Improved skills and knowledge on entrepreneurship development for 1,887 (616 males, 1,271 females)
• Implementing 1,677 microenterprises and income generating ventures
• 1,201 ventures started by women to gain income

Gender Equality Mainstreaming

SAFP India:

• 52 partner Directors at 4 annual planning workshops instructed in SPED II requirements for Promotion of Gender Equality
• 34 trained in 3-day workshop on Gender, GIA and gender policy formulation for SPED Coordinators of new partners/other new coordinators (18 male, 3 female)/other staff
• 61 SPED II Coordinators/others trained in 2-day workshops on gender conflict resolution strategy and formulation
• 5,000 handbooks are being translated into Hindi

Partner NGO:

• Gender policy and strategy formulation workshop at 13 new NGOs
• 1-day workshop on gender conflict resolution strategy in 51 partner NGO’s
• 4,564 reached in Resource Team Building including Animators and key staff on gender mainstreaming and GIA (2,006 male, 2,558 female)

Community Based Organization/sangham level

• 41,244 trained in 1-day workshop on gender mainstreaming, GIA and gender conflict resolution workshop at CBO’s level (5,966 male, 35,278 female)

Environment Consciousness Building

SAFPI:

• 18 Coordinators/other staff attended 3-day training on EIA and Environment policy formulation for new partners (females, males)

Partner NGO:

• 13 new NGO partners formulated environment policy
• 1,840 reached in Resource Team Building including Animators and key staff for EIA dissemination (526 male, 1314 female)

Community Based Organizations (CBO):

• 28,742 sangham members trained in 1-day workshop on EIA awareness (4835 male, 23,907 female)

Capacity Building and Promoting Good Governance

SAFPI:

• 101 villages had baseline data collected and consolidated
• 101 village communities have increased knowledge at all levels of program management and monitoring
• Bimonthly Integration Platform of NGO Coordinators (38 men, 13 women)
• Yearly Program Planning and Evaluation Platform for NGO Directors, Feb. 2007 (48 men, 3 women)
• AGM: workshop on Good Governance, Access to Information, Child Labour: NGO Directors, Feb. 2007 –approximately 225 attending
• 18 new partner SPED Coordinators (3 female, 10 male)/other coordinators trained in EIA
• SPED Coordinators trained in Good Governance., March

Partner NGOs:

• 1,733 had capacity building training, DSSS level (287 male, 1446 female)
• 2,565 had capacity building training, CBO level (1,153 male, 1412 female)
• 19 full-time coordinators appointed at 19 partner NGO’s (13 male, 6 female)
• 204 part-time animators appointed in 51 NGO’s (65 male, 139 female)
• 1,556 FDP families trained in EDP
• 1,556 FDP families initiated self-employment

Sustainability through Participation, Empowerment, and Decentralization continues to be the shared goal for Save A Family Plan and the many partners and communities with whom it works to reduce poverty in India. Over the past year SAFP has seen, in 116 villages, the beginning of active implementation of locally-specific program activities and interventions that were planned with local people’s participation and that will continue to involve those groups and individuals in management of these efforts, and in the creation of long-term strategies for sustainable development.   Critical to success is local capacity building—the enabling, through knowledge and skill-building, of local people to understand their poverty-related problems, and to realize their own potential to solve them.

The reports from SAFP partners are encouraging in this regard—large numbers of people are being reached through awareness education, training, and other learning. From an organizational point of view, there is a greater sensitivity to gender and the environment, and to the link between human development and the health and security of natural resources. Based on this, results in the next year, SAFP will begin to reflect positive changes in local-level poverty and social indicators, like literacy and health, and in physical measures like water levels in ponds and wells.

If you require any further information kindly contact me directly. The support of The Funding Network-Toronto towards Save A Family Plan’s development initiatives with the poor of India is greatly appreciated and will further ensure that thousands of families are assisted on the road to self-reliance.

With gratitude,

Lesley Porter
Executive Director
Save A Family Plan (Canada)

Encl.        Financial Statements of Save A Family Plan (Year ended March 31, 2007) – mailed
SAFP Annual Report 2006-2007