The Advocacy & Awareness Project (AAP) provides awareness for the Parkari community about local issues, the importance of saving money, improving education, health and hygiene, promoting a healthy environment, and how to be advocates so they can resolve their problems and obtain and protect their rights
The AAP has the following aims:
Community Building
To facilitate orientation and awareness sessions
These sessions are about civil & political rights, gender equality, the importance of educating girls and other relevant issues. They are conducted in targeted villages in order to achieve identified goals. Once the cooperation of a village is secured, PCDP sets up new male and female Village Committees and trains them to carry out and oversee PCDP’s programs. PCDP also invites the village to become a member of the Parkari governing system; 5 villages become a unit, 5 units become a cluster and 5 clusters become a Zone. In this way, Parkaris start working in unity rather than as a fragmented people group Participation in Cluster and Unit based discussion groups has helped develop grassroots leadership among the Parkaris, giving them a clear voice in the Sindh Province and reducing their feelings of insecurity. The emergence of male and female village committees has promoted gender equality and a sense of unity within the Parkari community by improving the working relationship between men and women and encouraging a sense of shared responsibility. These developments are clear signs that the Parkaris have made significant progress in their fight against discrimination and towards taking control of their own development.Both male and female Village Committees in these respective communities, and in other Village Communities in the Sindh area, run discussion groups. In the Desert and Barrage areas where the Parkari Community live, group facilitators are also trained to effectively facilitate any pre-determined Community Building objectives.
Youth Development
To build the capacity of Parkari youth
By providing career guidance workshops and other activities for young people PCDP is building the capacity of Parkari youth. The Youth Development Project team also offers appropriate advice when choices are being made about further education and professions. Parkari youth also participate in the implementation of various Community Project activities, especially in ensuring that everyone receives their basic civil & political rights.
Economic Stability for the Community
To increase awareness concerning the importance of saving
Sessions about the importance of saving, and promoting awareness about ways to save through various saving schemes are conducted. People are also made aware about some of the underlying reasons for their poverty, by various pertinent questions being asked, e.g. Why are you in such huge debt? How might the use of drugs be creating economic problems? Why is a lot of your money spent on curing diseases? Saving Groups are organized to help people save through the “Clay money pots” saving scheme. This saving scheme not only helps people to have money for meeting their small everyday needs, but it also helps them to avoid having to pay interest when loans are taken out. This saving scheme also indirectly motivates people to adopt improved health & hygiene habits, to evade drugs such as alcohol, opium, etc., and to obtain an education. For those who are able to save their money, this not only improves their health conditions and increases the number of educated people in the community, it also brings them economical stability and a growth in respect and status within their society.
Human Rights
To promote advocacy about claiming rights
PCDP actively promotes human rights awareness among the Parkari community through awareness sessions and enabled them to develop an organizational structure in which they collectively fight to protect their rights. It provides advocacy for the community by addressing issues such as highlighting the local landlords’ practice of extortion and abuse, obtaining national identity cards, and provision of voting registration forms in the vernacular language. PCDP also organizes the training of community discussion group facilitators, setting up village-based community discussion groups, and linking community groups with local, provincial and national decision-making bodies. This ensures that any rights entitlement claims can be submitted and followed up, that there is training of PCDP staff in leadership, advocacy and networking strategies, and training youth as human rights activists.
Official Registration of Adults
Parkari adults receiving their National Identity Cards
In the Badin district, PCDP has provided the opportunity for adult villagers from Karachi Paro, Nau Dumbalo and Taluka Digri, to register with the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) so they obtain their computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC). The CNIC is the main document for giving proof of citizenship, and gives rightful access to all available government facilities and opportunities. In October 2009, the PCDP team went to people’s houses with NADRA officials, so residents in the above mentioned places were able to receive their CNICs without even leaving their homes. Altogether 1300 individuals, (men & women) were registered and received their CNICs. 70% of these were female.
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