Text Box: 34 Text Box: 01/2009 Text Box: Focus Group Discussions on, Water Conflicts: Finding Solutions LEAD Pakistan is organizing a series of focus group discussions on Water Conflicts: Finding Solutions, at  Karachi ,Lahore and Islamabad starting from Dec 29,2008. The group discussions aim to bring together a group of senior government officials, media persons, water experts and academia to discuss and develop a strategy for identification of water related conflicts and suggest mechanisms for resolving the same. The discussions are the first step towards carrying-out a Mapping Study on The Roles & Capacities of Actors in Water Conflicts in Pakistan. The findings and information gathered from the discussions and interviews will be consolidated for the Mapping Study. Text Box: CBOs Capacity Development Project (CCDP) LEAD Pakistan developed four training modules for the capacity development of  Community Based Organisations (CBOs). The modules focus on social mobilization, planning & management, rights and development, project proposal writing & monitoring & evaluation. Dry run/pre-testing of the modules was successfully conducted in district, Vehari (Punjab). Plan Pakistan is financially supporting the CBOs’ Capacity Development Project, known as CCDP.   READ MORE Text Box: Capacity Development     Text Box: Functional & Core Competencies’ Training About 75 members from Parent Teachers Councils and community are being imparted trainings on functional and core competencies under the CIP-DEMO project. These trainings are being delivered in ten batches. Sponsored by Care International Pakistan, the CIP DEMO project, has ensued learning, capacity building and empowerment of  earthquake affected communities.     Text Box: Partnerships and Alliances       Text Box: Community Empowerment       Text Box: Search and Rescue Life On account of DRN-Balakot extension project, trainings on Search and Rescue  (SAR), are being imparted to 120 male volunteers of DRN-Balakot. This learning exercise is designed for six batches of trainees. Each batch comprises 20 participants. Trainees are being offered, five days of intensive, practical and theoretical trainings on SAR.   Text Box: Knowledge Management Text Box: Forthcoming Text Box: Training of Trainers Dozier session for Training of Trainers will be organized in January, for Khairpur and Lodhran cohorts of Leadership for Reproductive Health project. Thus, Packard funded project will create master trainers. Text Box: Second NTS, Cohort 13 LEAD Pakistan offers an opportunity to its Fellows to participate in the upcoming 2nd National Training Session on Climate Change: Exploring Strategies for Pakistan, scheduled from January 12 – 16, 2009 at LEAD House, Islamabad. Text Box: Social Mobilization - Behaviour Change Communication, Community Mobilization and Advocacy for Reproductive Health, Lodhran Cohort The third regional training session, titled Social Mobilization – Behavior Change Communication, Community Mobilization and Advocacy for reproductive health, will be held at Lahore , for Lodhran Cohort, from 26-30 January. The session will be organised by LEAD Pakistan, under the Leadership for Reproductive Health project , sponsored by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Text Box: First Aid Trainings for Women First aid trainings are being imparted to 120 female volunteers of DRN-Balakot. The trainings are for six batches. Each batch comprises 20 volunteers. Three day intensive theoretical and practical  training will be imparted to  volunteers to improve their ability to respond to disasters.   Text Box: Social Mobilization - Behaviour Change Communication, Community Mobilization and Advocacy for Reproductive Health, Khairpur Cohort The third regional training session, titled Social Mobilization – Behavior Change Communication, Community Mobilization and Advocacy for Reproductive Health, held at Lahore ,was the last in the series of regional training sessions for Khairpur Cohort.  The five day session was organized by LEAD Pakistan, under the Leadership for Reproductive Health project , sponsored by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Effective communication skills are of great importance in every sphere of life. In this regard, effective social mobilization is necessary for ingraining the importance of reproductive health issues among the target population. Therefore, the third session focused on enhancing communication skills of the cohort. READ MORE Text Box: Disaster Response Network-Balakot, receives another extension! DRN-Balakot project, a novel initiative of LEAD Pakistan has received a second extension.  Oxfam Novib has agreed to share the responsibility of empowering earthquake affectees, by sponsoring the capacity building initiatives of DRN-Balakot project. LEAD Pakistan has already signed an MoU with district government of Mansehra, with reference to the DRN-Balakot project. According to the MoU, upon completion of the project, DRN-Balakot will be integrated into Civil Defense Department of district government, Mansehra. Text Box: Construction of 15 Earthquake Resistant Schools LEAD Pakistan has initiated the task of constructing 15 earthquake resistant schools in the five union councils of Balakot tehsil. Care International Pakistan has shown utmost care and keen prudence, for the step forward, towards educational uplift of  earthquake affectees, by sponsoring this project, known as Care International Pakistan - Democratized Education Management and Ownership (CIP-DEMO).   Text Box: Discussion Paper - Driver of Economic Growth : Unleashing the Potential of the Private Sector This paper looks at one of the key strategies being adopted by the government of Pakistan to generate economic growth – promotion of the private sector. The paper examines the importance of the private sector, as a potential driver of growth. It looks at the achievements,  issues and challenges faced, and suggests some recommendations for the way ahead. Decisions made now will impact the prospects of economic growth, efforts to promote human development and, ultimately, the lives of millions of ordinary Pakistanis….   READ MORE READ MORE Text Box: Action Research Paper - Developing Social Capital for Empowering Rural Communities Developing social capital for empowering rural communities is a stupendous challenge in the way of sustainable development. The task becomes times complicated in the face of acute poverty, ignorance and glaring absence of comparative efforts, as models. How to develop social capital in the rural villages of Khairpur and Sukkur in the Sindh province of Pakistan, through Democratized Education Management and Ownership (DEMO) project in a way that communities collectively sacrifice time, energy and resources for better schools and education, demanded research based progress and calculated actions. Capacity building initiatives and trainings developed leadership skills of the local communities. People willingly contributed for the schools, rather than passively waiting for outside aid. READ MORE