Helping People Help Myself

It's been 1.5 months since we started working on project briefs (project formulation documents) which will be signed by both parties - UNDP and Government of India (GOI). In our department, we have three new projects during 2008-2012 along with the same period of the 11th Five Year Plan by GOI.

UNDP is going to focus on, so called, lagged states whose Human Development Index is lower than other states, population consists of many of schedule castets (SCs) and tribes (STs), and institutional capacities are more limited than others to lift up the poor.

Three projects are:

1. Livelihood promotions to improve mechanisms and capacities of the community as well as the local governments (district and state). This project will include building inclusive monitoring mechanisms and applying some tools on national schemes and other poverty reduction programmes. In addition, it will establish PPCP (public-private-community partnerships) as a platform where multiple stakeholders can find mutual benefits.


2. Financial inclusion to provide more pro-poor financial products/services including savings, credit and insurance, particularly for disadvantaged groups such as women, SCs/STs and disabled people. This project will closely work with private financial companies, microfinance institutions (MFIs), community cooperatives and local banks such as NABARD to develop services and products and deliver to, historically excluded people.


3. Knowledge and advocacy to influence the state and national policies by demonstrating ground-level pilot projects and by exchanging good practices which have potentials to make a difference for the local people