Brief Description
Bam Garden City, is like an oasis covered by date palm plantations and groves surrounded by desert land. The palm gardens form the oasis and is the base for the livelihood of the farmers and their families. The devastating Bam earthquake in 2003, with loss of over 40,000 lives, and about 100,000 injured and dislocated, effected over 50 percent of the population with damage to the date gardens and interruption in water distribution system.

Projects implemented by GEF SGP/UNDP and Hamyaran in Baravat area of Bam helped the local farmers, the women headed households which resulted from the earthquake and other community members. Gardens were revitalized and the alternative livelihoods were formed. This led into a development model in the country and was replicated in Lorestan Earthquake by UNDP and the government enagaging the same team. Micro Banking was considered by the national banking system demonstrating the benefits of the Baravat Bam projects. The model is based on promoting multi-stakeholder coordination and interagency collaboration among local, provincial and national layers. The local level was empowered through social mobilization of target neighborhoods, capacity building, and micro-credit funds based on a neighbourhood trust system which has helped the system to continue to the present.

Women of Baravat Desert (Banovane Kavir Baravat) local fund which later was registered as a cooperative, with cofunding from provincial government and charities, work on reducing the pesticides, producing composts and pastry making from various forms of dates. These products have found their way to other cities as well as the capital.



Project activities:
? Lobbying with key stakeholders and decision makers on positive and negative roles played by each stakeholder and the civil society as critical friend of government and UN
o Telling the story of the experiences, engaging in policy dialogue, enlisting support and cooperation of stakeholders, tapping into opportunities for opening up space for expanded community engagement and sharing outcomes and lessons learned with stakeholders by members of the project in the following areas
o Brief inventory of selected relevant studies on Bam
o Tentative report to be reviewed with stakeholders, including community leaders and finalizing afterwards
o Small informal meeting with selected stakeholders to ascertain their perspectives for better performance
o Note on how assessments and documentation of interventions can influence policy and practice
o Bringing in local voices into decision making processes. How Local decision making structures responded
o Strategy for Going to scale. Role of EU, Bank Melli, local chamber of commerce. Negotiation with government officials in Foreign Affairs, Interior, Social Welfare, health. (some of them seeking advice to deal with donors)
? A local shop will be set up next to the confectionary workplace, for year round production and sales, to help with their liveloods and the support to the women headed households to link their work with advocacy for reduction of pesticides and promoting composting.