BRDS envisions a socially aware, enlightened, progressive and economically advanced society.
BRDS aims to facilitate, support, and strengthen Community Based Organizations (CBOs) through consultation, identification and diagnosis of ground realities and their collective dispensations, so that these groups may develop into viable and sustainable development institutions.
Objectives
· Facilitating the process of formation of dynamic grassroots development institutions
· Capacity Building of Community Based Organizations CBOs ,School Management Committees SMCs to make them sustainable institutions or organizations;
· Poverty reduction by promoting self reliance and harnessing social capital
· Facilitating the provision of basic civic amenities such as education, clean drinking water, health care and sanitation live stock management and upgrading agricultural needs to the communities.
· Promote the conservation of natural resources and improve environment;
· Advocacy and awareness on rights based issues and human rights with special focus on tenants, women and labour.
· Evolving income generation activities and saving schemes to uplift the economic status of rural communities through family units;

Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS) is a non-governmental organization has been engaged in community development activities in the Badin district for the past 10 years. The organization is composed of a diverse mix of professionals, as well as volunteers (300 in total). BRDS? mission is to facilitate, support, and strengthen Community Based Organizations (CBOs) through identification, consultation, and analysis of ground realities so that these groups can develop into viable and sustainable grass-roots institutions.

BRDS has extensive experience of interacting and working with marginalized people especially women, landless rural workers and children. It has developed deep-rooted ties and earned the trust of communities. Previously the organization has worked on health service delivery, and disseminating information environment protection , advocacy on water issues , education, sanitation and hygiene in the proposed development area. Ongoing projects of BRDS include coastal primary health care project, education and health awareness project, polio eradication campaign, primary girls? schools, livestock management programme and a long term development partnership with action Pakistan etc.


The partner?s strategy emphasizes establishing effective coordination with government agencies, building partnerships with all stakeholders (government, civil society and communities), flexibility in negotiating and implementing development programmes, mobilization of local community groups and dialogue.

2. Justification for Support - Linkages with GEF Themes and
Operational Programmes (not more than 300 words)

The proposed area is situated at the tail end of irrigation system therefore it faces extreme water shortages. One of the major causes of water shortages is the failure to clear silt from local irrigation channels, which has drastically reduced the water carrying capacity of these channels.

Land degradation due to severe irrigation water shortages has resulted in drastic reductions in the yield per acre of all the crops. Previously yield per acre of rice crop was 40 ? 50 tons, which has reduced to 20 to 25 tons. Similarly, the overall yield of sugarcane was 700 to 800 tons per acre, which has reduced to the level of 150 to 200 tons and wheat yield per acre has reduced from 35 tons to 7 to 8 tons in the area.
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Vast tracts of land have either been lost to sea, or have become saline due to encroaching during high tides. More than 30 of Dehs (local units of land), which were considered lost. Dozens of villages situated in those Dehs were uprooted and the villagers had to migrate. A large number of villages near the coast still face threats of inundation. Golo Mandhro, one of the larger villages of Union Council Bhugra Memon was initially 18 km from the coast but now seawater has almost reached the village. The villagers fear that the village will be inundated if a protection bund is not constructed around it.

Ground water aquifers of the proposed development area are also degraded. Since these aquifers have not been recharged with fresh water they are filled with saline seawater. The rising salt content of the groundwater has degraded millions of acres of land. Salt depositions in the land have affected their yields and overall agriculture production. Salts have also come up to the surface increasing surface soil salinity, killing vegetation and making land unfit for cultivation or growing natural grasses. The fallow lands, which were once grazing areas, have turned into non-cultivable wastelands.

Degradation of Wetlands and Ecosystems:
Coastal area of Badin has dozen of major lakes and wetlands. However, due to the non-availability of fresh water, increase in ground water salinity, and the backflow of sea and sewerage water the hydrology of these lakes has changed. Worst affected are the lakes that are directly connected to such drainage schemes, which have started flowing back from the sea to the land. A number of sweet water lakes have converted into saline water lakes, while many others have dried up entirely

3. Context/Baseline (not more than 300 words)

District Badin is one of the coastal district of Pakistan, lies in the south of the country having population 1.4 Million with growth rate of 3.22. The District covers the area of 6726 square kilometers with population density of 169 people per square kilometer. Badin has overall literacy rate of 24.63 % , but in gender wise girls ratio is 12.90% in holistic and 9.20 in rural .District Badin is also known as the richest part of the country in term of oil and gas production but on the other hand it is counted as poorest in the human and social indicators. Coastal communities of Badin are facing multiple threats and suffering which has created web of vulnerabilities because the severe shortage of irrigation water and deferent hazards hited the area with a short interval.

In the geographical boundaries three union councils Seerani , Bhugra Memon and Ahmed raja with approximately population of 0.1 million are known as the coastal part of District .This part has very limited access to basic social services like health , education and clean drinking water . Not only that natural disasters (A-2 cyclone 1999, flood in 2003) and men made (left bank out fall drain LBOD), severe shortage of river water since long time has demolished livelihood source of agriculture, fishing and livestock. Because of the tail of the country this part is also known as ?Land of Drains? which carries contaminated effluent and pesticides to pour it in the Arabian Sea.

Due to the above situation people have only option to drink ground water which is available in sweet form in very rare places otherwise it contains high amount of salinity and minerals. At some places people use effluent water from the drains which has created high degree of threat as an epidemic in water born diseases especially for women and children? In the social indicators 86% population of the coastal area living under the poverty line and known as pockets of poverty. Unavailability of livelihood sources selling wood is an only livelihood opportunity for survival of humanity. This is in progress at large scale in the area and threaten to some species of tree would be known as precious. Resulted environmental degradation in the area at large scale.

4. Project Objective and Proposed Activity (not more than 600 words)

The over all project purpose is aims to provide sweet water at coastal belt of Badin, which has very limited access to river water and ground water has high amount of mineral which is not sufficient to drink but due to complete unavailability and limited resources (86% population lives under the poverty line Ref-WB), most of the communities are used to for the purpose of drinking and daily usage. At some times women has to travel 6 to 8 kilometer and spend two hours in a one trip during fetching water.
In the specific solar energy water desalination project is expected to achieve following objectives with described activities:

§ Objective one :
To mobilize and organize communities of 06 villages and form community organizations COs with equal participation of women followed by developing their managerial skills and transform these COs in citizen?s community Board CCB.

Activities:
These COs will be the entry point for the project activities while at the same will play a vital role in the sustainability of the project. For the COs formation BRDS will adapt its social mobilization strategy and will follow following steps:
ü Orientation visits and identification of activists
ü Village profiles
ü Together all community members including women
ü Formation of Community organization CO and election for office bearers
ü Signing TOP clearly describing the community share in the development intervention
ü Capacity building trainings office bearers (CMST)

§ Objective Two :
To provide sweet water facility in 06 villages, 333 households and 2000 populations will benefit from the intervention. Along with community workshops will be organized to sensitize them on water purification methods and health and hygiene. During the project period these communities will be sensitized on environment issues and how they can overcome the situation through demonstration sites of plantation in the saline land. These all the interventions will be carried out with participation of COs especially women role will be ensured. During the installation following steps will be followed:
ü Identification of locations for installation with COs participation
ü Community share collection through CO if in cash or human resource identification as laborer
ü Committee formation for plants and trees purchasing
ü Purchasing and installation of solar and wind energy desalination plants and trees at identified places
ü Monitoring and supervision
ü Information sharing with district government, national and local NGOs


§ Objective three :
To sensitize district government over the sever scarcity of water in the coastal area, linkage building of these COs and resource mobilization for alternative options from district government in the area. The following activities will be carried out to achieve the said objective:
ü Information and report sharing with district administration
ü Sensitization seminars
ü Field visits for demonstration
ü COs transformation in citizen?s community board CCBs
ü Linkage building of these CCBs with district government

5. Project Strategy (not more than 600 words)

As per the financial and human resource proposed in the technical proposal an integrated strategy with the participation of all the proposed stockholders will be ensured. Following will be the key steps toward the smooth implementation of the project. After signing an agreement with GEF a project management committee will formed by BRDS with three senior members of the organization.

Staff Orientation and Training: The project staff will be given orientation and appropriate job description about the project objectives, activities and impacts etc for the smooth implementations. The organization?s social mobilization strategy would be shared and accordingly work plan would be developed .
Work Plans and Coordination: In order to proper implementation of project activities, work plans based at quarter/annual will be finalized in the orientatin workshop including participation of COs and presented for final approval of the management committee of BRDS .. It is proposed that regular meetings will be convened with COs and within the staff, and other relevant projects officials, district administration and union council personnel for effective coordination and liaison.
Community organization COs Formation:
Before the implementation of proposed activities village profiles for the target villages will prepared with complete socioeconomic information. To facilitate implementation of project activities, communities will be brought in one platform by forming the male and female community organizations (COs) in 06 villages of the coastal area. Well designed and tested community mobilization process will be used for formation of COs. It can be modified as per the ground realities in consultation with the officials of GEF authorities or community representatives. The process include: identification of village activists (male and female), convene activists and group meetings, and formation of COs. After formation of COs, these organizations will be considered as project partners. Wherever already existed COs are found in target villages, they will be included in the process of capacity enhancement.
As proposed in the financial proposal, the necessary equipment and furniture (computer, printer,) will be procured. The project equipment and other assets will be utilized and maintained properly. The project financial record will be maintained as per the chartered accountants as per guideline of GEF implementation team. As per the organization?s regular procedure, annual audit will be undertaken by the independent chartered accountants and internal audit by the organizations.
Close Interaction: The close interaction, regular deliberations, discussions and brain storming with various relevant stakeholders of the project is very much envisaged in this proposal. At this moment, it is exposed that the significant stakeholders of the project are: community organizations, BRDS management and district government... The close interaction initially with these stakeholders will be made through a well devised strategy.
6. Technical Feasibility (not more than 300 words)
Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS) has 10 years experience to work with coastal communities in multiple social sectors. During this period BRDS has learnt so many experiences based on especial needs of the communities. Since three years BRDS has intervention under the water portfolio and learnt that, mostly ground water quality in the coastal is more saline as compare to the sea water, during the interaction period we have also learnt that, at the some places 18 to 24 feet inside water is little bit less saline but it is also not durable and sustainable for long, and when communities starts to fetch it becomes the same the saline.
Technical requirements for the project:
Under solar and wind energy water desalination project (SWEWDP), the proposed technology is not very much familiar in the mass level but now before the GEF proposal we are (BRDS) is testing the same technology in the same area. IN the testing process BRDS has availed technical expertise of Agha khan development planning and building services,The national industrial & commercial link ( NICE LINK) and Pakistan council of scientific and industrial research PCSIR laboratories, and both these institutions have tested the technology their demonstration plots. For the pilot testing BRDS is purchasing these plants from (PCSIR) laboratory Hyderabad. After the approval of proposed proposal from GEF we will continue the same coordination with said institutions for further technical assistance .

In the second component which is related with plantation those are resistant to the salinity and will save the echo system of the area , for this purpose BRDS will explore the institutions or independent nurseries working and producing required plantation.
At same time will contact and coordinate agriculture and forest department government of sindh to utilities their expertise through the district government.

Anticipated Results (not more than 300 words)

The proposed proposal will be community centered and implemented with close coordination of community organizations COs, and also a need based carried out after the situation analysis. It is expected that this project will bring positive change in the socioeconomic indicator within targeted villages. it is also expected that, health status
( in terms of water born diseases) of targeted population especially women and children will improve , they investment over health services will reduces , work load on women will reduced and mostly girls those are involved with their mothers in water fetching have more time to spend for seeking education .

Besides it, women participation in development will bring positive change in social behaviors towards women; their role will be strethen and continue process of participatory development will in place in the targeted villages. Formation of Citizen Community board CCBs will have an other opportunity to work district government, mobilize their local resources for as log term process.

Demonstration plots and an innovative technology of water desalination process will provide an opportunity to district government and other funding agency to access more communities in the same area. Because of the close coordination and participation local government representatives, district government will start thinking process over the water scarcity in the costal area and take initiates to spend more money in the sweet component. While at same time adjacent villages of project area will also have an opportunity to learn from participatory development to overcome the social needs of the area.