Smeda Chief Executive Officer Yousuf Naseem Khokhar revealed this while speaking at a ceremony held to celebrate successful closure of the project on Friday. He said that the project since its start in July 2011 had provided grants worth Rs 189.9 million to 11,928 individuals and 116 organisations for restoration of their enterprises and livelihoods.
Smeda General Manager, Business and Sector Development Division Dr Nasir Khan Ghauri and General Manager, Central Support Division Khurram Khan were also present on the occasion. The event was attended by a large number of beneficiaries and the participating organisations of the project.
CEO Smeda expressed deep gratitude to the officials of UNDP for arranging the required amount of funds for this project through EU. A presentation that was given on performance of the project revealed that a grant worth Rs 30,000 per enterprise was provided to entrepreneurs from the key value chains important for overall economic development of the areas affected by flood.
The businesses engaged in trade of agriculture and livestock inputs, processing of local materials and marketing of produce were given top priority. Grants enabled selected entrepreneurs to stabilise their businesses, and play their due role in supporting local economic activity, providing requisite goods and services. A total of 2,709 enterprises were given grant worth Rs 81.5 million under Smeda-ER Project.
Realising the importance of home based income generating activities, there was a special focus on enterprising females supporting their families. Grant worth Rs 38 million was disbursed to 3,106 women engaged in micro food processing, micro farming and needle craft. Financial aid has given these females hope and they are confident that they can make a positive contribution to the income generation for their household.
A grant of Rs 43 million was dedicated for the segment of the society who could not help themselves. Widows, elderly, orphans and marginalised individuals were identified on the basis of poverty score and provided with Rs 7,120 each, creating opportunities for micro investments. More than 6,000 individuals benefited from this grant component.
Disbursement of cash grants of Rs 163 million to around 12,000 people was a big achievement for this project. They are looking forward to additional support and facilitation for a more inclusive economic development. Local communities of the project locations have been mobilised not only to take active part in identification and execution of economic development interventions, but have also been organized in the form of Community Welfare and Development Organisations (CWDOs).
These 29 CWDO have been provided formalisation support through legal experts and training programs. CWDOs are taking ownership of the development interventions, as Smeda-ER has phased out with completion of the project. ER project beneficiaries have agreed to make monthly contribution of Rs 300 per grantee to the CWDO for community development activities. Funds collected through this contribution, in a bank account opened in the name of the organisation, are spent in accordance with the bylaws.Legal experts were engaged to support formalisation/registration of these organisations with respective social welfare departments.