Family Development Program- New Implementation Strategy-2010 Save A Family Plan (SAFP) is developing a new implementation strategy for its major program called Family Development Program. Since its inception SAFP has focused on the management of money (importance given to money transferring). SAFP has done this 100% faithfully. But the new strategy focuses on the total development of the family. To achieve this goal the following areas will be given importance. • Capacitating all stake holders – (family, partner NGO & SAFP) • Baseline data collection and scientific analysis. • Analysis of the issues of the family and critical awareness on those issues. • Participatory planning at SAFP, DSSSs, local and family levels. • Mobilizing local/government resources and addressing the prioritized issues. • Ongoing participatory assessment of progress and reporting. The concept is to create a systematized process of capacity development that will equip targeted families and communities to begin addressing their poverty-related issues. The cost of the program is shared by over 10,000 Canadian and American benefactors who contribute $20 per month per family for 6 continuous years for 14,000 families. They also give special gifts to the families in addition to it. This donation per year is approximately $4347826 (Rs.20 crores). The program management and implementation cost is about $167391 (Rs.77, 00,000/-) per year which is shared 80% by SAFP and 20% by implementing agency, and the local contribution from the targeted families and communities is of minimum 20%, cash or kind. SAFP implements this program through 43 regionally-based NGO partners in 5 states: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The program will directly benefit 14000 poor and marginalized families and their communities as well as numerous teams of staff and volunteers in India. In Canada, large numbers of Canadians will be reached through public engagement activities. With extensive experience in India working with the poor since 1965 and involvement in various CIDA-funded development projects and programs since 1978, SAFP is well-equipped, from an organizational perspective, to effectively and responsibly manage this program. The program evaluations conducted by CIDA on 2009 on its program and in 2005 (on Gender), are greatly valued and have assisted SAFP in reflecting critically on its development work in India, resulting in shaping it to be more responsive to the needs of the poor. The new program implementation strategy was guided by participatory needs assessments, consultations, and planning processes involving sample NGOs stakeholders, SAFP Indian and Canadian personnel and volunteers. Issues that were identified by these need assessments have been broadly described as deeprooted, complex, and inter-connected. They can be categorized under the general headings of Governance, Environment, Health, Education, and Gender, and include major development issues: poor or inaccessible public services, corruption, caste and gender discrimination, human trafficking, bonded labor, poor maternal health, food insecurity, malnutrition, poor sanitation, alcoholism, non-enrolment of children in school, illiteracy, degraded land, poor yields, water scarcity, etc. There is an awareness that numerous, varied Indian government projects and schemes, and public services and facilities already exist to address many of these issues; however, the reality in India is that the above provisions are not properly delivered or easily accessible, nor is legislation enforced in favor of the poor.
In light of this, and with respect to India’s and Canada’s commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals and the Government of India’s plans and priorities, SAFP developed this new strategy that facilitates the widespread learning and use of a ‘core-process’ for the empowerment of families and communities. Through local participatory and scientific processes, this methodology supports continuous analysis and learning leading to local ownership, control and sustainability. Specifically, the ‘core process’ includes: • creating an issue-focused awareness among the primary stakeholders • initiating a participatory micro-planning process • mobilizing local resources and public schemes and services for the implementation of activities identified as part of micro-planning • Engagement in concurrent monitoring reflection and evaluation processes so as to generate knowledge and insight from experiences. Although the country’s economy is healthy, India’s Human Development Index ranking is 128th out of 177, and over 40% of the population is still living below the (recently revised) World Bank poverty line of US$1.25 per day (2005). Targeted in SAFP’s proposed program are populations that contribute to these statistics: rural communities whose members live below the poverty line, and have significant numbers of marginalized communities: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, religious minorities, and Other Backward Communities (OBCs). These people have a right to benefit from India’s growing prosperity, and SAFP believes that facilitating a ‘core process’ among these communities and individuals will be the beginning of positive change in the families and communities. a. Program Objectives and components The Family Development Program is one of the most effective and elegant program among SAFP’s programs that makes an outstanding difference in the lives of poor people in India. Its participatory way of implementation and large volunteer involvement, allows the program completely grass roots base and there by the stake holders get ownership over their development results. The late honorable consultant of SAFP, Mr. David Catmur, Canada, made a detailed study on the implementation and effectiveness of this core program in 1992. SAFP had been working to integrate his recommendations in the program. On 2004 a revamping process for this program was undertaken and based on that, guidelines on policies and procedures of FDP was printed and made available to all the partners and staff team. The criteria for selecting the families was finalized and printed. All the beneficiaries had to start at least one IGP for increasing their income and meeting their local needs, without touching their regular help from benefactors. The selection of beneficiaries is done in a participatory process. The first selection should be done in SHGs. All the beneficiaries should participate in the local SHGs to ensure community involvement for the development of the targeted families. In 2009 November another evaluation was conducted by Ms Grace Flesher (Canadian), evaluator, with a background in banking, social justice and peace studies and Mrs. Sindhu, SAFPI staff. This two month evaluation was followed with a thorough study and analysis, conclusions and recommendations. Their findings show that the financial management of the program is very good. The management of the utilization of the money in the beneficiaries’ accounts needs further work. Based on the recommendations and the lessons learned from the
implementation of the program, and the partnering NGO directors’ participatory assessments, the following design was made for further implementation. The key developmental objectives of SAFP‘S Family Development Program in the light of the above are as follows: To develop the capacity of partner families, partner organizations and SAFP to plan strategies to address needs and issues that hinder economic and social development of the partner families, and effectively make use of available local resources, services and SAFP support The support from benefactors through SAFP is ensured for six years for the selected beneficiaries. There are a significant number and variety of pro poor schemes, programs and legislations that have been introduced by the government designed for delivery by PRIs (eg. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). However, access to and use of these resources is poor and ineffective. Building capacity is critical to bringing about better results from public investments and services. The objective of the FDP program is to develop local capacities for initiating a core process approach, and specific participatory micro-planning processes, respective to each family, which will allow families to set specific objectives and plan for results regarding their own direct initiatives. Core Process SAFP always recognizes the need for effective long-term development strategies in communities. The community is constituted by a number of facilities. The development of the community is directly related to the development of the families. SAFP focuses on families to acquire the skills to capably address problems and issues in a participatory and scientific manner. The proposed program envisages facilitating a core process whereby primary stakeholders actively participate in the process of gaining rights, control and ownership over their development results.
The stages of the core process are given below. 1. Generating awareness, sensitivity and consciousness on various issues and problems by creating a family level data base; there is an evolutionary process of knowledge building that leads to access. Awareness of human rights, social justice, constitutional rights and privileges, etc. is an essential part of that evolution. 2. Issue-based micro-planning at family level (person-centered, family and location specific micro-planning); this helps stakeholders to gain control and ownership over the process. Once the plans at the family level are set, they can be integrated with those at the Panchayat (local government) level. 3. Family based local initiatives/actions; this involves mobilizing local resources and accessing government schemes and services for the implementation of family plans with the help of SAFP support. 4. Family based and community based monitoring and reflection; this is to establish an internal monitoring and evaluation system at the family level with the help of animators, sponsors, coordinators and SAFP staff. This will reinforce the family learning and action dynamics in a sustainable manner.
Each successive activity in the core process is built upon the results of the preceding activity. The main focus is to facilitate empowerment of family members to gain rights, control and ownership over the process and results of addressing issues in the family. The expected results are that primary stakeholders will gain analytical and experiential knowledge on the issues; they will be able to develop plans and strategies in a scientific and systematic manner; they will be able to effectively make use of local resources, public services/facilities, and government schemes and projects to address their issues. The methodology is such that each family will focus on addressing one issue and its subsidiaries one by one. Essentially, the core-process is a knowledge-building process that leads to behavior change and action. b. Main Activities Activity 1: Preliminary planning involved participatory problem assessment of the Family Development Program at the family level (assessment done at EKM diocese), consultative meetings at partner NGOs by SAFP executives, SAFP Canada and India levels Semi annual general meetings, Consultative meeting at India level by 40 Partner NGO directors, evaluation conducted by SAFP staff and External evaluator- Ms Grace Flesher, Canada. Key issues were identified through participatory appraisal, analysis and consultations. This data was consolidated at SAFP level. Activity 2: This involves the establishment and support of a Program Core Team (PCT) comprising of SAFPI and SAFPC Board representatives, executive directors, staff who are directly responsible for implementing the program, two representatives from the partner NGOs, Indian resource consultants and experts, including a participatory methods specialist, gender specialists (m/f), an environment specialist, and others as required. This group will be responsible for clearly articulating the program vision and a systematic process methodology, including monitoring for facilitating the development process. This will be undertaken in targeted populations at the grassroots level and will ultimately lead to family level action, continuous learning, and sustainable development through effective resource utilization. Activity 3: This involves the appointment of program coordinators and animators (minimum 50% female) for each of the 44 partner organizations, and their subsequent intensive training at the SAFP training centre or regional centers by members of the PCT. These individuals will have consultative access to members of the PCT, and training will be regularly updated. These appointees will be highly qualified and will become full-time staff members at respective partner organizations. (The full time animators are provided only partial salary support by SAFP. The DSSSs meet the balance.) The coordinators and animators will be responsible for facilitating the training of individual families, base line data collection, family based six year plan, implementation of the plan etc. Their quarterly meetings at SAFPI are designed as an important means of sharing and cross-fertilization of ideas. Because they come from diverse regions within India, their individual experiences are unique; as a peer group, the collective experience is a good model for intercultural cooperation. Activity 4: This will lead to the production of a comprehensive program manual for SAFP and program partners that will be used to support those partners in their own learning and in developing their capacity to facilitate further learning to broader families. Included in this manual, is relevant development information (eg. international/national priorities, agreements, legislation, conventions, etc.), as well as guidance on how to facilitate best practices in local
planning initiatives, (eg. application of participatory approaches, methods, and tools; integrating gender analysis, planning and budgeting, gender impact assessment; integrating environmental management using environment impact assessment). Activity 5: Though the program is implemented by the DSSSs, for easy implementation and monitoring, the DSSSs are further divided into units. One unit will have an average of 300 beneficiary families. DSSS can have more than one unit. SAFP’s long term plan is to increase the number of DSSSs and reduce the number of units to one to each DSSS. One SAFP staff will be responsible for 7 units. All responsibilities related to those DSSSs will be handled by the concerned SAFP staff, including the mini India report processing, base line data collection and its analysis and reporting, training the coordinators, animators and sponsors, benefactor visit implementation, monitoring and planning, and bringing the family to a self contributive level in the community. Activity 6: Family Facilitation Teams (FFTs) (minimum 50% female) will be formed one per unit. Each Team will be comprised of 3 animators, 1 coordinator, sponsors, project officers SAFP representative and the partner NGO director. The animators will be appointed by SAFP’s partner organizations, and will consist of experienced and civic-minded local residents who will receive intensive training and upgrading at the SAFP and regional training centers, and be responsible for facilitating the core process and trainings at the family level. The sponsors will be full time volunteers and consist of parish vicars, sisters, lay leaders or SHG leaders. Their own capacities and animators’ development as leaders will strengthen the link between benefactors, SAFP and program partner NGO’s. On the central/parish level the Family Action Teams (FATs) (minimum 50 % women) will be comprised of animator, parish level leaders, Self Help Group (SHG) representatives, and local sponsor, mother superior of the convent, parish priest, and invited representatives from local Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI’s) and other society leaders. They will do participatory assessments and analyses of key issues in each family, and as such, or the drivers of the core process, and important instruments of change in the beneficiary families. Activity 7: Selection of Families: New selection of families should be focused within the geographical boundary of cluster panchayaths to avoid the overlapping of target area of each DSSS. As per the instruction of the DSSS, the selection is done by the SHG based on the criteria of SAFP and recommended to the Family Action Team (FAT). FAT will verify the actual situation of the family and send the list of deserving families to the DSSS office. The Family Facilitation Team (FFT) will visit the selected families for verification of criteria. The coordinator collects the base line data and application details, takes the photo of the partner family, and prepares the applications in the SAFPNET with the help of the animators. The DSSS will send the final family list to SAFP. A spot verification of families will be done by the Process Core Team (PCT). Approval of the application in SAFPNET by SAFPI responsible staff and SAFPC find benefactors for the approved families. Once the family is enrolled in the payroll the new joint bank account should be opened in the name of the beneficiary and the DSSS director. The Bank Passbook and cheque book should be kept in the DSSS office. A new file for each beneficiary should be maintained at the DSSS’ office. Handbooks will be supplied for each beneficiary from the DSSS office. Thanks giving letters to the benefactors (first letter from beneficiary) should be sent. Activity 8: Creation of individual beneficiary files at DSSS: This file is a family based document for the purpose of reference, updating and monitoring. An individual beneficiary file
should contain the application with photo, baseline data (should be updated yearly), six year plan, yearly plan with RBM and cash flow, copy of the letters sent and received, bank statements, and fund withdrawal applications and all other relevant documents related to the family. This file can be used during family visits and for auditing. While visiting the DSSS by the SAFPI staff, they should check whether the DSSS is keeping the individual files of the beneficiaries updated properly. Activity 9: Participatory assessments and microanalysis of key issues at family level are conducted by trained FAT team with facilitation from FFT members. This is stage one of the core process, where awareness and sensitivity to various issues is generated through the creation and analysis of baseline data. Subsequent changes can be measured scientifically against this baseline in the monitoring/evaluation stage of the core process. Systematic assessments done regularly (eg. yearly) direct attention to a particular issue (or related set of issues) that needs to be addressed. This process needs to be fed (and reinforced) by reliable information: eg. on social justice, rights, legislations and policies, availability of government resources, etc. in order to develop perspective on issues as a basis for action. Example of some of the issues, subsidiary issues and activities are given below, housing, co-ownership of land and house ( purchase), active participation in SHG and gramasabha, organic kitchen garden, waste management (vermi compost), keeping daily accounts register (budget, income, expenditure, debt, savings), job oriented education to children, drinking water facilities (appropriate activity), income generation program, diversified income sources, phyto remedy, afforestation and soil conservation methods, water collection pits, point well recharging, rain water harvesting tank, immunization, sanitation facility, herbal garden, health insurance scheme, nutritious food to lactating mothers and children, proper waste water management system, de-addiction treatment and counseling (alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking, tobacco use), electricity/ non conventional energy, biogas plants, smokeless chula. Activity 10: This is followed by participatory micro planning at family level to address a chosen issue and its subsidiaries, and to identify the activities that are necessary for resolving it. This will be facilitated by the FAT team at each family. SAFP staff and coordinator will participate in sample family level micro planning and they will make sure of the proper implementation of this process with reporting. This process includes a gender impact assessment, environmental impact assessment, and creation of a yearly budget and monthly cash flow (including gender budgeting). The objective is to identify existing resources, services, and benefits including SAFP support that can be mobilized to address identified needs, with cooperation from the local PRI governing bodies, which control much of the public funding for local economic development and social justice. Micro-planning should take place yearly in all families and 6 year planning at the beginning of enrollment, based on selection of a particular issue (or related set of issues). This sequencing allows learning from the previous year’s experiences to inform the next. Activity 11: This involves mobilizing local resources, accessing government resources, SHG resources and benefits for the implementation of the family plan. Facilitation of linkages with various agencies and organizations (government and other) is important. The membership in the SHGs is compulsory and the family should collaborate with SHGs. The family will be capacitated to mobilize the fund in its own way and systematically utilize it in future. Activity 12: SAFP handbook will be filled and updated in 14000 families and if necessary, need revision. Family level record-keeping of all meetings, trainings, the fund received from the different donors and SAFP, the details of income generation programs (income, expenditure and
profit per month), communication with benefactors, funds withdrawn from the accounts, project details, plans, monitoring visit proof etc and other activities concerning the target issue will be kept in the hand book. This will serve as an accessible reference for all stakeholders. Family will responsible for filling it and FFT and FAT will facilitate its use locally. c. Monitoring and Evaluation Activity 13: FATs will hold monthly participatory monitoring and evaluation sessions at the center/parish level. This will be assisted by the information in the FFT and PCTs. 44 partner NGOs will hold monthly monitoring and evaluation sessions at their respective offices. Attending will be a beneficiary representative from each center/parish, 3 animators, one coordinator, as well as the partner director, one representative from the sponsors’ representatives from FFT, and a SAFPI Program Officer (periodically). There will be quarterly coordinators’ meetings (monitoring and evaluation) at SAFPI office, attended by SAFP staff, 44 partner unit coordinators etc.. These meetings strengthen the bonds between these individuals, allow a sharing of results and process and lessons learned through individual presentations, and provide resource assistance. An annual program planning and evaluation meeting will be attended by 44 partner directors at SAFPI. This meeting of administrators is a formal yearly review of the SAFP/FDP program in partner jurisdictions and a budget preview for the upcoming year. Members of PCT will undertake social audit and a financial audit of the Family Development Program yearly. An external evaluation also will be conducted for the assessment of the performance of the staff and program yearly. Activity 14: 14000 family progress card for internal learning and monitoring will serve to assess progress every 1 year at the family level. These self-evaluations conducted by the FFT begin with baseline data and measure changes from that starting point, which reaffirms the scientific validity of the family development process and formalizes the consolidation and reporting to the DSSS directors. FFTs will be responsible for this process and FAT will give facilitation support locally. Activity 15: Results and Lessons Learned Book is a program-wide completion published yearly by SAFPI distributed to all SAFP partners and Panchayat Raj representatives. This validates and makes public the efforts of all actors and serves to both share information and make all parties mutually accountable. As a program that is focused on facilitating a process of local-level capacity development, this proposed program directly addresses SAFP’s priority sector of promoting good governance, (especially democratization, human rights, rule of law, and public sector institution and capacity building). In as much as our program fits holistically, under the umbrella of SAFP’s ‘Governance’ priority sector, it should be understood that gender equality and environmental sustainability are totally and inextricably integrated into the capacity development process design, and difficult to separate out in terms of ‘priority’ percentages. Similarly, from a medium and long-term perspective based on the anticipated sustainability of this program, all of the MDGs will be addressed. In the shorter term, the capacity development process will facilitate, for community members, awareness of the Goals themselves and of a global community that acknowledges their poverty situation and promises to improve it.
Particular emphasis in training is given to Goal 3 (gender equality and empowerment of women) and Goal 7 (environmental sustainability) as necessary for achievement of the others. In India, SAFP has a multitude of agencies with whom it collaborates or consults, including NGOs, academic institutions, church, private agencies, and government institutions. SAFPI publishes a quarterly newsletter that includes information on program work and concepts related to both their Family and Community Development Programs. The many NGO teams with whom SAFP implements programs in India continue to benefit from the continuous learning that is provided from program monitoring and evaluation. Quarterly program partner coordinator meetings, and annual planning meetings for directors provide a forum for exchange of information, including sharing of lessons learned. As well, these partner NGOs provide a synopsis of program results in their annual reports, which distribute information to wider populations. There is a continuation of interest in SAFP’s program concepts and results from researchers, and it is anticipated that further research will be undertaken on program results such as gender, in the life of this program. SAFP is supported by church structures and institutions, and as such, there is an intricate and well-established information network as well as knowledge sharing opportunities among diocesan agencies and leaders, including at regional, state and national levels. For instance, in 2008, SAFPI President Bishop Sebastian Adayanthrath was in attendance at the Indian Catholic Bishops Conference biennial plenary, the theme of which was ‘Empowerment of Women in Church and Society (160 Bishops and 40 lay and religious women were in attendance). SAFP continues to share knowledge effectively in various venues: SAFPI director and a partner NGO director (female) presented at a panel on domestic violence in India at the Canadian High Commission in 2008. Also in 2008, a SPED II coordinator and local animators had informal discussions with the Canadian High Commissioner. SAFPI Annual General Meetings bring partner directors together; in 2008 much discussion followed the keynote address on Human Rights and Development from Sister Jessy Kurian, an advocate for the Supreme Court of India (now with the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions). SAFP will continue to seek resource expertise from agencies such as National Bank for Rural Development (NABARD), Indian Farmers Movement, Indian Social Institute, Catholic Health Association of India, Confederation of NGOs in Rural India, Council for the Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology, Planet Kerala, and academic institutions. The proposed program aims to facilitate the creation of productive linkages between Panchayat Raj Institutions and community organizations. This collaboration will allow a reciprocal sharing of knowledge that can strengthen local development. SAFPI will continue to host numerous visitors and guests, including like-minded development organization representatives, and individuals and groups who are financially supporting the program. Field visits will continue to be the best method of observing and assessing particular elements of SAFP’s program that warrant replication. Attendance at conferences will also create opportunities for dialogue and sharing with like-minded organizations. From a Canadian point of view, current programming content, strategy, and knowledge is shared through newsletter, website, speaking engagements, and other public forums through public engagement-directed activities (see below). Numerous opportunities exist for sharing knowledge among staff, volunteers (including the board of directors), and other interested parties at conferences and other inter-organizational gatherings. d. Public Engagement
The Canadian program for public engagement has three components designed to increase awareness and understanding among participants leading to informed and meaningful participation in Canadian international development, and to a more engaged global citizenship. Instilling a wider awareness of international and national efforts to combat poverty and achieve development targets (eg. MDGs) is an expected result. The first component involves engagement at local events, with local community groups, and with schools/students from elementary to post-secondary. Presentations/workshops integrate themes of empowerment, participation, sustainability, gender and environment, and will aim to increase awareness in a participatory way, leading to genuine understanding and innovative avenues for change. The second part of the Canadian program involves networking, capacity building and cooperation. As an active member of the Ontario Council for International Cooperation, SAFP will continue cooperating within that network, and will increase its outreach nationally/internationally through online networking tools. This will give SAFP further opportunities to build capacity by sharing knowledge and ideas in a larger forum. Finally, SAFP will increase Canadians’ awareness, understanding, and support of international efforts to reduce global poverty through various means: a quarterly newsletter (EKTHAUNITY); informative resources; and a video. Material will be distributed through public engagement activities, local networks (regional network, public library, etc), online websites/networks, and through our contributor population throughout Canada and the United States. e. Gender Preliminary planning processes at partner NGO, family and village-level give due emphasis to the analysis and understanding of problems, issues and needs of women in rural villages. Not unexpectedly, these reveal that existing patterns of gender relations favoring men are enmeshed in most social systems at this level. Men continue to exert control over most of the institutions in both private and public spheres, and women continue to be victims of gender discrimination and violence and patriarchal customs and practices. They are least consulted in decision-making at the family level and all other platforms. Women lack ownership of productive assets, are not paid equal wages, and lack control over their own earnings. Their day-to-day engagements involve a high level of drudgery, hardship, and responsibility. Poor maternal health, girl child labor, school drop-out, and dowry are significant issues, as are foeticide and infanticide, and abandonment of girl children. Maternal health statistics are alarming and most of the women are ignorant of their basic human rights, let alone other legal rights. However, there is much potential with respect to women’s opportunities for growth. They are represented in local governance--by constitutional law, 33% of Indian parliament members are women and 50% of PRI representatives on local elected bodies must be women. Their role as decision-makers in these positions must be strengthened so that they can be effective, rather than token representatives. Almost all women in target families are members of various Self-Help Groups and as such, are likely involved in savings and credit operations. These groups are a critical entry-point for women into society and fundamental to further development. SAFP intends to ensure that no less than 50% of partner coordinators, assistant coordinators, animators (from FFTs), and FAT members, must be women. All SAFP staff will receive gender training, and one will be specially trained as an in-house gender ‘specialist’. The Program Core Team will include professional gender specialists for delivery of training, reinforced by the program process manual, which will integrate a gender perspective throughout, and include information and training guidelines.
Multi-language Gender Impact Assessment manuals will be used as training tools, and for use at local level. In view of addressing gender equality issues, a rights-based approach will be adopted. The envisioned core process approach for development means that a critical awareness of issues and rights must precede any planning action. Knowledge on the human rights convention, CEDAW, India’s National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, legal rights protecting women, etc., will be transmitted. Cascading training from partner coordinators to FFT and FAT prepares the latter for conducting participatory assessments and analyses, including gender analysis, gender planning and budgeting. Family-level micro-planning and intervention activities that follow, as well as monitoring and evaluation processes, will also integrate gender equality dimensions. Proper facilitation will guide the process of creating specific activity, output, outcome and impact indicators for planned interventions. SAFP anticipates that, through this program, women will be capacitated to take on vital advocacy and leadership roles (including PRI positions) that will lead to improvements in their personal and community lives. Gender-related impacts for the program (resulting from the collective developed capacity to implement effective interventions in 14000 families) will include improved maternal health and quality of girls’ education, improved home life, improved knowledge of legal rights, and improved opportunities for livelihoods. Police sensitization should lead to a better response to issues of domestic violence. f. Result and money value. 47 units in 40 DSSSs x 300 families (average) equals 14100: estimated number of individuals directly benefitting is 70500. This includes those who will realize direct benefit within the families, as issues are identified and addressed. Also directly benefitting are all teams of staff and volunteers at SAFPI and Canada, partner NGOs, and village level. Direct beneficiaries come from poor rural village communities that have significant populations of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, minorities and Other Backward Communities (OBCs). Major issues have been identified in target areas, as previously stated. Average annual income per family for sample target village populations is approximately Rs. 18,000/- per year. India’s official poverty line average for rural areas is Rs. 356/- per person per month based on the cost of a minimum caloric intake. (The World Bank now uses a new poverty line income cut-off US$1.25 per day based on 2005 purchasing power parity prices, which recognizes a much higher number of poor). For the future, the Government Planning Commission will redefine poverty by deprivation (determined by access to food, water, education, health benefits, infrastructure, clean environment, and women’s and children’s benefits). (Refer to Selection Criteria-) • Beneficiaries receive training to develop their capacity to be informed and effective participants in society, community, and family. This will enable them to advocate for themselves and their communities, and to negotiate and cooperate with local governing bodies in mobilizing resources and obtaining what is rightfully theirs. Every family is expected to conduct micro-planning/establish baseline/take action for one identified issue (or related set of issues) per year. From subsequent actions taken, a significant number of services, benefits, and resources will be accessed, resulting in improved health, education, governance, environmental conditions, and gender equality in the long term………..