Youth
Internship Programme (YIP)
Internship
Report
Internship
Report
Golden
Jubilee Organization for Local Development (GOLD)
Rakaposhi
Camping Site, Aliabad Hunza
Submitted
by
Ahmed
Nayyar
ahmadnayar@gmail.com
Acknowledgement
During my stay in the office of
Golden Jubilee Organization for Local Development (GOLD) Aliabad Hunza, I come
to meet and know some of the people whom we never forget for their valuable
help, support, suggestions and guidelines which lead me to achieve this
internship period as a millennium goal of my career.
I want to express gratitude to Mr.
Aman Ullah Khan, Chairman GOLD-LSO who always motivated me to learn, develop
and implement ideas under his leadership. I want to submit my special thanks to
Madam Shahana, Project Manager Caritas (PMU Hunza) who encourage me each and
every time to build and widen my expertise and skills via communicating and
involving organizations particularly
VO’s/WO’s in the GOLD jurisdiction.
I want to say special thanks to
the people working under the GOLD umbrella, for their worthy contributions,
time and knowledge in the long run development of local communities.
Executive
Summary
This paper is about the 3 months
long intensive internship at Golden Jubilee Organization for Local Development (GOLD)
under the banner Youth Internship Programme (YIP) of EELY project jointly
organized by Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) and Tourism & Youth
Affairs Department, Gilgit – Baltistan funded by the Department of Foreign
Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD), formerly Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA).
GOLD is a Non-profit, Non
Government Organization (NGO) registered under the companies ordinance 1984. GOLD
is an umbrella organization to more than 30 registered Woman Organizations
(WO’s), Village Organizations (VO’s), Youth Organizations (YO’s), Community
Based Organizations (CBO’s) and Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) with
complementary mandates in economic, social and cultural development. The working
area is comprised of the Union Council Aliabad including Aliabad, Hassanabad
and Murtazaabad villages with a special addition to Dorkhan village which is a
part of the union council Haiderabad.
Working in the fields of economic,
cultural and social development, GOLD aims to provide choices of opportunities
to communities so that they can realize and determine their own development.
The governing body is consisting
of 21 Board of Directors (BOD’s), out of which 30% women empowerment is
ensured, they are selected for a period of 3 years written in the bylaws of the
organization. They are elected in Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the
democratic system from the organizations that are registered to the GOLD. Each
organization nominates 2 members who are participating actively in the affairs
related to their particular organization. The BOD’s is composite of 5 female
and 16 male members. The BOD’s is headed by a chairman and a cabinet, who also
are nominated by the BOD’s through democratic system. The cabinet is divided
into a Chairman on top is the authorized person according to the bylaws of the
GOLD, Vice Chairman a person to hold the charge of Chairman in case of absence
from the office. Secretary who looks
after the routine work of GOLD, Finance Secretary who is responsible to watch
the financial matters of GOLD, Manager is responsible to manage the office
records and communicate the information within the organization and other
stakeholders.
Table of Contents
0.
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
1.
Introduction
2.
Overview of the organization
2.1
Union Council Aliabad
2.2
GOLD
3.
Internship duties and Responsibilities
3.1
Registration/Re-Active V/WO’s
3.2
Datumbaresho Water Channel
3.3
Promotion of Value Added Fruit Products
3.4
Water & Sanitation Extension
Program
3.5
Trainings
3.5.1
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
3.5.2
Pruning, Thinning, MML
3.5.3
Management and Accounts
3.6
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
3.7
Surveys
3.8
Universal Birth Registration
4. Findings
5. Conclusion and Recommendations
6. References/Bibliography
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
AFC Adolescent
Friendly Centre
AKRSP Aga Khan Rural Support Program
ASF Agri-business
Support Fund
AGM Annual
General Meeting
BOD’s Board of Directors
CBO Community
Based Organization
CMS Civic
Management Society
CSO Civil Society
Organization
DoA Department of Agriculture
DFATD Department of Foreign
Affairs, Trade and Development
EELY Enhancing Employability &
Leadership in Youth
GB Gilgit
– Baltistan
GOLD Golden Jubilee Organization for
Local Development
KADO Karakorum Area Development
Organization
JICA Japan International Corporation
Agency
LG & RD Local
Government and Rural Development
LSO Local Support Organization
PMU Project Management Unit
UBR Universal Birth Registration
VO Village
Organization
WASEP Water and Sanitation Extension
Program
WO Women Organization
YIP Youth Internship Programme
YO Youth Organization
1. Introduction
The Golden Jubilee Organization for Local Development (GOLD) (registered)
is a private sector organization under section 4 of the companies’ ordinance
1984, based in the union council Aliabad the largest union council in
sub-division Hunza, with an area comprised of Dorkhan, Aliabad, Hassanabad and
Murtazaabad villages. GOLD is an umbrella organization to more than 60 Village
organizations (VO’s), Women organizations (WO’s), Civil society organizations
(CSO’s), Community based organizations (CBO’s) and Youth Organizations (YO’s),
out of which 35 are registered and play a vital role in mobilizing the local
communities. Our mission is to bring social, economical, cultural and
environmental changes through public involvement from the very grassroots
level. The organization is aimed at to provide complete assistance to the local
communities, while mobilizing and building partnerships with public sector and
other local, national and international leading organizations. The entire population of the working area is
consist of approximately 14,000 and 2,500 households, out of which some 35% are
youth aged between 18-35 years, according to the survey conducted by Ismaili
Local Council Aliabad/Hyderabad.
GOLD accomplished a number of projects ranging from Water and Sanitation
project to an extra-ordinary progress in the fields of socio-economic growth of
the communities. These projects include “Improvement of Irrigation Channels
& Poney Tracks”, “Promotion of Value-added Products of Gilgit - Baltistan”,
“Water & Sanitation Project”, “Trainings and Workshops”. Some of these
projects are running and others were somehow pending from the years before due
to various issues or non involvement of the organization. But in the end these
pending projects were completed and are benefiting the local communities.
GOLD also constituted a campaign to re-organize and re-active the
organizations which were partially dead or were not working because of the
non-availability of the staff and office setup of the GOLD-LSO. Since more than
15 V/W/YO’s are registered, re-active in this campaign. Moreover, the Chairman,
and the BOD’s are in connection to make further collaborations with public and
private sector organizations for the long term development of the people.
2.
Overview of
the organization
2.1
Union Council Aliabad
Aliabad is undeclared
headquarter of the newly form District Hunza – Nagar. As Business hub and largest town of Hunza the
former is home to approximately 8000
inhabitants. Union council Aliabad is comprised of 3 villages Aliabad, Hassanabad and Murtazaabad.
2.2 GOLD
GOLD is a Non-profit, Non Government
Organization (NGO) registered under the companies ordinance 1984. GOLD is an
umbrella organization to more than 30 registered Woman Organizations (WO’s),
Village Organizations (VO’s), Youth Organizations (YO’s), Community Based
Organizations (CBO’s) and Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) with
complementary mandates in economic, social and cultural development. The
working area is comprised of the Union Council Aliabad including Aliabad,
Hassanabad and Murtazaabad villages with a special addition to Dorkhan village
which is a part of the union council Haiderabad.
Working in the fields of economic,
cultural and social development, GOLD aims to provide choices of opportunities
to communities so that they can realize and determine their own development.
The governing body is consisting of
21 Board of Directors (BOD’s), out of which 30% women empowerment is ensured,
they are selected for a period of 3 years written in the bylaws of the
organization. They are elected in Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the
democratic system from the organizations that are registered to the GOLD. Each
organization nominates 2 members who are participating actively in the affairs
related to their particular organization. The BOD’s is composite of 5 female
and 16 male members. The BOD’s is headed by a chairman and a cabinet, who also
are nominated by the BOD’s through democratic system. The cabinet is divided
into a Chairman on top is the authorized person according to the bylaws of the
GOLD, Vice Chairman a person to hold the charge of Chairman in case of absence
from the office. Secretary who looks
after the routine work of GOLD, Finance Secretary who is responsible to watch
the financial matters of GOLD, Manager is responsible to manage the office
records and communicate the information within the organization and other
stakeholders.
The Village, Women and Youth Organisations development Company, GOLD,
established in 2007, with the objective to alleviate poverty by harnessing
people's potential through mobilizing the Village, Women and Youth Organisation
to plan and implement programs and interventions in partnership with local,
national and international development actors as well as public sector
departments through Public Private Partnerships (PPP).
Initially a total number of 15 VOs/WOs organized themselves at earlier
stage under the umbrella of GOLD-LSO and later on 62 VOs/WOs/YOs have been
registered with GOLD - almost 80% of the total population in the area. 18
Community Based Development Organizations (CDOs) have also been registered with
GOLD, which is an additional strength of GOLD.
3.
Internship duties and Responsibilities
As
an internee under YIP, I worked as Manager at GOLD for 3 months long period. During
the time, the responsibilities which were assigned to me were to correspond
with all the stakeholders and communicate with them accordingly. I worked in
various areas limiting myself with in the TOR of the manager.
Although,
there was no record available in the office regarding the projects accomplished
earlier due to vacant staff. This internship helps me to learn thoroughly from
establishing a team to cover all the data related to the organizations past. 3
volunteer members join me to work at the GOLD according to their interest of fields.
The accounts section was not working or there was no data available for the
past records. One member worked on accounts, other as a social organizer and
the management staff. From managing the project to develop and updating the
financial affairs they always put hands in hands to bring the information up to
date.
The
working areas of GOLD are vast and significant in building the living standards
of the local communities. The projects on which I work during my stay at the
GOLD are as under:
3.1
Registration/Re-Active
V/WO’s
There were in total 62 organizations in
the jurisdiction of the GOLD. Out of which only 15 – 20 V/W/YO’s were legally
registered to the organizations. These organizations were rather in active or having
no interest in the working of the GOLD.
I and my volunteer team start a
campaign to renew and register the organizations. We visited every organization
and brief them accordingly. Some 30 more V/W/YO’s were mad registered and
collect a registration fee of worth 1000/- from each organization. This money
was added to the GOLD account which is a key tool in the sustainable
development of the GOLD. After this campaign the in active organizations were
made re active.
3.2
Datumbaresho
Water Channel
This project was funded by CARITAS
through AKRSP to reconstruct the water channel which was partially damaged by
the 2010 floods. The GOLD implementing body VO Burong starts the work in July,
2012 but after making little effort some 5% work was completed and remaining
was left.
I communicate the issue with the BOD’s
and VO Burong to find out the issues pertaining to this project. After making a
series of discussions, the GOLD BOD’s hand over the project to a new team
established by the approval of VO Burong.
The project was completed within 1.5
months.
3.3
Promotion
of Value Added Fruit Products
This
project is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and DoA as a
counterparts, started in 2012. The project is aim to promote the Apricot and
Apple products nationally and internationally. The purpose of the project is to
train the local farmers through capacity building.
During
the internship period I was selected for Marketing Survey of Apricot products
in markets of Lahore. The 5 group team with the JICA consultant visited Lahore
in December, 2013.
The
findings of the survey are:-
·
The buyers showed interest in local
dried Apricot products if a valid supply chain is ensured.
·
The exporters make a deal to export the
local products of dried apricot.
·
High End Markets is key point to
display these products if conditions are made favorable and the quality of the
products make certain.
·
Some processors placed order for the
products and ask to set up future deals.
After our return we communicate/present
this information through a seminar/workshop with the local buyers/purchasers
and local farmers to ensure the quality and processing of these products which
will ultimately help them and the community.
3.4
Water
and Sanitation Extension Project
This project is funded by the KFW Germany & AKF-P and
technical support from WASEP with a huge financial share of community
themselves. The implementation work was distributed in 3 Phases, Phase-I
started in late 2012 and completed in June, 2013. Phase-II and Phase-III are
ongoing.
I worked on this project during the internship period. The
major duties were to communicate the information with the community apropos to
the project.
3.5
Trainings
I attended several training programs
which were essential for learning and understanding the key issues concerning
to the communities. These trainings include:
3.5.1
Disaster
Risk Reduction (DRR)
This training focused on the issues
related to disaster as Hunza – Nagar district is a vulnerable region in terms
of natural calamities. First the Ataabad disaster and now the Miyachar has
brought severe concerns within the communities.
The training became fruitful for me to
realize the effects and impacts of natural calamities and its aftermaths. I
also comprehend to reduce the vast impacts of natural disasters through capacity
building of the local communities.
To reduce the disaster risks GOLD has
planned to establish a group of trained volunteers who will help the communities
in bad times.
3.5.2
Pruning,
Thinning, MML
I attended the training on Pruning,
Thinning, Processing organized by the JICA. I with two farmers from GOLD
received this training in Islamabad. After our return we contacted with other
WO’s and trained them accordingly. This training was beneficial for me to
understand the importance of Thinning, Pruning and early processing procedures
of fruit products in order to maximize the output.
3.5.3
Management
and Accounts
This training played a vital role for
us in managing the GOLD projects and financial accounts. Now, the official
record of GOLD has been compiled and available in for future needs.
3.6
Annual
General Meeting (AGM)
The Annual General Meeting held every 3
year according to the bylaws of the organization. I during my stay communicate
with the BOD’s to hold AGM for the current year. We worked a lot in this area
and AGM will be soon held. It will not only add new faces and ideal people but
also include youth both male and female according to the ratio 40% - 60%.
3.7
Surveys
I have conducted the baseline survey
for different projects regarding number of Households, Population, Youth, and
registered members in the GOLD jurisdiction. This survey brings the initial
data for the proposal developed for the project Adolescent Friendly Centre
(AFC).
3.8
Universal
Birth Registration (UBR)
This project is aim to give Universal
Birth Registration (UBR) as a basic identity to the persons aged under 18. I
with my team communicate with the concern persons at PMU Hunza and start the
registration process. GOLD hired volunteers, boy’s scouts, girls guide, V/WO’s
members to collect the data while visiting every household in the jurisdiction.
4.
Findings
Although
working in development sector is challenging and demanding. This internship
period will play a vital role in the development of professional life. It has
enhanced my skills, expertise and way of thinking while working within the
community and other development players. This program Enhancing Employability
and Leadership in Youth (EELY) foster my capabilities to find opportunities.
The program will help every youth in attaining his role/part in the development
of society particularly focusing on the developing areas.
5.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Following are some recommendations based on the personal
assessment made during the Youth Internship Programme (YIP):-
·
Due to lack of management grant/support
from AKRSP, GOLD is suffering critically from the absence of office management
staff. Without a proper setup of management staff the communication between
GOLD and its stakeholders and with the V/W/YO’s cannot be made within the
proper time. I personally suggest that an Internee from each cycle of YIP
should be placed in GOLD in order to help and build the communication
mechanism.
·
GOLD
is no more in active, we are working on several projects with different private
and public stakeholders.
·
The V/WO’s which are newly established
and registered to the GOLD are working actively.
6.
References/Bibliography
i.
GOLD Yearly Progress Report 2013
ii.
GOLD
Registration Document
iii.
Wikipedia.org
iv.
GBCyouth.org.pk
v.
GOLD
Annual Minutes
