Livelihood explaratory field mission report livelihood Manilla, philippines duration

Appendix 7 : Agenda of the internal planning meeting

Agenda:

• 
  Rappel des objectifs et résultats attendus : approche, zone, beneficiaries, main orientation, and partners (5 min)
  
• 
  Proposition plan :
  

2.1. Main information cf general context 10 min
2.2. Main stakeholders (15 min)

Round Table

Identification Gaps ?

2.3. Demand Analyse : PwDs in rural, urban, diabete (1,30 min)

SWOT / pop

Diabete (30 min)

Zone urbaine : pop urbaine entrepreneurs vulnerable (30 min)

Zone rurale (30 min)
SWOT :

Results : approche pop vulnerable / PSH / diabete (10 min)

Break

4. 
   Approche globale (nationale) / Approche territoriale : Avantages / Inconvenients, 30 min
   

Croisement

Results : geographical scope

2.5. Partenaires, 30 min

Financements autres actions partenaires

Results : partners is ….
2.6. Potential intervention axes

Appendix 8 : Concept Note

1. 
   Relevance of the Action
   

1. 
   General presentation, analysis of the problems and their interrelation at all levels.
   

Ranked 90 out of 177 countries in terms of HDI², Philippines offer real opportunities for economic development, dramatically hampered by the first position the archipelago holds among ASEAN countries in terms of disparities in the social and geographical distribution of wealth. Indeed, close to 70% of the 86 millions inhabitants live below the poverty line and the situation is even worse for specific groups, including the 17% of urban inhabitants that live in slums and the isolated rural populations.

It is well known and accepted that meeting the Millennium Development Goals will not be achieved without reducing disparities and mainstreaming vulnerable groups. Among the most vulnerable, Persons With Disabilities (PWD) have been clearly identified as a target population to be mainstreamed in any EU supported development initiatives³. Despite the good will shown by the Philippines government in signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 25-9-2007, mainstreaming marginalized groups in development plans is far from a reality and the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP 2004-2010) fails in meeting vulnerable needs.

What is seen at national level is also real at a more grassroots level, and it is a known restriction to Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) successes that they often fails, despite their social responsibility, in mainstreaming marginalized groups in their activities and do leave apart the most vulnerable of the programs.

2. 
   Specific problems.
   

Through various researches⁴, Handicap International and its livelihood partners (see further for more details on those partners) identified and chose to focus on the following specific problems:

• 
  In Metro Manila, although there is certain prosperity, it does not benefit to all. Also, the uncontrolled growth and poor urban management have severely impacted the poor. With a population of more than 10 millions inhabitants, 20% of which is vulnerable and 35% lives in informal slum settlement, mostly coming from rural area, Manila offers the best and the worst in terms of economic opportunities. If most businesses and industries are based in Manila and surroundings, people living in slums suffer from social exclusion and express lack of self confidence. Lacking capital and victims of ostracism, they face difficulties in accessing formal employment and often do not meet the criteria to access the MFI offered services. The unemployment rate is particularly high especially among the youth (48,7% are unemployed).
  
• 
  The Province of Sorsogon, in Bicol Region offers a good image of the situation in remote areas. Aside from regular fishing sector which absorb 31 % of the workforce, the population works as farmers and are occasionally fishers. The region suffers from major damages brought by an uncontrolled exploitation of the natural resources and occasionally by natural disasters such as typhoons; the small fishers are the first to suffer from this situation.
  
• 
  Even if 85% of the municipalities are covered by a banking system and MFI and others development organisations have played an important role in poverty alleviation along the last 20 years; the poorest are still excluded. Indeed, it seems that MFIs hardly fulfil their social mandate in serving the poorest as they firstly concentrate on their financial sustainability. Consequently, marginalised groups either in urban or rural area still face difficulties in accessing financial services, mainly because of non-adapted services.
  
• 
  Existing livelihood stakeholders do not target marginalised groups -despite a real interest in better fulfilling their social responsibilities - because they do not know or have the capacity to meet those groups’ needs.
  

To reach the population of the slum in Metro Manila or the small fishers in Sorsogon and more generally marginalised groups could be done in collaboration with a range of stakeholders acting directly in the community and having a strong knowledge of their environment. Some of those organisations are looking for technical support to reach the unreached and help them in accessing to livelihood services.

In order to provide opportunities to economic development to marginalized groups in urban as well as rural areas, Handicap International proposes to build the capacity of two Non State Actors (NSA) to enable them undertake and mainstream, among their network, an approach which promotes and guides for the inclusion of the marginalized group in development projects.

1. 
   Target groups and final beneficiaries.
   

• 
  The project will cover two geographical areas to come out with lessons learned representative of various contexts: Manila slums (through 3 “Gabay Buhay Community Centers⁵”, covering the 3 municipalities: Manila, Bulacan, Quezon) and Sorsogon rural province (2 municipalities).
  
• 
  The activities will be built upon the networks and existing activities of the two organizations experienced in livelihood strategies and well established in the targeted areas:
  
  • 
    Our first beneficiaries will be the staff of those two collaborating Non State Actors: IRDF and SPACE.
    
  • 
    By extension, we will target the staff of IRDF and SPACE partners and network: 4 MFI direct partners and 37 MFI members of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCP) network.
    
• 
  Through this network, we will reach 2.000 marginalized persons, composed of women, out of school youth, job seekers, not accepted micro entrepreneur project holders, farmers, and disabled people, expressing a strong motivation and determination to learn a job, access financial independence and better participate in the development of their community. These 2.000 persons will benefit from micro credit support and specific support to launch sustainable economic activities.
  
• 
  These households will be selected among a catchment population composed of the project partners’ beneficiaries, belonging to the communities of 3 municipalities in Metro Manila (SPACE beneficiaries) or to small fishers groups and women groups of Sorsogon (IRDF beneficiaries).
  
• 
  Keys stakeholders involved in livelihood services; including the local authorities will as well be targeted because of their important roles as “Community Relation Officer” at the municipality level.
  

4. 
   Relevance to the needs and constraints.
   

Taking into consideration a) the exclusion of marginalized groups from MFI opportunities; b) the will of those MFI to better address their social responsibility and the commitment of the authorities towards marginalized groups; c) HI, IRDF and SPACE experiences and their common will to give marginalized groups better access to economical opportunities; d) their knowledge of the selected geographical areas;

The project will build upon each stakeholder expertise to analyse the obstacles towards an inclusive development, develop and implement pilot innovative inclusive initiatives and build upon successes and lessons learned to promote the replication of success stories at larger scale, thus favouring an inclusive and empowered development.

1. 
   Relevance to the Guidelines priorities and requirements.
   

• 
  Considering the existing network of MFI institutions, the project (jointly defined with the partners) is entirely dedicated at giving relevant local NSA working at grassroots level improved capacities in delivering community based and sustainable livelihood opportunities to marginalized and vulnerable groups (Obj A).
  
• 
  Among the vulnerable groups targeted, a specific attention will be given to Persons With Disability, following the march 2003 EU Guidance Note on Disability and the January 2006 EU parliament resolution that promotes the Guidance Note effective implementation.
  
• 
  Through its aim to mainstream all populations in an inclusive development, the project participates in the overarching objective of the program, aiming at “reducing poverty”, “strengthening the civil society” and “promoting an inclusive and empowered society in partner countries”.
  
• 
  Through favouring the access of the most excluded to existing Non State Actors services, the project fits into the overall objective of this program to “provide support for capacity building of NSA and LA in order to […] enhance their capabilities in delivering basic services to the poorest peoples in the country”.
  
• 
  Though reaching the objective D of “participatory development plans established at local government unit” will not be possible within the time frame of the project, a first step towards this objective will be made in a) analysing the main obstacles to an inclusive economic development and b) capitalizing on success stories to provide local decision makers with appropriate know how to develop economic development plans accessible for all.
  

1. 
   Description of the action and its effectiveness
   

2.1 Overall objective of the action, outputs and expected results;

The overall project objective is to promote an inclusive economic development, equally open to all populations, including marginalized groups. It therefore seeks the commitment and capability of Non-State Actors and local authorities to understand and efficiently meet the needs of marginalised people. It also aspires at enhancing the incomes of the most marginalized, to reduce their difference with the mainstream society and favour their inclusion.

The project specific objective is to improve the living conditions of marginalised groups in urban and rural areas (slum belt of Metro Manila and Sorsogon rural area) through their inclusion into mainstream economic services.

The expected outputs of the project are:

• 
  Individuals have increased their incomes through a range of actions;
  
• 
  The 2 NSAs take systematically into account the marginalised groups in their projects and activities;
  
• 
  Livelihood stakeholders at the project level understand the needs of marginalised groups and work at their inclusion into their activities and structures. This might lead to the identification of specific activities requesting a particular investment in terms of accompaniment, provision of advise and support to initial investments for livelihoods activities;
  
• 
  MFIs increase their social responsibility and include disability in their social performance indicators;
  
• 
  Livelihood stakeholders at national level increase their understanding of the rights and potential of marginalised groups by benefiting from the lessons learnt of the project.
  

2.2 Expected results, Proposed activities and their effectiveness;

IRDF and SPACE have reinforced inclusion in their economic services.

• 
  A study will be conducted on the difficulties encountered by the marginalized groups to access livelihood opportunities. It will be largely disseminated to professionals and authorities to raise awareness.
  
• 
  SPACE and IRDF services will be analyzed and adapted to better meet the needs of excluded groups and become more inclusive
  
• 
  The staff of SPACE and IRDF will be trained on disability issues, problem of exclusion and implementation of inclusive activities. These trainings will include training of trainers so that they will be replicated towards their own networks of partnerships.
  

IRDF and SPACE adapt and develop inclusive economic services; their own partners include and efficiently accompany marginalized groups in their livelihood projects.

• 
  Inclusive measures for marginalized groups (women, youths, fishermen and disabled people living in the informal sectors) will be implemented and followed up by SPACE and IRDF and their close partners.
  
• 
  Economic pilot initiatives on the inclusion of marginalized groups in community based livelihood opportunities activities will be implemented⁶.
  
• 
  Support will be provided to the 2 NSA to introduce inclusive measures among their networks and ensure appropriate follow up: disability awareness, personalized counselling, implementation and follow up.
  
• 
  IRDF and SPACE will be supported to strengthen the internal management of their partners and allow the marginalized public voice to be represented in their structure.
  
• 
  Advocacy activities will be conducted to integrate disability indicators in the tools used by MFI.
  

Lessons learnt are disseminated among relevant national network (governmental and non governmental actors) contributing to the promotion of an inclusive economic development.

• 
  Success stories will be identified and capitalized to allow sensitization and replication.
  
• 
  Communications towards partners, livelihood professionals and relevant stakeholders on mainstreaming disability into micro economic development will be issued and disseminated at national level.
  
• 
  Advocacy will be conducted in national and regional network of MFI and others relevant livelihood stakeholders for the inclusion of marginalized groups.
  

2.3 Involvement, role and relationship of the implementing partners;

This project was defined following participatory programming (focus groups and individual meetings) with partners and stakeholders. It merges in a common goal each ones know-how and experience.

Handicap International (HI) has a 25 years experience in the economic empowerment of vulnerable groups and PWD; HI works in the Philippines since 1988 where it develops a holistic vision of disability issue, promoting equal chances for all in the society. Within this project, HI will bring it’s know-how on the inclusion of PWD and other vulnerable persons in mainstream micro-economical services. It will build the capacity of its partners, facilitate the baseline study, monitor the smooth implementation of the innovative initiatives, capitalize on them and facilitate their dissemination. It will ensure the overall management of the project.
The Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF) has worked since its establishment in 1989 for the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable communities in various provinces. IRDF programs are basically designed and implemented to nurture development initiatives at the community level, fostering social arrangements that facilitate economical sustainable independence, ecological management of the resources and development of leadership and management capacities to strengthen active participation in policy-making and development process. Within this project, IRDF will focus more on Sorsogon province, where it has a ten-year experience and has already established strong linkages with a large network of people’s organizations, local government units and government line agencies.
2.4 Other possible stakeholders (national, local government, private sector, etc.).

Services Provider And Capability Enhancer (SPACE), is a local organization established in June 2007⁷ whose goal is to contribute to the enhancement of communities, by offering non financial services to MFI staff or clients and improve their social responsibility. The mutualisation of costs for MFI having the same vision/mission can help them focussing more on their core activities which are Loans and Savings. To be also in direct touch with communities, SPACE establishes “Gabay Buhay Community Centers” in partnership with MFI and opens its services (job placement, individual support to potential micro entrepreneurs in need of specific support to define their business project or facing specific hindrances, but also health referrals and legal documents information) to the entire community.

Within this project, this junior organization, created to complement long lasting existing MFI networks, will bring its network and will be a key entry point to master and promote inclusive approach in MFI services. Showing an important potential, this organization will also benefit from institutional support upon needs.

As already mentioned the IRDF and SPACE existing networks will be actively participating in and benefiting from the project, bridging HI and the communities and benefiting from extensive capacity building.

National and local government institutions such as TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) among others will be mainly targeted through awareness activities and invited in the shared experiences workshops and dissemination of good practices.

1. 
   Sustainability of the action
   

3.1 Risk analysis and contingency plans.

Main risks are linked to changes in the Philippines economic environment. It is possible (though difficult to predict) that market trends will evolve unexpectedly, with consequences on employment opportunities.

• 
  The extensive network the project is building upon shall allow the project to anticipate changes, and adapt to the new situation. Implementation plan will be adapted upon the partners needs to always guarantee their good appropriation of the activities and the fitting with their preoccupations.
  

Eastern costal part of the country is known to be hit by natural disasters that could impact on the economic activities of the targeted population, delaying the implantation of the project in the hit areas.

• 
  Innovative micro projects with marginalized groups will be developed to limit the vulnerability of the beneficiaries to these natural disasters; still the risk can not be eliminated.
  

Finally, the acceptance by the community of the inclusion of marginalized persons into the existing services can not be guaranteed and may impact on the success of the innovative initiatives.

• 
  Great care will be given to explain the selection criteria and sensitize on equal chances.
  

3.2 Sustainability.

The proposed action builds upon the ongoing activities of 3 main organisations (HI, IRDF and SPACE). This synergy will benefit to each of them and largely contribute to the efficiency of the actions.

The financial sustainability is ensured by the choice of the partners which have demonstrated financial and fundraising capacity. At a strategic level, investing in development and strengthening of capacities of partners and stakeholders already active within the target area ensures maximum outputs with minimum investments.

The sustainability of the micro initiatives that will be developed with marginalized groups will also be guaranteed by the methodology, the expertise and the experience of the project stakeholders.

Capacity building is the core of the project, together with mutual learning and participative programming. All those elements are strong roots for the sustainability of the project: know how and learning tools together with capitalized success stories will remain for reminiscence, if not duplication of the project.

Indeed, competencies will be transferred into activities and services that are already provided by active partners and that will continue at the end of the project with a higher level of quality, efficiency and much improved social impact.

The capitalization and dissemination of good practices in terms of inclusive micro-economic development shall lead to replication of experiences, if not the integration of recommendations in the sector plans.

The enhancement of the direct participation of the marginalized groups in the project cycles (from conception, implementation, and monitoring) and to the decisions within the NSA partners might sustain their inclusive approach once the project ends and impact on the overall vision towards the difference.

Annexe 6 : Basic Data about Philippine

1 E.g. Persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, cultural and sexual minorities, victims of gender-based violence

2 United Nations Development Program 2007-2008 world report on Human Development Indicator (HDI).

3 Guidance Note on Disability 030304 – Final D1256, mars 2003, Commission européenne – DG Développement.

4“”Project assessment of the livelihood needs, challenges and opportunities for people with disability in selected areas in Mindanao”; one month exploratory mission conducted by two livelihood specialists in march 2007.

5 Gabay Buhay Community Centers are community centres established and animated by SPACE, who will be involved in the project. Gabay Buhay Community Centres deliver a large range of non-financial services to potential micro entrepreneurs.

6 Those activities will be implemented in full respect of this application guidelines, including the annex H

7 As such, SPACE can not be acknowledged as a partner in the definition recognized by the EU. Still, it is a key player in the project definition and implantation, what lead us to present its role and inputs here.