The second Policy Advocacy Workshop of the Balochistan Rural Development and Community Empowerment (BRACE) Programme was held on Tuesday at Quetta.

The event was attended by the dignitaries from the Government of Balochistan including Minister for Planning and Development, Mir Zahoor Buledi, Minister for Food Engineer Zamrak Khan Achakzai, Member of Provincial Assembly Mir Younas Aziz Zehri, Member of Provincial Assembly Akhar Hussain Langau, Member of Provincial Assembly Abdul Qadir Nayal, Member of Provincial Assembly Asghar Khan Tareen, Member of National Assembly Maulvi Kamal Uddin.

“BRACE Programme is a five-year European Union-funded rural development programme, implemented by the Rural Support Programme Network (RSPN), National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) and Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) in close collaboration with the Government of Balochistan (GoB),” said in the briefing.

“The Programme is designed to benefit 1.9 million population in 249 Union Councils of 10 districts of Balochistan namely Jhal Magsi, Kech, Khuzdar, Killa Abdullah, Loralai, Pishin, Washuk, Zhob, and Duki. The Programme also has a technical assistance component for GoB to develop a Community-Led Local Governance (CLLG) Policy Framework,” official of BRSP said.

“All this country needs is sincerity, there is no dearth of resources or intelligence. We can only break this vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty if we all think of the collective good of the country and put our personal gains need to take a backseat.

The EU funded BRACE Programme can only be sustained if the local bodies play its designated role after they are being empowered and equipped” remarked Member of National Assembly Molvi Kamal Uddin.

The Chief Guest thanked European Union for funding the BRACE Programme and commended the role played by the RSPs in mobilising rural communities and empowering women in Baluchistan.

Observing the impact of the EU-funded BRACE Programme in 10 districts, he recommended the EU to upscale the Programme to benefit other districts of the province.

He assured cooperation and support on behalf of the government of Balochistan.

The event presented research evidence from the field to policy makers and relevant stakeholders.

According to Research conducted in districts Kech, Khuzdar and Loralai, the Programme provided support to the poorest households in the form of Income Generating Grants (4800 beneficiaries received on average Rs. 47000), interest-free micro loans (2700 beneficiaries received on average Rs. 27,500) and technical and vocational training.

These interventions increased their monthly incomes from Rs. 1600-3300 and helped 47-51% of the beneficiaries to come out of poverty.

Another research study also confirms the overall decline in the poorest households in these districts. The representatives from the community institutions fostered by the Programme and former local government also shared their views and suggestions to improve the implementation.

“Policies are formulated at the federal level, there needs to be devolution of power at the provincial level. Balochistan is blessed with natural resources but we are still deprived of the basic amenities such as clean drinking water, health, and education.

Balochistan needs to be empowered and should be put in charge of its own growth. We, the elected representatives need to put in place legislation so that we can voice the most pressing needs of the people who elected us instead of talking peripheral issues such as sewerage and transformers” remarked Minister Food Engineer Zamrak Khan Achakzai

CEO RSPN thanked the participants and concluded by stressing the role of Technical Assistance component of the programme in further strengthening of citizen-state engagement at the policy level and creating a formal institutional structure to ensure poverty reduction and inclusive development of rural communities in the long run.