WIF GRANT PROPOSAL FOR WOMEN,S EMPOWERMENT IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 RANGOON 001117 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS; EAP/MLS TREASURY FOR OASIA:SCHUN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID KWMN KPAO KCRM SOCI BM SUBJECT: WIF GRANT PROPOSAL FOR WOMEN,S EMPOWERMENT IN KACHIN STATE REF: STATE 136319 ¶1. Embassy Rangoon recommends the following project for EAP/RSP Regional Women's Issues Fund Small Grants Program (SG) for Locally-based Organizations: ¶A. Identifying Information: -------------- a) Name of project: Strengthening Women Capacity Empowerment in Kachin State: Approaches Through Vocational Development Training b) Total budget requested: $24,250 c) Duration: 36 months d) Name of organization: Mingalar Community Development Cooperation (MCDC),Myitkyina, Burma e) Organization Director: Mr. Lahkang Naw Aung, MCDC Coordinator DOB: July 17, 1965 Place of Birth: Dukahtawng village, Myitkyina, Kachin State, Burma f) Organization Contact: Mr. Lahkang Naw Aung, MCDC Coordinator g) Address: No 81 Yangyi Aung Quarter Myitkyina, Kachin State, Burma h) Telephone: 95-074-25327 (C/O Thu Kha Ming Tsa Pe) i) Email: mingalar.cdc@gmail.com j) Organization History/Achievements: MCDC, which was formed on October 10, 2006, is a non-governmental organization with a focus on community development. MCDC is helping the poor, orphans, disadvantaged women, and widows improve their livelihood development. The organization participates in improving the lives of those living in rural communities in Kachin State and also promotes environmentally sustainable rural development. Between October 2006-October 2007, MCDC held training seminars on the following topics: community forest, agro forestry, ecology and watershed development, participatory rural appraisal training, women empowerment training, planning and management training, data collection research training for HIV/AIDS. The team also helped to strengthen the capacity of 11 micro-credit unions in two townships in Kachin State. After providing micro-credit training in these two townships, local villagers mobilized their own resources to establish micro-credit unions, which loan money to villagers at low interest rates. k) MCDC has not received USG funding to date. ¶B. Project Overview and Justification: -------------- ¶2. The Kachin people, one of Burma's seven major ethnic minorities, living in Kachin State have undergone over three decades of civil unrest from 1960-1994. The civil unrest left the region underdeveloped, and the many of the Kachin people live in poverty, with inadequate food supplies and no access to clean drinking water. Many rural children have no access to basic education and health care, as their parents cannot afford the high costs. The majority of parents, who have no vocational skills, are employed in the agricultural sector, practicing slash and burn cultivation. However, they do not earn enough from these livelihood activities to cover their basic needs. In the fifty villages in Myitkyina and the thirty villages in the Waimaw area, women between 12-40 years of age comprise 25 percent of the population. Only about 5 percent of these women have learned to read and write; the remaining 20 percent are unschooled, unskilled, and often illiterate. In order to earn a living, many housewives peddle wares in the gold mines, jade mines, and logging areas, leaving their children behind. They often contract malaria and other diseases, becoming a financial burden on their families. Children, particularly young girls, find it difficult to escape this cycle of poverty. To earn money, some families RANGOON 00001117 002 OF 004 send their daughters to sell products in the mining areas, unaware of the dangers. Many young girls become prey to traffickers and are forced into prostitution, as well as forced marriages to Chinese men across the border. Consequently, many young girls contract HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. ¶3. MCDC would like to improve the living conditions for housewives and young girls by offering a women capacity empowerment program, focusing on vocational training. Women and young girls would learn skills such as tailoring/dress making and hair cutting. Additionally, MCDC plans to establish a revolving fund to provide women with capital to develop small businesses. ¶4. Over a three year period, this project would help to empower and enhance the status of approximately 300 unemployed, unskilled young girls and housewives. Participants will include refugees, uneducated women, unemployed women ages 15 and older, and housewives and young girls who are vulnerable to trafficking. This project targets those women who are interested in vocational educational training for tailoring, hair cutting, and micro-income generation. The participants will be from the remote villages of Myitkyina and Waimaw Townships in Kachin State. ¶C. Project Goals/Objectives/Implementation Plan: -------------- --- ¶7. Project Goals: --To strengthen capacity building and empower poor and disadvantaged young girls and housewives through skills training and community-based development. --To improve living conditions for young girls and women by providing them with vocational skills they can use to support themselves. --To ensure employment, sufficient income, and support for children's education. ¶8. Project Objectives: --By the end of year three, approximately 240 of the unemployed, unskilled young girls and housewives (80 percent) in the remote villages of Myitkyina and Waimaw Townships will have acquired: --improved vocational skills, capacity and technical knowledge in tailoring and dress making; --skill and professional knowledge in hair cutting; and --skill and knowledge in cooking food and food processing. --Approximately 180 trained young girls and housewives (60 percent) will have stable employment with secure income. --Approximately 30 trained women will receive support from the revolving fund to establish their own dress making shops and hair beauty salons. They will become independent entrepreneurs. ¶9. Implementation Plan: Activity 1: Advocacy and awareness for participation. The project committee will organize and conduct two-day awareness seminar workshops with community members and religious leaders to discuss the concept of women's economic empowerment and development. Materials on the topic in both Burmese and Kachin will be disseminated among the community. The Committee will announce when the skill workshops will be held. Activity 2: Tailoring Training and Hair Cutting Training. Each year, MCDC will hold three training sessions, which will last for three month periods. MCDC plans to train 90 women annually; 30 women, 20 from Myitkyina and 10 from Waimaw area, will attend the training sessions. Women will be divided into beginner and advanced classes for both the tailoring and hair cutting seminars. Those with more advanced skills will work as apprentices in the shop. Activity 3: Provision of a Revolving Fund. MCDC will use the revolving fun to provide several women with money to start small businesses. MCDC will provide two-year loans to women interested in opening a tailoring shop. The small businesses will be monitored by an MCDC team comprised of the manager and three committee members. RANGOON 00001117 003 OF 004 Activity 4: Provide employment opportunities for some trainees at the center. MCDC plans to hire up to five trainees a year to work at the center. These trainees will be assistant teachers, and will receive additional training to improve their handiwork skills. Activity 5: Conduct the committee meeting and project management. The Project Committee will meet twice a month to discuss the progress of the training seminars. The committee will have the responsibility to plan and manage all of the activities of the training center. The treasurer and accountant will handle the projects financial management. There will be five full-time staff: one manager, three trainers, and a clerk. ¶D. Measuring Effectiveness: -------------- ¶10. The project will enable the women to improve their standard of living by providing them with vocational skills and means of earning a living. MCDC will review the work and activities throughout the term of the grant, and will make suggestions for improvement based on the results of their monitoring. ¶D. Budget: -------------- -------------- -------------- Strengthening Women's Capacity Empowerment Project Values in Kyat -------------- -------------- Purpose Local Requested Contribution Amount -------------- -------------- -Advocacy Awareness 30,000 100,000 -Tailoring Training 9,895,000 -Includes materials and equipment (sewing and hemming machines) -Hair Cutting Training 3,500,000 -Includes tools and Materials -Revolving Fund 1,600,000 -Women Education and 1,750,000 Development training -Classroom and office 60,000 1,195,000 Furniture -Equipment 450,000 -Logistics/Maintenance 500,000 745,000 -Meeting and Workshops 200,000 400,000 -Monitoring/Evaluation 500,000 -Capacity Building for 300,000 Staff -Misc. 100,000 500,000 -Admin and Coordination 500,000 5,740,000 -------------- -------------- Total 1,390,000 26,675,000 -------------- -------------- Total Projected Budget: 28,065,000 kyat or USD 25,513 Total Requested Amount: 26,675,000 kyat or USD 24,250 ¶11. A more detailed budget was sent via email to EAP/RSP on November 15. Embassy Rangoon has some reservations about the above budget, and requested MCDC to provide us with additional details about what equipment/tools MCDC will purchase with the funding. We will forward additional information to EAP/RSP via email. ¶E. Resumes: -------------- Mr. Lahkang Naw Aung 81 Yangyi Aung Quarter Myitkyina, Kachin State, Burma Telephone: 95-74-25327 Email: nawawng.lahkang@gmail.com Date of Birth: July 17, 1965 Place of Birth: Dukahtawng village, Myitkyina, Kachin State, Burma RANGOON 00001117 004 OF 004 Work Experience: 1990-2007 Freelance Community Development Worker while acting as Volunteer Coordinator for an HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse Prevention Program, Youth Department, Kachin Baptist Convention --During the past seventeen years, Lahkang Naw Aung worked on early childhood development issues, community development in Kachin State, and HIV/AIDS and drug abuse prevention. As an employee of the Kachin Baptist Convention, he coordinated and supervised over 50 village/community based development programs in Kachin and Shan States from 1993-2004. In 2006-2007, he conducted a baseline survey for data collection, situation analysis, and planning for the HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse Prevention Program. He also conducted an external evaluation of KBC's development program in 35 communities. --Currently, he is working with the Kachin Baptist Convention on their multi-sectoral development project plan and farmer field school project plan. 1985-1991 Primary School Teacher, Dukahtawng village, Myitkyina Lahkang Naw Aung has a good command of English. He has computer skills, and is proficient in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). ¶12. The Embassy does not have a relationship with MCDC, and is still conducting due diligence on the organization. MCDC also recently applied for a small grant from the Australians. The Australian Embassy contacted several NGOS working in Kachin State that it has worked with in past, including World Concern, Kachin Veterans Committee, and Metta Foundation, to find out more about MCDC. All three NGOs informed the Australian Embassy that MCDC was a new organization that has good ideas. The Australians are considering funding MCDC. VILLAROSA