Pakistan—Balochistan Rural Development and Community Empowerment Programme (BRACE)

DAI’s Human Dynamics supports the Government of Balochistan with the implementation of the Rural Development and Community Empowerment Programme (BRACE). The project supports the federal government in reducing the negative impact of poverty and social inequality, and to turn this into opportunities to build and empower resilient communities participating actively in implementing socio-economic development activities in partnership with local authorities.

The programme, implemented with grant component partners from Rural Support Networks and the Government of Balochistan, will ultimately benefit 1.9 million citizens in nine districts in the province—Dukki, Jhal Magsi, Kech, Killa Abdullah, Khuzdar, Loralai, Pishin, Washuk, and Zhob. The population of 300,000 low-income rural households are to be mobilized and organized into community, village, and local support organizations.

The approach of the programme builds on the lessons from various EU-funded actions in Pakistan, including the Community Driven Local Development Programme implemented by DAI’s Human Dynamics in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Sample Activities

• Link communities with local authorities for quality, inclusive, and equitable service delivery, and build community capacity to influence public policy decisions.
• Foster an enabling environment for strengthening the capacities of local governments and authorities to manage and involve communities in the statutory processes of the local public sector planning, financing, and implementation process.

Select Results

• Engaged 163,892 households in community organization activities in nine districts of Balochistan.
• Deployed Technical Assistance District Coordinators and Assistant District Coordinators in nine districts, to facilitate engagement with local officials and the new community institutions.
• Organized a community management skills training in Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Khuzdar, and Jhal Magsi with women from community organizations.
• Conducted a three-day enterprise development training for women to facilitate them in applying for income-generating grants. These micro-credit instruments disbursed by BRACE help rural women become economically independent by setting up small enterprises, enabling women’s access to markets, and boosting their competitiveness.
• Initiated COVID-19 awareness sessions for community members in all target districts.
• Distributed community awareness toolkits to 9,417 households and communities in the beneficiary districts with basic information on nutrition, health and hygiene, WASH, disaster risk reduction, and other selected areas.