The European Union’s DCI-ASIE/2011/260-022 Programme

For Pakistan

Sustainable Rural
Development in Refugee
Affected and Hosting
Areas of Pakistan (RAHA)

An Overview

This project is funded by A project implemented by

The European Union The United Nations in partnership with
government and communities
 Sustainable Rural Development in Refugee
Affected and Hosting Areas of Pakistan (RAHA)
A Community Driven Approach to Development

When and Why was RAHA

Started?
The Sustainable Rural Development in
Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas of
Pakistan (RAHA) was launched in 2009
because the presence of more than three
million Afghan refugees – mostly
concentrated in Balochistan and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa – since 1979 was resulting
in social, economic and environmental
consequences for the host areas and
communities.
RAHA is based on the findings of a What RAHA Wants to Do?
comprehensive needs-assessment study
RAHA wants to ensure peaceful co-
jointly conducted by the Government of
existence between Afghan refugees and
Pakistan’s Ministry of States and Frontier
their host Pakistani communities. The
Regions (SAFRON), the Chief
programme’s specific objectives include:
Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees
(CCAR), UNDP and UNHCR in 2008. 1. Greater social cohesion through
community empowerment.
The assessment
RAHA is based on 2. Improved livelihoods and local
study was aimed at
the findings of a economies.
ascertaining the
comprehensive exact situation of 3. Restoration of social services and
social services – infrastructure.
needs-assessment
study jointly health, education, 4. Improved social protection for co-
water and existing Pakistani and Afghan
conducted by the
sanitation, etc – communities.
Ministry of around the Afghan 5. Restoration and improvement of
SAFRON, the refugee camp the environment.
CCAR, UNDP and areas, with the
6. Return of IDPs anchored and
UNHCR in 2008. primary objective
absorption capacity created.
of contributing to a
transition from purely humanitarian to
more development-oriented interventions. Who is Supporting RAHA?
The programme is in line with and fully RAHA’s implementation has been made
supports the Government of Pakistan’s possible due to the financial support of:
repatriation strategy for Afghan refugees. 1. The European Union.
According to recent estimates, about 1.6 2. The Government of Japan.
million documented Afghan refugees live
3. The Government of Germany.
in different parts of Pakistan, along with
another 1 million undocumented ones. 4. The US State Department.
5. The Government of Denmark.
RAHA is currently being implemented in
six selected districts each of Balochistan 6. The Ministry of SAFRON.
and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces with 7. UNDP.
financial support of the European Union. 8. UNHCR.
Who is Involved in RAHA’s
Implementation?
The UN Participating Agencies Where Does RAHA
implementing RAHA include UNDP, Work?
UNHCR, WHO, FAO, ILO, UNESCO,
WFP, UNHABITAT, UN Women and The selection of target
UNOPS; while GIZ joined the programme districts and union councils
as an operational partner in 2009. for the implementation of
RAHA activities was done
RAHA is also a major component of
on the basis of a
UNHCR-Pakistan’s holistic strategy
towards comprehensive durable solutions comprehensive needs -
for Afghan refugees within the broader assessment study conducted
context of the Management and from August-December
Repatriation Strategy for Afghan Refugees 2007. The study classified
in Pakistan (2010-12); and Solutions districts of Khyber
Strategy for Afghan Refugees (2010-14). Pakhtunkhwa and
Balochistan according to the
How does RAHA Operate? level and degree that they
1. RAHA’s implementation starts
had been affected by the
with the formation or revitalisation influx of Afghan refugees.
of separate men’s and women’s The selection of target
community organisations. Three to districts and union council
four consultations with a for RAHA interventions was
community are usually required for made transparently and
this purpose. concurrence of concerned
2. At the next step, the newly formed government officials was
community organisations, which sought at all stages of the
generally comprise 20-40 process.
households, are facilitated in
identifying and prioritising their
most pressing development needs KHYBER
at the local level. Along with PAKHTUNKHWA
training in leadership and
1. Buner
management skills, members of
these community organisations are 2. Haripur
also imparted training in market 3. Lower Dir
skills on demand to help them 4. Nowshera
enhance their incomes. 5. Peshawar
3. After prioritising the most pressing
6. Swabi
need of their community following
a participatory approach, these
organisations directly implement
infrastructure projects. In line with BALOCHISTAN
its community driven approach,
RAHA caters to any pressing need 1. Chagai
as long as it is identified and 2. Killa Abdullah
prioritised by the community itself. 3. Killa Saifullah
4. For larger projects, more than one 4. Loralai
community organisations of the
5. Pishin
same area join hands. The direct
implementation and participatory 6. Quetta
monitoring makes these projects
 cost-effective, while the monitoring
by government line departments
and RAHA field engineers takes
care of any technical hurdles.
5. These community organisations
also gel together as village
organisations, and later as local
support organisations to assume a
large developmental role in their
communities.
How is RAHA Different?
1. Community driven approach
to development: Communities
are at the core of RAHA, which
provides them with a unique
opportunity to identify their most
pressing problems and work for
their possible solutions. This
approach also helps in ensuring
transparency, accountability and
cost effectiveness.
2. Stakeholder participation
and government ownership:
RAHA has demonstrated that
stakeholder participation and
ownership are essential at all
stages of the project cycle for
achieving quality results and
ensuring sustainability. The RAHA
experience also tells us that a
community should be involved in
interventions from the beginning.
Similarly, the participation and
ownership of provincial and local
governments is critical to success.
The profiles of target union
councils under RAHA serve as a
good example of stakeholder
participation. These profiles were
prepared by RAHA field teams
involving the communities,
government line departments and
other development actors in the
area; and now the same have also
been adopted by the government.
3. Effective social mobilisation:
The success of RAHA owes largely
to effective social mobilisation
following a participatory approach.
In particular, the development of
village plans, coupled with
participatory monitoring and
Sustainable Rural Development
in Refugee Affected and Hosting
evaluation frameworks, through
social mobilisation helps the
programme in transparently
conceptualising community issues
on a priority basis.
4. Capacity building: Activities
under RAHA are aimed at building
the capacities of beneficiary
communities to enhance their
skills for accessing and properly
using the available resources.
5. Sustainability: Mobilisation
efforts under RAHA are focused on
sensitising the communities about
sustainable development. This
process is expected to gradually
bring about positive and lasting
changes in the lives of the
beneficiary communities. RAHA
empowers the communities to
collectively demand from the
government what they need, as
well as helps the government to
collaborate with them for satisfying
their needs, thus ensuring
sustainability of interventions
beyond the life of the programme.
6. Follow ups, monitoring visits
and technical support:
Periodic monitoring visits and
timely follow ups have proved to be
useful in effective implementation
of RAHA interventions. Field visits
by government line departments
and communities have shown that
timely follow ups and technical
support are essential for ensuring
quality and sustainability. District
and provincial governments also
provide effective technical support.
Areas (RAHA) Programme