Country: Myanmar; duration: 6 years, started in Nov. 2009; funded by DFID (Department for International Development).
The current project design reflects the observation, based on the experience of FLD in a number of earlier village development activities, that many local communities have an interest in overcoming poverty and the potential to ‘develop’ but due to isolation and poor education lack the knowledge and experience to do so;
The main focus of FLD-designed programmes is the mobilisation and empowerment of women of poor households as change agents at both household and village community level.
Women, the poor and other vulnerable and marginalized segments of rural communities can be empowered through externally initiated, process-led community development actions in cooperation with a local community-based organization that they trust, to deal with their problems in a participatory manner. This empowerment creates new approaches to income generation, and also leads to the emergence of new and re-invigorated community structures and processes that can manage community affairs, problems and natural disasters so as to alleviate poverty in the community.
FLD role and responsibilities
FLD is providing technical inputs and management support for internationally funded humanitarian and development assistance programmes implemented in the field by local community-based organisations.
FLD manages the funds on behalf of the funder and the implementing community-based organisations, provides capacity-building training to the CBOs and in some cases directly to the community.
FLD is responsible for working with the communities and community-based organisations to design an effective range of sectoral programmes and for devising effective sectoral activities.
Example of activities and achievements
Livelihood skills training is provided on the one hand to members of women’s self-help groups (SHG) and on the other hand on a village-wide basis. Livelihood skills emphasised depends on the local situation, e.g. making and using organic fertiliser, raising healthy livestock, making and packaging home-processed snack foods for sale in local markets, making small concrete water tanks etc
Village-wide planning structures and participatory processes are established regarding for example best ways to improve access to water and achieving universal access to safe (fly-proof) latrines including health and hygiene awareness so that the importance of clean water, safe latrines and personal hygiene are understood.
Foundation for Local Development 