Services Provided

Semiotics was assigned the following tasks: Capacity Building of Union Council Monitoring Committees for local government service delivery in 12 selected Union Councils (six each) in Districts Kasur and Lodhran in Punjab. The assignment included: development of training & trainer manuals with subject specific modules and monitoring, evaluation and reporting formats, conducting two rounds of training workshops, facilitating monitoring, evaluation, reporting and problem-resolving process through two quarterly monitoring cycles. Setting Up of Union Council Information & Complaint Centers in 6 selected Union Councils (three each) in Districts Kasur and Lodhran in Punjab imparting availability and access to wide-ranging information of benefit and interest to local residents on the UC, district, province and the country. Strengthening of District, Tehsil & Union House Committees of two district councils, six tehsil councils and twelve union councils in Kasur and Lodhran Districts to improve their capacity as decision-making bodies. Reviewed and updated/improved existing councils’ meeting bye-laws and procedures; design and implement training program for council members based on improved bye-laws and procedures; facilitate the establishment and functioning of various house committees; and facilitate councils in the dissemination of council proceedings and decisions to the general public. District Resource Management included (a) reviewing existing collection methods and techniques for gathering taxes, fees and charges in order to strengthen these processes; (b) developing alternative collection methods based on similar governments in the country/ region; (c) determining new revenue opportunities from internal as well as external sources that are appropriate and relevant to the local conditions; and (d) assisting in the formulation of a long-term revenue mobilization and enhancement plan. Fund Management for developing a criterion for selection of projects’, formats for project documentation, project approval process, project monitoring approach and communications and publicity requirements for Pakistan Initiatives Fund. Identifying suitable projects for approval by gathering and analyzing information about the project proponent, documenting the proposed project including a results-based project approval document with institutional, gender, sectoral and other analyses; a reporting, evaluation, auditing and monitoring plan; and a contribution agreement. Identified constraints and help project proponents resolve these constraints. Social Communication for the Devolution Support Project was developed tested and designed. The strategy provided continuous information in a variety of formats to all project participants to create awareness, build momentum, advertise successes as a basis for capacity building, and link with other stakeholders and initiatives. Education Delivery was carried out to assess the coverage of public and private educational services (with particular attention paid to women and children) both public and private across the districts, tehsils and unions. Semiotics team estimated the unmet students demand in quantity and quality and commented on quality of service delivery in terms of parent’s satisfaction, enrollment facilities and students/teacher ratio. The causes of low enrolment and drop out were identified and rated parents’ behavior for not sending their children to schools; as perceived by all the three (1) the client public and (2) LG staff (3) Teachers.