Shae Thot: The Way Forward

Integrated Community Development in Myanmar

Shae Thot:

At a glance

Duration: Oct. 2011 Sept. 2016

Donor: USAID

Implementing Partners:

Pact (Consortium Lead)

Marie Stopes International (MSI)

Pact Global Microfinance Fund (PGMF)

CESVI

UN-Habitat

Project Areas: 19 townships in Magway, Mandalay,

Sagaing and Yangon Regions and Kayah State

2,000 target villages

Shae Thot Newsletter

February 2014

Shae Thot: Starting Year Three Strong

Quarterly Achievements

Projects currently implemented in 1,646 villages

across 20 townships

13,812 clients received health services through mo-

bile clinics, nearly two times the number of cli-

ents served in previous quarters

92% of new mothers used clean delivery kits for

home deliveries and 80% gave birth with trained

birth attendants

$1,050,358 in loans distributed to WORTH partici-

pants, representing a 69% increase over the

past quarter

115 villages formed Village Development Com-

mittees, electing women to serve 41% of VDC

leadership positions

9,500 farmers utilized improved technology and man-

agement practices, increasing yields ranging from

22% to 50%

Households accessing PGMF loans reported a 70%

decline in dependency on private money lenders,

enabling more income for family needs instead of

repaying high interest loans

Shae Thot Newsletter 2

Daw Kyu Kyu Khaing alongside her fellow MCHDs from Wet

Thike village.

Highlighting Village Success

A Beneficiary Shares Experiences in Yangon

Cover Photo: Small-holder farmers harvesting rice in the

Dry Zone. Photo Credit: Jacinta Van Lint, Freelance Photographer

On January 27th, during a town hall meeting at the Yan-

gon office, beneficiary Daw Kyu Kyu Khaing shared with

Yangon staff, as well as the CEO and COO, visiting from

Pact Headquarters about the success of her village. Daw

Kyu Kyu Khaing is an auxiliary midwife and a Maternal

and Child Health Defender (MCHD) from Wet Thike vil-

lage in Salin Township.

In 2008, Pact came to her village to begin implementing

primary healthcare programming, establishing a Village

Development Committee (VDC) and a Village Health

and Development Fund (VHDF). In nearly six years, the

VHF has grown from 281,000 Kyats ($286) to over

10,000,000 Kyats ($10,193), funding development pro-

jects such as road construction and obtaining land to

establish a sub-rural health center and financing

individual healthcare.

Today, through the Shae Thot Program, maternal and

child health knowledge and care has improved. Now,

Shae Thot is providing us good knowledge and practice

for MCH so pregnant mothers are delivering with skilled

birth attendants. MCHDs also identify pregnancy

danger signs, timely referring them to health facilities,

resulting in saving the lives of both mothers and

babies, said Daw Kyu Kyu Khaing. The VDC, in

collaboration with MCHDs and village midwives,

holds regular nutrition and baby-weighing days, iden-

tifying underweight children, providing food and mul-

tivitamins and leading workshops on nutrition.

Daw Kyu Kyu Khaing says she is proud to participate

in the VDC, explaining that her villages success is not

a result of just one person, or one days work, but

rather the dedication and common vision of the

whole village.

Launching the Local Partner Initiative

Ceremony Marks Beginning of Official Engagement

Shae Thot Newsletter 3

On January 20th, Pact Myanmar hosted an opening

ceremony for Shae Thots Local Partnership Initia-

tive (LPI). The LPI engages with local NGOs and

community-based organizations to help communi-

ties improve services in maternal and child health;

livelihoods opportunities; and water, sanitation

and hygiene in Central Myanmar and Kayah State.

The event began with remarks from USAIDs Mis-

sion Director for Burma, and Pacts Country Direc-

tor, Chief of Party and Program Coordinator, ad-

dressing the new partners and highlighting the

significant opportunity the partnerships represent

in linking Myanmar civil society with the interna-

tional community and equipping them to become

powerful leaders in the countrys development.

Richard Harrison, Pacts Country Director spoke of

the changes in Myanmar enabling this new en-

gagement stating, The LPI is a symbol of this mo-

ment, a symbol of this important change taking

place. We now have the opportunity to work with

local organizations in new and better ways Now

with local partners in our expanding family of sup-

port, Pacts focus on long-term community resili-

ence at the local level can be further emphasized

as we work with those who come from target

communities and form the foundation of an ac-

tive, participatory civil society in Myanmar for to-

day and tomorrow.

Following the opening remarks, representatives

from the seven partner organizations- Rural Devel-

opment Agency, Karuna Myanmar Social Services,

Kayhtyoeboe Social Development Association,

Community Development Association, Social Vi-

sion Services, Thirst Aid and Swanyee Develop-

ment Foundation- introduced themselves and

their projects, concluding with the signing of offi-

cial grant agreements to commence their formal

engagement in the LPI.

The event was hosted at the Pact Myanmar office

in Yangon and was attended by about 50 individu-

als from the local organizations, Pact and USAID.

USAID Mission Director for Burma Chris Milligan addresses the new local partners in an official grant-singing ceremony held at Pacts

Yangon office.

The Community Organizational Performance Index is a

unique tool that measures the extent to which capacity

development investments lead to improvements in per-

formance of informal community groups, called Village

Development Committees (VDCs), in Myanmar. Moving

beyond anecdotal stories and output level indicators,

the tool is an explicit measurement of change at the

outcome level of capacity interventions. In 2013, Pact

in Myanmar led an iterative process to design the tool

to be context specific and easy to apply. Participatory

assessments were then conducted with 90 VDCs

throughout Myanmar that have been receiving Pacts

capacity development support for anywhere between

one and three years. Baseline results show that the

longer a community receives support the higher their

COPI score. The COPI assists the Shae Thot Program and

the community groups we support to understand the

extent to which capacity development fosters positive

change in the way community groups deliver services,

relate to members of their community, and react to

changes in the environment. It also enables the com-

munities to foresee their areas of capacity needs and to

gain momentum for sustainable community-driven de-

velopment.

For more information contact:

Matthew Tiedemann

Chief of Party

Yangon

mtiedemann@pactworld.org

Andrew Meaux

Senior Program Specialist

Washington, D.C.

ameaux@pactworld.org

Community Organizational Performance Index

Improving VDC Performance

Staff Capacity Development Trainings

Building Strong Leadership to Guide Communities

Project staff from Yangon and township offices in the

Dry Zone and Kayah State have taken part in a variety

of staff capacity development trainings over the past

three months. The trainings, which ranged in topics

from personal development to conflict sensitivity, were

attended by a total of 164 participants.

In the townships of Yasagyo and Yenangyaung 36 new

staff received Community Facilitation Training, learning

skills to engage project communities. Thirty-nine staff

from Shwepyithar and Yinmabin townships attended

Personal Development and Team Leadership Trainings,

while a further 25 staff from Yinmabin received Com-

munication and Presentation Training. In Kayah State,

where decades of ethnic conflict have resulted in an

area covered in land mines, 22 staff improved aware-

ness of navigating these hazards through Mine Risk Ed-

ucation Training. Across the country 35 staff have re-

ceived Financial Management Training gaining

knowledge on financial rules and regulations, and three

staff have taken part in Participatory Monitoring and

Evaluation Training. In Yangon, two staff received Do

No Harm Training, and another two staff participated in

Peace and Conflict Sensitivity Training. Staff from Yaesagyo Township attend Facilitation Training.