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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
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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.
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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.
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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
[email protected]
Andrew Meaux
Senior Program Specialist
Washington, D.C.
[email protected]
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.