| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Piloting Community Approaches in Conflict Situation in Three Southernmost Provinces in Thailand (Phase Two) |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
SPF |
Status: |
Open |
| File Number: |
| Region: |
EAP |
| Sector: |
Health and other social services |
Country: |
Thailand |
| FY approved: |
2009 |
Grant Theme : |
Social dev/gender/inclusion |
| Keyword(s): |
Conflict prevention |
Approved Amount: |
$2,000,000.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
Local Development Institute |
Grant Purpose:
The overall goal of the project is to support the reconstruction and development of Southern Thailand to emerge out of conflict. Specifically, the project aims to assist the government to promote trust within and among local communities and civil society organizations and between the state apparatus in the conflict-affected provinces of Yala, Narathiwas and Pattani through the piloting of socially inclusive local development approaches, one example being community-driven development (CDD).
The immediate beneficiaries of the proposed project are the community members, civil society organizations and local authorities who participate in the facilitation, identification, selection, implementation and monitoring processes and who receive community block grants and small grants respectively.
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Grant Activities:
Component 1: Block Grant to villages and sub-districts for local development activities identified through CDD participatory process.
The first year of operation, the project will provide block grants in the amount of about 250,000 to330,000 baht (about $7,000 to $10,000), depending on the size of the village, to implement community prioritized sub-projects of the 9 pilot communities that participated in the conflict studies of the first phase. There are three communities in each of the three conflict affected provinces.
The following years, the Project Implementing Partner would use the results from the sub-projects as part of the community selection process to scale up the operations. In addition, in order to explore the need for different facilitation arrangements in different local contexts, tambons (sub-districts) will be selected to represent variations in ethnic composition (mixed Muslim/Buddhist and exclusively Muslim), livelihoods (farming, fishing, service/wage labor), presence of civil society organizations, existing development projects that State- and Peace-Building Fund support could partner and learn with, and conflict intensity. Facilitators would be trained to help facilitate the CDD approach - the design, implementation and monitoring of the sub-projects deriving from local communities.
Component 2: Peace-building Partnerships Fund for civil society organizations and network of organizations working to promote peace and development activities in the areas.
This window of Peace-building Partnerships Fund (PPF) aims to:
i) strengthen civil society and its network to promote peace and development activities;
ii) provide support to protect vulnerable groups such as widows and youth group;
iii) improve communication and public information dissemination through various media.
In the first year, the Project would provide small grants to media, women and youth groups to support their projects as recommended in the first phase as well as by two other on-going projects--the gender needs assessment; and the pilot Youth CDD project.
The Project would also facilitate requests from from civil society organizations working in conflict affected areas. A committee comprising of representatives from government, academia and civil society organizations would be set up to review and approved civil society proposals. PPF would support projects, innovative approaches and partnerships that promote peace and development in the conflict affected areas.
Component 3: Implementation Support
This component aims to provide implementation support and build capacity for the Project Implementing Partner to ensure that they can manage the program effectively. The component would provide:
i) Assistance to the implementing agencies to develop operational guidelines and learning materials for Community Facilitators on social mobilization of village and tambon actors as well as on the planning and management of local development activities,
ii) Training and incremental operational costs for implementing agency staff,
iii) Training and operational costs for Community Facilitators,
iv) Regional learning visits,
v) Administer advisory committee meetings,
vi) A series of planning and learning workshops involving the implementing agency, the Advisory Committee, and local stakeholders, and
vii) Information dissemination.
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News:
Violent insurgency has claimed more than 3,000 lives in southern Thailand in the past four years. Conflict has resulted in a growing divide within communities. In an atmosphere where local government officials have found it difficult to work effectively with conflict-affected communities, civil society organizations and communities themselves have emerged as key agents in building the foundations of peace and development in the country.
As a response to current hostilities, the World Bank and the Royal Thai Government embarked on a project aimed at implementing community approaches to local development in the country. The project provides grants to conflict-affected communities and civil society organizations working with them. The grants support innovative approaches and partnerships that promote development, trust building, and peace in southern Thailand. The objective is to provide communities, civil society organizations and local authorities with an opportunity for interaction through a strong focus on the common goal of improving life in these communities.
The project provides significant insights on the methods of working in conflict-affected communities in the south of the country. On a local level, the project is expected to increase willingness to work together for a common goal, increase opportunities for peace-building activities, and improve the capacity of communities to plan and implement development initiatives.
The project represents the second phase of a previous initiative which started in 2007. Phase I supported a conflict study and capacity-building trainings by a consortium of academic institutions, in consultation with government agencies, the National Reconciliation Commission, civil society, and the donor community.
Findings of the conflict study undertaken in 2007 indicated that there is a need for improving communities’ understanding of the conflict in southern Thailand and the approaches to peaceful co-existence. Other aspects identified as prerequisites for development and peace in the country include policy dialogue on aspects of non-violence and sharing of knowledge from past experience. A key initiative recognized as a crucial step in building peace in southern Thailand includes financing of development projects that encourage participation of community members, and improves trust among local communities, civil society and the government. The current phase of the project that commenced in 2007 aims to fulfill these objectives.
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