Grant no. 519-0364-G-00-9422-00 community based integrated rural development - OPG between AID and Save the Children Federation, Inc.

SCF will strengthen community capacities in the agriculture, education, health/nutrition, and small enterprise sectors. To strengthen participating communities" capacity to plan and implement development activities, SCF will support the gradual development of two kinds of community organizations: (1) sector-specific committees, which will be formed to implement specific community projects; and (2) community development committees which will be responsible for planning and coordinating multisectoral development activities for the entire community. SCF will work closely with these groups to ensure that they learn both financial management and project management skills. Training and TA will be provided to the groups, and also to community members generally, to indigenous SCF staff, and to the staff of cooperating Salvadoran ministries and other organizations. As the community organizations within a given impact area grow stronger, SCF will gradually "phase-over" full responsibilities to them. The project"s sectoral development activities will include: (1) credit and TA for some 3,500 farmers in such areas as grain production, animal husbandry, crop storage and marketing, natural resource conservation, irrigation, crop diversification, and small enterprises; (2) primary health care/child survival activities in, e.g., oral rehydration, family planning, clean water, growth monitoring, and environmental sanitation; and (3) increased educational opportunities through introducing the "active school methodology" to 5 school districts plus one educational circle and parent committee per community, and training of 100 teachers. A comprehensive strategy to promote diffusion and replication of the project model for community-based integrated rural development model will address three audiences: (1) project communities, primarily field staff and community leaders, to reach out to non-participants through face-to-face contact; (2) nearby communities, through face-to-face and group-to-group contact and possible mass media campaigns; (3) other institutions through published reports, site visits, training activities, and seminars.