SPCS Internship Programme

The Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy (SPCS) was approved in 1996 by the Government of the NWFP as its sustainable development agenda. The goal of SPCS has been to secure the economic, social, and ecological well being of the people of NWFP through the sustainable use of the natural resources of the province.

Right from its inception in 1992, the SPCS has been supported by the World Conservation Union, (IUCN) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through four support projects, each comprising three years.

In the first phase (1992 to 1995), titled IUCN-SPCS Support Project, (1992-1995), the conservation strategy was formulated through a comprehensive participatory process involving a number of stakeholders. In the second phase (1995 to 1998), titled Transition to Implementation, key processes and mechanisms were established to facilitate implementation. In the third phase (1998 to 2001), titled Partnerships for Sustainable Developmentin NWFP (PSDN), key members of government and civil society were engaged in institutionalizing the process.

The present Phase-IV (2001 to 2004) is the final and exit phase which aims at building necessary institutional and human capacities to foster the implementation of the SPCS, mainstreaming environmental and sustainable development concerns in development planning and implementation processes and increasing the ownership of SPCS among relevant institutions of the province with the following objectives: 

• Facilitating, reforming and strengthening of key institutions (structures, procedures, policies and legislation); 
• Developing the skills of individuals and relevant partsof the organizations of these institutions; Securing finances for large scale SPCS implementation;and 
• Generating, managing and promoting the use of sustainable development related knowledge for informed decision making.

These objectives of the project are being achieved through a broad framework encompassing six focus areas:Institutional Strengthening; Development of Core Competencies; Mobilizing Finances; Knowledge Management; Decentralized Planning and Networking, Catalyzing and Advocacy.

To facilitate the participation of civil society organizationsin sustainable development, several approaches andmechanisms have been adopted to provide active supportto key partners during different phases of the project. The SPCS Internship Programme was one of these mechanisms to promote awareness and build capacities for the implementation of the SPCS.

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