KARACHI, Sept 20: The World Bank has initiated a pilot project aimed at encouraging vulnerable groups to come into the mainstream.

This was stated by the task leader of the World Bank team, Julie Viloria, here on Saturday at the launching ceremony of the project, ‘Sindh Vulnerable Support Activity’.

The project is aimed at striving to refine and test alternative community-based interventions for targeting the potential and most vulnerable people, including women destitute, young girls, beggars, street children and scavengers.

She said that the World Bank had allocated US $150,000 for Pakistan to come up with some quick demonstration and test different things, which could work.

Ms Julie pointed out that the idea was to test the viable approaches on how assistance could be provided to the vulnerable groups. She identified such sections of society as disabled, mentally retarded, women destitute, street children, and young girls, who were deprived of education.

The World Bank official was of the view that this was one of the most neglected development efforts. She said, “We want to come up with something special and something different so that support is extended to them in order to bring the vulnerable into the mainstream.”

She said that the exercise was also aimed at institutionalizing effective assistance for reaching the vulnerable groups.

Citing an example, she said that in the field of public infrastructure, some of the handicapped were not able to travel, as there was no facility for them in this respect. There were others, who were unable to avail any medical assistance or special education, she added.

“The whole idea is to test alternative approaches to demonstrate that the target can be achieved through what you call community-based approach or community re-build development approaches,” the World Bank official remarked.

She said that this was the World Bank programme — a pilot demonstration of partnership among the vulnerable groups, the community-based organizations, local governments and other organizations, including the corporations etc.

It was desired to ascertain as how these people could be helped so that they could do something about themselves, she added.

“I am very excited that the province of Sindh has taken the challenge,” she remarked and added that the Sindh Education foundation would be the focal point for this programme.

Ms Julie said that her organization was also managing such projects in the NWFP, Azad Kashmir and moving to Balochistan and Punjab provinces.—APP