Sungi Development Foundation

The Sungi Development Foundation was established in 1989 and registered in May 1990 under the Societies Act, 1860 as a non-profit, non-government, public-interest organization (PIO).  Sungi’s mission is to bring about policy and institutional changes by mobilizing deprived and marginalized communities to create an environment in which they [communities] can transform their lives through the equitable and sustainable use of resources.
The major institutional phases of expansion in terms of  organizational structure and programme activities that took place were as follows:

  • 1989–1993: Sungi was initially a small advocacy and research-oriented non-governmental organization (NGO) involved in advocacy campaigns, but had to change its focus to carry out relief and rehabilitation efforts for flood-hit communities in Hazara Division in 1992.
  • 1994–1997: Sungi initiated the Hazara Community Support Programme (HCSP) in 1994 for advocacy based on a multi-sectoral community development programme, on the fundamental principal of community participation. Major donors included the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Trust for Voluntary Organizations (TVO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the British High Commission (BHC), and the FATA NGO Forum (FNF).
  • 1998–2002: Based on the “Strategic planning” of 1996, a four-year multi-sectoral Hazara Integrated Rural Development Programme (HIRDP) was initiated in 1998 with funding from the Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE), Oxfam Novib, The Asia Foundation (TAF), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). This was Sungi’s first project to run in four districts of Hazara without any major financial constraints.

Sungi’s Microfinance Programme
Providing financial services to communities in programme areas comes under Sungi’s Credit and Enterprise Development (C&ED) section which is part of the larger Sustainable Livelihood Programme (SL). The programme is one of three core programmes, which include:

  • Social mobilization and development (social mobilization and health and sanitation);
  • Advocacy Support Programme (Campaigns and collisions and communication and publication);
  • Sustainable Livelihood (C&ED, natural resource management (NRM), and craft promotion).

The Microfinance Programme was initiated in late 1994 with meagre funding amounting to PKR 80,000 provided by UNDP. The revolving funds of the credit pool account were later augmented by TVO, ILO, and CRS. The programme was initially run on its own, but was later merged with NRM, craft promotion, and C&ED under the canopy of Sustainable Livelihood. The programme started off under the theme of “saving first-credit later”.  The C&ED programme’s major responsibilities include:

  • Supporting the mobilization of community savings;
  • Disbursing credit to village committee (VC) members for economic or critical social needs;
  • Training communities in financial management (saving, credit, and entrepreneurship);
  • Providing vocational skill enhancement support.

The formation and review of credit policy has been carried out almost every year since 1994 with communities, staff, and experts. Credit applications are initially appraised by field coordinators and then forwarded to zonal coordinators for scrutiny. In the third stage, applications are forwarded to the C&ED at the head office where disbursement on complete and viable credit applications is carried out on fortnightly basis. The saving amount in any VC should not be less than 15 % of the amount of credit required by its members. A resolution passed by VC members is essential for the provision of credit by Sungi in order to make the loans socially and economically viable for both client and community.

Sungi believes that the Government must recognize the financial services being provided by the private sector in the face of its own constraints, and the NGO sector must realize the Government’s limitations. Large-scale change is impossible without using Government infrastructure. Linkages have been established with The Bank of Khyber, and PKR 1.8 million has been disbursed to 77 borrowers on Sungi’s recommendation.

Performance Indicator (The MIX)     Read More