Impact

The MDTF has further strengthened the state citizen trust by fostering job creation and growth by supporting SMEs, improving livelihoods at the community level, and preparing KP for a digital world. The key active projects in this regard are the Economic Revitalization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Newly Merged Areas (ERK – now solely, Economic Revitalization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), the Digital Jobs project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Balochistan Livelihoods and Enterprise Development Project (BLEP). Key activities include attracting investments towards priority areas, provision of business development support, including grants, and skills training. For example:

• ERKF has successfully leveraged support to the SMEs in KP and Newly Merged Areas for job creation. The project has provided 2500 SMEs with, 88 of these cases were disbursed to women-owned SMEs. Furthermore, 13,500 direct jobs are to be created, including 315 for women. Of these, 11,600 have been created, of which 200 are for women. have been created. The improvement of businesses had a positive impact on the living standards of the SME owners and their families, with most grantees stating that they were able to provide their family members with better education and health facilities.
• Recognizing the criticality of technology for stimulating economic growth, the KP Digital Jobs project established the first fully equipped and functional business process outsourcing (BPO) facility with 350 workstations in its Peshawar office and signed contracts with two BPO operators to utilize 210 workstations. 3 gender inclusive co-working centers or durshals have been set up. Notably, 14 women led startups in five major cities of KP are being incubated. The project has developed 5 digital skills courses and trained 8,570 youth. This has led to the creation of digital income generating opportunities for 1,045 (including 104 women) participants.

Improving service delivery has also been a key focus of MDTF for building citizen-state trust. There has been an emphasis on community driven development initiatives in order to improve access to basic services, enhance community buy-in and increase confidence in the state. For example:

• the KP Southern Area Development Project and Newly Merged Areas Rural Livelihood and Community Infrastructure Project have benefitted around 11,8232 individuals and constructed around 595 Community Physical Infrastructure (CPI) schemes.
• The SADP alone, developed 1,390 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Economic Interest Group (EIGs), exceeding the targeted by 7%, with 34,338 CBO/EIG members, including 13,024 women. In addition, 1,166 Community Action Plans (CAPs) have been developed and 366 CPI schemes constructed.
• the Citizen Centric Service Delivery Program is playing an important role in improving service delivery in the newly Merged Areas. The Citizen Facilitation Centers (CFCs) established under the project provide a mechanism to fill the gap left by the conflict and weak public service delivery infrastructure; 27 CFCs are expected with six of these already operational in providing services such as: issuance of birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates; financial services like atm machines, mobile top-ups, and utility bill Payments; and health services like immunization. Key results include the following: Over 500,000 mothers provided child wellness grant and 92% of beneficiary family children vaccinated. In addition, over 385,000 livelihood support grants have been processed.