The envisioned project is a unique and innovative initiative because it gives protection to marginalized of the marginalized, i.e. Garbage collectors from indigenous people, and starts sorting of the waste from very beginning. The proposed project has enormous potential to be replicated and taken up by many INGOs or donor agencies. The only thing which is required to set up a model to demonstrate.

This project is a combination of service delivery and advocacy elements. By following this mixed approach, GODH aims to undertake following objectives:

? Sensitization of 5000 people and 600 indigenous scavengers, i.e. Changars, about different types of waste and their potential health hazards
? Provision of 600 protection guards and multi-compartment waste collection bags to these indigenous scavengers
? After organizing them, to link the target group with recycling companies and line departments.

In this project, while addressing the planned objective, GODH intends to:

? sensitize 5000 household from the target area and 600 Changars about different types of solid waste and the potential health hazards, which may happen due to collection and, later, the disposal of mix solid waste. For this purpose, poster demonstrating different types of wastes and their disposal process will be printed and distributed among household and Changars. Besides, extensive social mobilization campaign will be launched to sensitize and mobilize people and garbage collectors about safe disposal of solid waste. Social Mobilizers will advocate local people to sort out different sorts of waste, e.g. organic, inorganic, medical, paper, etc., before collection ? in the areas from where Changars usually collect this solid waste.
? distribute one thousand garbage collection bags in 600 Changars having four different sections / compartments to collect organic, inorganic, paper and glass waste. It is necessary to have this solid waste from the beginning because the collectors can easily sell it into the recycling market. Also, mixed waste is more hazardous to health. So by this process, recyclable waste would be separated from the point of collection.
? distribute protection kits among Changars, which may include safety gloves, shoes, protection masks, etc. These protection gloves would prevent Changars from the potential health risks that they face while garbage collection.
? conduct training of these scavengers on sorting of different waste after their collection.
? Link them with the line department / Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) to give them access to the government dumping sites. For this purpose, GODH will organize a seminar in which representatives of LWMC and Ministry of Environment will get a chance to meet this neglected group of indigenous people and learn their issues.
? Identify and link scavengers / Changars with the companies or organization, recycling different kinds of wastes that they may sell their waste and earn on top of their waste collection fee from households. For this purpose, GODH will organize a seminar in which representatives of different solid waste recycling companies will interact with Changar community and brief them about the type of waste they need. Company representatives will also brief them about the sorting process for marketable recyclable waste and collection points pf these companies.

The target beneficiaries, i.e. Changars, are marginalized of the marginalized. They are sub-category of indigenous people. As a matter of fact, indigenous people are one of the most socially and economically vulnerable groups of the country. And occupation of Changars make them even more vulnerable as they are associated to the garbage collection. Historically, this sub-group used to wander city to city, region to region and collecting waste material but due to urbanization, they started settling in the sub-urban areas of cities. In Lahore, there presence is quite visible in its sub-urban areas. There is no exact figure available about their population, however, it is believed that there are more than 18000 Changars settled in the sub-urbs of Lahore only.