Self help for rural villages


Author Sadiq Malik describes various activities of the Rural Development Foundation Centre in Islamabad. The author is founder and Executive Director of the Rural Development Foundation.

PROVIDING FACILITIES for local communities to best deal with development problems is one of the main objectives of the Rural Development Foundation Centre (RDF Centre) in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The RDF Centre was initially established in 1978 as a means of providing a resource centre for assisting in activities at the village level. It was clear that the rural poor needed support if they were to maximize the limited availability of resources for development. It was also clear that no meaningful development could take place without the participation and involvement of the local people through their own organizations.

Acting as a catalyst, the Foundation stimulated the formulation and assisted in the implementation of rural development projects according to the individual community's needs and priorities.

Over the past two decades, the RDF Centre has considerably broadened its scope of activities. Rising populations, rural poverty and increasing environmental stress have all highlighted the urgency for more comprehensive, and more appropriate, rural development policies that successfully protect and manage a healthy natural environment system.

In June 1991, the RDF Centre convened a National Consultation on Conservation Strategy with the cooperation of the Environment Liaison Centre International and the Canadian International Development Agency. Amongst the findings of the Consultation was the recognition that sustainable development, population and poverty are closely inter-linked and that any national policies would have to consider these three factors as part of a whole. Also, that y meaningful suste development gont policies wouldve to include the actiticipation of local communities, the private sector and NGOs.

A major component of the Foundation's strategy since its inception has been the provision of suitable mechanisms for education, training and information dissemination. Accordingly, the Foundation provides facilities which not only enhance the capabilities and awareness of village leaders and NGOs but also provide a means of sharing information, experiences and ideas.

In 1991 construction began on the RDF Centre Complex. The six-block Complex will include offices, rooms for workshops and lectures, an auditorium, plus living accommodation for trainees.

It is hoped that these facilities will improve the efficiency of the Foundation's capacity to:

  • act as a clearing house for information dissemination;
  • promote research and documentation;
  • promote linkages and support networking;
  • assist village development committees to undertake surveys and studies on rural development programmes;
  • publish and distribute literature, including literature in regional languages; and
  • liaise with government agencies, donors, international NGOs, institutes and inter-governmental organizations.

The Complex will also have rooms available for the production of the Foundation's bi-monthly newsletter, Shadab, which provides information on current activities, projects, research and meetings.

In a regional context, the Foundation is a leading member of the South Asia Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (SANGO). Participation in SANGO enables the Foundation to further its aims in organizing workshops, seminars and technical exchange programmes, together with strengthening the institutional development of member NGOs on the local, national and regional level.

Current and future activities of the Foundation will always emphasize those factors that will lead to rural communities better dealing with environmental and development pressures on a self-help basis.

Further information

M Sadiq Malik, RDF Centre (Mauve Area), G-9/1, PO Box 1170, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Published Issue 8, April 1993