Pakistan Rural Support Programme (prsp)

Pakistan Rural Support Programme (PRSP) Pakistan Rural Support Programme (PRSP) is a not for profit organization, registered under Societies Registration Act Ordinance (XXI) of 1860. PRSP policy has to achieve the goals of poverty reduction through community empowerment, skills enhancement, capacity building, Basic Education, Health and development of community supported infrastructure projects, and the provision of support for income generation, enterprise development and micro credit. For this purpose PRSP organizes the local communities and develop their managerial and technical capacity. In June 2007 Pakistan Rural Support Programme (PRSP) was established. The Pakistan Rural Support Programme has thus a history of 3 years. It started its activities initiated by SEEWA-PAK in District Mirpurkhas. SEEWA-PAK had planned to cover only three Union Councils of District Mirpurkhas in Education and Health. PRSP has since then expanded its Programme to Four districts namely Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad Objectives of PRSP Develop and implement programs to promote hygiene and primary healthcare amongst poor and needy communities Develop and run infrastructural projects to help improving health and environment for communities Socio economic empowerment of the rural peoples through participatory approaches for sustainable development initiatives in the area. Involve rural communities in micro enterprise for alleviating poverty in the rural areas. Improve the living standard of the rural peoples through providing them health finicalities at doorstep and awareness among the women children about the health hazards. Advocacy of the social & Environmental problems and involve communities in the solution of problems. Raise literacy in the area specially girls, women, through establishment of non formal schools and adult literacy centers in the slum areas of the Cities and villages To work for protection/ preserve local Natural resource of the area. PRSP's Approach The people need social guidance to harness their potential. Such guidance is essentially needed for the following purposes. To get organized for pooling of their resources, cutting down overheads, achieving economy of scale, etc. To identify genuine leaders /activists/cadres from amongst themselves or the community. It is only these cadres and not outsiders that can bring out the willingness and harness the people’s potential. To identify and prioritize what the people are willing to undertake in terms of opportunities and needs and not demands which have to be provided by outside agencies (the assumption in social mobilization is that guided or blue print approach is not effective). To assess the feasibility of the identified portfolio opportunities and needs in terms of peoples capacity, willingness, requirement of resources and availability of resources from within and outside. To arrange, secure and facilitate the flow of required resources to the community; and to linkages between them and other development agencies. PRSP's Vision Vision: Construction of peaceful developed society in non developed Area. PRSP's Mission PRSP's Mission is to provide facilities, usual help and social up lift of peoples at villages / town and none developed surrounding areas. Also time to time (PRSP) Organize Seminars, Workshops, Rallies, and Training Programs for awareness of community about Education, Health and Social Development. PRSP works to release the potential abilities, skills and knowledge of rural men and women, to enable them to articulate their aspirations and to effectively marshal the resources they need to meet their identified needs. The purpose is poverty alleviation - enabling people to break the cycle of poverty, which begins with lack of opportunity, extends to the well-known miseries of economic and nutritional poverty and leads new generations to endure the same conditions. The process is social mobilization - bringing people together on new terms for a common purpose. The conceptual tools are 'social guidance' (recruiting local men and women who will take on a leadership role), advocacy, capacity building and awareness raising. The programmatic tools are training, support to institutions, micro-credit, infrastructure development, natural resource management and 'productive linkages'. Community Participation The importance of a support mechanism for implementing the conceptual package is central. The programmes for the poor can only be effectively implemented if these are led by an autonomous support structure, committed to the creation of a participatory village level institutional framework. The traditional approach of establishing a large number of specialized agencies (for training, credit, input supplies and extension etc.) for reaching the poor has failed because they were hampered in their effectiveness by the absence of a strong and broad institutional base at the village level. Creation of a village level institutional framework does not fall in the purview of any of these agencies. PRSP was therefore set up as a Rural Support Programme, which has taken the lead in the creation, promotion and support of effective and disciplined community organizations to manage rural development in Pakistan on a nationwide level. Wherever possible, existing or proposed organizations of the communities have also been used or incorporated into this effort provided that they were willing to operate in accordance with the principles and terms of partnership offered by PRSP It has a strong network of local consultancy firms, educational and research institutes, NGOs, CBOs, and CCBs.