Rural Support Programmes Network

The Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) is the largest development network in Pakistan with an outreach to over 34 million rural Pakistanis.^[1] It consists of a network of 12 Rural Support Programmes (RSPs).^[2] The RSP’s rely on a community driven model of development. Communities are mobilised around their needs and organised to stimulate more effective demand for services.^[3]

Philosophy and approach

The centre piece of the RSP approach is social mobilisation of the poor in order to enable them to participate directly in decisions that affect their lives and prospects.^[4] Communities are mobilised and asked to indicate their priorities through a process of dialogue, catalysed by the programmes. They are then encouraged to assume responsibility for implementing and maintaining the projects, reflecting their own priorities, with technical and financial support being extended by the programmes.^[5]

The model upholds civil society as central to addressing the economic, socio-political and cultural causes of poverty.^[6] It also subverts the conventional model of social development, which assumed that either central government or outside agencies would lift people out of poverty.^[7]

Role of RSPN

The RSPN is a strategic platform for the RSP's. It provides capacity building support to them and assists them in policy advocacy and donor linkages.^[8][9][10] Although all the RSP’s are said to be federated under the Rural Support Programme Network.^[11] Each RSP is an autonomous organization that develops programmes tailored to local needs,^[12] with each RSP having an independent board of directors.^[13]

Network

The Rural Support Programmes Network is a network of 12 RSP namely ^[14]

1. Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (1982)
2. Sarhad Rural Support Programme (1989)
3. Balochistan Rural Support Programme (1991)
4. National Rural Support Programme (1992)
5. Institute of Rural Management (1993)
6. Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati Idara (1995)
7. Lachi Poverty Reduction Programme (1997)
8. Tardeep Rural Development Programme (1997)
9. Punjab Rural Support Programme (1998)
10. Sindh Graduates Association (2001)
11. Sindh Rural Support Organisation (2003)
12. Azad Jammu and Kashmir Rural Support Programme (2005)

References

1. Malik, Shiza (29 November 2014). "Rural Support Programmes can double people's incomes". DAWN.
2. "Participatory development: With little government support, people can do wonders". The Express Tribune. 2 July 2013.
3. Narayan-Parker, Deepa; Glinskaya, Elena E. (1 January 2007). Ending Poverty in South Asia: Ideas that Work. World Bank Publications. p. 136. ISBN 9780821368770.
4. "Rural communities will be included in policymaking". 24 August 2016.
5. "A must-read on rural uplift". DAWN. 11 August 2009.
6. Ul-Mulk, Masood (28 February 2013). "Building communities: how poor people are unlocking their own potential". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
7. Oborne, Peter (4 March 2013). "Escaping Pakistan's poverty trap". The Telegraph.
8. "Global Sanitation Fund" (PDF). Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council. p. 25.
9. "FutureChallenges » International aid: towards a responsible partnership for development". Future Challenges. 11 August 2011.
10. "Capacity of Pakistani Organizations to Carry Out Gender Equity Initiatives" (PDF). USAID. January 2011.
11. Thapa, Rosemary (1 January 2005). Voice of Mountain People: Capacity Building of Community Based Organisations in Advocacy in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas ; Workshop Report, Documentation of Conceptual Learning. ICIMOD.
12. Narayan-Parker, Deepa; Glinskaya, Elena E. (1 January 2007). Ending Poverty in South Asia: Ideas that Work. World Bank Publications. p. 18. ISBN 9780821368770.
13. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (1 January 1998). Readings on Pro-poor Planning Through Social Mobilisation in South Asia: The strategic option for poverty eradication. Vikas Pub. House. p. 313.
14. Narayan-Parker, Deepa; Glinskaya, Elena E. (1 January 2007). Ending Poverty in South Asia: Ideas that Work. World Bank Publications. pp. 141–142. ISBN 9780821368770.