RSPN Hosts National Convention of Local Support Organisations

The Rural Support Programmes Network hosted the Annual National Convention of Local Support Organisations 2022 in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The convention is a platform to interact with LSOs (community-based institutions at the Union Council level), donor agencies, development partners, and other stakeholders to share local knowledge and learn from their experiences of implementing a community-driven development approach in Pakistan’s rural communities.

The LSO convention 2022 focused on local communities’ efforts to address sustainable development goals (SDGs), poverty graduation of households, and climate change. Representatives of LSOs from all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) presented their work on implementing the community-driven development approach, inclusion of vulnerable members of the community, and efforts to graduate households out of poverty. It also reflected on the communities’ efforts to mainstream SDGs at the local level, their relief and rehabilitation response to recent floods, and the effects of climate change.

RSPN CEO Shandana Khan gave opening remarks and acknowledged the RSPs, community members, and especially women for their presence at this event to celebrate yet another year of successful efforts to reduce poverty at the household level and empower the local communities.

Opening the session on the implementation of poverty graduation programmes, RSPN Chairman Shoaib Sultan Khan highlighted the significance of the approach and its successful adoption in Pakistan and South Asian regions.

A large number of women from villages across Pakistan participated in the event and shared their experiences and learnings of working with these programmes.

Government officials, representatives from other donor agencies, and development partners also participated. The Additional Chief Secretary (Development) for the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Reforms, Dawood Muhammad Barech said that there is a gap between the demand and governments’ supplies and services which can be bridged through engagement, participation, and community involvement.

The second session highlighted the efforts of community members and other development partners in responding to the destruction caused by floods and climate change. Asif Turangzai, Disaster Risk Management Specialist from Asian Development Bank highlighted the significance of the intersection of indigenous knowledge and academia.

Hina Lotia, Advisor Climate Change from World Bank iterated on the importance of integration of various sectors in implementing development initiatives.

The platform of the LSO convention will facilitate well-integrated future programme designs, policy formulation, and supply and services by the government, incorporating the needs of communities.

RSPN serves as a strategic platform for its nine-member RSPs that bring together over 40 years of knowledge and experience in Community-Driven Development. RSPN is the largest civil society network in Pakistan with outreach to 8.5 million rural households, representing a population of over 55 million in 150 out of 156 districts/regions of Pakistan.