Press Release - NGORC Forum On Learning For Development

Karachi, December 23- NGOs, Civil Society and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) need to come together and form a consensus so that a positive change can be brought about in society at a national level. Synchronization of efforts within individual organizations will also act as a medium to develop and uphold this process.

Such was the sentiment of over 50 representatives of various prominent NGOs and CBOs from across Pakistan, who had gathered at a local hotel here on Thursday, at a forum hosted by the NGO Resource Centre. The forum was titled ‘Learning for Development’ and focused on lessons learnt and case studies in various facets of the development sector.

Arif Hasan, prominent architect and planner who is also the Chairman of the Orangi Pilot Project and the Urban Resource Centre was the keynote speaker at the first session. He highlighted the various phases in the history of the country which have influenced the social change in Pakistan. In all what is needed is a strong and elected government which makes its decision based on consensus of all segments of the society. He also said that public debate was at a conceptual and nascent stage due to which discussions should be promoted within and outside the citizen sector at this crucial time.

Outlining various phases of history of Pakistan Hasan said that the first such factor was the migration of 1947 led to the coming of millions of people from India and the population census of 1951 shows that at that time 48% of the urban population of Pakistan was of Indian migrants. The next phase was the green revolution which changed the way of life and social set up of our villages and increased urbanization in an unplanned manner. He went on to identify four other factors that played a prominent role in the socio economic change process in Pakistan.

The next session saw presentation by six representative NGOs and the lessons learnt by them in the key areas of capacity building, education, gender issues, and reproductive health. The presentations were moderated by prominent consultant and trainer Abbas Husain.

Qadeer Baig, Deputy Director of NGORC and their consultant Fazal Noor spoke of lessons learnt during the six year long Rural Social Development Programme which had been funded by the European Commission. Noor highlighted that NGOs while being only one of the many stake holders in the process of capacity building, are the key leveragers in the process.

Harris Khalique of Strengthening Participatory Organizations (SPO) also reflected on the RSDP of which SPO was also a partner. He stated that civil society is an alternate political system for market based economies.

Kulsoom Jaffer of Aga Khan University – Institute of Education Development highlighted the successes and lessons learnt by her organization during their work in Asia and Africa. She said that a customized programme has to be development for each area as a project of one geographic location can never be successfully implemented in another.

Kamayla Marvi Tapal, a Gender and Women’s Issues consultant stated that Pakistan has come a long way during the past 20 years and this is evident from the reduction in fertility rates, increase in mean marriage age, increase in women health care, more representation in politics and state and formation of the Committee on the Status of Women.

Fauzia Matloob of Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association highlighted various aspects of the reproductive health drive being undertaken by the Pakistani NGOs and Community Organizations.

Finally, the discussion ended with a few brief questions and answers at the end of which Qadeer Baig closed the session with a vote of thanks to all participants and appreciated the efforts of all non governmental organizations in the social development of the country. The contribution made by NGORC was emphasized and appreciated by the forum and similar further efforts were encouraged by all involved in light of NGORCs achievements.