Government Acceptance of Social Mobilisation Approach

The most significant outcome of the policy advocacy role of the RSPN and RSPN’s input into government’s poverty reduction strategy has been an official recognition of the RSP approach to social mobilisation by the Pakistan Government. Evidence of this has been a Government of Pakistan publication titled Rural Poverty Reduction through Social Mobilisation (2005-2010). This publication is a Supplement to Pakistan’s Medium Term Development Framework (2005-11). Following the publication of the supplement the Federal Planning Commission and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development approached the RSPN to design a country-wide project to mobilise rural communities. The project is currently in its final stages of approval (update November 2006) and aims to mobilise 2.5 million rural households into Community Organizations (COs) of women and men. These COs will be linked to Pakistan’s local governments for the delivery of public sector initiatives. It is a historic step by the government and a challenge for the RSPN and its member RSPs.