The rapid growth of the urban population and the spread of Kachchi abadies (clay houses) around Quetta and other cities of Balochistan has deep and wide socio-economic implications, particularly for the most vulnerable segments of the community: women and children. The number of inhabitants living in Quetta is estimated to be about 1,000,000.
Almost 80% of these live in the Kachchi abadies (clay houses) i.e largerly low income areas in the outskirsts of the city. The people are grouped according to their ethnic and tribal background.
Main bottlenecks for low income communities in their efforts to improve their living conditions are lack of awareness, poverty, poor health and deficient habitat. Inaccessibility and knowledge about social organization, technical options and finance defines lack of awareness..
Training and education should be aimed to overcome these defficiences. Improvement in health conditions start with introduction of hygeine measures and the construction of sanitry facilities. These facilities will further supplement improvement in housing and environmental conditions.
At present the inexistence of such organizationwith the above mentioned agenda poses an acute senario where chances of rectification is a far fetched idea !!!. Since the felexibility required for community development work cannot be provided by a governmental instituition, SSD has been estalished to provide the required setup for community development work.
The governing body of SSD comprises a power pack of professionals which encompasses a cohesive combination of social workers, accountants, management consultants, public administrators, economists, doctors, educationists and experienced project related administrators with the practical instinct about work.
As SSD is an organization with a progressive and flexible nature therefore the problems faced by the people of Balochistan (Pakistan) are analyzed sympathetically and logical solutions are drawn by careful appreciation of the problems. As a result of this methodology SSD is able to chalk out its priorities.
The field activities of SSD are related to fields like basic health, family planning, population welfare, environment, communication, sanitation, income generation, household economies and education.
The uniqueness about SSD is that it is an organization setup by people who themselves form part of the masses and are fully aware of the problem in totality.
It is therefore conceivable that SSD being the only NGO of its kind working exclusively in semi urban areas may, in more distant future, extend its activities to other areas of Balochistan Pakistan
What does the organization do?General
The general long term aim of SSD is the improvement of the quality of life of the low income inhabitants of Quetta and other semi urban areas of the province of Balochistan Pakistan.
Specific
SSD's specific objectives are:
Awareness building through promotion, training and creation of private business opportunities.
Creation of autonomous community development through the stimulation of private initiatives.
Research for viable solutions for technical and social problems,
Linking the communities to other organizations (donor agencies and government institutions) for expert support and policy making and implementation;
Assisting the communities to establish self-help organizations in Kachchi abadies for:-
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION, NEEDS ASSESSMENT and Priortization;
Mobilization of community's potentials and resources for developing solutions;
Implementation of viable schemes in the field.