ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces Rural Support Programmes (RSPs) as major actors pioneering community driven development (CDD). Based on a review of the literature and extensive fieldwork, it also presents contemporary institutionalisation challenges to CDD in Pakistan. RSPs started with their experimentation at Comilla, the movement has spread across South Asia and Central Asia. Though RSPs have multifarious achievements and contribute to poverty reduction, the CDD approach faces a number of institutionalisation challenges in Pakistan. A case in point, the chapter draws on experiences of an ongoing project, namely, the Sindh Union Council and Community Economic Strengthening Support (SUCCESS) programme. The programme has been significant in terms of facilitating the preparation and then approval of the Poverty Reduction Strategy by the Government of Sindh. However, the institutionalisation of CDD still faces a number of challenges in the post-18th Amendment scenario. The chapter also identifies a number of strategies and longer-term measures for more effective institutionalisation of CDD in the local governance system and sustainable links of community institutions. Finally, the critique reflects why Pakistan remains a poverty-stricken country despite significant work of RSPs and other such development organisations.
