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Local Support Organization (LSO) is an alliance or
federation of Village and Women Organizations (V/WOs) and
other village-based institutions and self-help groups
which are primarily formed at the Union Council (U/C)
level and in some cases at valley and watershed levels
in Northern Areas and Chitral (NAC). Fostered by the Aga
Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), these informal V/WOs
have now been enveloped into these LSOs which are
formal, hybrid kind of organization types, meaning its
core general body and the executive boards are comprised
of volunteers having roots in the local institutions,
however in most cases also having paid staff (full or
part-time) to dispense management functions. The LSOs
are non-profit organizations registered under the
companies Ordinance 1984 in Pakistan, limited by
guarantee and not having a share capital.
The motivation and
drive in forming such alliances or federations come from
the voluntary spirit of the social activists of the V/WOs
who realized that after initially mobilizing at village
and sub-village levels and in struggling to meet the
primary needs of their members, there was a need to
graduate to a second tier of engagement and interact
with other development players and interest to meet
common objectives through a formal and professional
manner. Therefore, these activists have agreed to work
together as part of the civil society to collectively
mobilize local resources and use their time, knowledge,
experience and material resources to positively impact
change processes through institutional action, and
create enabling opportunities for the resource poor,
youth, women, children and other disadvantaged groups to
unleash their potentials to improve their quality of
life and to continue and sustain local institutions and
enhance the value and vitality of these human and social
capitals for the generations to come and to promote
participation and pluralistic democracy at grassroots
levels.more |
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