Sustainable Development Centre, Islamabad

Context

Sustainable Development Centre (SDC) is an independent, non-profit and non-political civil society think tank on sustainable development, incorporated and registered with Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP) of Pakistan as non-profit and non-shared Civil Society Organization (CSO) under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984. 
The objective of the SDC is to promote social, economic and environmental development through integrated planning and management, education and training, research and development, knowledge management, awareness raising, advocacy and capacity building, wide consultative and information sharing processes; and rendering services to the national and international organizations to support their initiatives in the related fields to promote sustainable development.

SDC strongly believes in democratic governance and applies consensus philosophy throughout its internal processes and procedures – a core strength of the overall work which revolves around the participatory approach in all tiers of the process and methodologies employed.

The SDC was envisioned to serve as one of the reference points in Pakistan as well as in South Asia as a whole for the promotion of one of the defining debates of this century: the integration between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Governments, private sector, and civil society actors being enabled to use this Centre to learn from each other’s experiences, identify people and partners with critical expertise, plan ahead, and design programmes and policies. It has created a unique space for discussion of innovative ideas and actions for building a sustainable future.                        

Website
http://sdc.org.pk/

Area of Work
Pakistan, Asia

Contact Person
Kanwar Muhammad Javed Iqbal

Approaches to implementing Community monitoring/accountability

SDC - Sustainable Development Centre works with the partnership and network system of grass root organizations and undertakes socially responsible, economically viable and environmental sound development activities with bottom-up approach.

SDC maintains vibrant and diverse information and communication mechanisms strenuously engaging the stakeholders including the communities and member organizations. It also employs unique community based information and dissemination tools including Community Score Card, Public Information Board, Citizen Report Card, Community Forums and Public Debate Forums to solicit, analyse and disseminate information for wider understanding and coverage.
For the purpose of programme, Sustainable Development Centre has established School of Governance and Accountability keeping in view the governance and social accountability scenario in Pakistan in particular and South Asia in general.
Open Governance – through application of Right to Information in the form of: Field level research for effective implementation of RTI (sectoral departments & information commissions), Capacity development of civil society and legislators, Strengthening demands through awareness raising, Creating local partnerships and networks, Promote research based local level advocacy.

Social Accountability – through Awami Bethak, Community Score Card, Citizen Report Card, Budget Tracking, Independent Budget Analysis (IBA), Social Audit, Public Expenditure Tracking Survey)

Local Governance – through Advocacy for: more just and accountable local government system, Ensure transparent local government electoral process, Capacity development of local government elected and appointed officials, Local level research for effective sustainable governance, Creating local demand through mass awareness campaigns, Capacity development of civil society organizations for improved local level development outcomes

Consumer Rights – through Research based advocacy for effective implementation of consumer rights, Engage media and civil society organizations in “Consumer Watch Campaigns”, Create citizen demand through awareness and sensitization campaigns, Engage business groups and associations in ensuring consumer rights, Build, support and sustain consumer networks.

Public Interest Litigation - Public interest litigation has been one of the instrumental tools in bringing issues of enormous public interest through litigating them in judiciary. SDC believes that seeking legal solutions to public interest issues can effectively end to discriminatory practices especially the marginalized and discriminated community or groups who otherwise lack the resources or capacity to bring in courts by themselves.
SDC seeks to file public interest cases in courts to enforce the implementation of the laws and exact accountability of the concerned public agencies through litigation. It campaigns to promote good governance, anti-corruption, social service delivery, right to information, human rights, environmental protection and consumer rights through the public interest litigation.

Results and Lessons

SDC in collaboration with Indus Sustainable Development Foundation (ISDF) has launched studies on Right to Information and Pilot Budget Tracking in Punjab Province, Pakistan. These studies are designed on periodic basis and results would be shared periodically. The relevant documents are normally available at SDC web portal.