The Story of Dr. Quratulain Bakhteari:

Quratulain Bakhteari grew up in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Karachi after the creation of Pakistan in 1947. When Quratulain was earning her B.A. degree as a student between 1978 and 1982, she worked as a volunteer, organizer, and researcher in the squatter settlements in and around Karachi. She made major contributions both to public health and sanitation during this time, providing toilets to 5,000 households through community actions, effectively changing the sanitation and hygiene practices for more than 35,000 people from 1979 to 1987. After completing her B.A. degree, she helped new refugees coming from Bangladesh by providing them with access to basic health care and education. Later, she earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. and established 2,000 government girls’ primary schools in rural Balochistan, resulting in the enrollment of 200,000 girls — a record in Pakistan’s history.

Frustrated with a lack of efficacy in internationally sponsored development projects, she wrote a concept paper that became the blueprint for Institute for Development Studies and Practice (IDSP), and was subsequently funded by The Asia Foundation for three years. She formulated the curriculum, recruited, and trained faculty in advance of the formal launch of IDSP in 1998.

Since then, she has focused her attention toward safe spaces for young people in Pakistan, and IDSP has set a major strategic goal of establishing a university of its kind in the field of community development in order to work with marginalized youth for a greater social, political and economic change in societies. Currently, IDSP is designing its university curriculum and faculty development trainings in conjunction with the campus construction in Quetta. Quratulain is an Ashoka Fellow and has spoken at prestigious conferences, including the Global Philanthropy Forum and TEDx.

Concept Paper to Establish

INSTITUTE FOR STUDY AND PRACTICE OF DEVELOPMENT

BY Quratulain Bakhteari

23^rd April 1996, Quetta/ Balochistan.

What is the problem to be addressed?

• Poverty ,underdevelopment, social and political institution are stressed ,frustration at village level. (contributing to corruption ,violence in Sindh and Afghanistan , drugs and arms trade in NWFP)
• Waves of Marxism and fundamentalism have raised consciousness among the youth but have failed to solve problems of development.
• Politically aware socially conscious young college and university graduates are now looking for way to promote development , but are held back for lack of skills and credentials.
• Departments and donors there for continue to look outside for advisors rather than to this group. This contributes to the high cost and mystification of development. Home born NGOs ,CBOs and local government departments con not afford foreign TA and have at best, only indirect access to technical assistance provided by donors.
• Local people trained internationally are reluctant to return to work for local Pakistani institution in a Pakistani environment.
• Young western development professional (or professionals to be) need field experience in order to be able to better fulfill their future roles.
• Existing training institutes fail dampen buds , don’t teach real change for fear of looking support or create illusions of incompetence.

What is needed?

•  The power structure of development needs to be changed the costs reduced and the process demystified. Programs and proposals need to be brought to the same level of the people implementing them and the participants in the programs. Need to build off what exists on the ground, in the government in the NGOs.
•  Talented development workers at the village district provincial and national levels. They should be affordable to local NGOs and local government officers.
•  A platform from which potential activits can build their skills for development and channel their energies.

• Development philosophy
• Organizational skills
• technical skills
• personality / spiritual enhancement – make youth believe in self, and give them courage to stand up and say ‘No’
•  A platform from which they can exercise the leadership which they feel within them selves in an honest and sincere manner:

• field experienced
• field contracts
• credentials
• An institute for development studies which provides training to produce local development professionals:

The institute work oriented with theory and philosophy behind it.

• Students will be drowning with from the ranks of college and university and college graduates (those with out degrees should have 3 years experience and commence work in a degree program). Potential students should demonstrate Basic English skills and commitment to social change and development.
• Provides credible field work experience, students are attached to NGOs community based organization, district councils or local government offices, where they are responsible for implementing a project. The students will work with the agency but keep in close contact with the institute (e,g weekly ). Progress towards the credential is conditioned on success of the project or on analysis of why the project failed. Teaching staff will work closely with students on their particular projects (documentation, seminars and presentations ).
• Provides theoretical framework in community organization theory and philosophy of social change and development. May expand later into political theory.
• Provides technical skills in communications sector knowledge English, computers, management, planning, monitoring and evaluation.
• Provides character building, emphasizing honesty, integrity (refusal to compromise on important issues) ,humbleness, ego control, inquisitiveness ,listening , patience and perseverance, fighting spirit, constructive male-female working relationship.
• Provides credential.

Structure of the institute:

•  Residential period of skills building.

• Seminar series.
• Career and education counseling.
• Uniquer library and reference materials, including international materials and local project experience.
• Local instructor (e.g experienced field workers and graduates with links through international change, to graduate students and professors from international universities . The latter will work at the institute as learning and teaching partners. Learning and teaching partners serve as outside resources and stimuli.
• Level of instruction and research liked to experiences and capacities of instructors and students allows theory frame work of social change and development to evolve based on local experience. The curriculum thus evolves incrementally, at a pace and social based on development of incrementally ownership and ensures relevance.
• The board of directors ‘scholarship’ (parallel urban fellowship model). Operating funds may be generated from students fees from those who can afford to pay, local donations, sponsorship and endowment.

Relation to existing institutions:

•  Provides a new institutional model based on cooperation, opportunity for professional growth, constructive male-female working relationships, organizational relationships(vs cult of personality).

• Government/ donor support with out graduates, donor control.
• Work closely with UOB draw graduates , rotate professors.
• Other NGOs , training institutes and colleges.

Resource required:

•  Initially a working report or a feasibility study needs to conducted.

• One month to develop the feasibilities.
• A Core working staff with accommodations.
• Establishment cost to develop courses and conduct seminars.
• Document case studies as study material.
• Develop data base on NGOs, CBOs case studies on community based development in South Asia.
• Cost for payment to instructors.
• Cost for purchase of reading and reference material.
• Cost of translation of English material into Urdu.
• Publication and printing cost.

The Issues we address
Pakistan has the fourth-largest population of South Asian countries, and 70 percent of the population is below 30 years of age, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Almost 80 percent of these young people are excluded from meaningful educational opportunities. In the nation’s poorest and ignored province of Balochistan, 68 percent of students do not complete primary school.

Pakistani youth aspire to participate in community leadership and social change, but due to lack of necessary knowledge, skills, and safe environments, they are unable to achieve these aspirations. Family is the most important unit of Pakistani society, considered the first institution of learning and socialization for youth. However, family units have been largely unrecognized, isolated, and ignored by educational institutions and development programs. Without proper attention to strengthening family units, domestic violence, child labor, early child marriages, gender based inequalities, illiteracy, maternal and infant mortality, and honor killings have reduced the efficacy of youth to be active contributors to their society. Communities overlook their role in poverty reduction and social development, and local governments are not engaging the country’s legislative process to effect policy changes geared toward youth opportunity and development. Despite a mandate in the Constitution of Pakistan to provide free and compulsory education to all children between 5-16 years old, only 66 percent of children in this age group regularly attend school and literary rates for the population hover around 57 percent. Furthermore, mainstream media groups support the agendas of corporate interests over issues of social and economic welfare. These groups have fueled civic differences, isolation, disharmony, and violent resistance movements in various part of the country.

Together, these conditions rapidly breed extremism and terrorism, and over the last few decades, Pakistan and surrounding countries have faced the phenomena of rising militancy and intolerance. A survey asking young Pakistanis for their motivations in committing acts of violence found that 42 percent engaged in violence to escape from poverty, 24 percent did so because they want money, 17 percent did so to defend their own honor and that of their family, and 12 percent did so because they are unemployed.[i] Various developmental, educational, and political institutions that are intended to direct the collective energy of the country’s youth in a productive manner have displayed apathy to fulfill their responsibilities. Therefore, while these populations are normally considered a huge asset to driving forward the development of a given state, they are considered a hindrance rather than a driving force for Pakistan’s national development.

IDSP opens Learning Spaces for this young majority population to empower them for generating and regenerating responses to the existing challenges. Through its Open Learning Spaces, IDSP provides engaging courses in critical thinking and leadership, as well as professional development to shape a meaningful career path for youth. Learners acquire knowledge and skills necessary to promote human rights, political participation, gender equality, and global citizenship–all of which will help them to improve safety and development in Pakistan. Standards of living and harmony within family units is considerably improved, resulting in lower domestic violence rates, a decrease in early child marriages, shared decision-making, and better social and financial support for all family members. Communities practice conflict resolution, promote youth civic engagement, expand the infrastructure and advance technologies of sustainable energy services, protect children from child labor and exploitation, and adopt sustainable agriculture techniques to improve their local economies. Local governments enhance their human resource capacities to better support progressive polices on public health, community development, and education. Civil society organizations consult lawmakers in their planning and policy making efforts.

Overall, public and private sector partnerships — both domestically and internationally — help educate and empower youth at risk of militantism and extremism to become active political leaders and entrepreneurs that help drive economic growth. Media organizations document and broadcast this positive shift in equilibrium to drive systems change.

[i] Next Generation Voice Report of British Council, 2014

Our Vision
Politically socially and culturally aware individuals that will create interdependent, self-reliant societies that guarantee and acculturate dignified living for all

Our Mission
To Nurture and Develop Individuals and Communities, that will Change the Power Structures by Demystifying Processes of Education and Development and Generate Value based Partnerships and Practices at all Levels”.

Our Strategy
To create a critical mass of young, vulnerable and excluded people by…

1. By nurturing and developing their potentials as young leaders for change.
2. And developing their communities by engaging them in the practices of demystifying the processes of education and development.
3. Thus creating a critical mass of knowledgeable and well practices young community leaders, who will eventually mobilize forums, movements for structural and policy changes through democratic, non-violent and rights based actions.
Our Goals.

IDSP adds value to Pakistan society by building a large network of young Pakistanis who are enrolled in practical educational programs and who are empowered to influence their peers, families, communities, and governments to promote positive social change. Through its six-year learning and practice methodology, IDSP enables Pakistani youth to build on their innate abilities, and practice their career skills to become leaders and generate positive influence on society over time. More than 185,000 youth and young Pakistani have graduated from various IDSP programs, and IDSP is holding forums of graduates to convene them and mobilize them to promote ideas of entrepreneurialism and positive social change in all they do.

1. Lifelong learning and living
2. Preserving the Indentations Cultures
3. Young Community Leadership development
4. Community Health and Maternal, New born and Child Health Care
5. Women and Girls’ Education and empowerment
6. Community Development
7. Social sector Development
8. Human Rights Protection and Promotion
9. Gender Equity and Equality
10. Child Protection
11. Early Childhood Development
12. Affordable and Clean Energy
13. Peace, Justice, Harmony and Tolerance
14. Decent Work and Economic Growth
15. Sustainable Infrastructure
16. Character building and professional development
17. Public Private Partnership.

1. Hostels (Including girls and boys hostel), fully protected with security cameras and Balochistan Levies force & IDSP’s own guards. Having solar geysers and electricity 24/7.
2. Library with more than 5000 books and 5000 other learning materials
3. Computer lab with 18 laptops and continued 24/7 internet facility
4. Solar energy and wind turbine provide electricity 24/7 without any trouble
5. Conference halls for huge seminars, conferences, workshops, sessions, etc.
6. Classroom/ training hall for sessions, training, and courses
7. Meeting rooms for individual or group meeting
8. Fully functional BioGas for the energy’s need of IDSP Campus
9. 4 Eaker loan with mountains and natural beauty
10. Pick and drop facility from City to Main Campus