JOURNEY OF RCPDS

Voicing The Voiceless

Resource Centre for Participatory Development Studies - RCPDS is a development NGO based in Madurai with strong commitment to facilitate conducive environment to enable the least and vulnerable, especially dalit, women and children, to participate in the development process. The guiding policies of RCPDS consider women, children, dalit, conservation & protection of natural resources and prevention of HIV/AIDS as cross cutting and non-negotiable areas in all its intervention. The mission of RCPDS started since 2000 from its strong roots of parent body called SPEECH, which started its mission in 1987.

Our initial intervention was in the area of building participatory capacity with communities and local NGOs to effectively respond to the emerging needs that retard the development process. RCPDS originally started as an offshoot of SPEECH to build broad base capacity of various level development actors using participatory approaches. With its official link to international resource agencies like IDS, Sussex, IIED, London, RCPDS is active in Participatory Action Research and Capacity building processes.

Major emphasis of RCPDS can be viewed from three major categories

Build capacity of various development actors, including government line department officials & policy makers, to effectively respond to the changing development scenario and emerging needs of the vulnerable.

Conduct field trials and direct field intervention with special emphasis to participation and creating space to keep up the pace for the vulnerable in line with India’s commitment to UNCRC and set goals of MDG. Focused interventions with community on broader issues such as child rights protection, water management, preventive health care, environmental sanitation, equity issues related to gender and common property resource, strengthening good governance, Lobbying and policy advocacy on issues related to grassroots priorities by building bottom up process.

Undertake action research projects in partnership with repute National and International institutions / Universities to facilitate bottom-up participatory processes, policy advocacy and across learning through field placements.

RCPDS effectively responded to the call of the Asian Disaster in partnership with Kindernothilfe (KNH), Germany by way of immediate relief and inclusion of marginalized dalits who are dependent on fishing & coastal economy. M/S. Frank Duval Foundation, Germany supported construction of 100 permanent shelters to the dalit families through KNH without which life would have been grim for the unfortunate victims. As follow-up of our partnership, we partner with KNH to address the issues of social discrimination and child rights violation in interior pockets of Virudhunagar district as well strive to ensure “child friendly environment” with rights perspective to all children with special emphasis to differently Abled and who are at Risk.