Abstract:
Civil society1 has played a very important role in Pakistan’s transition from elitist to participatory development culture. This transition has called in to question the assumptions about the role of government in promoting social development. A critical review of government-led development reveals that government’s major challenge is not paucity of resources but effective and efficient use of resources. The absence of state development departments – at the local level – necessitates participatory decision making on local development problems. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have taken the lead in introducing this paradigm shift and creating the hope for achieving sustainable human development. This paper discusses some innovative models developed by the CSOs in Pakistan for dealing with local issues within the constraints of existing political system and a narrow resource base.
