Washington, DC — February 6, 2009 — Today, Rabial Mallick of the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (CISRS) delivered his presentation “Organizing People for Power: Community Organizing Program in India” to IRD staff, based on his experiences with community development in India.

“Our greatest success was giving people self encouragement and self respect," said Mallick. "So they don’t feel guilty about the conditions they are forced to live with."

Mallick discussed the principles and goals behind the CISRS-Community Organizing Training program, which began in 1979 in Dharavi, Mumbai, India. After a successful initial  workshop, CISRS facilitated programs for over 200 community organizers across the country.

Since then, community organizers have been involved in promoting “People’s Organizations” such as PROUD (People’s Responsible Organization of United Dharavi). The primary goal of these organizations is to fight against the "sub-human conditions of life," enable communities to gain control over their environment and communicate "the spirit of caring."

IRD asked Mr. Mallick to share his experiences as part of an ongoing knowledge sharing initiative on successful community-based development.

IRD has worked to promote strong community participation, as well as the long-term sustainability of its interventions, since its beginnings in 1998. IRD seeks to empower informed citizens to participate in the democratic process in areas ranging from HIV/AIDS awareness to education and road building to business development. These programs are implemented in vastly different contexts — Afghanistan, Indonesia, and post-Katrina Mississippi — each with its own unique set of challenges.