Rural Support Programmes Network Competitors

Building a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination where everyone has the opportunity to realise their potential.

The first health institution built in Pakistan was a 42-bed maternity hospital - formerly known as the Janbai Maternity Home - which opened in Karachi in 1924. Today, while maintaining that early focus on maternal and child health, Aga Khan Health Services also offers services that range from primary health care to diagnostic services and curative care. It reaches over 1.1 million people in rural and urban Sindh, Punjab as well as the North West Frontier, Northern Areas and Chitral. As the largest not-for-profit private health care system in Pakistan, its goal is to supplement the Government's efforts in health care provision, especially in the areas of maternal and child health and primary health care. AKHS,P now operates 47 health centres in Karachi, 27 in Sindh, 14 in Punjab and North West Frontier provinces, 33 in the Northern Areas and 31 in Chitral. In the North of Pakistan, AKHS has been implementing the Northern Pakistan Primary Health Care Programme since 1987. Working in partnership with local communities, the government, and other AKDN institutions, like the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, the goal has been to find sustainable ways of financing and delivering primary health care in the high-mountain valleys. This has led to a village-based approach -- the designation of community health workers by the local village organisation, the training of these workers in community-based disease prevention, and the reorientation of health professionals (government and private) to primary health care. Since it began, AKHS,P has trained over 1000 Community Health Workers and 1000 Traditional Birth Attendants in the Northern Areas and Chitral.

Established in 1991, NRSP is the largest Rural Support Programme in the country in terms of outreach, staff and development activities. It is a not for profit organization registered under Section 42 of Companies Act 2017 (repealed Companies Ordinance 1984). NRSP's mandate is to alleviate poverty by harnessing people's potential and undertake development activities in Pakistan. It has a presence in 72 Districts in all the four Provinces including Azad Jammu and Kashmir through Regional Offices and Field Offices. NRSP is currently working with more than 3.74 million poor households organized into a network of 241,072 Community Organizations. With sustained incremental growth, it is emerging as Pakistan's leading engine for poverty reduction and rural development.