Siddhartha Social Development Centre (SSDC) is a non-governmental, nonprofit-making, social, developmental organization, founded to work for development in and around Kapilvastu district. Young, energetic, change-seeking and enthusiastic youth came together to build its foundation and worked together to establish it as a social development organization in 1995, registering it with District Administration Office under Organization Registration Act 2034, and affiliating SSDC with Social Welfare Council (SWC) in 1996.

Kapilvastu the ancient Kingdom of Suddodhana – father of Siddhartha Gautama who later enlightened to become Lord Buddha – has been the lowest-ranking district in development index in Nepal. Of late, it has increasingly become a hotbed of social conflict and a violence as well as disaster-prone district, blamed at greed of certain people, poverty, and lack of distributive justice, inequality, intolerance, and social & economic exclusion.

Local youth wanted to change the situation and make a difference in lives of people living in ancient holy land where Gautama spent his childhood and adulthood, by engaging in social development works, mobilizing society for the same and taking the lead in the process of change. 

This is how the seed of SSDC was sown. It has now grown into a robust and vibrant organization in the span of 1 ½ decade above.

VISION

A just, prosperous and inclusive society where every men and women regardless of caste, gender, language, creed, culture, ethnicity enjoy equal rights and opportunity to pursue his/her social, economic and cultural development

MISSION

Organize and empower community people and groups, sensitize State and Non-State duty-bearers, enable locals have access and control over local resources, transfer skill and resource, and access them to information

ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES

• Organize, empower and mobilize community/groups (Rights-holders) to claim and assert rights and resources through campaign, social-movement, issue-based advocacy
• Build capacity of poor, women, Dalit, OBC (other backward class) and excluded groups, build network and alliances with development organizations, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Advocacy groups, and different stakeholders, at community, district and national level
• Engage with State and Non-State duty-bearers, advocate for accountability, transparency and good governance, engage with Rights-holders, build their capacity, broaden their knowledge and information base, enable them to voice their concerns, and assert rights to be served
• Build capacity of poor, women, Dalit, OBC and excluded groups to claim and gain access and control over local resources thus bring change into their lives
• Build institutional capacity of Community-based Organizations (CBOs), the organizations of Dalit, Women, Children, Youth, Physically Challenged, Conflict Victims/Affected, Senior Citizen, OBCs, and help them evolve so as to take charge of their own development
• Critically engage with State and Non-State organizations, agencies, influence in policy-making and development planning in favour of women, children, poor, Dalit, Youth, Physically Challenged, Senior Citizens, and OBCs
• Build capacity of stakeholders and Rights-holders, advocate for democracy, inclusion, Education and Child rights, Peace Building, good governance and transparency
• Build capacity of Rights-holders and Stake holders to take up climate change issues, environment conservation, and safeguarding ecology
• Organize and empower Rights-holders to enable their access to overall health services (HIV/AIDS, Reproductive health, Mental Health, Nutrition), sensitize health-givers in favour of quality health-services
• Develop SSDC as a resource organization in capacity-building, training, skill-transfer, information, advocacy, planning, project development, development strategy

WE OPPOSE                                                                                

• Use of children in War, Labour, Conflict, Drug-peddling
• Gender-based, caste-based, faith-based, language-based discrimination
• All forms of violence, abuse, discrimination against women and children
• Policies and programs contributing to climate change, environmental degradation, harming bio-diversity and causing ecological disorder
• Policies and programs contributing to communal disharmony, hurting religious sentiments, human self-pride and dignity, and triggering social conflict

WE BELIEVE IN

• Equality and Equal Opportunity
• Innate potential of individuals to work wonders
• Inclusiveness and democracy in form and content
• Transparency, Accountability, Rule of Law
• Human dignity and mutual respect
• Peace, Non-violence, amicable settlement of disputes

WORKING APPROACH

SSDC takes following Approach to development:

• Human Rights-based Approach to Development
• Integrated Community Development Approach
• Empowerment Approach (bottom-up approach) to help Rights-holders take charge of their own development

WORKING STRATEGY

SSDC works on following strategies:

• Organizing and empowering Rights-holders with due emphasis on inclusiveness
• Issue-based Advocacy, campaign and social movement
• Network and alliance building
• Critical engagement with State and Non-State stakeholders in sensitization, advocacy and lobbying