Population, Environment And Development Centre

The Population, Environment & Development Centre (PED-C) is a non-government, not for profit organization established in 2003. It is registered under the ‘Societies Act XXI of 1860’. PED-C is based in Islamabad, but works at the national level to respond to diverse and changing social realities through the application of knowledge and sustainable development in pursuit of protecting dignity, equality, social justice and human rights for all. It started as a continuation of a two-year project, named Population, Environment and Communication Centre (PECC). The project was housed in the premises of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad and was funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. A group of development professionals decided to pursue the work accomplished by PECC under an independent non-profit organization named PED-C. The driving force behind it was the accomplishments of the activities under PECC. Its greatest success was its increasing outreach to the rural communities through various capacity building, media and advocacy initiatives. PED-C strives to work on human development for sustained capacity building and practices through enhanced understanding of the inter-relatedness of environmental, social, and economic issues. PED-C believes that focusing and strengthening the human capacities can sustainably bring visible changes in the attitudes and lives of the population, especially the marginalized communities for managing and sustaining human and social capital. Such cognitive development can capacitate them to use their creativity and potential for finding solutions to their problems through collective action. These initiatives not only improve and enhance the socio-economic status of the communities but also enable them to take decisions affecting their lives and contribute to the process of social change.