About Agent for Social Change

Introduction:

The Agent for Social Change (ASOC) was born in the year 1997 amidst in unrest situation of Manipur like Economical problem, ethnic conflict, Environment and forest exploitation/disaster pick hours,  high unemployment, unstable State Government, distorted law and orders, high incidence of HIV/AIDS, Gender and Women Empowerment and other health-related problems. Whereas state government faced scarcity of fund for development programme and even could not be paid regular salaries to employees. In such worse scenario of the State, The Agent for Social Change (ASOC) was formed by a group of committed (the founder members are) and likeminded people hailing from various ethnic groups of Manipur.

ASOC was established with main objective to support and strengthen local people (inclusive of man, women, youth, student and children, Old age group, Disabled persons and marginalised groups in the society) who are poor and neglected by the society/communities. The people and area have been neglected by the Government development programme due to poor government fund, being far from district headquarters, and lack of transportation. Moreover, also people could not visit district headquarter and apply for government welfare schemes/programme because of fear psychosis impacted by ethnic conflict, high corruption, and dishonesty of government employees and miss utilization of local / village development fund by village Chief/ Headman / Chairman and Authorities, Village leaders,  Panchayat members and Pradhan etc. There is a great need for the development of Forest and Environment, Economy development, Health issues (including HIV / AIDS, Communicable Diseases and Non-Communicable Diseases), Women development and empowerment, Education, Vocational training/skills development, Income generation programme, Entrepreneurship promotion, Youth promotion programme, games & sport, Local infrastructure development, Sanitation and also enhancing local connectors for initiative and promotion of Peace and capacitation on local issues/problems.

The vision of ASOC: A Just Empowered, Healthy, Sustainable, Integrated, and Eco-friendly society wherein everyone is equal and Co-existent in harmony. 

The mission of ASOC: Improving the living condition of economically backward communities through capacitation, creating job opportunity and employment generation, taking up health care programme, education, agriculture technology and infrastructure development, maintaining forest and environment for eco-balance, Democratization and human rights, and cooperation and coordination among communities for communal harmony and peaceful co-existence.

Objective: 

• To strengthen community members by inputs of capacity building in different fields
• To minimize conflict and harms in the society and to maintain peacefully, coordination and cooperation
• To take up women empowerment and gender development programme
• To protect, preserve and conserve of forest, environment, biodiversity and natural resources
• To maintain and practice human rights and values
• To take up several development programmes like poverty alleviation, employment, health care, hygiene and community sanitation and income generation programme
• To establish and linkage with various networking organisations/institutions
• To take up children development programmes, youth, girls and old age groups’ development programme
• To take up of Handicapped and Disable groups and development programme and also socially marginalised groups and community development programme
• To take up community development programmes, infrastructure development and Science and technology programme including Solar energy, micro-hydel development programme.
• To take up water collection, harvesting, distribution and management programme
• To mobilize resources from various sources from Internal and External of the country (within and without) including loan, grants, credits etc from individuals, groups, institutions, government, private donors, organizations, financial institutions  and others for strengthening the programme
• To take up relief and rehabilitation programme in a time of Natural Calamities, Disaster, conflicts, wars, Epidemics and Pandemic Communicable diseases, victims, migration, refuge, displace, poor, marginalised, disabled and destitute families.
• To take up any activity it can bring changes in the society by practising and promotion of continues development programme

Strategy:

Short term strategy:

1. Contact, mobilization, awareness, sensitization, meeting, training, conference and workshop etc.
2. Poster publication, campaign, rally, street play, folk song, folk dance, mass media and electronic media etc.
3. Advocacy, lobby and exposure etc.
4. Linkage and networking etc.
5. To provide immediate needs & requirement support services including reliefs

Long term strategy:

1. Capacity building
2. Advocacy and lobby
3. Resource mobilization
4. Linkage and networking
5. Strengthening community members by providing various development programme (including exposure and exchange) etc.
6. Creation of community assets
7. Resource generation, sustainable development and empowerment of community members etc.
8. To take up Rehabilitation services

Role: The role of the ASOC is just to the facilitation of community members, guide them for some certain marks, to assist community (ies) and other needy families, groups, individuals, capacity building and coordination and at local level programmes for certain periods and skills and knowledge development for managing on various activities, and capable of planning, monitoring, evaluation and resource mobilisations for their communities upliftments, assets creation and self-sustainable.

SWOT Analysis and Identification of Opportunities

Strength: Committed and potential staff and board members. 

Weakness: Limited resources and lack of technical expertise in the new issues.

Opportunity: Communities are fully cooperation, coordination and participation in ASOC development programmes. And network members’ organisations, stakeholders and alliance building organisations’ members are also full cooperation by extending knowledge, expertise and resources. Whereas ASOC project areas/development areas are fewer services provided by the state government that is why ASOC has a good opportunity to take up other development programmes for community /ies.

Threat: ASOC faced bad law and order problem, politicisation and communalisation in development works, ethnic politicisation, negative propagandas and natural calamities etc.

Concluding Comments:

Presently, ASOC continues in the Capacity building of community members by the creation of community ownership of programmes, participation in decision making, monitoring and evaluation. Whereas ASOC implementing any development programme for communities ASOC always apply to DO NO HARM principle, Rights-Based Approach, and SMART application, gender principle, networking and external alliance-building etc. ASOC continues to strive for Holistic Development and adapting to Environment contextual changes in order to be a relevant and learning organisation.

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE