INTRODUCTION
Siddhartha Social Development Center (SSDC) is a non-governmental, non-profit-making, social development organization, founded to work for development in and around the Kapilvastu district.
Young, energetic, change-seeking and enthusiastic youth came together to build the foundation and to further 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. The combination of being a natural disaster-prone district, and an escalation of social conflict, resulted in the area becoming a hotbed of violence, poverty, inequality, intolerance, social and economic exclusion, as well as a lack of distributive justice.
Local youth wanted to change the situation and make a difference in the lives of people living in the ancient holy land where Gautama spent his childhood and adulthood by engaging in social development works. To achieve this meant mobilizing society for the same purpose 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 22 years.
VISION
A just, prosperous and inclusive society where every man and woman regardless of caste, gender, language, creed, culture, ethnicity, can enjoy equal rights and opportunity to pursue his/her social, economic and cultural development.
MISSION
Organize and empower community people and groups, sensitize the state and non-state duty-bearers. Enable locals to have access and control over local resources, transfer skill and resource, and give them access to information.
