RDS Rural Development Society is a charitable based organisation dedicated to providing vital infrastructures to the inhabitants of the rural communities of the Shan State of Myanmar. It is currently active in 4 townships : Kalaw, Yat Sauk, Pilaung and Kyeng Tung. The Shan State is a hilly region, 1000 meters high in average. This territory is inhabited by more than main ethnic groups of diverse c
ultural background and very different traditions. It is scattered with villages in remote and inaccessible terrain, where the infrastructure is poor and nonexistent. The RDS was founded in 1992 under the leadership of Tommy Aung Ezdani who has since then served the executive coordinator. It is officially registered in Myanmar as a non profit community based organisation ATA-832 (Shan) under the ministry of Co-Operative with the aim to improve the standards of living of the various ethnic tribes in the Shan State. It operates under the umbrella of a cooperative committee which comprises of 13 villages group chiefs. Project requests are presented by villages themselves and all potential projects are being discussed and approved exclusively by this cooperative committee. All other important issues such as implementation priority are also discussed by the cooperative committee. It has to be emphasized that the RD operates without prejudice to religion, ethnicity, race or gender. Priority is given to women in getting benefit from the project through water supply, library and loan schemes. The organization focuses on development in following fields:
-Water and Sanitation
-Micro Credit Union
-Access Roads and bridges
-Schools, education and teacher training
-Health
-Basic sanitation and health education
-Agriculture and reforestation
-Environmental awareness
-Non-formal education for out of School children
Access to knowledge and improve quality of education through library projects. Most of the decision making is left to the villages involved with the RDS. This contributes to attaining decentralized co-operation objectives with also helps in poverty reduction and sustainable development, particularly in situations of microfinance. Hence, RDS let the recipients towards a more participatory approach to the development responsive to the needs and initiatives of the populace, contributing to civil society diversification and grassroots democracy reinforcement.
