Society for People’s Action for Development (SPAD) is a non-profit non-government organisation (NGO) established in 1993. The NGO is initiated by professional social workers, all with Masters Degree in Social Work.

SPAD’s activities are inspired by a vision of a society of social and economic equality, including education, health, and gender relations. In addition, the reduction of discrimination is high on SPAD’s agenda. Through its work, the society emphasizes that social issues need to be an essential element of the development policy of third world countries.

SPAD’s principle is based on TAG: Total Transparency, Absolute Accountability, and Good Governance.

The activities and programs of SPAD are currently spread out in 8 districts of Hassan, Coorg, Mysore, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Tumkur, Chitradurga and Dharwad in Karnataka.

The basic premises of social development on which the NGO was established are:

• People have the inherent capacity to change the lives of individuals and communities.
• Development is a human process. Concerted action is required to make it humane as well.
• Compassion has to be routed in efficiency and effectiveness.
• No human can count him/herself liberated until all of marginalized and oppresses humankind is liberated.
• Humankind cannot be considered emancipated until every woman, every man and every child is emancipated.
• Stigma, prejudice, intolerance, injustice and discrimination form a compound, multipart psychosocial pathology, which stems from fear. Fear is the first fruit of ignorance. Ignorance is equalized and nullified by the dissemination and proliferation of accurate, current information, the delivery, cadence and inflection of which is consciously designed and modulated to be non-threatening, non-provocative, convincing and easily acceptable.

SPAD is registered under Karnataka Societies Registration Act.

Registration u/s 12 A & 80 G of Income Tax Act

Registered under the Foreign Contribution Registered Act.

SPAD’s vision is the reduction of HIV/AIDS among vulnerable communities through a holistic, participatory, and empowering process of intervention. To this end, SPAD works to create an environment in which high-risk sex workers are able to address the issues they face and to get support.

In addition, it is SPAD’s aim to increase the awareness of society in regards to the issues of HIV/ AIDS and to influence the policy of the local, state, and national governments for a better support of PLHA’s. This is done through organizing workshops on decriminalization of the sex trade for representatives of civic bodies, FBOs and executive, legislative and judicial bodies and by promoting acceptance of PLHA within society and the family.

For sex workers as well as for people living with HIV/AIDS, we offer a wide range of services:

• Workshops on HIV/AIDS.
• Tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV.
• Medial as well as psychological support.
• Programs on crisis management, nutrition training and legal empowerment.
• We arrange the formation, training and empowerment of Self Help Groups and link sex workers with state and national level networks.

Please visit our project pages for more specific details about what we do.

SPAD has years of experience in implementing sexual health projects funded by government, bilateral, and international organisations. The core team has over 30 years of combined experience in managing HIV/AIDS prevention and care and support projects. SPAD has about 70 experienced and trained personnel from management, medical, counselling and outreach areas. It has developed core competence on HIV/AIDS prevention and care and support programmes.The organization is able to develop a network with different service providers as well as NGOs to enhance accessibility of service provision for vulnerable and groups who are at risk of HIV.

Over the years the organization has also developed core capacities in implementing project related HIV prevention and care. SPAD also has a team of well qualified, trained, motivated, and committed staff with long standing experience in the field of HIV/AIDS. It is also working in the current location for over a long period and has established locus-standi. It has built good rapport with the community and other stake holders including the ability to quickly involve them. SPAD has good systems in planning, personnel management, financial accounting, monitoring and evaluation, training needs assessment and capacity building systems. The organisation has very strong internal training capability.

It has also good, committed and strong leaders to provide the necessary drive. The presence of good infrastructure and the well defined functional roles and responsibilities has enabled the organisation to take up similar projects with out any difficulties.