About us

TREE-Training Research Education for Empowerment
Acronym: TREE
Date of Establishment: August 2001
Date of Commencement of program activities: 1999

Background:
In the present day world, we feel that development is seen and measured in a narrow perspective with the main emphasis being on economics, ignoring the totality of life. This dominant development paradigm does not consider human beings as the focal point of development. Here, people’s development is measured only in monetary terms, neglecting human potentials. The result of this so-called modern development process may raise the GNP as measured by statisticians, but the majority of the people do not experience much improvement in the quality of their lives. Because this mal-development process involves hundreds of millions of people, it continues to generate new and serious gaps between the majority poor and the minority rich. It also continues to erode the social fabric by replacing decent values with avarice for material things and money. It is in this context that TREE was set up in 1999 to mobilize support for the examination of processes that perpetuate poverty and to identify solutions for improving the quality of life. TREE has initiated its process-oriented development, through dialogue, collaboration, and consultation to embrace individuals and organizations who want to stand against the ‘development’ of the underdeveloped and work for total development of every human being.

Vision:
TREE envisages a self-respecting society, where justice prevails and people are free from all sorts of poverty and hunger.

Mission:

• Initiate people-led processes challenging the dominant but skewed development paradigm that thrives on the globalization process;
• Assist people to regain control of natural resources and common property resources, and promote sustainable management of resources;
• Identify and develop people’s enterprises, economics, and trade which provide subsistence to all without destroying nature, diversity, justice and co-existence;
• Help people’s way of knowing, creating and preserving knowledge; and
• Integration of Youth and Information, Communication, and Technology (ICTs) for social development.