Development Action Consortium Trust

Development Action Consortium Trust (DAC Trust) was founded in 2002 and is based in Theni, west of Madurai. Jothiramalingam, the founder of CRUSADE, is the founder and chairperson of the Trust.

The aim of the Trust is “to promote empowerment and quality of life of vulnerable groups in society, with special focus on poor women, children – particularly girls – based upon self-reliance, dignity, human rights, and nonviolence –irrespective of age, health status, gender, caste, class, race, creed, religion or region”.

To these ends, the Trust aims to sustainably empower vulnerable groups, such as those affected by poverty, oppression, gender, or marginalisation, to gain access to resources and to develop themselves socially, economically, politically and environmentally. Furthermore, the Trust aims to prevent and control communicable diseases; to research and develop health and development models and to engage in advocacy and lobbying for social, economic, political and other rights of vulnerable groups.

To achieve this the Trust aims to encourage and support health and development professionals and to undertake its work in co-operation and collaboration with health and development organisations, groups, agencies, people’s initiatives and other emerging groups whose aims are similar to those of the Trust and to offer support services to them which may include:

• promotion of networking
• linking with donors
• fundraising and channelling funds to those allowed to receive them
• provision of information, reports and publications on health and development issues
• training and enhancement of managerial and technical capabilities
• staff recruitment and development
• marketing support for poor producers
• assistance in studies, planning, monitoring, documentation, reporting and evaluation.

This doesn’t exclude the Trust from undertaking any activity related to its aims and objectives independently.