Saibaan Development Organization is a non-profit and non- government organization established back in May 1999 under the Societies Act 1860. Headquartered in Mansehra, once registered, Saibaan launched its first formal project to train people in the skills of carpentry, polishing and cushioning related to furniture making, with funding from TVO and indigenous sources. Soon after, Saibaan also undertook the project to preserve the old Mansehra Library which had been taken over by Police and utilized as Police Station. The success of these two projects helped establish the credibility of Saibaan which got further recognition during the tragic episode of October 2005 earthquake.

Immediately after the earthquake, Saibaan leapt into action to do what it could to alleviate the immediate suffering of affected communities. Being the local organization, Saibaan’s response was instant and proved very effective. . The earthquake was a sudden, rapid onset emergency that included stories of heroic rescue efforts and a race to beat the oncoming winter, which captivate audiences and help to raise much-needed funds to support these efforts. Saibaan took up the responsibility to support long-term, sustainable change and not just to rebuild structures that collapsed as a result of the earth shaking.

Saibaan has been working in Mansehra district for the past 8 years addressing the community issues of livelihood, women empowerment, infra-structure development, education, water, sanitation, and livestock/poultry development. Saibaan also feels that beside the major problems mentioned above there are few cross cutting issues which it needs to address to achieve its plans for Mansehra. They include the issues of education, gender and disaster mitigation and preparedness. The technical and financial assistance for implementing projects is provided by international funding agencies which include, CARE International in Pakistan, Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam US, Oxfam Germany, UNWFP, UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO, JBIC, NGI, CRS, IOM, TVO and UNFPA as without their support we would have not been able to put our part of efforts to establish and foster the systems to improve the quality of life of the people of Earthquake affected areas of NWFP. By now, Saibaan has completed 11 projects and 4 projects are in progress.