Community Engagement

The urban poverty situation is a complex issue. Despite being surrounded by various opportunities, the vulnerable group faced a significant income crisis that restricts their access to basic needs such as comfortable and safe housing, quality education and nutritious food. As a center of excellence, the Centre for Islamic Development Management Studies (ISDEV), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), collaborates with Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Pulau Pinang (MAINPP), Zakat Pulau Pinang (ZPP) and Waqaf Pulau Pinang (WPP) to develop quality human resources and socio-economics of the urban-poor community (asnaf).

The Sungai Nibong Socio-Academic Laboratory Project (Makmal Sosio-Akademik Sungai Nibong, MASA@Sungai Nibong) is carried out a Southwest District, Penang. 17 asnaf families are involved in this project with 84 people from various ages encompasses two generation family members. Engagement with the community shows that the first generation has a significantly low level of education with unstable income.

Various community engagement programmes have been designed and run by ISDEV since 2020 until now. This project aims to change the sub-culture of the community by using a social-inclusion approach to ensure that the community is not marginalized from the society. To achieve this goal, 5 categories of programmes are planned and conducted as follows:

• Human intervention program
• ⁠Human empowerment program
• Economic empowerment program
• ⁠Community engagement program
• ⁠Community empowerment program