PACOS Trust is a community-based organisation (CBO) dedicated towards supporting indigenous communities in Sabah. Although registered under the Trustees Ordinance (Sabah) only in 1997, it has been actively involved with communities since 1987 as a different legal entity. PACOS Trust sees itself as on organisation that strives to empower indigenous communities through systematic building and strengthening of community organisations, which can act collectively on its own.

PACOS Trust also sees the need to support networking among organisations struggling to assert right over community resources and revitalizing indigenous systems. PACOS Trust support community organisations in 17 districts involving 23 geographical areas, with each organisation determining and implementing its own area plan and work programme. It has 60 personnel; almost all are working in their own community but also contributes to the organisation by being part of different ad-hoc committees as resource persons depending on their skills and knowledge.

PACOS Trust hopes to have contacts in all 23 rural districts in Sabah with at least one community organisation in each district. It also plans to boost its work on Land Rights by planning a 4-year land campaign, continue its effort to ensure active participants in regulating and protecting access to biological diversity and indigenous knowledge, participate and contribute actively in the Malaysia and Asia network, and provide input into development-related issues faced by indigenous communities.

PACOS sees itself as on organisations that strives to empower indigenous communities through:

• Systematic building and strengthening of community organisations;
• Strengthening indigenous knowledge systems on natural resource management;
• Strengthening positive indigenous values and institutions; as well as
• Improving early child care and development.

PACOS also sees the need to support networks of indigenous organisations that are protecting and promoting their resources and indigenous systems. This is done through the establishment of formal and informal networks between community organisations at different levels.