Vol 10 Issue 6
Nov-Dec.2012
“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.”
- Sally Koch
Failure of Govt It took a Savita to make Ireland change their abortion law, and it seems that now it will be the gangrape in Delhi that will force the government of India to refresh their laws on rape. First it was the moral police that went around harassing women who dressed a certain way, or went to certain places (pubs) or who did anything ‘they’ disapproved of. And then we had the Curb Police who want to stop what you say in print, on the net, or on a private page. Eventually it is a matter of lack of political will. In any and every way, it is a failure of governance, a failure of sensitivity, a failure of nationalism... If you look beyond the immediate you can see that it is actually the total corruption of politicians that has led to the police thinking they have the power to take any action they want, and men to think they have the power to do what they want. Power that corrupts is the worst kind. When a politician --a socalled leader--thinks he (and his family) have the power -to do what they want and the laws tweaked to suit their ends, their mentality peters down. For too long has this drama of Political Corruption- with criminals being given tickets to contest elections-been going on in India, and the gangrape in Delhi is the net result of the Leadership our government has given us. They refuse to pass the Police Reforms Bill which will take away their control of the Police and they refuse to table the Jan Lokpal Bill because they will be open to legal action. When a man thinks he is the one with Power and can get away with anything– murder, rape--there is something that has given him that message. That message has to be corrected...and as the protestors in Delhi, and all those in other parts of India, said ‘HANG the rapists’. Whether it is your son/brother/father/neighbour --if they have raped a girl, will you feel safe if he is around you/your child? No. Our judicial system will give him bail, let him out (after we have paid for his free stay in jail) after a few years.Those who are against capital punishment- may ponder over this: Does a predator have the right to kill/rape again and again? ---Rima Kashyap
Other issues GM crop field trials must not be allowed Environmentalists have been telling us about the presence of DDT residues in human milk and even traces of it in the blood of penguins. This tells us how widespread the use and abuse of this chemical is, but it took us more than 40 years to realise that DDT is a harmful persistent organic pollutant. Environmentalists are now worried about the growing emergence of biological toxins - like Bt - and the threat they pose to our health and environment. Newer estimates tell us that each Bt plant produces within itself a heavy dose of toxins equal to 4.2 kg per hectare, 19 times more than the average use of chemical pesticides. Still more worrisome is a recent Canadian study that shows widespread presence of Bt-related insecticides in the blood of 93% pregnant women and in 80% of foetuses. Having failed to learn any lesson from the DDT debacle, the scientific community is pushing ahead for the acceptance of GM crops. So when the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert's Committee (TEC) in its interim report suggested a moratorium for 10 years on field trials of GM crops till the time a regulatory mechanism is put in place, the GM industry reacted sharply. The TEC report couldn't have come at a better time. Only a few weeks ago, Giles-Eric Seralini, professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen, France, demonstrated that when fed with GM maize and a particular herbicide, rats developed huge kidney and skin tumours, and also had digestive problems. Female rats developed fatal mammary tumours and pituitary disorders with a high fatality rate . In case of agriculture, the claims have fallen flat. There is no GM crop in the world which increases crop productivity. US department of agriculture acknowledges low productivity of GM corn and GM soybean. The promise of reducing chemical pesticides usage has also been belied. In the US alone, pesticide use has increased by 404 million pounds between 1996 and 2011. In India, the Central Institute for Cotton Research has shown that pesticides usage in cotton has not decreased with Bt crops. Still more worrisome is the emergence of super weeds and resistant insects. In America, more than 14.5 million acres are now afflicted with super weeds which are difficult to eliminate. As many as 23 weeds have now been classified as 'super weeds'. A robust regulatory regime, with science-based long-term studies on the impact of GM crops on soil, animal and human health and the environment are desperately needed.
The WB’s World Devpt. Report is not holistic The theme of the World Bank's World
Development Report this year is, appropriately enough, jobs. The report recognizes that creating jobs is the surest way of reducing inequality and poverty, particularly in the developing world. But the cliché it offers as a solution is disappointing: relax labour laws. The bank has failed to take a holistic view of the problem. While job creation is a central issue, the report has overlooked the quality of employment on the one hand and the political economy of the production structure on the other. For it is a fact that a large majority of our workers are toiling in inhumane conditions and are unable to earn a decent living. Yet this inhuman aspect is hardly talked about. Similarly, it is also evident that the unprecedented momentum in growth seen in most economies in the last decade has not necessarily been employment-friendly . This is especially true for the Indian economy. Barely a million jobs were created in the entire five-year period from 2004-05 to 2009-10, coinciding with the first avatar of the UPA government. What, however, is not said is the fact that this period also saw the quality of employment deteriorating and most jobs being created in the low-paid construction sector. Consequently, not only did the share of the informal sector increase in the overall workforce, it now accounts for two in three workers in the organized sector. It is the latter sector that is generally considered to be a better employer in terms of facilities and work environment. The growing casualization of the workforce and its increasing contractual nature in the organized sector has been established through multiple sources. Contract workers accounted for less than 20% of all workers in the manufacturing sector in 1999-2000 but increased to almost 32% in 2008-09, according to the Annual Survey of Industries, and the National Sample Survey Office. So, not only is sufficient employment not being generated, but its quality too is suspect. At the same time, this period has seen a sharp increase in productivity, resulting in larger profit accumulation. However, increases in productivity have not led to any betterment in the working conditions of employees. This is not unique to India; it has happened globally with multinational corporations using the loopholes in labour laws in collusion with compliant national governments to take advantage of cheap labour in developing countries-a phenomenon described as crony capitalism. As a result, a large part of our population is poor, not just because they do not have jobs but also because the kind of jobs they land into do not provide enough earnings to ensure a decent standard of living. Irrespective of the justification of the poverty line, (already pegged at a very low level), the fact remains that a large majority of the workforce in the country earns less than that. This number is estimated to be little less
The media is a key outlet for this. Why influence? A just, fair and equitable world is not
The Woman Fire Fighters and Officers of Mumbai Fire Brigade Kavita Burkul, Lata Rathore, Shwetambri Yadav and Sunita Patil, and the youngest commercial pilot Bavicca Bharathi were felicitated at an event to mark International Day of the Girl Child
than one-third of the populationworking yet poor. The bank's overlooking of these fundamental issues is particularly distressing since these contradictions are now getting articulated violently. The recent incident where a section of workers at Maruti Suzuki's plant in Manesar clashed with the management-resulting in the death of a manager-is an isolated event, but a grim harbinger of things to come. Such incidents are not limited to India but have also occurred in the US, China and South Africa. In the last six months, workers at a Foxconn factory (which makes the Apple iPhone) in China resorted to industrial action against poor working conditions, leading to the death of 10 workers; employees of Wal-Mart protested working conditions at their facilities in the US and 12,000 protesting mining workers in South Africa were fired at by the armed security, killing 34 miners. While the World Bank has done well in flagging an endemic problem, it is remiss in not delving deeper into the issue. As a multilateral institution, it carries considerable weight and, hence, is in a strong position to influence the discourse in what is otherwise a hugely important and vexing problem. It is something that could trigger social chaos and derail the best laid plans, a situation that developing countries such as India can't afford.---(excerpts from an article by Himanshu, asst prof. at Jawaharlal Nehru University and visiting fellow at Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi).
What is advocacy? Advocacy is action that aims to change laws, policies, practices and attitudes. Who to influence? Advocacy actions are usually directed at decision makers who hold the power to implement the change required, for example governments or private actors such as water companies. Advocacy can also be directed towards changing public opinion to support an issue or cause, or take a specific form of action to put pressure on decision makers.
The media is a key outlet for this. Why influence? A just, fair and equitable world is not possible without working on the social, economic and political injustices which result in millions without access to clean water, billions without access to a safe place to go the bathroom and the disproportionate costs and effects of climate change between various parts of the world.(Freshwater Action Network.)
What Aadhar? On Dec. 13, hundreds of residents from Kotkasim joined the “Right to Food dharna” at Jantar Mantar to share their side of the “direct cash transfer” pilot in Kotkasim – irregular payments, being forced to buy kerosene before they get their PDS grain, payment of Rs. 500 to open “zero-balance” accounts and so on. In the Kotkasim “pilot”, subsidy at the point of sale was removed, and was to be reimbursed into people’s bank accounts. Instead of buying kerosene at Rs. 15/litre earlier, now people buy kerosene at Rs. 50/litre. After the introduction of the pilot in December, 2011, kerosene sales fell by 80%. This was hailed as a success in curbing “black” sales of kerosene. However, the truth is that many people did not have bank accounts and those who did were not getting the “direct cash transfer” reimbursed into their accounts. On Dec.10 KV Thomas (Minister, Food) stated in the Rajya Sabha that the very same model which failed in Kotkasim is going to be introduced for foodgrains in six Union Territories!! His statement betrays the fact that the government is not coming clean on which schemes are to be linked to the “direct cash transfers.” Until a few days ago, many in government were at pains to clarify that food subsidies were NOT part of the “direct cash transfer” game plan. On Dec. 11, Jairam R a m e s h , ( M i n i s t e r, R u r a l Development) wrote in The Hindu, “subsidies on food and fertilizer have not been included in the first phase”, but on Dec. 10, KV Thomas (Minister, Food) stated in Parliament that it is being linked in six UTs.!!!! Who knows what?
NGO Connect
. Nov-Dec. 2012
NGO News Looking back Mumbai: Twenty years have passed since Bombay was rocked by the violent and horrifying days of Dec ‘92-Jan ‘93. That violence marked the city severely, and over the last twenty years, the cosmopolitan spirit of the city has been regressively replaced with narrowing definitions of its “true residents”. Protests have become more difficult, but the voice of dissent has not died down. Finally, activists, academics, students, film makers, journalists, artists, individuals and organisations, have come together to speak for and about the city. From Dec.14, 2012 -- Jan. 13, 2013 all over the city of Bombay/Mumbai/Bambai, there will be a series of events on both memory and resistance. There will be art installations, music on streets, railway platforms and in auditoriums, panel discussions, day long events in many colleges, universities and in various community centres, film screenings, discussions and more. The opening event of the campaign was on Dec. 14 at 6 p.m. at the K.R. Cama Hall with r e a d i n g s , p o e t r y, s o n g s , presentations, and short films to remember Dec ’92 – Jan ’93 and the struggles for justice since. Organised by Aawaaz-eNiswaan, Akshara, Citizens for Justice and Peace, Communalism Combat, Forum Against Oppression of Women, JAPA, Jogeshwari Vikas Manch, Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action, Majlis, Muktiyaan Loksanskritik Sanghatana, MYA, National Streets for Performing Artists, Nirbhay Bano Andolan, Rah-eHaq, Republican Panthers, S A H E R , T I S S , Va c h a , Wo m e n ’s R e s e a r c h a n d Action Group, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action
Bhavan, Bangalore and from Dec. 79 at Films Division in Mumbai. Organised by the Goethe Institute/Max Mueller Bhavan in association with The International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT), the 3-day festival is part of the One Billion Rising campaign and coincides with the start of the annual 16-day international campaign against gender violence. This festival was part of Sangats initiative (the South Asian coordinators of the campaign) and showcased various kinds of films made in India with panel discussions with films makers and writers. The Opening film was Saving Face, the Academy award winning documentary from Pakistan about acid attack victims in Pakistan and their facial reconstruction by a doctor. Labels from a Global City by Surabhi Sharma documented the chilling testimonies that emerged from large garment factories producing clothes for global labels. In the light of the Bangla Desh tragedy in which over 100 women died in a garment factory making labeled clothes- the film seemed all the more chilling. Among the other Indian films were Lightening Testimonies by Amar Kanwar; Morality, TV aur loving Jehad by Paromita Vohra; Bol by Shabnam Virmani; Shit by Amudhan Contact 080-25205305
Women’s Rights, Human Rights Mumbai: Women Networking (WN) observed International Human Rights Day on Dec. 7 at YWCA, Andheri. The programme on Women’s Rights, Human Rights, a t t e n d e d b y a b o u t 11 0 activists/members, included jagruti geet, a play Gouri Zaali, Durga performed by the Centre for Study of Social Change and launching of WN’s booklet Towards Gender Balance- Say No to Sex Selection in English and Marathi. The booklet gives information on sex selection, statistics, details of the PCPNDT Act,
WSF 2013 The World Social Forum (WSF) will take place in Tunis from March 2630, 2013. The WSF is a global meeting bringing together of civil society organisations, social movements and activists to discuss our struggles to build another world. During the meetings of Nov 30 and Dec. 7 many proposals were received: a series of assemblies within the official program of the WSF, an open space about the future of our struggles, communication, skill-sharing workshops, a camp and caravan in Tunis, and more. In order to make these activities as open and inclusive as possible, the options of a solidarity fund for travelling and interactive live connection with activities in Tunisia were discussed. In the coming months we will continue to develop these plans, keep the process open to new people, new proposals, constructive criticism and fresh fuel to fire from all the corners of the world. Contact http://openfsm. net/projects/ 2011movements-
Tripura's poor to get free ed. till Class 12 Agartala: The Left Front government in Tripura, on Dec. 12, announced free education to poor students, covering the entire period of school education, up to class 12. The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, of the central government offers free education up to Class 8. CM Manik Sarkar said that starting from the next academic session, b e g i n n i n g J a n u a r y, s t u d e n t s belonging to BPL (below poverty line) families would get free text books and other facilities up to class 12."The decision was taken aiming at universalisation of education, and to achieve 100 percent literacy (from the existing 90 percent)." Poor students would be charged no fees. Currently, poor students up to Class 10 have been getting free school textbooks and other facilities.
The Museum School Bangalore: A project by Bal Utsav- an initiative of Child Empowerment Foundation India (CEFI) helps children belonging to lower income families who have to give up on their education because of family demands. “A bridge school” as defined by Ramesh Balasundaram and his wife Vinu, the Museum School functions from the Visveshvaraya Museum and at Cubbon Park nearby. Children drop outs are taught alphabets, maths and other basics in the Park and the Museum. The model used is simplified to make it easier for the children. Phase 1 is literacy, Phase 2 is Maths and Phase 3 includes a visit to the Museum- which is basically a Science Museum. The children study 5 days a week, 4 hour sessions and then can join a mainstream school, with the support of their Museum teachers after some time. The Museum school provides free pick up and drop, free meals and health check up twice a year. The Museum School is also running at Bhopal and plans are to start one in Delhi soon. Contact info@balutsav.org
Film Fest fights gender violence Bangalore: A 3-day film festival: Our Lives to Live: No to gender violence: Films of Courage, Protest, and Hope was held from Nov. 22-24 at the Max Mueller
Fatima Saiyed of Friends Society won the 1st prize at the garba competion. Art Therapist, Hemubhai hands over the prize to her.
Corruption Day– Dec 9, it was announced that soon people across the country would be able to file complaints online against corrupt officials, courtesy a joint project by IGNOU, CVC and the union HRD ministry. The Central Vigilance Commission's (CVC) 'VigEye' project, will allow people to submit corruption complaints online. It will be popularised by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) through its 67 regional centres across the country. "The VigEye (Vigilance Eye) is a platform for submitting corruption complaints through mobile phones and internet. People can lodge their complaint with the help of photographs, audio and video," Vigilance Commissioner R. Sri Kumar said. "The project will soon reach the remote corners of India through IGNOU in addition, a couple of volunteers at village level shall be nominated to make rural people aware about it," he added. IGNOU said it will soon be having a curriculum on moral ethics and vigilance. According to Kumar, people can send a blank SMS or sms "VIGEYE" to 09223174440 to get an SMS containing the registration link in their mobile. "Once you are registered, you can file a complaint," he said.
World AIDS Day Bangalore: All over the country events took place on the occasion of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. In Bangalore various NGOs and institutions held rallies across the city to raise awareness and lay emphasis on the preventive aspects of HIV and AIDS. Karuna Vikas Bal, which works for the welfare of children living below the poverty line conducted an awareness meeting at Town Hall, where hundreds of children aged 1218 formed a human chain. In another rally organized by the Bangalore Multipurpose Social Service Society and Sacred Hearts Girls College, students took out a rally on the theme: Getting to Zero-- zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society volunteers were present. Advocate Manisha Tulpule releases the Booklet as Shama Chatterjee, President of YWCA Mumbai looks on.
the campaign against sex selection and includes the result of a survey conducted by 13 organisations in 2011. The survey gives an insight into local communities’ perceptions about the declining sex ratio and the law; it also reveals women’s real feelings about having daughters. Women Networking is an informal network of over 15 women’s groups, community organisations and interested individuals, to provide a platform to address women’s issues such as livelihood, labour, violence, food, health and shelter. Contact: jaya11200@yahoo.co.in
Tripura is probably the only state government in the country which has been providing free education to all, covering the whole of school-level education. The Tripura council of ministers, also decided to increase the emoluments of the teachers working in the Islamic madrasas. According to School Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty, there are about 800,000 students studying in 4,600 schools in Tripura.
Send an sms to fight corruption New Delhi: On International Anti2
News from Friends Society Va d o d a r a : F r i e n d s S o c i e t y Exhibition-cum sale at campus was visited in large numbers and an occasion for many to see the items prepared by beneficiaries from their Sunday School, Balwadi, Sewing Class & Income generation program. Good sales were achieved for Artificial jewellery, chaniya choli, Pouches, Shopping bags, etc. The Exhibition-cum-sale was subsequently held at “The Neilsen Company” on Nov.7 for their employees The IXth Voluntary Blood donation camp for the year 2012-13 was held at M.S. University campus-
- A total of 290 units of blood this year have been donated to SSG Hospital, which will be given free of cost to poor patients of Govt. hospitals. Spandana School for mentally challenged (Karelibaug, Vadodara) organized a city-level Garba competition for mentally challenged children on Oct.30. Five children from Friends Society participated and Fatima won the 1st prize. The Vadodara Special Children Sports Meet' - Shaurya-2012, the Annual Flagship event of Friends Society was held on Dec. 16 at Convent School, Fatehgunj, Vadodara. Twenty-four institutions participated in a variety of events for the Physically challenged, Mentally challenged, Deaf & Dumb, Semi Blind & Blind. Contact: Jaya.anuj1@gmail.com
India-US portal to promote women in science New Delhi: To attract more women to science, India and the US launched a web-portal on best practices in public and private sector and policy initiatives in the field of technology in both countries on Dec.10. The portal http://indousstf.org on US and Indian cooperation on promoting women in science was launched by US Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Powell said the US and India had prioritised "Women in Science" as an area for bilateral engagement at the US-India Joint Commission meeting on science & technology in June. The portal will share best practices in the US and India to enable, promote and retain women in science. Calling for gender parity in the field of science, Powell said: "We need to equip all our scientists and innovators with the best education and the best training that is available." The envoy also shared that: "A study by the US department of commerce reveals that in the US the percentage of females working in the fields of science, technology, engineering and Mathematics (STEM) lags far behind than that of the overall female-to-male workplace ratio." A workshop was also organised to discuss mentoring and networking opportunities for women scientists, and US-India policy-level engagement for addressing issues of women in science in both countries.
Karnataka Queer Habba 2012 Bangalore: The Fifth Annual Queer Pride celebrations took off on Nov. 22 with a week-long celebration starting with photo exhibitions, plays (Ek Madhav Bagh), garage sales, a diversity mela, workshops on making posters and accessories; theatre body workshops, performance pieces (Biryani), a Litfest-- ‘Queer Words’ culminating in a Queer Pride March from Tulsi Park to Town Hall on Dec. 2. and the play Ek Madhav Baug
Nov-Dec. 2012
NGO Connect
NGO News -- one of the pioneering Marathi language plays written on homosexuality and acceptance of the queer community. It is a 50 minute soliloquy by actor Mona Ambegoankar to support the organising of pride month celebrations. The Queer Pride celebration bring together members of the LGBTQI community to celebrate the diversity of the community and stand in solidarity with all those who face persecution and violence because of their gender or sexual identity. The play was performed at Jaaga on Nov. 23 courtesy the Humsafar Trust (Ek Madhavbaug is produced by The Humsafar Trust, Under Project Sandesh 2012 supported by SIDA RFSU) The event was organized by the Coalition of Sexual Minority Rights.
Connecting villagers to government Lucknow: Gaon Connection, a rural all-colour weekly newspaper in Hindi, was launched on Dec. 2 in an attempt to bridge the gap between villagers and the government. CM, Akhilesh Yadav launched the new weekly at Kanaura village on the outskirts of Lucknow. The paper will carry stories from villages and act as a bridge between the government and villagers, informing them about larger schemes that have been launched for their welfare.” Scientist-turned-educationist S.B.Mishra, is the editor-in-chief of Gaon Connection, which is being circulated in all 75 districts of the state.
Campaign against child sexual abuse Bangalore: Enfold Proactive Health Trust, working against child sexual abuse conducted awareness programmes at three malls on Nov. 19 -- World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse. Professionals, students and parents took part in the awareness programme which aims to educate children and parents ad society on how to identify and prevent child abuse. The programmes conducted at Forum value Mall-- Whitefield, Forum Mall-- Koramangala and at Brigade Gateway used skits, flash mobs and small marches.
Civil Society Solidarity Meet Bangalore: A celebration of civil society movements was the cause de célèbre of the Civil Society Summit- Celebrating Civil Society Solidarity from Nov.16-18 at ISI. The theme of the Summit: Peoples movements are civil society movements was inherent in the Summit as it traced the several people’s movements that had taken place in India-- starting with the freedom movement, followed by several Peasant’s movements all over the country which essentially fought for, and seem to be still fighting for, land rights, against the WTO, amendment of the patent law, against multinationals selling seeds and now, GM foods. Then came the Dalit movements which has become more assertive as caste-based politics took to the scene, the Mandal commission report and, reservations. The JP movement: Launched in Bihar, it was initiated by students who fought against misrule and
corruption in the government. JP called for PM Indira Gandhi to resign when she was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court. She invoked the Emergency. The JP movement died down with the formation of the Janata Party- and collapsed. The Narmade bachao Andolan: is one of the most powerful mass movements in India. Started in 1985 against the construction of the dam across the Narmada river which would displace lakhs of tribals. Pitted against the World Bank which financed the project, the movement forced debate on development vs. people; Govt. against people and made many question the basic principles of development. The strong protests and the support of celebrities made this an international cause. It is still going strong. The Plachimad Struggle : For the first time, it was people against a multinational and after years of struggle, the people won --when after many law suits and see-saw developments, it was determined that the land was being depleted of water and that chemicals were being released in the ground. The political opposition joined the people when they saw the persistence and strength of the people. Coca Cola has had to stop production here, and in UP where a similar struggle is taking place, and soon became a global strike against Coca Cola. Struggle against AFSPA: Since 2000, a young poetess, Sharmila Irom has signified the cause of people in the North East against the AFSPA-- an Act considered unjust by organizations across the world. Koodankulam Anti-nuclear movement: Almost every country in the world is stopping nuclear power stations, yet the Indian government continues to support nuclear power regardless of the struggle by the people who live nearby in permanent fear. The government brought up the bogey of foreign hands, arresting the leaders, et al when actually the government is in the hands of the foreign powers. The people have been on indefinite hunger relay strikes for many months and their demand cannot be ignored. The India against corruption movement: No other movement has taken the country by storm as this one. It had only one demand that the Jan Lokpal Bill cover all in power. But those in power are scared and unwilling to pass such a Bill. The movement has now become a political movement and the support of civil society is crucial. The two days of “conversations” covered all the issues NGOs have been working with from governance, law, freedom of expression, children, youth and climate change. Over 500 peoplefrom over 50 organisations attended the Summit.
preganancy support. Hospitals illegally register the birth in the adoptive mother’s names- and so she has no proof if she falls ill. Contact: Sama, Delhi. email: sama.womenshealth@gmail.com www.samawomenshealth.org
Walkathons Bangalore: Samarthanam, working to empower those with disabilities, in association with the Karnataka Sports Association for the Physically handicapped organised a walkathon on Nov. 17 from the Chenamma Stadium. The 3.5 km walk saw great participation from students, corporates, NGOs and members of the Rotary and Lions Clubs to raise funds for persons with disabilities and to spread the world about the T-20 Blind World Cup. Trailwalker on Jan 25 Bangalore: The second edition of Trailwalker, a global challenge event which will start from Pearl valley, Bangalore and culminate at Eagleton Resort near Bidadi is slated to be held on Jan.25. Last year more than 80 teams walked 100 kms in teams of 4 each to raise Rs. 1.2 crore to strengthen the programmes of Oxfam India across the country. In Bangalore the funds were used to help SPAD- an NGO working in the health sector. For details contact 99455-11831
Corrosive delays Bangalore: Members of Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women (CSAAAW) picketed the offices of the Karnataka State Women’s Commission on Dec. 5 to demand speedy implementation of promises made for the welfare of acid attack victims. The Commission had, in July, organized a public hearing of the victims, following which assurances were made of creating a support system for them, including raising the compensation amount to Rs. 5 lakh, providing continued treatment through the Yashaswini schema, sponsoring the education of the victims’ children and provide housing. One of the victims who had been attacked in 2003 complained that even her medical bills had not been reimbursed. Ms. Mallige of the KSWC promised to look into the issues at a meeting on Dec. 21.
BLP Observes World Disabled Day Mumbai: Bombay Leprosy Project (BLP) observed World Disabled Day (WDD) as this is more relevant in the post elimination scenario when leprosy is integrated with general health and rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation of leprosy affected individuals and physically challenged is a long time endeavor of BLP and is being undertaken in collaboration with allied agencies and philanthropists.
Surrogacy in India Mumbai: SAMA- a Delhi-based resource group for women and health, did a study on Surrogacy in India highlighting the lack of regulation in the Indian context. The study noted that reproductive tourism in India is valued at more than USD 450 million a year . The research was done on two sites: Delhi and Punjab during Dec 2011 to April 2012 through interviews recorded on film. The film, shown at the YWCA highlighted the lack of any legal backing for the women involved. The agents, mostly surrogate mothers themselves, sign up he women for amounts ranging from Rs.1.5 lakh upwards, to stay in a hostel-like situation once impregnated. Once the child is delivered, the women gets no post-
At a simple function held on Dec. 3 at its Main Referral Centre, Mr G Subramaniam, President, Lions Club of Chembur, Chief Guest of the function inaugurated the enhancement of physiotherapy services at the Referral Centre and distributed aids to needy leprosy patients. He said that the integrated approach of disability care and rehabilitation practiced by BLP will go a long way in eliminating stigma in the 3
society. Dr V V Pai, Director BLP, added that strengthening the physiotherapy unit, utilizing specialized equipments and aids is aimed at those patients with early nerve damage to restore the muscle function. The additional accessories under its physiotherapy services will be a great boon to enhance the physiotherapy measures benefitting several patients attending the Referral Centre of BLP. The first death Anniversary of Late Dr R. Ganapati, Founder Director, Bombay Leprosy Project was observed on Nov. 12 at the Office of Bombay Leprosy Project, Chunabhatti, Mumbai.Contact: b_l_p@vsnl.com
Lawyers making a difference A team of young lawyers is trying to make a difference by helping NGOs access specialised legal help free of cost--The 'I-Probono' initiative. 29-year-old Swathi Sukumar, an alumnus of Columbia Law School, provides a platform to lawyers to do 'probono' work by connecting them with non-profit organisations who need legal help. "I-Probono is an online portal which we started three years ago. There's a lot of probono work that happens in the US but in India, it's still a new concept. We've been working hard at changing mindsets," Sukumar says. Using her web portal, I-Probono, Sukumar and her team are able to connect NGOs with lawyers who can provide them with credible legal help that otherwise would have been unaffordable. So when Mumbai Mobile creches, an NGO that works with the children of migrant workers, needed help with a land encroachment case, they turned to IProbono. Vrushali Naik of Mumbai Mobile Creches says, "We have to deal with all kinds of people - builders, corporates - who threaten us with legal notices. There are issues where we don't know what the legal standpoint is, which is where we need help." Another initiative that has used IProbono's help is Udyam Prayas, an NGO that's working at deconstructing government schemes like Laadli and Kishori Shakti Yojna aimed at benefiting underprivileged children. Their aim is to ensure that the children are actually able to avail these schemes. Lawyers who have registered with this online portal claim I-Probono allows them to bridge the information gap with civil society groups who ordinarily wouldn't have known about their expertise, as the Bar council forbids any form of advertising. Criminal lawyer Shri Singh said, " I want to do some probono work to help someone out. I-Probono provides me that kind of space.”
Int’l Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women Delhi: To celebrate the Day, Apne Aap's dance group wowed an audience with their creativity and confidence using dance as a means to promote the empowerment of girls and women on Nov. 25. Apne Aap's Kolkata office co-hosted the event with Shibaranjanki, a local dance group, to recognize the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, through arts and dance. Many well-known artists and government officials were in attendance.
Organic Food Fair Bangalore: Highlighting the growing popularity and demand for organic food in the world and in India, a three-
day International organic trade f a i r, B i o FA c h I n d i a , w a s organized from Nov. 29 to Dec.2 at Palace Grounds. The fair organized jointly by Nuremberg Mess of Germany, International Competence Centre for Organic culture and the Karnatka State Agriculture Dept. had 141 stalls (including 16 foreign exhibitors) as well as a food court where only food from organic sources was cooked. Apart from a buyer-sellers meet various workshops and programmes to create awareness among farmers and consumers were organized. Bangalore-based organic agricultural company, Phalada Agro Research foundation Pvt. Ltd. released 16 organic products at the event.
Countdown to 2014 Peoples Assembly (Jan Sansad) at Jantar Mantar Delhi: The aim of the Peoples Assembly is to bring together a n u m b e r o f campaigns/organizations on a common platform and to take forward the demands of each campaign and highlight the interlinking principles of democracy and justice that bind them together. The People’s Assembly was organized for 5 days from Nov 26-30, 2012 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi to represent the voice of India’s “real mainstream”. During this period a series of public hearings/demonstrations were held to bring before Parliament many basic issues awaiting legislative action. We believe that Parliament must function and there are too many important issues, including corruption that must be taken up on the floor of the house. We also want to use this opportunity to build a people’s Manifesto for the 2014 elections. “We are distressed by the increasing repression by the State, particularly on leaders of Campaigns and movements, as well as the assault on democratic rights of citizens. We, therefore want to use this opportunity to collectively assert our commitment to democratic principles and protect India’s basic Constitutional framework. The meeting began with a reaffirmation of Constitutional commitments in the context of India today. followed by different activities on successive days with each campaign/movement presenting its demands drawing attention to the democratic and governance issues implicit in their demands. The 1st Day: Responsibility of the State in eradicating poverty and provide basic services, Panchayati Raj and decentralized governance, People’s control over natural resources, Defining P a r t i c i p a t o r y D e m o c r a c y, Deepening Democracy , Fighting State repression, Fighting the Sedition law, Diversifying forms of Public Protest, Protecting the Freedom of expression and other democratic rights, Independence of Media Day 2 brought out Governance I s s u e s – t r a n s p a r e n c y, accountability, anti-corruption coordinated by NCPRI and State RTI forums and groups discussing ‘Pending Legislation [ W h i s t l e - b l o w e r, L o k p a l , Grievance Redress, Judicial Accountability) On Day 3: State Responsibility for Social Security and Basic Services, was coordinated by
NGO Connect
. Nov-Dec.2012
NGO News Pension Parishad; PAEG: Pension, Employment, Unorganized Sector Worker Rights, Imminent threat of Cash Transfers, Education, Health Day 4 the movement for Land, Agriculture and Natural Resources took over and was Coordinated by NAPM; Ekta Parishad; RTF campaign; Green Peace; ASHA [Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture] to discuss Mines, Minerals and People; Food, Proposed Land Acquisition Bill, Land Reforms Task Force, Seeds Bill and Bio-technology Bill, Budgetary allocations to agriculture, Renumerative prices for farmers, Sustainable farming and farm livelihoods, Income guarantee for farming households, Mining Policy and proposed Mining Bill The 5th day was coordinated by gender groups, with issues of discrimination and inequality affecting dalits, tribals, minorities and other marginalized groups such as single women, disabled people and persons affected by HIV and coordinated by NFIW; One Billion Rising; Jagori; The discussions will contribute towards the formulation of a draft People’s Manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. so that thesevoices shape the electoral discourse in 2014 and feed into political manifestos. Contact –Amrita Johri – 09810273984 Nandini Dey – 09953153445 O r w r i t e t o – ncpri.india@gmail.com Orgs, involved: Act Now for Harmony And Democracy (ANHAD), Aman Biradri, All India Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (AIMKSS), Alliancefor Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), ASHA P a r i v a r, A s s o c i a t i o n f o r Democratic Reform (ADR), Centre For Advocacy Research (CFAR), Global Human Rights Communication, Greenpeace India, Ekta Parishad, Hamal Panchayat, Inclusive Media for Change, Indian Community Activists Network (ICAN), Jagori, Joint Organization for Self Help (JOSH), Khudai Khidmatgar, Manzil, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), National Alliance of Peoples Movments (NAPM), National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) National Federation for Indian Women (NFIW), Pardarshita, Peoples Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), Pension Parishad, Right to Food Campaign, Rajasthan Adivasi Adhikar Manch, Rajasthan Mazdoor Kisan Union ,RTI Manch, Rajasthan ,Satark Nagarik Sangathan (SNS),Soochna Evum Rozgar Abhiyan (SR Abhiyan) amongst others.
Sensitivity was launched on Sept. 22 with the first set of awards for the western region being presented at Jaipur followed by the Southern r e g i o n a w a r d s a t Tiruvananthapuram on Oct. 3. The western region awards covering Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Goa, Daman and Diu were presented in 5 languages Hindi, English, Urdu, Marathi and Gujarati. The 23 awardees were chosen from 600 entries from print, electronic and web journalists. Two awards were given for campaigns undertaken by publications. These included Hindustan Times’s ‘Blow the Whistle’ campaign on safety of women and Femina’s ‘Campaign on Girl Child Education.’ The Southern region awards covering Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Pondicherry were presented in seven languages: Hindi, English, Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. The 23 awardees were chosen from 170 entries from print, electronic and web journalists. The highlight of the awards were the investigative TV features and documentaries that addressed social issues ranging from trafficking of young girls, gender based violence, poor sanitation facilities in schools etc.
Int’l Day of Persons with disabilities Bangalore: The SBI Twenty20 World Cup for the Blind held at the Central College grounds was brought to Bangalore by Mr. GK Mahantesh, founder of the Samarthanm Trust for the Disabled, a former State-level blind cricketer and now the vice president of the World Blind Cricket Council. SP Nagesh of the Cricket Association for the Blind in India commented that the BCCI had failed to take CABI under its wings, despite feelers. Nine countries took part in the contest...the final was played between Pakistan and India to huge crowds. India won.
Inclusion Summit Bangalore: The Indian Inclusion Summit took place in Bangalore for the first time and was organized by IT major SAP Labs India in association with Autism Society of India, Spastics Society of India and Karnataka Parents association for Mentally Retarded, among others. The key speakers at the summit were anticorruption activist Kiran Bedi, cricket commentator Harsha Bogle and representatives for NGOs. Panelists spoke on the need for better coordination between corporations, educators, schools, parents and NGOs. The book, “From the Eye of My Mind” by TGC Prasad about an autistic girl was released. A tangible outcome of the summit would be the setting up of a music therapy school for children with disabilities. Carnatic vocalist,
Laadli awards
Mr. T.V Chandran while receiving the Life Time Achievement Award for his gender sensitive films The fourth round of the Laadli Media Awards for Gender
Bombay Jayshri and Ganesh Anantharman, author Bollywood
Melodies will lead this initiative. Employees of SAP Labs pooled to collect Rs. 12lakh for the event.
Technology leads to Student Success Ajmer: The Government Upper Primary School Nonandpur, located in Ajmer (Rajasthan), caters to the needs of the poor children from the village. Until recently the school was struggling with low attendance; -today, however, the school has more than 200 students. The change has come about because of the efforts of Narendra Singh, a Sanskrit teacher, who addressed the challenges of teaching Sanskrit by adopting IT in his classroom. Students enjoyed Singh’s teaching methods and were able to better understand the subject matter and now insist on using technology for all their daily classroom sessions. Singh has helped other teachers from the school bring technology into their classrooms. The school now has a computer lab with three computers to support the growing use of information technology in education.
Int’l Day of the Girl Child Mumbai: For the first time the UN declared Oct. 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child starting 2012 to reflect the gravity of the discrimination and violence faced by girls in the world due to deep rooted patriarchal values and structures. Girls have comparatively lower access to education, health and nutrition, their childhood is snatched from them by early marriages, trafficking, sexual violence and exploitation of their labour. The theme this year for the International Day of the Girl Child was Child Marriages. This is particularly of relevance in India where close to 47.3% of girls get married before 18. Population First observed the day in collaboration with UNFPA, in partnership with Whisper and sponsor Godrej. The event was graced by the Public Health Minister Shri Suresh Shetty, Chief Secretary Mr. Jayant Kumar Bhantia and UNFPA country Representative Ms Frederika Meijer. The event opened up with a high voltage performance by Dharavi Rocks followed by honoring of celebrity parents and daughters. The programme closed with an enthralling Bharatanatyam thematic presentation by Ipshita Rajesh and her troupe. The highlight of the event was the launch of the 1 Minute Movies made by college students. Contact: Population First, Mumbai Tel: 91 22 2262 6672 / 76 Email: info@populationfirst.org , Website: www.populationfirst.org The first ever International Day of the Girl Child was celebrated this year on Oct.11, and Shanti Bhavan celebrated with the hopes of encouraging educational opportunities to underprivileged girls with a special three day celebration for the Girl Child, from Oct. 9-11 with Intel and partners She’s The First. Lokesh and Meena Devi, from the ninth grade, were studentambassadors. Intel held two special training workshops: a twenty-hour entrepreneurship workshop for girls from the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades as well as a select few interested boys from the upper grades where learned to create business plans for potential future investors. Intel also hosted a training session for Shanti Bhavan’s science teachers focusing on hands on, inquiry-based learning. Five girls from the senior classes worked on “seemingly unsolvable problems facing girls’ education” that they presented at a summit hosted 4
by She’s The First in New York City on Oct.11 eventually to be sent to the United Nations! The choir worked on an original song that was presented on the day of the and was used as background music for the video broadcasted by Intel after the event.
Many pregnant women test HIVpositive in Jharkhand Ranchi: According to data released by the Jharkhand unit of Unicef, based on National Aids Control Society (NACO) findings, till September this year, 66 of 69,200 pregnant women were found to be HIV positive. Out of the 23,600 HIV positive people in the state, 91 percent are aged between 15-49 years, The transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child could be prevented if all pregnant women are tested every year. At present only eight percent were tested," said a Unicef release. It is estimated that there are 40,476 female sex workers (FSW), 3,295 men who have sex with men (MSM) and 1,805 injecting drug users(IDU) in Jharkhand.
Awareness campaign for disability Bangalore: Sambandh 2012 in Malleswaram was a day long event (Dec.16) to bring together differently abled people and all persons associated and concerned with them-- families, professionals, volunteers, well wishers, social organizations, hospitals/ medical centres, business/corporate,Govt, agencies/representatives, educational institutions, vocational/training institutes and others in the area. The event began with an Awareness Run/Walk/Cycle from 7.30 to 8.30 a.m. to connect and create a common platform for all disabilities in Malleswaram . It was also an opportunity to interact with professionals and service providers in the field of disability through presentations and panel discussions, Stalls, film shows and cultural activities. A directory on the various services related to disabilities in the Malleswaram area was also released. Call 9845605357/99647035 94.
YWCA Delhi centenary Delhi: On the occasion of the Centenary celebrations of YWCA of Delhi, a two day festival on Oct.19/20 of films, exhibition, performances and stalls was curated by Kriti. There were Film Screenings and a Women’s Rights Exhibition (Peace Women Across the Globe, One Billion Rising and other posters); The film festival was on the theme: Peace and Rights and included Gaon Chohab Nahin and Redefining Peace by K P Sasi which showcases the history of the 1000 Women for Nobel Peace Prize 2005 initiative and profiles ten peace women from different regions of India, connected to various people’s movements . This was followed by ‘Conversations and Songs’ with Kamla Bhasin. Another film festival theme was Civic Amenities and Me showing Our Lanes…Our Lives (Apni Galiyon Ki Kahani) by Tarini Manchanda et al. based on an action research study undertaken by women and young people in partnership with Jagori in Bawana and Action India in Bhalswa, Delhi, The 3rd film theme was Society and Choices with On My Own by
Anupama Srinivasan; Much Ado About Knotting by Geetika Narang et al. Theme 4: Gender and Identities: showcased Where’s Sandra by Paromita Vohra; It’s a Boy by Vani Subramaniam. Theme 5: Food Sovereignty and Climate Change: Green Movies from Enchanted Lands by Nitin Das; Stir.Fry.Simmer by Vani Subramaniam. Theme 6 Empowered Women’s Lives: Pedalling To Freedom by Vijay S. Jodha; The Saroj Khan Story by Nidhi Tuli| A contemporary dance performance based on the poetry of Irom Sharmila by Charu Shankar and Supriya Babbar was presented by Kriti Team and Aquamarine Productions, along with stalls .Tel:91-11-26033088/ 2 6 0 2 7 8 4 5 . E m a i l : 4events.krititeam@gmail.com/ space.kriti@gmail.com
The Maidan Summit Ranchi: Magic Bus India Foundation (MBIF) held Maidan Summit 2012 --the third annual Sport for Development (S4D) international Conference on Nov. 26/27 in Ranchi,to provide an interactive forum to national and international S4D practitioners positioning Sport for Development as a mainstream development approach-- especially in the domains of education, health, youth development and social inclusion. Maidan 2012 is supported by the Australian Sports Commission. Mr. Sudesh Mahto, Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Jharkhand was the Chief Guest. As an organization which has evolved over a decade using sport as a medium to meet development objectives, Magic Bus is organizing this Summit to bring practitioners, NGOs, Corporates and CSR Foundations, Donor Agencies together on a common platform. The two day conference discussed how sport can be used to influence every area of community development and empowerment from social and disability inclusion to education, disease prevention, disaster rehabilitation and youth development. visit www.maidan.in . The second edition of Maidan magazine, an annual collection of news articles and stories from the rapidly growing Sport for Development sector was released at the Summit. Magic Bus is the leading Sport for Development (S4D) player in the country, and have been appointed the Knowledge and Implementing Partner to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Government of India for Panchayat Yuva Khel aur Krida Abhiyan (PYKKA), the rural sports programme and playfields. The S4D programme, works towards empowering children and youth in areas of Education, Gender, Health, Leadership and Livelihood, reaching to 2,30,000 children in 10 states Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh (AP), Delhi, Orissa, Karnataka, Bihar, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Haryana – with a team of 725 staff and 8000 volunteers. Some of their corporate partners include JP Morgan, HSBC, ICICI Foundation, Barclays, Premier League, BMW Foundation, Rio Tinto, Jindal Stainless Ltd. and l others. Contact: Harshita Arvind Officer – Relationships and Advocacy, harshita@magicbusindia.org
CONF HELD Centre for Budget & Policy Studies (CBPS) held a two day seminar on “ P u b l i c P o l i c y, D e l i v e r y a n d Decentralised Governance: Issues and Debates” on Nov. 29 and 30, 2012 at The Capitol hotel, Bangalore. Governor of Karnataka, Dr. Hans Raj Bhardwaj inaugurated the seminar; Prof.Thomas Isaac, Former Finance Minister of Kerala was the keynote speaker .Contact Usha (usha@cbps.in).
NGO Connect
Nov-Dec. 2012
NGO News Vasundhara and Kalpavriksh, in partnership with Oxfam India organised a 3-day Learning Workshop on Community Forest Rights (CFRs) under the Forest Rights Act, in Bhubaneshwar, from Nov.2-4 The workshop dealt with all aspects of CFRs, including the current status of implementation of CFRs in protected areas. Contact: Tushar Dash, e:tushardash01@gmail.com Rotary Club Of Mumbai Nariman Point & Rotaract Club Of Rizvi Law college presented ‘ Umang 2012’ A Stage Talent Show Of Senior Citizens In Association with Silver Inning Foundation on Dec. 22. This was not a competition between Elderly but a forum to encourage them to demonstrate their hidden talent in Parel East, Mumbai. The programme was supported by HelpAge India, , FESCOM –Mumbai , iVolunteers & ‘1298’ Senior Citizens Helpline .Contact: 9 9 8 7 1 0 4 2 3 3 . Email:silverinnings@gmail.com . In India today, women and female adolescents are victims of a failed national health system and flagrant reproductive rights violations. Human Rights Law Network, in collaboration with Population Foundation of India, Ms. Devika Biswas, Health Watch Forum – Bihar, Dr. Mira Shiva Initiative for Health and Equity In Society (IHES), All India Drug Action Network, Women's Association Marching Ahead (WAMA), Janadhikar Manch – Bihar, Manasi Swasthya Sansthan, and National Coalition Against Two-Child Norm and Coercive Population Policies held a National Consultation, “From the Field to the Judge’s Bench: Developing Litigation Strategies to Improve the Lives of Women on Nov. 24/25 at Assam House, New Delhi 110067. The consultation discussed the use of a human rights based approach that embraces litigation as a tool for a d v o c a c y. E m a i l karlatorreshrln@gmail.com and sanjaisharma@hrln.org or call Sanjai Sharma at 9971822197 human Rights Law Network BCAS Foundation, Public Concern for Governance Trust, Dharma Bharathi Mission,Forum of Free Enterprise, MR Pai Foundation held a meeting to Analyse & Discuss the Implications of the Supreme Court decision of Sept.13, 2012 in the matter of Namit Sharma with regards to Right To Information Act. The talk by Honorable Justice Hosbet Suresh & Shri. Shailesh Gandhi (Former Central Information Commissioner) on Nov. 29 was held at The BCAS. Lok Satta party represented by Mr Mustan Tambawala, along with Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party and Nisha Singh an Independent elected corporator from Haryana. took part in a discussion on "The future Of Clean Politics in India" at the PAN-IIT conference held in Kolkata from Dec.7 to 9 by PanIIT Alumni India (PIAI) an organisation which has representatives from among the alumni of all existing IIT's which oversees the initiatives, activities and projects taken up in India. K.C College organised an ICSSR and UGC-sponsored National level Conference on ‘Rethinking Development:
Emerging Issues and Contemporary Debates’, at K.C College, Churchgate, Mumbai on Dec. 11/12.Praful Bidwai delivered the keynote address. Other eminent speakers included Felix Padel, Prof. Institute of Health Management, Jaipur, Mary John, CWDS, New Delhi and Prof Haragopal. Contact: conference.kc@gmail.com Dr.Leena Pujari Convenor .
Women and Tech Mumbai: Feminist Approach to Technology’s tech center was recently upgraded with new equipment and 41 girl students. The tech center is also participating in the One Billion Rising Campaign which was launched on Nov. 24 in India by Sangat and Jagori in collaboration with many other organizations including FAT. According to the UN, at least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by an intimate partner in the course of her lifetime. This makes 1 billion women around the world. On Valentines day, 2013, ( Feb. 14), One Billion women and those who love them will demand an end to this violence all over the world .Contact: Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT) <info@fat-net.org> A Training Programme on ‘Social Media for Social Sector’ was held on Oct. 6/7 at IIT Mumbai for Social activists, professional social workers, CSR projects, NGOs, UN agencies, etc.. Contact: Prof. Sandesh, IIT Bombay, Tel: (022) 25767814 Email: sandesh.idc@iitb.ac.in World Fisheries Day(WFD--. Globalization and Nuclear Free World was celebrated in Bangalore at St.Anne’s College Compound, on Nov. 21. The World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) is a world body of Trade Union working in 31 countries in the World fighting for the rights of small scale fisher peoples. Its registered office is in Spain. WFFP was founded in Delhi and it was declared that every foundation day Nov.21 is World Fisheries Day. This year the theme of the WFD was Globalization and Nuclear Free World. Contact: World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), Tamil Nadu. Te l : + 9 1 9 3 6 0 6 4 5 7 7 2 , Email:thomasksa@gmail. com, A state level seminar on"Democratic Decentralisation in Kerala"was held by Santhigiri Social Research I n s t i t u t e o n N o v. 1 7 / 1 8 i n Thiruvananthapuram to discuss the new guidelines for local self governments (LSGs) in Kerala, Contact: Rajesh K, Visiting Fellow, SSRI, post4rajesh@gmail.com, 09497065402; Malish C M, Visiting F e l l o w , S S R I , malishchirakkal@gmail.com, 09847880125 Social Entrepreneurship & Strategic CSR Linkages 21st-22nd Dec.2012 @ Doon University, Dehradun The International Conference on Social Entrepreneurship & Strategic CSR Linkages jointly organised by
PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry in collaboration with its technical partner “Green Earth Alliance(GEA) was held on 21-22 December 2012 at Senate Hall, Doon University Campus, Dehradun (India) C o n t a c t : alliance.greenearth@gmail.com Website www.greenearthalliance.in Getting creative! Sadhana village school has been exploring to provide
free environment for children to make sense of their world by documenting various things children do. (videos in the sadhana village facebook page). To initiate common sense research among teachers to understand children first hand rather than believing on theories, a workshop was held on Dec. 21/ 22/ 23 at Pune. email sadhanavillageschoo l@gmail.com.www.reimaginingscho ols.wordpress. Com Jinan: 09447121544/ 0487 2386723 The National Campaign "Clean Water Bodies are Children's Rights" was launched with a human chain at bank of River Mahanadi at Sambalpur on Nov.14 as 300 children came together at 7.30 am near Kachheri Point of Mahanadi Ring Road. Utsarga, a leading civil society group based at Sambalpur, along with many other civil society groups of the city, supported this campaign. This unique campaign, is about giving the children their right to play in safe water bodies Contact: UTSARGA, Sambalpur. Ranjan K Panda, Convenor Mobile: +919437050103 Email: ranjanpanda@ gmail.com, ranjanpanda@ yahoo.com National Convention on 'Universalizing healthcare for all' Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) was held on Nov. 28/29 at Indian Social Institute (ISI), New Delhi followed by a Protest: march on Nov. 3.The convention was a first step to build a broad alliance to build a civil society movement for the provision of health care services – including provision of all essential medicines -- for the people of the country. The convention was organized to Oppose Privatisation of Health Care Services; To Strengthen and Expand Public Health Services and To Demand Universal Access to Health Care Services and Medicines. The National Seminar on Waste Management in India—Perspectives and Alternatives was the theme of the 2nd Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC) on Dec 20/21 in Bangalore. It is the largest get together of scientists, conservationists, environmentalists, civil society groups and local communities concerned with biodiversity in India, is held once in two years, with the/major objective to formulate a vision and alternate strategic plan for the conservation of biodiversity and to make the people aware of the importance of biodiversity through expo and awareness programmes. 5
The Indian Biodiversity Expo (IBE 2012) organised as part of IBC 2012 showcased the rich biodiversity heritage of the country and its linkage w i t h c u l t u r e , f o o d s e c u r i t y, sustainable utilization of biodiversity and sustainable development paradigms.Environment Support Group held a session on Green Politics. For the first time PAWS (Plant & Animals Welfare Society) organised a wildlife photography exhibition, to create awareness among youngsters, with Rotaract Club of K. V.Pendharkar College. The exhibition was named ‘Wild Trek’.Renowned photographer Mayuresh Khatavkar inaugurated the Exhibition which displayed over 170 photos of Wild Mammals. Birds, Reptiles, Flowers. Some were most stunning images of India’s diminishing wildlife.More then 20 photographers across Mumbai participated in the whole day event. C o n t a c t : PAW S , H e l p l i n e + 9 1 9 8 2 0 1 6 111 4 ; h t t p : / / p a w s a s i a . wordpress. com/ SPROUTS Environment Trust's 5th Earth Mela was held on Dec 8 & 9 in Dharavi with the intention of helping our environment by creating interest and increasing awareness about Nature among urbanites. This year the SPROUTS Environment Trust's Earth Mela 2012 was held at the Maharashtra Nature Park Society under the Theme – `Green Economies'-- a two-day mega-fest comprising a varied range of activities such as a Short-Film Festival, a Photo Exhibition-cumsale, Workshops and LectureDemos, Nature Trails, Bicycle Rally & a Mini-Marathon, to stalls of ecofriendly life-style. Contact: Suneil Kamath 9820677149 Loyola College enters the Golden Jubilee year of its inception in 2012, and commemorated this occasion with a two day National Seminar on Waste Management, The National Seminar provided an occasion to share the expertise of those who have already achieved success in Waste Management with others. Contact: Dr. Jose Boban. Loyola College, Thiruvananthapuram Phone: (O) 2592059, (M) 09847709553, Email: loyolaseminar@ gmail.com< The Teacher as Storyteller, a workshop on storytelling, by Arka Mukhopadhyaay was organised from Nov. 16-18. by Comet Media Foundation, Mumbai. Contact: cometmediafdn@ gmail.com or call2287 6033 or +91 98205 09179 The National Youth Forum on Green Solutions, was organized by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Young Uttarakhand Vo l u n t a r y A c t i o n ( Y U VA ) Foundation from Dec. 9-11 at Rishikesh to Provide a forum for youth from the 11 mountain states of India to share and discuss the role they can play in addressing climate change and opportunities in the Indian Himalayas. Contact: info@yuva-foundation.com, Young Uttarakhand Voluntary Action --YUVA Foundation, 9871929440 Comet Media Foundation has got a new space. Their new address is: Comet Media Foundation, 301 Meher House, 15 Cawasji Patel Street, Fort, Mumbai 400001. www.cometmedia. org Email: cometmediafdn@ gmail.com or call 2287, 6033 or 98205 09179 NASSCOM Foundation’s International Volunteers Day celebrations were held on Dec 5 at the Godrej Complex, Vikhroli, in Mumbai titled ‘Marketing and Communications for NGOs.’ : <megha@nasscomfoundation.org> A clinic is available in Jogeshwary east for any interested NGO to organise vaccination camps. If your organisation is interested please
contact drswarulkar@ gmail.com The Department of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS in collaboration with the department of Biostatistics, Psychiatry, Psychology, Epidemiology and Health Education organized its National Workshop on Research Methodology in Psychosocial Issues from Dec 10 12 Global Citizens for Sustainable Development (Bangalore) and MIZY Center (South Korea) held a training workshop, "Guiding Youth in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) era' - focussing on media addiction/media education literacy and internet at Bangalore from Nov 17-19 with experts from both India and South Korea speaking on - Internet & Media Addiction Response Strategies: Preventive and Counseling Approaches . Contact: M r. A n u g r a h a J o h n , E m a i l : ajohn316@globalciti zens.org. in Vacha held a symposium on Girls at Margins –Questioning Constraints, Claiming Future on November 23-24 at YMCA, Colaba in Mumbai. The symposium started with the release of Vacha’s publication ‘Rights of Adolescent Girls in India : A Critical Look at Laws and Policies by S a u m y a U m a . E m a i l admin@vacha.org.in / 9833476857 / 9821870625 National Seminar on Dyslexia and Other Learning Difficulties was organised by Rotary Club of Nagpur East, Nagpur in collaboration with Sheikh Asgharali Hasanali Maimoon Charitable Trust and Inner Wheel Club of Nagpur East, in Nagpur on Dec. 1 and 2. Differences in Under achievers'; http://www.dyslexiakhadija-iqbalrotarynagpureast.in Environment and Health Public Lecture Series: The Smog in Delhi: Causes and Concerns’ organized by Toxics Link at India International Centre . Speakers included: Dr. M. P. George, Scientist-D, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC); Ms. Anumita Roy Choudhary, Executive Director-Research & Advocacy-CSE; Dr. S. K. Chhabra, Head of Department of Cardiorespiratory Physiology Patel Chest Institute, New Delhi, Contact: Toxics Link : R a m b h a T r i p a t h y , rambha@toxicslink.org Phone: +9111- 24320711, 24328006 Centre for Education in Social Sector (CEdSS) had a 3 day Workshop on Brand Building for NGOs at SPJIMR, Mumbai from Dec. 17-19. Socialbrics is an initiative taken up by S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), to provide management training and support inputs to organizations and individuals in the social development sectors. Contact: Ms. Tasneem T / Ms Mita Wadhwani, E m a i l s o c i a l b r i c s @ s p j i m r. o r g Tel:022- 61454246/349 Video Volunteers held a public lecture on Dec. 21 on Activism: Beyond Liking and Sharing in Bangalore by Stalin K. Padma, a human rights activist and film maker of "India Untouched" to create awareness among people about social issues and ways of becoming a real activist and contributing to the society. Contact:. Mubida at mubida.rah@gmail.com,9886602117, +91-9916348872* National Conference on Dealing with HIV / AIDS--Business Response to Prevention, Care, Support and Treatment— on Nov. 26 in Odisha, was organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Business Trust for HIV/AIDS (IBT). The conference focused on the Challenges and Opportunities of the Business Response to HIV/AIDS Contact: Girish Taunk, CII (Eastern Region), Kolkata Ph: +91 33 2230 7727/28/1434/ 3354 Extn : 451 Email : girish.taunk@ cii.in
NGO Connect
.Nov-Dec.2012
Awards / Conferences Subhash Chandra Aggarwal who exposed corruption in 2G and CWG through RTI Act and Ajay Shankar Dubey who exposed corruption in mining lease cases and MGNREGS in MP. The Exceptional Social Service Award of Rs. 1C was shared between Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Jaipur for providing over 20000 artificial limbs per years to the disabled and Narain Seva Sansthan, Udaipur for providing free treatment and rehabilitation to polio affected persons An Honorary Award was awarded to Dr. E Sreedharan for establishing a world class metro in Delhi.
inclusive and sustainable societies. Eminent scholars, researchers, practitioners, trainers and the representatives of various organizations will share their views and vision on the conference theme. Conference fee: Professors and scholars from India and SAARC Countries INR 3500/-, Social Workers and NGOs : INR 2500/Contact: CSRD- Institute of Social Work & Research, Station Road, Ahmednagar-414001 (India), Ph: 91241 2346328, Fax- 91-241-2323157 Cell No. 9145661601-10Email: spiritualityconference2@gmail.com, Website: www.csrd.edu.in http://www.spiritualitysocialworkconf erence.org.
CONFERENCES
Research methodology for Social Advocacy and Lobbying
Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2012- Anshu Gupta of Goonj The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum, in partnership with the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation announced Anshu Gupta, Founder and Director of Goonj, as the winner of the 2012 India Social Entrepreneur of the Year award. The award was conferred in New Delhi by Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi. Goonj channels excess resources in urban households to impoverished rural and disaster-prone areas. Materials include clothes, furniture and electronic equipment. The company collects and delivers 1,000 tons of material every year through an extensive network of 500 volunteers and 250 partners across 21 states of India. Goonj also supports village and slum c o m m u n i t i e s i n infrastructure/local development projects. Contact: Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, w e b s i t e : www.schwabfound.org
Pratham and Bharti win awards Two prestigious prizes at the 4th World Innovation Summit for Education, organized by the Qatar Foundation in Doha were won by NGOs from India. Madhav Chavan, co-founder and CEO of Pratham was awarded the 2012 WISE Prize for Education of USD 5,00,000 and a special gold medal. Pratham provides basic literacy and numeracy for underprivileged children in India presently working in 17 States and with 3 million children every year. Pratham’s projects address pre-school education, learning support to in-school and out-ofschool children computer literacy, vocational training and has special programs for vulnerable and working children. The other winner was Bharti Foundation’s Satya Bharti School Programme. It was among the six projects that won the WISE award with this year’s theme: Transforming education. The programme provides free education to over 38,000 children across rural India through its network of 254 primary and secondary schools-- and won USD 20,000.
S Jindal prizes of Rs. 1 Crore each for anti corruption Anti-corruption was the vision of the founder, Sitaram Jindal and the SJ Foundation this month announced the winners of their 1C prizes. The award for Agriculture, Rural Development & Poverty Alleviation was shared by BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune for empowering 45 lakh tribals and rural famiies in12 states and Rashtriya Seva Samithi, Tirupathi, for benefitting over 10 lakh villagers in 3 States. Health-care including drugless healing and nature cure Prize was shared by Aravind Eye Hospitals, Madurai for their quality eye care to 27 lakh patients every year and The Banyan, Chennai for the treatment and rehabilitation of mentally ill homeless women. For Education – with emphasis on moral upliftment, the prize was shared by Vivekananda Rock M e m o r i a l a n d Vi v e k a n a n d a Kendra, Kanya Kumari for imparting education with emphasis on nation-building and SOS Children’s villages of India for the free education and health care to 6135 destitute children in family environment. In Science, Technology and Environment the prize was awarded to Dr. Vijay P. Bhatkar for his immense contribution to development of Super Computers in India. For Peace, Social Harmony and Social Development the prize of Rs 1 Crore went to Bharat Lok Shiksha parishad for their literacy programme though the Ekal Vidyalaya movement in 38,000 schools. In the field of Exemplary Service to Mankind in any Field the prize of Rs 1 Crore was shared between Smt. Fulbasan Yadav for her programme which has benefitted 1.5 lakh women through SHGs, Bharat Sevasharam Sangha for serving leprosy patients with medical care and rehabilitation, T. Duyodhanad Reddy, Human rights Activist, for facilitating justice for hapless victims, Dipendra Manocha for empowering and improving the quality of life for the blind and Amar Seva Sangh for rendering service to over 14000 disabled. For their Crusade against Corruption Prize, the award was shared by the late Satyendra Dubey, Bihar the whistle blower who sacrificed his life for exposing corruption in NHAI, Sanjeeb Singh Katiyar for exposing and fighting corruption through Nukkad Nataks,
The Asia Pacific, Community Radio Forum of India (AMARAC) and the UNESCO Chair on Community Media are jointly organising a training workshop for Women Community Radio Broadcasters of South Asia from 19-22 January 2013 in New Delhi. The objective of the workshop is to impart knowledge, conceptual clarity as well as practical and technical skills to enhance capacity of the participants for producing effective radio programs on issues and subjects related to climate change adaptation, food security, disaster risk reduction, poverty reduction, empowering of the marginalised, conflict resolution, peace-building, and promoting positive social change at local community levels. Visit: http://ap.amarc. org/node/ 51 Contact: Suman Basnet, Regional Coordinator, AMARC Asia Pacific Kathmandu, Nepal, Email: suman_basnet@ asiapacific. amarc.org Web: http://ap.amarc. org/
The 2nd international conf. on 'Spirituality and Social Work is being organised on Jan. 3-5, 2013, at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, with the objective to highlight the role of spirituality in enhancing commitment for just,
The Indian Social Institute is organizing a 8 days course on Jan. 22-29, 2013 at Bangalore on Research Methodology for Social Advocacy and Lobbying & SPSS for NGOs and CBOs, leaders of peoples’ movements, young research scholars and post graduate students. This course is aimed of filling the gap and fulfilling the dream of social activists, NGOs with research bent and applied social scientists. No. of Seats: 25 only, Medium of Instruction : English. Registration Fee: INR 500 Course Fee : INR 7500 (covers course material, shared accommodation and food). Deadline -- Jan. 10 2013. email isiresearchbang@ gmail.com. Contact: Ms. Lakshmi Periyasamy, Research Associate at +919886973770 or 080-23536189, 23536960, 23536364 during office hours.
Social Impact Assessment CSE’s short-term training programme on Social Impact Assessment will be held on 3-5 Jan. 3-5, 2013 at Delhi. The objective of this programme is to build capacity and create awareness among regulators, developers, NGOs and academicians to understand SIA process - Reconnaissance and Baseline Survey, Land Acquisition Survey and Plan (LAP) and Preparation of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP).
The programme also aims at evaluating the SIA report along with the applicable legislations in India. Course fee: Rs 8,000 (For developers, environment consultants and regulators) 50% discounts for NGOs, academicians and students. Last Date for Applying: December 29, 2012. Contact: Swati Singh Sambyal, Centre for Science and Environment Tel: + 91-11-29955124/ 6110, Extension: 281, 9910496283 E-mail: swati@cseindia.org
Free and Open Source Software Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is software that gives the user the freedom to use, copy, study, change, and improve it. In an effort to get more women involved in FOSS, a number of organizations are offering Outreach Program for Women internships from Jan. 2 to April 2, 2013. The application deadline is December 3, 2012. The applicants need to get in touch with individual projects they are interested in working on and make a small contribution ahead of the application deadline. Participants will work remotely from home, while getting guidance from an assigned mentor and collaborating within their project’s team and the rest of the FOSS community. The projects include software development, system administration, web development, user experience design, graphic design, documentation, and marketing. The stipend for the program is $5,000 (USD). Any woman available for a full time internship who has not previously participated in the Outreach Program for Women or Google Summer of Code is welcome to apply. Please visit https://live.gnome.org/ OutreachProgramForWomen.This program is organized by the GNOME Foundation. The mentorship opportunities are also available throughout the year for anyone interested in getting started contributing to FOSS outside of the internship program.
Ad.RATES
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All matter in the newsletter is published with the best of intentions. Printed, Published and owned by Rima Kashyap. Printed at W Q Judge Press, 97, Residency Road, Bangalore - 560 025, Published by : Rima Kashyap. C/o ERA, N. M. Wadia Bldg, 123 M G Road, Mumbai 400 001 Tel. 09341867487 E-mail : shaktisrc@yahoo.com Editor : Rima Kashyap. 8
NGO Connect
Nov-Dec.2012
(despite deadlines, you are advised to apply)
HR Assistant, Mumbai A full-time Human Resources Assistant having self confidence, good communication skills and ability to work independently is required for Aseema Charitable Trust in Mumbai. All primary HR functions like recruitment, trainings and human resource development, appraisal cycles, payroll and other admin duties will have to be attended to. Candidates with experience and sound computer skills will be preferred. Qual./ Exp: Graduate + Diploma or MBA in HR and +2 years experience. Contact:Ms.Norma D'cruz, Aseema Charitable Trust, ,Bandra (W), Mumbai - 400050. Tel : 022- 26407248. Email: contact@aseema.org, volunteers@aseema.org
Urban Environment Professional, Delhi Environment professional with experience in urban sector projects is required to assist government agencies in monitoring environmental safeguards for urban projects, developing frameworks and guiding documents addressing environmental and climate change concerns in urban projects, and related activities. Qual: BE/B Tech in environmental engineering/ post graduate in Environmental Science/Management and experience of 8-10 years (with at least 5 years experience in assessing, monitoring, and mitigating environmental impacts of urban projects). Familiarity with funding agencies safeguard frameworks shall be an advantage. The position is for one year, based in Delhi. Contact: Antara Ray (antara.ray@in.pwc.com), Rahul Mallick (rahul.mallik@in.pwc.com)
Director- Livelihood, Mumbai / Delhi A foundation with a large domestic outreach which has been implementing developmental projects for over 20 years in the area of drinking water and development issues such as livelihood /agriculture, education and health has a vacancy for a Director (Livelihood). This is a senior leadership position to design and deliver the relevant programs; to Monitor and evaluate the team of programmers. Key Responsibilities: understand the needs of the community, develop the vision, strategy and goals for the livelihood program, design, develop and implement the programs with a holistic approach, monitor and control the programs. Ensure high quality standards are maintained and in the programs. Qual./ Exp.: Post graduate degree in the relevant field, minimum 15 years experience in the development sector or in a corporate foundation in livelihood and proficiency in English and computer literacy Mail your bio data along with a covering note detailing your interest and current salary details to hr@consulthandson.com
CSR-Social Audit Professional, Bangalore/Chennai An international fashion retail chain group with manufacturing in India requires a social auditor as part of the CSR team to conduct social audits at factories producing garments, shoes and other leather products and improve the working conditions of the factories. The post is based either from Bangalore or Chennai and will involve travel within South India .Qual.: Post Graduate in Social Work, Fluent in Tamil, English. Knowledge of Kannada and Hindi will be an added advantage. Minimum of two years work experience after post graduation. Only Female candidates should apply. Please send updated resume with statement of purpose to Email: christianch@ itxtrading. com christian.chandran@ gmail.com
Multiple Vacancies, Karnataka Mahila Samakhya Karnataka (MSKn), a government of India project under the Ministry of Human Resources, works in 15 districts on rural women’s empowerment with the Department of Education and other government departments in Karnataka, encompassing women’s education, health, political participation, governance, economic activities, and rights. All positions require good verbal and written communication with working knowledge of Kannada, networking skills, self-motivation and commitment to women’s issues, willingness to travel within Karnataka and outside. Interested candidates fulfilling the criteria may apply on plain paper mentioning qualifications, age, caste, experience, with a 250-word write-up on why you feel you are suitable for the post. IState Resource Person – No. of Posts: 1 (Cat.1) (only women) Location: Bangalore Honorarium: Rs. 18,000/- to 20,000/- pm. Qual: Post Graduate Degree in Social Science/Science or any discipline related to women’s studies, gender, feminist research and rural development; and fluency in English and Kannada with good documentation and analytical skills. Training skills and computer skills will be an advantage. Age: Above 29 years Internal Auditor – No. of Posts: 2, Location: Bangalore. Honorarium: Rs. 15,240/- to 16,000/- pm. Qual: M.Com with at least 5 years,or B.Com with at least 10 years, relevant practical experience. CA articleship/ ICWA an advantage.Computer knowledge and use of Tally, MS Office – Windows, Word, Excel. Willingness to travel extensively to various parts of Karnataka. Age: 35 to 55 years. Consultants – No of post: 3, location Bangalore. Honorarium: Rs. 15,000/- to 18,000/- PM1. 1. Media and Development Communication Specialist. Qual: Master’s degree in Media – related field or graduate degree with 8 years’ relevant experience. 2. EDP and Marketing Specialist: Qual: Masters degree with 3 years, or
OPPORTUNITIES
Bachelor’s degree with 8 years’ relevant experience, preferably in promoting, production and marketing rural products for the urban market. NGO experience preferred. 3. Programme Support: Qualification: Graduates with 5-10 years in office administration and operations support; District Programme Coordinator – No. of posts: 5 ( SC-1, 2A-1, 3A-1, GM-1, 3B-1) (only women). Location: Bidar, Bijapur, Chitradurga, Koppal, Raichur. Honorarium: Rs. 13,500/- to 15,000/- pm To head the implementation unit at the district level with overall responsibility for planning and implementation of the Mahila Samakhya programme within her district and lead a team of resource persons and field workers. Qual: Graduate/Post Graduate, preferably in the humanities or any discipline related to women’s studies. Good contact with NGOs and Government departments. Age limit: 30 years to 45 years. District Resource Persons – No. of Posts: 3 (2A-1, SC-1, GM-1) (only women) Location: Belgaum, Chamrajnagar, Chikkaballapur. Honorarium: 11,000/- to 12,000/- pm To assist the District Programme Coordinator and lead a field staff team to implement Mahila Samakhya programmes. Qual: Graduate with 5 years relevant field experience or Post graduate degree with 3 years experience with rural women in areas related to women’s studies, gender, feminist concerns or rural development, and ability to support District Programme Coordinator in administration. Age: 28 years and above. Junior Resource Persons – No. of Posts: 8 (3A-1, SC-1, 2A-2, GM-4) (only women) L o c a t i o n : B e l g a u m , B e l l a r y, C h a m a r a j n a g a r, Chikkaballapur, Gadag, Mysore, Dharwad. Honorarium: Rs. 8,500/- to 10,000/- pm. Qual: Graduate in any discipline preferably related to women’s studies, gender, feminist concerns or rural development; At least 3 years working with rural women’s development. Age: 23 years and above. All positions are for an initial period of one year (with 6 months probation), extendable further based on performance. Applications to The State Programme Director, Mahila Samakhya Karnataka, No.631, 22nd Main, Behind BMTC Bus depot, 4th ‘T’ Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore – 560 04, E-mail: mskarnatakajobs@gmail.com
Programme, Email: deblina@cseindia.org, Mobile: 9899596661, Swati Singh, Research Associate – EIA Unit, swati@cseindia.org, Mobile: 9910496283
Leadership Programme, Trivandrum Kanthari International, located in Trivandrum, India, invites social change makers to apply for the 7- month leadership programme starting May 2013. Participants are those who have overcome life challenges - disability, poverty, war, discrimination or exploitation and who want to learn the tools with which to make a positive difference locally and globally. Participants need to speak and write in English, be familiar with computers, be at least 22 years old, Successful applicants will be provided with accommodation and tuition through scholarships from Kanthari International donors. The application deadline is December 15, 2012. Apply at http://www.kanthari .org/programs/ admissions/.More information at www.kanthari. org and www.facebook. org/kantharis
PG Cert. in Development Management S P Jain Institute of Management and Research in collaboration with BAIF announces 3rd batch of Post Graduate Certificate in Development Management, starting in January 2013 -18 months contact programme, participants to attend 1 week in every two months.The course aims at enhancing managerial effectiveness in the social sector. It is a work cum study programme enabling application of management principles and practices in day-to-day operation of social organizations. Eligibility – Graduates with minimum 2 years’ relevant experience.Course Fee: Rs. 2,50,000, subsidised to 1,20,000/- to be paid in 3 equated installments of Rs 40,000. Finance assistance: Loan facility available from tie-up bank. Scholarships offered to meritorious and deserving candidates. Contact: Tel. 02261454246 Email: pgcdm@spjimr.org Website: http://www.spjimr. org/pgcdm/ index.asp
Mental Health Trials Coordinator, Goa Sangath is a leading health research NGO based in Goa with a focus on child development, adolescent health and mental health. Sangath is seeking to hire a Mental Health Trials Coordinator for its projects on task shifting of mental health interventions funded by the Wellcome Trust (UK) and the National Institute of Mental Health (USA). The post-holder will be primarily involved in all aspects of the randomised controlled trials to evaluate the interventions including research design, implementation, analysis and dissemination. The appointment is for a minimum of one year . Req: A master’s degree in clinical trials, medical statistics or epidemiology. Demonstrated experience in clinical trials and in field research in health, knowledge of statistical software such as Stata, Fluency in English, Commitment of a minimum of one year. Download self-assessment form and apply with detailed CV at anuja@sangath.com by Jan. 10, 2013. Contact Dr Neerja Chowdhary neerjachowdhary@hotmail.com website: www.sangath.com
Volunteers to teach English The Foundation for Public Health, Education, and Development (FPHED) a small, grassroots organization working in the Bahraich District is looking for a volunteer for six months (with the option to re-enroll for another six months) for its English Skills Building Program. In its newly opened school, it is establishing a separate English program for graduates that need to refine their English skills for improved competitiveness in the job market. FPHED is looking for a volunteer with excellent English to supervise teachers-in-training and partially teach classes. Requirements: -18 years or older, Native English speaker, with Hindi experience .All costs and personal expenses will be covered and modest accommodation, local food, and basic amenities will be provided Apply by: 09 Jan 2013. Contact. Email: quinn.clark@fphed.org Website: www.fphed.org
TRAINING COURSES Training on Urban and Industrial Wastewater Treatment The Centre for Science and Environment has developed a fiveday hands-on training programme aimed at giving practical exposure to participants on wastewater treatment for industrial and urban wastewater management including reuse and recycle on January 7-11, 2013 at Delhi. The objective of this programme is to build capacity and create awareness among regulators, developers, consultants, NGOs, students and academics to understand wastewater treatment process, technologies and affordable treatment options. It aims at evaluating the performance and design parameters along with the applicable cost implication associated with each treatment system. The programme includes lectures by experts, site visits to existing projects, practical group exercises, presentations by participants, reference materials and film screening. The course fee is Rs. 9900 per participant. NGOs and students can avail a discount of 25% on the course fee. Fellowships are available for South Asian participants. Last date for applying: December 29, 2012. Contact: Deblina Dwivedi, Senior Research Associate – Urban Water 7
Driving Training As part of our Road Safety initiative, with NGO Suraksha we have tied up with MSIL and NSFDC (National Schedule Caste Finance and Development Corporation) for training 3000 people in the next few months. The initial phase will commence from December 2012. This skill development brings a golden opportunity for persons belonging to schedule castes to learn driving, train to become a trainer or an entrepreneur for setting up driving school. This training would be conducted utilizing the excellent training facilities and expertise of Maruti Suzuki India Limited & Maruti Driving School. The training would be free of cost & also Stipend payable who meets the following criteria: Age eligibility: 18-35 years’ Income eligibility: Rs. 81,000/- in Rural areas & Rs. 1,03,000/- in Urban areas, Stipend payable: Rs. 1,000/- (90% Attendance). Contact: Devi Prasad Shetty, Director, Suraksha, CD Divisional Warden Division NO 8. Mobile: 9901590909. E- mail: sevegalu@yahoo. com, Web: www.surakshango. org.
HREA Distance Learning Programme Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is pleased to announce their program of e-learning courses offered in early 2013. These e-learning courses are generally six weeks in duration and involve approximately 50 hours of reading, interaction with participants and instructor on discussion boards, webinars, quizzes and other assignments. The courses offered in January-April 2013: Protection Against Torture: January-12 - March 2013 Monitoring & Evaluation in the NGO Sector: January 5 March 2013 Project Development and Management in the NGO Sector: 23 January-19 March 2013 Children in War & Armed Conflicts: 30 Jan-13 March 2013 Children's Rights (Foundation Course: 30 Jan.-12 March 2013 Gender Mainstreaming: 30 January-16 April 2013 Child Rights Programming: 6 February-23 April 2013 Gender and Human Rights (Foundation Course): 6 February-19 March 2013 EU Migration and Asylum Law and Policies: 13 February-26 March 2013 Indigenous Peoples' Rights: 13 Feb.-26 March 2013 International Human Rights Law (Foundation Course: 13 February-26 March 2013 Migration and Asylum (Foundation Course: 13 February-26 March 2013 Minority Rights: 13 February-26 March 2013 Use of ICTs and Social Media for Human Rights Work: 13 February-30 April 2013 HREA offers early registration discounts. For an overview of all courses, please visit website: www.hrea.org/ courses and download applications@ hrea.org
Regn. no. MAHENG/2004/15104
Vol 9 Issue 3
NGOCT
NGO Connect wishes you
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