We strive to enable the poor

1
We strive to enable the poor marginalized
people to sustain their livelihoods, participate
in decision making and foster real development.

• ERA
• Experiments in Rural Advancement

2
A quick Genesis of ERA

• ERA came into being in 1987
• It is registered under
• Society Registration Act
• Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act
• Section 12a and 80 G of Income Tax (exemption) Act

3
Structure of ERA (present)

• General Body
• Governing Body
• Advisory lt--------gtDirector
  lt----------gtVolunteers
• Admn Fund raising
• -----------------
• Finance Program
• -----------------
• Programs
• __________________________________
• 
  
• Capacity Livelihood
  Strengthening
• Building
  security Civil Society

4
Over the years, ERA has developed into a team of
committed and experienced personnel.

• The team began its working from a couple of
  villages remotely located in an area-bordering
  far-west Nepal
• (falling under erstwhile undivided district of
  Pithoragarh).
• .. gradually expanding its programme/ activities
  to more than 300 remotely located villages across
  Uttrakhand
• now expanding its programme activities to
• selected pockets in Uttar Pradesh.. and beyond

5
Programme activities undertaken

• In this area, ERA has worked in the fields of
• Elementary Education
• Opening primary schools un unserved/ underserved
  areas
• Health care
• Reviving traditional health care systems (both
  medicine and practitioners) by training and
  organising local Dais and Vaids)
• Women empowerment
• Thro personnel counseling, group formation,
  promoting economic activities skill based and
  land based
• Natural Resource Management
• developing traditional d/king water sources,
  water management and agriculture, adopting
  Watershed planning approach
• Strengthening Panchayats (local governance)
• Promoting local initiatives to sustain the
  interventions
• Networking and capacity building
• to enable local initiatives (NGOs and CBOs)

6
Beneficiaries of ERAs programs

• Our Programs are built around
• Children - elementary education and health care
• poor destitute women - suitable economic
  programs
• Poor and marginalised people skill based
  activities for artisans and land-based activities
  for farmers
• local youth
• In fact, entrepreneurship activities for local
  youth, with the purpose to contain tide of
  migration, has been our primary concern.

7
On its part, ERA has attained a reasonable level
of success in all its programmes. Innovative
experiments on elementary education and water
management made ERA a household name in the
work-pocket.The solutions were refreshing but
the impact was limited in terms of visibility and
out reach. In order to address this concern, we
even attempted networking NGOs at the district/
Kumaon level, which was a real learning
8
ERA, in the year 1997, on the eve of completion
of a decade of working, consolidated the learning
and experience thus gathered Empowerment of
people.. was still a distant dream ??The
realisation led ERA team to adopt corrective
measures and chart its new course of ACTION,
which reframed its approach and defined levels of
working
9
Corrective measures

• ERA gradually phased-out from direct
  implementation of service delivery programmes and
  combined elements of service, empowerment and
  advocacy in its approach
• SERVICE to solve local-specific problems
• EMPOWERMENT of poor and marginalised people so
  that they are enabled to play lead roles in
  achieving those remedies and
• ADVOCACY to address the issues in a more
  systematic manner.

10
The new approach implied defining its levels of
working too

• Grassroots level
• Intermediary level
• Policy Research Advocacy

11
Grassroots level

• Direct intervention particularly to address the
  core issue of basic services and livelihood
  security
• i.e. delivering basic services (where the state
  is inefficient) and securing livelihood of the
  poor and marginalised and sustaining it
• But this was to be undertaken only on a pilot
  basis or at experimentation level, to yield
  useful insights that seek to develop a better
  understanding on the issues in order to endorse
  policy changes.

12
Intermediary level

• Replicating the efforts by promoting and
  supporting local initiatives and NGOs
• Networking them for collective action
• linking them to various levels within and beyond
  the state for policy advocacy,
• and with government and donor agencies for
  resource/ fund mobilisation

13
Policy Research Advocacy

• Documentation Dissemination of relevant
  information
• Policy research and analysis
• Public education on development issues
  facilitating people to develop better
  understanding on policy issues
• Advocacy
• This component necessitated mobilising the
  Masses for a ground swell.

14
Need for a large forum

• All this was beyond ERA to achieve all by itself.
  
• But the gap, it seemed, could be filled by
  strengthening local initiatives and bringing them
  under same scheme of things thereby increasing
  overall impact
• This also implied networking them into a larger
  forum.
• ERA, with the wealth of experience at its
  command, was certainly in a position to do so. It
  had the basic strength of local initiatives that
  it had promoted earlier in the process.
• With this germinated the idea of nurturing
• a larger forum

15
Himalayan Nadi Ghati Sanrakshan Abhiyan

• Hence, in the year 1998, Himalayan Nadi Ghati
  Sanrakshan Abhiyan (Himalayan River Valley
  Conservation Campaign) came into existence.
• Basic Idea - majority of local populace and its
  source of livelihood are in river valleys, hence
  the need to conserve and plan to develop
  accordingly.
• it had mobilised local people to organise
  campaign to protect and conserve their river
  valleys. A major threat perceived was upcoming
  big dams, hence they protested against proposed
  Pancheshwar dam on river Mahakali.
• While the Abhiyan was only in nascent stage,
  vested interests publicised the campaign as
  anti-development. Moreover, it became very
  localised.
• Re-establishing ERAs credibility became equally
  important

16
Intermediary role imposed on ERA

• Inclusion of NGOs in Campaign building even
  implied mobilising financial support for them.
• This was true in case of both the ones that had
  emerged from ERAs fold and also others working
  at grassroots who expressed eagerness for
  synergic action.
• a tough task indeed ???
• At the same time, CRY came forward to support.
• CRY designated ERA as its Nodal agency for
  Uttarakhand.
• ERA, since the year 1998, started supporting 10
  NGOs across the state

17
Revigorating Challenge

• Although the geographical spread increased but
  the Focus was limited to child rights
• Challenge was to mobilise funds for promoting and
  strengthening local initiatives those were
  committed to enable the community to foster real
  development - set by its own genius.
• At ERA-level, it needed different set of skills
  to cope up with the new role.
• ERA undertook the Challenge

18
Evolution of SAROKAAR

• The overall developments paved way for a larger
  forum
• Creation of Uttrakhand as a separate state, in
  the year 2000, gave ERA an opportunity to unfold
  its advocacy effort.
• ERA, in collaboration with other NGOs working in
  the region, organised a workshop Challenges
  Prospects for the new state
• More people were roped in. An opportunity to
  build the synergy for positive change.
• These developments needed a new outfit.

19
Cont

• Look out for new outfit resulted in renaming of
  Nadi Ghati Sanrakshan Abhiyan with a renewed
  purpose
• Now, it had become a state-level consortium of
  NGOs, social activists, CBOs, etc. by the name of
  SAROKAAR-Centre for Advocacy Studies
• The change in name and its purpose attracted
  more people from various segments of the society

20
Growth was evident

• More and more people joined with diverse ideas,
  background, and varied interests.
• Now the Challenge was keep intact all members,
  supporters, well-wishers and above all to retain
  the synergy thus created.
• ERA, in-line with its ideology, preferred
  Sarokaar to develop into an autonomous entity
• This needed a separate structure in place.

21
cont

• Eventually, a separate organisation by the name
  of SAROKAAR, with autonomous functioning and
  its structure in place came into existence.
• Dehradun, being state capital, was chosen as its
  central office.
• ERA continued providing finances and all logistic
  support to Sarokaar. Other founder NGO members
  provided the strength.
• Members gave Sarokaar a mandate to evolve into an
  individual membership-based mass organisation.
  The NGO partners reps became individual members
  and promoted mass membership campaign.
• local initiatives, earlier promoted by ERA,
  provided the basis for erecting the new structure
  by broad-basing Sarokaars individual membership.

22
Sarokaar as envisioned earlier was to fulfill the
objective of mass mobilisation under the Policy
advocacy and peoples campaign component of ERAs
and its partner NGOs programmes

• Sarokaar had moved in the desired direction.
• Sarokaars first Convention was held in June 2004
  at Dehradun. In the Convention more than 500
  delegates participated.
• The delegates renewed mandate and approved
  structure to execute the mandate.
• Now Sarokaar is synergising community actions and
  assisting ERA and its partner NGOs to attain the
  set objectives.

23
Impact of Sarokaar

• Sarokaar
• Broad-based, involving a large number of people
  (membership more than 10,000),
• widened ERAs outreach, facilitating sharing of
  resources amongst members, and partner NGOs
• Instrumentalised coordinating multiple strategies
  of ERA and its partner NGOs
• It basically helped to build multiplier effect
  in terms of impact and public discourse.
• The initiative is envisaged to evolve into a
  broader mass movement encompassing whole range of
  livelihood issues of the poor and marginalised.

24
Organisational Structure of SAROKAAR
PEOPLEs CONGRESS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Working
Committee
Members to the Executive Committee are elected
from various segments of the Civil Society
25
ERA reverted back to continue with its role of
promoting and strengthening local initiatives

• ERA has always strove to frame all its programs
  within a comprehensive plan in its endeavor to
  enlighten the community on all aspects of life
  and living.
• For this a stress on local initiatives has been
  laid from the outset itself.
• These local initiatives have been trying to
  enable their respective communities and help them
  evolve an entire package of integrated program
  for their overall socio-economic upliftment.

26
Community level

• Peoples Resource Center's) (as sub-center's) for
  disseminating information) have been initiated at
  three places.
• Community leaders are being identified and
  involved in the process
• Partner NGOs are being capacitated to facilitate
  Community level Strategic planning for Local
  Economic Development

27
Linkages with the Government

• Incumbent Politicians and senior Bureaucrats
  participate in ERAs programmes and duly
  recognise its contribution in the field of
  development.
• Credibly,
• ERA has been designated as Anchor NGO for
  Champawat district by the State Government
• President ERA has been nominated as a member of
  State Committee on Atrocities against Women
• Director ERA was unanimously elected as Founder
  President of UVHA (a state-level network of NGOs)
• Director ERA has been a member of Uttrakhand
  State Electricity Regulatory Commission

28
To express its current of thoughts and actions,
ERA is carrying out following programs/ projects
29
Asserting Child Rights

• Central focus of the program is establishing
  child rights.
• The program entails
• Educating and organizing community around child
  rights and predominant local issues
• Providing basic development services to solve
  local-specific problems
• Reactivating Govt infrastructure to provide
  elementary education and primary health care
• cont.

30
Strengthening Civil Society

• The program is endeavouring to promote and
  synergise Peoples initiatives
• main components
• Main Resource Centre at Ddun and 3 regional
  Resource centres
• Perspective/Capacity building of NGOs/ CBOs
• Democratic reforms for better governance
• institutionalising the initiative

31
The Program is unleashing peoples capacity by ..

• .. Enabling people to develop better
  understanding of their own situation and
  influence of external trends, .. promoting
  collective action to bring change through
  interventions made in the direction of asserting
  their right to basic services and necessary
  infrastructure to utilise their full potential to
  secure livelihoods.
• thereby capacitating them to attempt for
  democratic reforms and sustain the institutions
  thus created.
• .. Help develop linkages with the Government and
  other stakeholders

32
Enabling Local initiatives to bring their issues
in public realm

• This project is being implemented at Tuni in
  Chakrata block
• Construction of a building for a school cum
  community Centre
• Recognise indigenous knowledge on life and
  livelihood and based on that develop
  local-specific curriculum for initiating ethnic
  school
• The idea is to promote ethnic schools in tribal
  pockets of the State

33
Future Thrust areas

• Entrepreneurship development (local resource and
  skill based) for local youth, particularly women
• Strengthen Advocacy wing, particularly competence
  in areas of Democratic reforms, Research and Mass
  Communication
• Enhance professional capabilities of the team to
  cope up with the changed role to improve their
  work efficiency and optimally function during
  emergencies natural calamities, etc.
• Instituionalising the initiatives to Sustain the
  interventions

34
ERAs website re-designed www.erabharat.org

• We recognise the fact that changes in policies at
  state, national and international level are
  necessary, if the poor and marginalised people
  are to be enabled to secure livelihoods,
  participate in decision making and foster real
  development.
• The Website shall give us the opportunity to
  share the impact of our programmes on lives of
  the people with whom we work and communicate with
  our supporters and wider public.
• We will be amplifying peoples voice by using our
  skills and resources to advocate pro-poor
  policies and democratic reforms.
• We look forward to our website being a living and
  vibrant entity.

35
The age old belief

• We are deeply committed to learning and devising
  even more effective ways of enabling poor and
  marginalised people to foster real development
  and assert their rights.
• With each step forward, we will integrate the
  lessons from our work into the development
  support programme and advocacy positions that we
  take.
• We reiterate the belief that
• People with ideas and People united
• hold the key to transformation.

36
Welcoming your valuable Commentsand of
coursePARTICIPATION Thank you for Care
Concern

• Head Off 9, Arvind marg, Dehradun 248 001
  (Uttrakhand) INDIA
• Tele-fax [phone]
• Field off at village Patan post Lohaghat
  dist Champawat -262 524 (UA) Project Off at
  post Tuni, dist Dehradun 248 199 (UA)
• emailera_at_sancharnet.in
  website
  www.erabharat.org