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Programmes

Poverty Reduction and Food Security, Promoting Social Inclusion of Particularly Marginalised Groups and Increasing Resilience to Disasters in High-Risk Areas

  1. Project Title: Global Programme: Poverty Reduction and Food Security, Promoting Social Inclusion of Particularly Marginalised Groups and Increasing Resilience to Disasters in High-Risk Areas
  2. Funding Agency: Caritas Germany
  3. Duration: 1st Apri: 2021- 31st March 2024
  4. Operational area: Assam State (Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Morigaon)

Target groups: Direct target groups at the micro level:

  • Communities who are socially excluded groups will be able to gain improved access to state welfare systems and social benefits and to be able to participate more in political decision-making in particular farming families who farm subsistence farming or have very low and irregular income as will improve their food security.
  • Members from socially and economically marginalised population groups living in disaster-prone areas to increase their resilience to disasters and reduce the risk of damage from floods, droughts, hurricanes, rising sea levels and health threats. The programme will therefore respond in particular to their needs and open up alternatives to income and social security.
  • Communities who are among the most discriminated groups in India’s caste hierarchy and categorized by the government as “Scheduled Castes”, as well as members of ethnic minorities classified as “Scheduled Tribes”, both of which should have priority access to state social benefits and support programmes, are included as target groups in the planning of the implementation of the project activities. Within these groups, women, children and people with disabilities are again the main focus of the support measures.

Direct target groups at the meso and macro level:

  • Coordination and cooperation with government agencies at the micro, meso and macro levels is a key element in advancing and meaningfully complementing existing government policies and plans.
  • Civil society organisations and platforms at the Meso and Macro levels will be directly targeted. They will benefit from joint activities on technical training, from more intensive knowledge exchange, greater political networking and coordination of activities.
  1. Objectives: Improved access to government social benefits, increased self-help capacity, and increased interaction between civil society initiatives and government agencies will lead to more effective implementation of government development programs and increase the resilience of particularly marginalized populations to disasters, increase their food security, and promote joint implementation of government-mandated strategies for the social integration of marginalized minorities.
  1. Project Brief: BMZ Global Programme India is a community-led partnership model hosted by Caritas India with the support of Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Government of Germany and Caritas Germany. By focusing on four development themes at a large: Resilience to natural calamities, enhanced Nutritional and Food Security, Social Inclusion and strengthening civil society learning, the programme aims at improving the life situation of the particularly marginalized population of eighteen identified districts in four Indian States. Caritas India along with her twenty –three  partners are implementing the programme covering 18 districts covering 260 villages  in the Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal towards  contributing to the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero Hunger), 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 13 (Climate Action).

The programme is multi-level and the main beneficiaries of the program are traditionally marginalized groups, officially defined by the Indian authorities as “Scheduled Castes” (SCs) and “Scheduled Tribes” (STs), which live in the rural are-as of selected districts.

The global programme will be implemented with and through local partners, with Caritas India as the coordinating body. In each of the states, the program builds on the coordination mechanisms of the regional forums that have been in place for decades.

The reporting organization- North East Diocesan Social Forum- being the main coordinating agency of social commitment initiatives under North East Regional Bishop’s Council, carries out its specific role of capacity building, advocacy and networking and maintain links with other thematic and political entities ensuring the involvement of other actors in civil society.

One of the main tasks North East Diocesan Social Forum expected to be actively involved is in building up of the technical and administrative capacities of the member organizations and in developing strategic perspectives in the state of Assam.  North East Diocesan Social Service Society’s link with other civil society networks and coordination structures such as the “Assam Disaster management Authority” and “Inter Agency Groups”, is another boon to bring together NGOs and INGOs and political campaigns in the state of Assam and make it possible to influence policy makers at macro and meso level on the programme’s priority themes and on government programmes and plans.

  1. Accomplishments:

NEDSSS, under the Global Program India conducted Mobilization of the population to participate in official village assemblies workshop. This was conducted in collaboration with RVC where more than 140 individuals are motivated to take active participation in the local governance and decision-making processes. Every community member is made aware of the importance of their participation in local governance and is motivated to take active participation in the official Village Assemblies. The community members are educated on climate-resilient and sustainable development plans. Community Development Council in 1 village is strengthened and enhanced representation from the most vulnerable and excluded groups in the councils DRR plan of 1 village as well as the Gram Panchayat Development Plans are reviewed and strengthened. Increased community resilience and capacitation of a critical mass of the communities to take ownership of its development and assume the driver’s seat.

Global Program India, NEDSSS Team also hosted Sphere India’s Regional Consultancy at Hotel Rajdhani Regency, Guwahati with the aim of enhancing  NGO collaboration in the state of Assam. The Regional Collaboration on Futuristic Collaboration for Collective Impact, featured perspectives from the CSR/Private Sector, CSO/CBOs, NGOs, Media and the Government. The objective was to commemorate the good work done by various actors across the country during crisis and the challenges faced by them at different levels and to develop a roadmap of futuristic collaborations for collective impact. The IICA (Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs) in collaboration with Sphere India as part of the Azaadi ka Swarn Mahotsav convened the programme.

Another activity conducted by NEDSSS was the Joint Reflection session and meetings between NGOs, platforms of excluded communities and government agencies in Assam, where resource persons from Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Academics and various CSOs attended the session on Children’s capacity in DRR.

  1. Additional Remarks: Overall, the first half activities of NEDSSS, under the Global Program India were carried out to the best of its abilities. NEDSSS has provided a conducive platform for new Ideas, information, knowledge, insights from the expertise, experience, practices of the others for effective coordination between civil society and state institutions. NEDSSS is also in constant engagement with IAG Assam group and had attended online and offline meetings for flood relief and interventions on the recent Assam Floods 2022 and had established better coordination and networking and on time delivery of consolidated assessment reports on the Assam Floods.