Profiles of Consortium Partners

Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD), a non-profit development organisation established in 1982, has been working towards improving the quality of lives of tribal and rural poor in Odisha. The Centre primarily focuses on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; educating socio-economically distressed people to have access to their entitlements; strengthening institutional mechanism to enhance the quality of service delivery; enabling community organisations to take up their development agenda; carrying out research and building evidences in favour of the marginalised and under-privileged people for promotion of a just and inclusive society. The organisation is pioneer in capacity building of the community as it carries out community development programmes in direct partnership with the poor and marginalised in remote tribal districts of the state. Its grassroots activities are aimed at enabling people to create their own institutions to fulfil their needs and secure their entitlements. At another level, it extends capacity building support to primary–level community-based organisations (CBOs), secondary level civil society organisations (CSOs), and other tertiary level development organisations and networks to accelerate the process of social change. It also joins hands with the special initiatives taken up by the government, civil society and communities to address inequality both in number and intensity.

The organisation has carved out four coherent and reinforcing strategic actions, such as; Building Sustainable Livelihoods; Fostering Inclusive Governance; Advocating for Responsive State; and Reducing Disaster Vulnerability and Addressing Climate Change Concerns to realise its mission and vision.

Established in 1982, PRIA (Participatory Research in Asia) is a global centre for participatory research and training with its headquarters in New Delhi. PRIA’s work is focussed on empowerment of the excluded through capacity building, knowledge building and policy advocacy. PRIA is respected globally for its pioneering role in participatory development at the grassroots. Its core mission is to bring about social change among the marginalised through knowledge, learning and mobilisation. People’s knowledge is recognised and individuals empowered to transform relations of power– in families, communities and between communities and governance institutions – to achieve desired goals.

PRIA’s equity and credibility in the development sector is unparalleled. PRIA’s innovative participatory tools are appropriately deployed towards gathering knowledge, promoting learning, and enabling results that build a world based on values of equity, justice, freedom, peace and solidarity.

The organisation has professionals with decades-long experience in participatory research, participatory training, participatory monitoring and evaluation, preparation of training-learning materials and gender mainstreaming in development. Dr. Rajesh Tandon, Founder-President is an internationally acclaimed leader and practitioner of participatory research and participatory training. Senior professionals have experiential knowledge in and practice of participatory governance, participatory monitoring and evaluation, networking, building convergence at local level, citizen education, social accountability, capacity building of civil society organisations and democratic governance in both rural and urban contexts. Learnings from all projects are used for evidence based and citizen centric advocacy on governance and development concerns.

SahbhagiShikshan Kendra (SSK), a Centre for Participatory Learning, was established in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), in 1990. The Kendra emerged in response to the development scenario prevailing then in the Hindi speaking belt viz, North India, especially Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Responding to the need for strengthening the capacities of Organisation working at the grassroots for lending efficiency and effectiveness to their Organisation and interventions, SSK emerged as a support Organisation, focusing its activities initially in Uttar Pradesh and South Bihar.

SSK strives for a society which is based on equity and justice. It intervenes to enable the poor, marginalised women and excluded sections of the society by encouraging, strengthening and organising them to enhance their participation in the process of their own development. In order to promote the philosophy of development, SSK is trying to build the capacity of CSO’s and other change making groups, CBOs and other organisations to play an active role in positively impacting the lives of the poor and marginalised communities. The mission of SSK is to build and strengthen capacity of civil society organizations through an approach where people are placed at the centre of all development initiatives. Partnership and mutual sharing of ideas and information with the target groups are among its core values.

In its efforts to provide systematic program management support to organisation working at the grass roots, it has established a commitment to strengthen the institutions of local self-governance through capacity building support to various CSOs. SSK works on the following thematic areas: Skill Building, Education and Literacy, Good Governance, Institutional Capacity Building, Migration, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Women Empowerment.

Samarthan - Centre for Development Support is a leading non-profit organisation working in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh since 1995. We believe that good governance is foundation for sustained and equitable development and effective participation by all stakeholders, especially the marginalised, socially excluded and disadvantaged groups, is necessary for promoting good governance. Samarthan strives to address the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment through strengthening the grassroots civil society groups.

We consistently promote and strengthen civil society efforts and have a large network of grassroots groups (NGOs/CBOs/Panchayat representatives) to amplify voices of the poor, dalit, tribal and women in policy-making platforms. We also promote and encourage involvement of local population in planning, execution and monitoring of development projects thereby challenging the mainstream “top-down” development model. In order to enhance public participation in local governance in rural and urban areas, Samarthan has developed vibrant and replicable models through capacity building of elected representatives and empowering Gram Sabha members. Our Vision Every citizen contributes meaningfully in shaping democratic State and enjoys benefits based on the principles of equality and equity Our Mission Promote and support participatory governance for equity and inclusion in development processes by capacity building, generating evidences and advocating the perspective of the most marginalized for enriched democracy Samarthan was established in 1995 as a support organisation in undivided Madhya Pradesh to address the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment through strengthening the grassroots civil society.

UNNATI is an issue-based, strategic and multi sectoral institution with focus on field practice, knowledge building and advocacy for policy reform primarily in the areas of vulnerability reduction, social inclusion, social accountability and decentralised governance. Direct field level mobilisation and implementation is carried out with multi-stakeholder participation including community-based organisations (CBOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), government, private sector institutions, and academic institutions. All the activities are carried out through three thematic divisions - Social Inclusion and Empowerment, Civic Leadership and Governance and Social Determinants of Disaster Risk Reduction. The organisation is operational for more than 30 years covering primarily the states of Gujarat and western region of Rajasthan.