Partners

Organisation: Centre for Environment Education (CEE) was established in August 1984 as a Centre of Excellence supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. CEE, a national institution with its headquarters in Ahmedabad, has a mandate to promote environmental awareness nationwide.

CEE is affiliated to the Nehru Foundation for Development and inherits the rich multi- disciplinary resource base and varied experience of Nehru Foundation for Development.

CEE is committed to ensuring that due recognition is given to the role of EE in the promotion of sustainable development. CEE develops innovative programmes and educational material, and builds capacity in the field of education and communication for sustainable development. It undertakes demonstration projects in education, communication and development that endorse attitudes, strategies and technologies that are environmentally sustainable.

Principles: CEE’s mission is to be an institution of excellence that, in partnership with others, plays a significant role in local, national and global efforts towards sustainable development through innovations, and being at the cutting edge of Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: Since 2021, CEE Bangalore in collaboration with HSF has been implementing a project, titled “Strengthening multi-stakeholder approaches for effective implementation of Karnataka State Action Plan on Climate Change (KSAPCC)”. The aim of the project is to provide knowledge support to the state level stakeholders for effective implementation of the KSAPCC in water and agriculture sectors.

For more information please visit: www.ceeindia.org

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) is one of the leading Universities in India with a consistently high rating in India and abroad. It is headquartered in Bangalore and has its Main Campus in three locations in Bangalore named Bangalore Central Campus, Bangalore Bannerghatta Road Campus, and Bangalore Kengeri Campus. The University also has its campus in the State of Maharashtra named Pune Lavasa Campus and in National Capital Region Delhi, named Delhi NCR Campus. The University offers programmes in humanities, social sciences, science, commerce, management, law education, architecture, and engineering to over 27,000 students from all the states and union territories of India and about 60 other countries.

The Department of International Studies, Politics and History in Christ University is a well-established Department that focuses on serious teaching and research. Many of the papers being taught as part of both post-graduate and under-graduate courses focus on a variety of issues pertaining to comparative governments and federal studies.

 Many Ph.D. scholars attached to the Department are pursuing serious research relating to various aspects of federalism. The Department has collaborative programmes with a number of universities and organisations in India and abroad.

Cooperation between HSS and CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) has been a partner of HSS since 2021, collaborating on various projects, including ‘Cooperative Federalism in South Asia & Europe’ and ‘India’s Neighborhood Policy toward Southeast Asia: A Study on Act East Policy’, among others.

Enfold Proactive Health Trust, founded in 2002 has been addressing issues like gender based violence and child sexual abuse through awareness and training, building supporting systems and advocacy. Enfold works towards creating safe spaces where each gender is equally valued and respected, every child is safe and people of all genders feel empowered.

Enfold recognizes the lack of body autonomy and agency, poor self-esteem and body image among women and children, coupled with silence around sexuality and a dearth of comprehensive sexuality education as contributing factors towards the glaring gender disparity, gender-based violence, and low reporting of such crimes. We help women and children recognize and report abuse and handhold them through the entire process. We also offer rehabilitation services for victims and their families to enhance their safety and dignity.

Cooperation with HSS

Since March 2022, Enfold has been implementing a project on “Empowering Youth and Adults in Creating Safer Neighbourhoods - being Safe Responders in case of sexual abuse.

For more information please visit: http://enfoldindia.org/

Organisation: Grassroots Research And Advocacy Movement (GRAAM) is a development research and policy engagement initiative in India. GRAAM’s extensive expertise spans over policy research, Impact Assessment and Evaluation, Community Consultation, Policy Engagement, Strategic Consultation and Academic Programs. GRAAM works in collaboration with all the four key stakeholders of development i.e. Government, Citizenry, Civil Society Organizations and Corporate. GRAAM believes that the key stakeholders of development – the community, the State, the NGO/CSO and the private sector is essential in the process of development.

Principles: GRAAM aims to ensure the ‘voices’ of the communities at the grassroots are significantly accounted for in the process of development. We provide evidence-based and actionable policy/program inputs incorporating grassroots perspectives, aiming towards a citizen-centric public policy. GRAAM strives to impact development through building human and social capital.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: The collaboration between HSF and GRAAM started in 2022 with the project on Youth and Governance. GRAAM and PRIA work together for the project in the Indian state of Karnataka. The project is Youth-n-Democracy Fellowship Program – Youth for Governance (Y4G): Learning Active Citizenship. The project is for the youth to promote their understanding on the values of federalism, principles and structures of decentralized governance in India.

For more information, please visit https://graam.org.in/. 

The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) was founded in 1996 as an independent thinktank by former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer PR Chari and Major General (Retd) Dipankar Banerjee to develop an alternative framework for peace and security in South Asia and the extended neighbourhood. It aims to bring policy-relevant research into scholarly and public debate through an emphasis on events, capacity building of the next generation of thought leaders, and media and online outreach. Its research and policy recommendations do not subscribe to any particular political view or interest.

Cooperation between HSS and IPCS

Since 2020, IPCS has been collaborating with HSS on various projects aimed at strengthening India-Germany and India-EU cooperation.  

For more information, please visit their website

Justice Adda part of Jusadd Innovation Lab LLP is a social enterprise that helps human rights campaigners, development organisations, justice, and other legal institutions to empower people to understand and use the law by providing content, design, and technology solutions. Justice Adda was incubated at the Cambridge Social Ventures programme in the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge Business School. Their team is made up of an interdisciplinary group of lawyers, social scientists, technologists, and designers.

Cooperation between HSS and Justice Adda

With the support of HSS, Justice Adda has developed an educational board game ‘Sabha’ based on the Indian Parliament Game and ‘Graphic Law Library’.

For more information, please visit their website.

HSS facilitates bilateral development cooperation between states, government and non-government institutions. HSS has been a long-standing facilitator of cross-border learning and training of police throughout the world. In April 2007 an MoU was signed between the Government of Karnataka (GoK) and the State of Bavaria (Germany) to promote bilateral relations between the two regions for cooperation in collaborative projects. Subsequently a Declaration of Intent for the intensification of police cooperation was signed between the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Transport (Federal Republic of Germany) and the Department of Home, Government of Karnataka in 2016 to cooperate especially for the exchange of experience in police tasks mainly through the engagement of experts, information visits and capacity building measures (workshops, seminars & conferences) in consultation. HSS has been instrumental in materialising the collaboration. Further HSS been supporting KSPS in the following areas: 

• Making the work of Karnataka State Police Services (KSPS) wellbeing officers more efficient; introducing a support network on mental health.
• Making mental health training a part of training (every entry level).
• Drafting an ideal witness protection scheme for Karnataka.
• Analysing and strengthening the effectiveness and role of women police officers.
• Support regional exchange on various police topics.

The National Law School of India University was established in 1986 to pioneer legal education reform and anchor the transformation of the Indian legal system through research and policy interventions. We are dedicated to the realization of core constitutional values through a vital democracy committed to freedom and social justice. Our Founder Prof Madhava Menon committed the University to engaging with comprehensive legal system reform over the last three decades. As a result NLSIU has a unique credibility and legitimacy to shape this field working with the legal profession, the courts and the executive branch of government.

This has included working on key legislation that has shaped India’s development, whether it be laws ushering in economic liberalisation, technology policy or social welfare and justice. NLS has played a significant role in legal reform throughout its history, including criminal justice reform through contributions to the Malimath Committee Report and the Prevention of Atrocities Act. Its specialised research centres have been repeatedly called upon to shape laws and improve implementation in intellectual property, child rights, and environmental laws, among many others. NLS Faculty and Vice-Chancellors have been Members of key Government advisory bodies and international fora across a diverse range of issues of pressing concern.

Cooperation between HSS and NLSIU

Since September 2021, NLSIU, in cooperation with HSS, has been implementing a project on "Role of Women in Karnataka Police”.

For more information please visit: www.nls.ac.in

Organisation: Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) promotes ‘participation as empowerment’, by building capacities of citizens, communities and institutions, to enable vibrant, gender-equal societies. Its work is focused on empowerment of the excluded through capacity building, knowledge building and policy advocacy. Since its inception, PRIA has been working on issues of active citizenship and democratic governance, in varied contexts and geographies; these initiatives have also included young people. PRIA’s experiences have clearly outlined the significant role which people’s knowledge and voices play, including those of youth, in bringing social change.

Principles: PRIA’s work is focused on empowerment of the excluded through capacity building, knowledge building and policy advocacy. Over three decades PRIA has promoted ‘participation as empowerment’, capacity building of community organisations, and people’s participation in governance.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: PRIA has recently started a project in collaboration with HSF in the Indian state of Karnataka. The project is Youth-n-Democracy Fellowship Program – Youth for Governance (Y4G): Learning Active Citizenship. The project is for the youth to promote their understanding on the values of federalism, principles and structures of decentralized governance in India.

For more information please visit www.pria.org

Seminar on "Women Rights Issues"

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SIDART is a voluntary organisation, which was formed in 1998 with a goal to improve the economic and social position of marginalised groups in urban slums and in the villages of the federal state of Rajasthan. Their special focus is on women and children.

Organisation: SIDART has its headquarters in Jaipur, the capital of the Indian federal state of Rajasthan. From Jaipur, it co-ordinates and controls all its activities in the rural areas. Sixteen co-workers, who have worked with different NGOs & other government organisations, constitute the staff of SIDART. An advisor is responsible for the execution of various seminars, co-ordination with Government in Jaipur, SIDART and HSF. SIDART is a decentralized organisation based on the principle of participatory style of leadership.

Principles: SIDART follows the guiding principle of “we aim to reach the unreachable” and is based on the principles of self-help. The idea behind is to bring forward all the possibilities, on how women can improve their life with their own power independently and permanently. The organisation within its framework, wants to make local knowledge and resources usable. It strives around the local financial and material support before falling back to the external help. The initiated projects are community based with an objective that they should sustain themselves and the community should take future ownership.

With relative simple means, SIDART succeeded to cover a broad spectrum of different fields of activities, even before starting co-operation with HSF. The activities in earlier years were installation of water pumps, promoting skills, setting up of informal training programmes for women and children to make them aware of HIV/AIDS, health campaigns for mine workers, environment protection and application oriented research. SIDART promotes women through specific awareness programmes on women rights and providing training for their personal, professional, financial and economic empowerment. In addition, SIDART supports small organisations led by women, builds self help groups and organises credits for women.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: The aim of the HSF activities together with SIDART is spreading awareness, improvement of civic education / qualification of the selected target groups.

In co-operation with HSF, SIDART organises numerous workshops to acquaint and clarify women about their rights, supporting them to be mature & responsible citizens and moreover, motivating them to take the leading position in the society. The centre of activities are Panchayats where one third of the seats are reserved for women. It is here the cradle of Civic Education and democratic approaches of SIDART & HSF training can be seen.

For more information please visit www.sidartngo.org

Organisation: Central University of Haryana is a Central University established under the Central Universities Act, 2009 of the Parliament. It is one of the 15 Central Universities established by the Ministry of Education (formerly known as the Ministry of Human Resource Development), Government of India under the XI th Five Year Plan (2007-12). The University is fully funded by the UGC. 

The University offers 72 academic programmes (UG/PG/Research).

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: The collaboration between HSF and the Department of Political Science of the University started in 2022 with the project on Resilient Federalism: Democratic Innovations for Crisis Management. An International Conference was organised as part of the project. For more information on HSF-CUH project, please visit https://www.federal-governance.org.

For more information on the Central University of Haryana, please visit https://www.cuh.ac.in/department.aspx?departmentid=5. 

Workshop on "Panchayati Raj System" in Punjab

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Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), an autonomous research institute, was registered in 1978. It is among the 27 research institutes in the country supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, and enjoys the distinction of being the only one of its kind in the north-western states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. CRRID was accorded the "national status" in 1984 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, in recognition of its contribution to the cause of social science research in the broader national perspective.

Organisation: CRRID is situated in the prime institutional locality of the beautiful city Chandigarh and has its own Campus in 1.75 acres of land. The Centre has a well-equipped library housing more than 25,000 titles and 123 national as well as international periodicals on Social Sciences and related disciplines.

CRRID staff, inclusive of those in the Population Research Centre (PRC), consists of employees in five main sections, namely: Research Faculty, Library and Information Services, Data Processing Services, Publications and General Administration. Besides the core staff, there is also project specific staff, which is employed in the time bound research and intervention projects carried out by the Centre. The diverse background of research faculty at CRRID reflects the multidisciplinary orientation of research and action programmes at the Centre and is national in character.

Principles: CRRID's primary focus has been on carrying out socially relevant research on rural and industrial development in the wider social, economic and political context. In view of the contemporary emerging scenario at the regional, national and global levels, its thrust areas are as follows:

• Panchayati Raj Institutions and Rural Development
• Urban Governance and Development
• Population, Health and Family Welfare
• Communalism and Conflict Resolution
• Education
• Gender Issues
• Industrial Development and Economic Growth
• Environment and Climate Change
• Migration National and International, Role of Diaspora
• Cooperation Development, Peace and Security in South and Central Asia

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: In order to launch a nation-wide federal comparison of local self-government, the CRRID is collaborating with the HSF in executing a project “Bench marking for strengthening the Rural Local Self Government Institutions” by preparing a document on national and regional level on certain key indicators. The outcomes of the project would be disseminated through various foras at state, regional, national and international level.

For more information please visit undefined www.crrid.res.in

Seminar on "Conflict in Sri Lanka: Road Ahead"

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CSA started its work in 2002 in Chennai as an independent not for profit think tank organisation for research and education in the field of Security. Within a short span of few years, CSA became a well renowned think tank and a platform of nation and international experts to exchange views.

Organisation: With its headquarters in Chennai, CSA operates nationwide and across the borders. It is one of the regional networks of Strategic Studies centre set up by the National Defence University, Washington DC. The committee is headed by the elected members.

Principles: CSA operates free of any political ideologies to create an independent awareness of security issues and involve the political process by providing analysis and studies. The main objectives are to contribute towards conflict resolution and peace keeping, activities in civil society to improve governance & security and support complex, multi-dimensional modern security discussion themes. In its approach and work CSA strongly addresses the national (Indian) security interests.

The main activities of CSA consists of organising dialogue programmes with international participation in India and in other countries, publications on security issues dealing with peace and conflict research, civil society and leadership (governance), transnational dimensions of terrorism, security issues & relations in south Asia. CSA publishes books, articles, bulletins and has its own internet blog on current security issues called “Security Watch”. A special regional focus is on ASEAN & SAARC and its security.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: The aim of the HSF activities together with CSA is to support the national and international dialogue programmes in civil security and welfare sectors.

Together with HSF, since 2004, CSA organises seminar addressing the above stated issues with International participation. Special lectures are conducted by CSA in the universities and other institutions addressing the young audience with an objective to make them aware and informed.

For more information please visit www.csa-chennai.org

Organisation: Centre for Social Research is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in New Delhi. Established in 1983 in New Delhi, India, the Centre for Social Research (CSR) is dedicated to creating a violence-free, gender-just society through social research, capacity building and advocacy. CSR works to empower women and girls of India, guarantee their fundamental rights and increase understanding of social issues from a gender perspective. We operate on local, national and regional levels in an effort to enhance the capacities of individuals, communities and institutions for creating a humane, equitable and gender-just society.

For nearly three decades, Centre for Social Research has been a leader in the Indian women’s movement due to its unique, tri-fold position as an experienced facilitator of grassroots programmes and trainings; an esteemed research institute; and a lobbyist, advocate and advisor to government institutions.

Principles: Working towards gender justice in India means tackling a multitude of complex social, cultural and economic issues at the same time. Some of our key issue areas include but are not limited to: violence against women, pre-natal sex selection, engendered governance, women and economy and gender sensitisation for and mainstreaming within all sectors of society.

Centre for Social Research firmly believes that all people should bear equal rights, privileges and opportunities. We believe that women can be catalysts for and agents of social change, and that change itself is a gradual process. And we recognise that restructuring gender relations requires participation from all actors: women and men, young and old, grassroots to national levels, private and public institutions alike.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: In 2022, CSR in collaboration with HSF implemented a project, titled “Promoting sustainable IWRM in the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Karnataka”. The aim of the project was two-fold: First, identify gaps and challenges in Jal Jeevan Mission's implementation to make it more efficient, socially equitable and ecologically sustainable and second, generate and share policy recommendations for improving the uptake of JJM piped water supply and its sustainability.

For more information, please visit ww.csrindia.org

Organisation: Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is one of India’s leading think tanks. A non-profit, independent institution, CPR conducts rigorous research and contributes to generating new ideas and a more robust public debate about the structures and processes that shape contemporary life in India today. 

CPR brings together India’s best thinkers and policy practitioners who are at the forefront of both research and engagement in the policy space, drawing from various disciplines and professional backgrounds. CPR conducts advanced and in-depth research on a wide range of policy-relevant issues, with a focus on India’s 21st-century challenges. Through its research and policymaking engagements, CPR works closely with policymakers in its aim to place India firmly on the path of building a twenty-first century policy ecosystem.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: The collaboration between HSF and CPR started in 2022 with the project on State-level Political Parties and Federalism. The aim of the project is to increase the understanding of federalism and Centre-state engagement through the creation of a database of state and local level political parties in India.

For more information, please visit https://cprindia.org/. 

Chetna Mahila Vikas Kendra (CMVK) is a non-governmental organisation based in Pune that has started its work in 1995 and extended it in Sindhudurg district in 1997. The medium of Self Help Group was used a as tool to bring women together to resolve the family and social issues. Presently CMVK has one federation of 200 Self Help Groups in Sindhudurg which provides the loan for the members along with the need based trainings on entrepreneurship, health, good governance, communal harmony etc. The issue of family violence and the violence against women has always remained a core issue to break the silence on the gender based discrimination. CMVK has formed community support groups to intervene in the incidences of the cases of physical abuse by the family members and imparts Legal literacy and training to create the awareness on the constitution of India and other related laws for the community at large. It also provides assistance to the victims of violence in the police station court and government officers.

Projects in cooperation with HSS:
Chetna Mahila Vikas Kendra (CMVK) is a partner NGO of HSS since August 2016. It has implemented a pilot project in association with Women and Child Development Department in Pune in 2016. In January 2017 CMVK launched the project for Pune district i.e. Pune urban and rural. Besides that the NGO has initiated the process to strengthen the Members of Responsible Conflict Resolution Structures in Pune Division of Maharashtra and 13 blocks of Rural Pune district. In the current project CMVK has changed its focus to build the capacity of the government officers who are closely providing the services to the survivors of domestic violence in urban setups of Pune and the block level rural structures of Women and Child Development Department.

Seminar on "Nuclear Non-proliferation & Disarmament"

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DPG was formed in 1994. Over the years, it has become a renowned and effective think tank organisation in Delhi, which predominantly is active in political security issues.

Organisation: The office of the DPG is located in Delhi at India Habitat Centre where many other renowned organisations are situated working in the field of Politics, Economics, Energy & Culture. The permanent staff of DPG consists of two directors, two research assistants and a secretary. For specific issues, DPG forms working groups from a pool of more than 200 intellectuals in the Indian capital and more than 100 persons outside Delhi.

Principles: DPG acts as an independent organisation without any inclination towards any political party or ideology. Their goal is to find unbiased answers for critical questions in the national interest. Their academic work on security and conflict questions is coined/shaped by practical considerations and pragmatic strategies.

The major activities consist of organising seminars and programmes with international participation in India and other countries including publications on security issues, which range from peace to research on conflicts. The titles of their past activities/seminars are:

• Afghanistan Today
• Strategic Situation in West Asia Today
• Pakistan in Flux
• India's Evolving National Security Strategy
• Nuclear Non Proliferation & Disarmament

Fields of Activity/Co-operation with HSF: The aim of the HSF activities together with DPG is to support the national and international dialogue programmes in civil security and welfare sectors.

DPG & HSF seminars focus on the relations with the neighbouring countries of Pakistan & Afghanistan. Since 2004, seminars with HSF are accomplished with international participations.

For more information please visit www.delhipolicygroup.com

FLO–HSF Information Stand at FLO Bazar: Shipra Chaterjee, FLO; Dr. Kiran Walia, Health Minister, Delhi Government; Mona Gupta, Director, Sutradhara

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FLO was established in 1983, as a division of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI). FLO has a pan India presence and works to promote entrepreneurship and enhance vocation qualification in women.

Organisation: The head office of FLO is in New Delhi, with chapters in seven Indian cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Guwahati and Kolkata. All together it has over 1800 members comprising of entrepreneurs, professionals, corporate executives and heads of various NGOs. The geographical spread of FLO’s activities goes beyond the boundaries of India. FLO promotes global entrepreneurship and networking among women by hosting and sending delegations to the SAARC countries enabled by SAARC-SCWEC (SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneur Council).

Principles: Working with a motto “power to empower” FLO acts as a catalyst for socio-economic progress of women. With their training programmes the organisation addresses all sections of society. FLO believes that the members of the trade & industry should take responsibility to improve the lives and the future prospects of the citizens.

FLO works nation-wide on all social levels undertaking different programmes with respective target groups. At the grass root level, people in villages are offered training in art and craft to acquaint them of the prospects for self employment in these fields. At the middle level, FLO supports women and men who have business ideas and wish to develop skills in product identification, project planning, fund raising etc. through entrepreneurial development programmes for setting up their own business. At the senior level, FLO offers advanced training programmes to women who are already in a business or profession in the field of management techniques, international marketing, human resource development, financial accountancy, etc. As an additional activity, FLO in New Delhi provides individual consultancy to interested women entrepreneurs.

Fields of Activity/Co-operation with HSF: The aim of the HSF activities together with FLO is the improvement in managerial capacity & vocational qualification of selected target groups.

Together with HSF, FLO offers a wide range of extensive programmes especially on Managerial & Entrepreneurial Development and seminars not only in India but also throughout SARRC with focus on management training, marketing etc.

For more information please visit www.ficciflo.com

Indian Community Welfare Organisation a registered voluntary organisation was established in 1994. It was born out of deep and abiding concern for marginalized and exploited women in difficult circumstances in India.  The focus was on working with high-risk population and their clients and certain other target groups with the aim of empowering them. ICWO has been rendering a considerable amount of work in the field of STI/HIV/AIDS prevention with the aid of several dedicated volunteers, the constant encouragement and support of the government. ICWO successfully initiated various rescue and reintegration of human trafficking saviours and working towards setting up Anti Human Trafficking Club (AHTC) in College and Institution in Tamil Nadu.

Collaboration with HSS:

With the support of HSS, ICWO has implemented a project on “Youth movement to address Human Trafficking and ensure child rights in Tamil Nadu” from 15.03.2022 till 31.12.2023.

For more information please visit : https://icwoindia.org

Organisation: Indian Environment Law Organization (IELO) is a law firm dedicated to the progressive development of policy and practice of environment and development law. Armed with a judicious mix of field-based knowledge and high-quality legal diagnosis, IELO is the only law firm in the country to have been engaged for the capacity building of parliamentarians on climate change for shaping India’s negotiating stance towards the Paris Agreement, 2015.

The firm also has the distinction of providing expertise based legal, advisory and legal training services to government and non-government agencies involved in the transboundary water cooperation in South Asia including the Central Water Commission, India and UNECE Water Convention. The firm is deeply involved in mainstreaming SDGs into policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks in India and South Asia through their transboundary resources governance portfolio.

Principles: IELO's mission is to make development more inclusive, equitable and sustainable with committed legal services in the field of natural resources, energy and environmental law. IELO strives to bring to the fore critical sustainability concerns and imperatives so that these are incorporated in the development policy and laws of the country. It is also committed to ensure that the voice of people, whose lives are so intricately linked and dependent upon environment and natural resources, find their rightful place in the echelons of governance and policymaking.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: The collaboration between HSF and IELO started in 2022 with the project on Inclusive Renewable Energy Law in India. The aim of the project was to develop a model framework law on Renewable Energy with focus on inclusive and decentralised Renewable Energy.

Organisation: The Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) is an All-India Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Training in the Social Sciences, established in 1972 by the late Professor V K R V Rao. It is registered as a Society under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960, to create a blend of field-oriented empirical research and advances in social science theories leading to better public policy formulation.

Principles: ISEC was envisaged by its founders as a national centre of excellence specialising in interdisciplinary research and training in social sciences and analyses of critical issues affecting the transformation of economy, polity and society. In the coming years ISEC would like to define its path and will attempt to become an institution committed to excellence and social justice. ISEC has worked on the understanding that research alone is not enough and equally important is to ensure that the findings of its research are disseminated among the stakeholders and for effecting changes in society through policy.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: From 2022 to 2023, ISEC in collaboration with HSF implemented a project, titled “Scaling Up Water Use Efficiency Measures in Karnataka thorugh Evaluation of its Micro Irrigation Strategies”. The aim of the project was to leverage Micro Irrigation as adaptation tool to enhance resilience of drought-prone farmers.  

For more information, please visit http://www.isec.ac.in/

Organisation: Manuvikasa is a non-governmental, non-political, voluntary organization committed to the advancement of education, environment protection, and rural development. Registered in the year 2003, Manuvikasa has been primarily working in Haveri, Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts of Karnataka, India. Its key focus areas are Environment Conservation, Sustainable Agriculture, Livelihood and Educational and Social Support.

Principles: Manuvikasa endeavours to create and sustain a social order among the marginalized and deprived members of the rural community regardless of caste, class, creed and gender with special emphasis on women and children, enabling them through various programmes and activities ensuring sustainable livelihood, distribution of natural resources without discrimination. Preservation of natural resources mainly land and water vegetation to sustain life on this planet by maintaining an ecosystem and preventing exploitation of these resources by some section of the society and ensuring equitable distribution to meet the basic need of especially the poor guide its intervention.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: From 2021 to 2023, Manuvikasa in collaboration with HSF implemented a project, titled “Implementing water resources management in Karnataka in the framework of SDG 6”. The aim of the project is to carry out an effective water resources management based on the principles of IWRM to achieve water use efficiency in agriculture.

For more information, please visit http://manuvikasa.letsendorse.org/

Organisation: Sakhi was initiated in 1996, with the intention of facilitating, supporting and networking grassroots women’s groups in Kerala with information dissemination, capacity building and leadership development of women, gender based violence prevention and interventions, policy advocacy and campaigning on women’s issues. In the last 17 years of its functioning, the organization has been able to achieve this and more. Sakhi is registered as charitable trust with six trustees, all of whom are women. One trustee is from the staff and a team of project staff conducts the programmes. The major activities are:

• Information collection and dissemination through a resource centre with over 9,000 books, and numerous documents, paper clippings, collection of documentary films.
• Capacity building programmes on Gender, Development and related areas to a wide range of people from all walks of life (Compiled and published the training manual for this in three volumes).
• Life skill education of adolescents through local governments (Published Manual and three booklets for this purpose).
• Working with local governments since 1997 to ensure Gender planning, budgeting and auditing (Published several books and manuals).
• Violence prevention and intervention programmes and campaigns.
• Advocacy and campaigns/ Action research programmes.

Principles: Sakhi follows the principles of equality, equity and justice. Hence it believes in inclusiveness, complementarity and follows a non-hierarchical leadership style.

Activities/Co-operation with HSF: Sakhi has recently started a project in collaboration with HSF. The project is on “Deepening Democracy through Strengthening Decentralized Governance in Kerala with Focus on Gender Justice”. This would be achieved step by step: through initially surveying some Panchayats where good practices of sustainable development models have been already made; working for the first phase in selective Panchayats in one district, facilitating the capacity building of the elected members thereof, and forming resource teams of former elected woman members, thus building on existing capacities and sustaining them in social and political sectors.

For more information please visit www.sakhikerala.org

Cutting & Tailoring Programme for the Women from Rural Areas

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YWCA is active in more than 120 countries world-wide and brings more than 25 million women together. In India, YWCA dates back to 1875 when the first local association was established in Mumbai. YWCA of Delhi working at a local level was affiliated to the national YWCA movement in 1912. Now it has a national network of over 81 local associations. In Delhi, the association has its own Institute of Management & Professional Training, a hostel for employed women and a guest house for visitors. YWCA in Delhi has more than 160 employees.

Principles: The YWCA Delhi works at the local level according to the principles of ecumenism. Independent of the nationality, caste & creed, social & economic status the women and girls are supported so that they can take part in all the processes of society as full and equal members. YWCA strives to adapt to the changing needs of the society in a constantly changing world.

YWCA Delhi promotes vocational training among women especially enhancing the skills of already employed women. Moreover, YWCA in the Delhi region undertakes extensive urban and rural development projects in the field of health awareness, vocational training, family counselling, human rights, environment protection and security. YWCA strives to take measures for further skill enhancement of its employees.

Fields of Activity/Co-operation with HSF: The aim of the HSF activities together with YWCA is the improvement in managerial capacity and vocational qualification of selected target groups.

After a small phase of stagnation, the association utilized its co-operation with HSF to further train the instructors from their management institute in the field of planning & logframe, motivation & steps toward higher efficiency. Parallel, programmes were also initiated and conducted for internal YWCA & NGO employees on different subjects of management like financing & book keeping.

For more information please visit www.ywcaofdelhi.org