Advocacy & Lobbying

In a legal/law context: An 'advocate' is the title of a specific person who is authorized/appointed (in some way) to speak on behalf of a person in a legal process. See advocate. In a political context: An 'advocacy group' is an organized collection of people who seek to influence political decisions and policy, without seeking election to public office. See interest group. In a social care context: Both terms (and more specific ones such as 'independent advocacy') are used in the UK in the context of a network of interconnected organizations and projects which seek to benefit people who are in difficulty (primarily in the context of disability and mental health). In the context of inclusion: Citizen Advocacy organizations (citizen advocacy programs) seek to cause benefit by reconnecting people who have become isolated. Their practice was defined in two key documents: CAPE, and Learning from Citizen Advocacy Programs.

Transforming Passion into Action Advocacy / Lobbying related to Education, Health, Food Security, Environment & Natural

Resource Management, Women’s Empowerment, Civil Society Strengthening. Advocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes — including public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions — that directly affect people’s current lives. (Cohen, 2001) Therefore, advocacy can be seen as a deliberate process of speaking out on issues of concern in order to exert some influence on behalf of ideas or persons. Based on this definition, Cohen (2001) states that “ideologues of all persuasions advocate” to bring a change in people’s lives. However, advocacy has many interpretations depending on the issue at stake, which can be different from this initial value-neutral definition. Forms of advocacy There are several forms of advocacy, which each represent a different approach in the way change is brought into society. One of the most popular forms is social justice advocacy. Although it is true, the initial definition does not encompass the notions of power relations, people’s participation and a vision of a just society that promoted by social justice advocates. For them, advocacy represents the series of actions taken and issues highlighted to change the “what is” into a “what should be”, considering that this “what should be” is a more decent and a more just society (ib., 2001.) Those actions, which vary with the political, economical and social environment in which they are conducted, have several points in common. Characteristics of Advocacy • Question the way policy is administered • Participate in the agenda setting as they raise significant issues • Target political systems “because those systems are not responding to people’s needs” • Advocacy is inclusive and engaging • Propose policy solutions • Open up space for public argumentation.

S.Rengasamy - Understanding Advocacy & Lobbying

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Functions of Advocacy Groups 1. Give a voice to (misrepresented) citizen

interests 2. Mobilize citizens to participate in the

democratic process 3. Support the development of a culture of

democracy 4. Assist in the development of better public

policy 5. Ensure governments’ accountability to citizens.

Advocacy is: • Having the opportunity to speak up for ourselves and represent others with whom we share the same concerns.

• Knowing what our rights are, and seeing that they are respected.

• Being able to be ourselves and get to know what we want from life.

• Having the strength and confidence to say NO. • Having access to information and not being isolated. • Being able to make our own choices and decisions. • Having a say in deciding the services we receive. • Being with people and having the chance to establish relationships.

• Feeling empowered to change the way services are run.

Types of Advocacy

Some of the other forms of advocacy include: • Ideological advocacy: in this approach, groups fight, sometimes during protests, to advance their ideas in the decision-making circles.

• Mass advocacy: is any type of action taken by large groups (petitions, demonstrations, etc.)

• Interest-group advocacy: lobbying is the main tool used by interests groups doing mass advocacy. It is a form of action that does not always succeed at influencing political decision-makers as it requires resources and organization to be effective.

• Bureaucratic advocacy: people considered “experts” have more chance to succeed at presenting their issues to decision-makers. They use bureaucratic advocacy to influence the agenda, however at a slower pace.

• Legislative advocacy: legislative advocacy is the “reliance on the state or federal legislative process” as part of a strategy to create change.

• Media advocacy: is “the strategic use of the mass media as a resource to advance a social or public policy initiative”. For example, how media advocacy is used to prevent HIV AIDS and to fight alcohol and tobacco-related health issues.

Advocacy groups Advocacy is led by advocates or, when they are organized in groups as is the case most of the time, advocacy groups. Advocacy groups as defined by Young and Everritt (2004, 5) are different from political parties which "seek to influence government policy by governing." They are "any organization that seeks to influence government policy, but not to govern." This definition includes social movements, sometimes network of organizations which are also focused on encouraging social change. Social movements try to either influence governments or, like the environmental movement, to influence people’s ideas or actions.

In the recent past an increasing number of the population have become member of an organization which has had an advocacy role and has tried to achieve political change. Such a level of participation is a positive indicator of the health of the democracy. Transnational advocacy Advocates and advocacy groups represent a wide range of categories and support several issues as

listed on World Advocacy. The Advocacy Institute, a US-based global organization, is dedicated to strengthening the capacity of political, social, and economic justice advocates to influence and


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change public policy (Cohen, de la Vega & Watson, 2001.) The phenomenon of globalization draws a special attention to advocacy beyond countries’ borders. The core existence of networks such as World Advocacy or the Advocacy Institute demonstrates the increasing importance of transnational advocacy and international advocacy. Transnational advocacy networks are more likely to emerge around issues where external influence is necessary to ease the communication between internal groups and their government. Groups of advocates willing to further their mission also tend to promote networks and to meet with their internal counterparts to exchange ideas

Types of Advocacy including Lobbying Advocacy Advocacy encompasses a broad range of activities that involve identifying, embracing, and promoting a cause. It is an effort to shape public perception to effect change that may or may not require changes in the law. Advocacy is about using effective tools to create social change. Lobbying is only one of these activities. The following activities do not involve lobbying: • Public Education A nonprofit develops a public information campaign to raise awareness of the rise in childhood obesity. In this campaign they recommend a variety of approaches to reverse this trend. • Issue Research A nonprofit regularly creates and distributes briefs describing policy barriers to improving end-of-life care to its state’s legislative committees on health, insurance, and aging. • Policy Education At the request of a congressional committee investigating how to move children out of foster care into adoptive families more quickly, several nonprofit organizations from various states describe their innovative foster care reform models to help policymakers make a more informed decision as they grapple with policy decisions on this topic. • Voter and Candidate Education


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Millennium Development Goals

A nonprofit sends a questionnaire about their priority issue to all the mayoral candidates in a local election and published the received responses (unedited) in their newsletter or the local paper. • Organizing and Mobilizing A grantee nonprofit organized a series of community meetings, public hearings, interviews with target group members, scientific surveys, and events that drew hundreds of child welfare system stakeholders together over a period of months to “vision” a comprehensive strategy to reform child welfare system policies and practices in its state. • Judicial Advocacy The NAACP files a class action suit to compel a state to integrate public schools. • Executive (Administrative) Advocacy A nonprofit representing patients and loved ones struggling with Alzheimer’s disease consulted with state health department officials to help rewrite eligibility rules to ensure better access to subsidized assisted living facilities. Legislation is not discussed. A nonprofit promoting school-based health centers met with representatives from its state’s Medicaid office to recommend an innovative way to structure a Medicaid waiver that will increase funding to all centers in its state. A nonprofit urges the general public to send comments to the Department of Health and Human Services on a proposed federal rulemaking that is open for public comment. When these kinds of advocacy (above) take positions on specific pieces of legislation, particularly pending legislation, they become lobbying. For example, if the Alzheimer’s association mentioned immediately above, took a position on pending legislation and asked for health department officials’ support for their position, they would be lobbying. Lobbying -Definition “Lobbying” is virtually any advocacy activity aimed at influencing a “legislator’s” vote on specific legislation. “Legislator” refers to --Members of the Parliament /State legislators or their staff /Local legislative representatives / the public, in case of a ballot measure /Members of an organization


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“Legislation” is defined as action by a legislative body including the introduction, amendment, enactment, defeat or repeal of Acts, bills, resolutions, appropriations, and budgets. Direct Lobbying Direct lobbying occurs when a nonprofit organization attempts to influence specific legislation by stating a position to a “legislator” or other government employee who participates in the formulation of legislation. Leaders from a nonprofit offer unsolicited testimony before the local city council meeting just before it was to vote on a proposed ban on soda in school vending machines. There are four statutory exceptions: Nonpartisan analysis, study or research – may have a point of view but must provide a full and fair exposition of the underlying facts to enable reader to form an independent opinion or conclusion on the subject and be widely disseminated and not limited to people on one side of an issue. Request for technical advice or assistance – a written request from a legislative body that is available to all members of the requesting body. Self-defense – communication on an action which could impact an organization’s existence, powers, duties, tax-exempt status or the deductibility of contributions to the organization. Discussion of broad, social, economic, and similar problems – discussion on general topics which may be the subject of specific legislation but must not refer to specific legislation or directly encourage action. Grass Roots Lobbying Grass roots lobbying occurs when a nonprofit organization urges the general public to take action on specific legislation. Key indicators of Grass Roots Lobbying: * Relates to specific legislation * Reflects a point of view on the legislation’s merits * Encourages the general public to contact legislators Lobbying is legal and important The term “lobbying” carries negative connotations for many people because it may raise the specter of violating federal law and losing tax-exempt status, or because it is often associated with scandals involving paid lobbyists representing corporate interests. Nonetheless, lobbying by nonprofit organizations is a legal and acceptable activity that is often essential to creating good public policy and stronger, more democratic communities.


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Advocacy in India In India, the rights approach to development seems to be taking shape within significant domains. To illustrate, there is wide recognition today of elementary education as a fundamental right of all Indian children and this acknowledgement has played an important part in the comparatively rapid progress of school attendance in the nineties (it is another matter that many children learn next to nothing at school). Similarly, India’s "right to information" movement is a visionary response to the disempowerment of the underprivileged in many walks of life due to the inaccessibility of public records. More recently, the right to food has been invoked by citizen’s organizations to challenge the scandalous persistence of endemic hunger in India – one of the most undernourished countries in the world.


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• People have a right to adequate food. • Governments are obligated to feed their people. • Food safety is part of food rights. • The United Nations is obligated to provide food to

countries that don"t have enough food. • The United States is one of the leading advocates of

the right to food. • Under normal conditions, the major obligation of

national governments is to provide enabling conditions so that people can provide for themselves and their families.

• Infants have the right to be breastfed.

Areas of Concern -India Supreme Court Orders on the Right to Food Employment Guarantee Act: Muster Roll Watch for Verification of NREGA Muster Rolls Anganwadis For All: Mid-day Meals: Strategies for Children under Six: Focus on Children under Six The Right to Information Act:

Right to Food What is meant by Right to Food?

The right to food is about freedom from hunger. This can be interpreted in two different ways, associated with different readings of the term "hunger". In a narrow sense, hunger refers to the pangs of an empty stomach. Correspondingly, the right to food can be understood, roughly speaking, as the right to have two square meals a day throughout the year. In a broader sense, hunger refers to under nutrition. The right to food (i.e. to be free from under nutrition) then links with a wide range of entitlements, not only to food itself but also to other requirements of good nutrition such as clean water, health care, and even elementary education

Simply by being born, everyone has the right to food. Person doesn’t have to do anything to “deserve ” it; The right to food is a birthright. But this does not entitle a person to sit back and ask for free food. People are responsible or doing all they can to realize their own right to food. Governments that are parties to the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are responsible for ensuring that all those living within their borders have the means to do so. Broadly speaking, governments should create peaceful, stable, free and prosperous environments in which people can feed themselves in dignity. Even without a legal obligation to do so, countries have a moral obligation to ensure freedom from hunger. The right to food was formally recognized in the very first international human rights document, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948.Since then, this pledge has been gradually strengthened at international and national level The right was further elaborated in 1999 with General Comment 12 by the UN Committee on

Right to adequate food is a human right, inherent in all people, to have regular, permanent and unrestricted access, either directly or by means of financial purchases, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural traditions of people to which the consumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and mental, individual and collective fulfilling and dignified life free of fear.


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Right to work ensures food security

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which oversees implementation of the Covenant. It states that the right to adequate food is realized “when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has the physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.” Governments have to enable this right – by adopting policies and taking actions that ensure people can either grow or buy sufficient food. What is “adequate” food? It means an amount and variety of food sufficient to meet all of one ’s

nutritional needs for a healthy and active life. The right to food is more than the right to basic staples or to sufficient dietary energy. The Covenant calls for the right to food to be realized progressively to the maximum extent of available resources. Even countries not experiencing economic growth can progressively realize the right to food by eliminating obstacles any person or group might encounter. Indian Acts with Relevance for the Right to Food The Indian Wild Life Protection) Act 1972 The Water Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 The Forest Conservation Act 980 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 The Environment Protection) Act 986 The Plant varieties Protection and Farmers Rights Act 2001 Biological Diversity Act 2002


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Right to information also ensures food security

Indian Forest Act, 1927 The Minimum Wages Act 1948 Workmen Compensation Act 1923 Maternity Benefit Act 1961 Equal Remuneration Act 1976 Contract Labor Abolition and Regulation Act 1970 Bonded Labor System Abolition Act 1976 Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 The Equal Remuneration Act 1976 Untouchability Amendment and Miscellaneous Provision Act 1976 Prevention of Block Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act 1980 Forest Conservation Act 1980 Maritime Zone of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act 1981 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 Special Economic Zone Act 2005 The Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006. Costal Aquaculture Authority Act

2005The Right to Information Act, 2005 The Seeds Act, 1966, The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 The State/UT Minor forest Produce (Ownership Rights of Forest Dependent Community) Act, 2005 Panchayati Raj 73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 The Scheduled Tribal and other Traditional Forest Dwellers Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, Other Relevant Acts Married Women’s Property Act, 1874 Children Pledging of Labor) Act, 1933 Public Debt Act, 1945 Minimum Wages Act, 1948 Plantation Labor Act, 1951 Essential Commodities Act, 1955 Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956 Married Women Property Extension Act, 1951 Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961


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Food Security Food security happens when all people at all times have access to enough food that • is affordable, safe and healthy • is culturally acceptable • meets specific dietary needs • is obtained in a dignified manner • is produced in ways that are environmentally sound and socially just The food system Food security is not just a poverty issue; it is a much larger issue that involves the whole food system and affects every one of us in some way. The food system includes… • Everyone who grows or catches food, like farmers, fishers, and hunters • Earth, air, water, energy (the physical environment) • Food processors, packagers, distributors, marketers, and advertisers • Food wholesalers and the warehouses where food is stored • The transportation system: trucks, planes, boats, trains • Places that sell food: grocery stores, markets, bakeries, farm stands, co-ops, restaurants • Places where food is served: hospitals, nursing homes • Governments, policies, taxes (the political and economic environment) • The health care system, the workforce, schools, technology (the social, educational and cultural

environment) • Everyone who eats!

Food Corporation Act, 1967 Consumer Protection Act, 1986 Public Distribution System Control) Order, 2001 The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. Specific Land related/ Property/Agriculture laws Waste and Claims Act, 1863 Land Improvement Loan Act, 1883 Agriculture Loans Act, 1884 Indian Reserve Forest Act, 1884 Land Acquisition Act, 1894 Indian Forest Act, 1927 Resettlement of Displaced Persons Land Acquisition) Act, 1948 ··


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Health Health is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity",

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family...” Not only Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 in 1948, guarantee the "right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health", but it also specifically called for the "provision for the reductions of . . . infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child; the improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene; the prevention, treatment and control of epidemic,

endemic, occupational, and other diseases; and the creation of conditions which could assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness." Health advocacy Health advocacy encompasses direct service to the individual or family as well as activities that promote health and access to health care in communities and the larger public. Advocates support and promote the rights of the patient in the health care arena, help build capacity to improve community health and enhance health policy initiatives focused on available, safe and quality care.

Patient representatives, ombudsmen, educators, care managers, patient navigators and health advisers are health advocates who work in direct patient care environments, including hospitals, community health centers, long term care facilities or patient services programs of non-profit organizations. They collaborate with other health care providers to mediate

conflict and facilitate positive change, and as educators and health information specialists, advocates work to empower others.


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In the policy arenas health advocates work for positive change in the health care system, improved access to quality care, protection and enhancement of patient's rights from positions in government agencies, disease-specific voluntary associations, grassroots and national health policy organizations and the media. Some make the distinction between patient advocates, who work specifically with or on behalf of individual patients and families, or in disease-specific voluntary associations, and health advocates, whose work is more focused on communities, policies or the system as a whole. Often, however, the terms "patient advocate" and "health advocate" are used interchangeably or depending on immediate context. Rapidly growing areas of health advocacy include advocates in clinical research settings, particularly those focused on protecting the human subjects of medical research, advocates in the many disease-specific associations, particularly those centered on genetic disorders or widespread chronic conditions, and advocates who serve clients in private practice, alone or in larger companies.

Education Education narrowly refers to formal institutional instructions. The 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education defines education in Article 1(2) as: "all types and levels of education, (including) access to education, the standard and quality of education, and the conditions under which it is given." In a wider sense education means "all activities by which a human group transmits to its descendants a body of knowledge and skills and a moral code which enable the group to subsist". In this sense education refers to the transmission to a subsequent generation of those skills needed to perform tasks of daily living, and further passing on the social, cultural, spiritual and philosophical values of the particular community. The article states that education implies: "the entire process of social life by means of which individuals and social groups learn to develop consciously within, and for the benefit of, the national and international communities, the whole of their personal capabilities, attitudes, aptitudes and knowledge." The fulfillment of the right to education can be assessed using the 4 As framework, which asserts


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NGOs Strategies Education Person to Person: Educating in Slums Education for Victims Educating Girl Child Informal Work Life Child Labor-back to school Sex Exploitation Putting Child Rights into Action Media Parental / Community Participation International Participation Protect Children from War Lobbying Making us to listen the voices of Kids

that for education to be a meaningful right it must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The 4 As framework proposes that governments, as the prime duty-bearer, has to respect, protect and fulfill the right to education by making educati -on available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The framework also places duties on other stakehold ers in the education process: the child, which as the privileged subject of the right to education has the duty to comply with compulsory education requirements, the parents as the ‘first educators’, and professional educators, namely teachers.

The 4 As have been further elaborated as follows: Availability – education is free and government-funded and there is adequate infrastructure and trained teachers able to support education delivery. Accessibility – the system is non-discriminatory and accessible to all, and positive steps are taken to include the most marginalized. Acceptability – the content of education is relevant, non-discriminatory and culturally appropriate, and of quality. The school itself is safe and teachers are professional. Adaptability – education can evolve with the changing needs of society and contribute to challenging inequalities, such as gender discrimination, and can be adapted locally to suit specific contexts.

Many international NGOs work with the right to education, often by using a rights-based approach to development.


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Natural Resources Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) form. A natural resource's value rests in the amount and extractability of the material available and the demand for it. The latter is determined by its usefulness to production. A commodity is generally considered a natural resource when the primary activities associated with it are extraction and purification, as opposed to creation. Thus, mining, petroleum extraction, fishing, hunting, and forestry are generally considered natural-resource industries, while agriculture is not. The term was introduced to a broad audience by E. F. Schumacher in his 1970s book Small is Beautiful. The term is defined in the United States by the United States Geological Survey as "The Nation's natural resources include its minerals, energy, land, water, and biota.

Sustainable Development Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future. The term was used by the Brundtland Commission (Gro Harlem Brundtland (1939) is a politician, former Prime Minister of Norway, Norwegian diplomat and physician and an international leader in sustainable development and public health and served as the Director General of the World Health Organization) which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Natural Resource Management& Environment

Natural resource management is a discipline in the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. The discipline has given rise to the notion of sustainable development, a principle which forms the basis

for land management and environmental governance throughout the world. Natural resource management specifically focuses on a scientific and technical understanding of resources and ecology and the life-supporting capacity of those resources.

The United Nations Division for Sustainable Development lists the following areas as coming within the scope of sustainable development :*Agriculture *Atmosphere *Biodiversity * Biotechnology * Capacity-building * Climate Change

List of Natural Resource Management Areas Agriculture Biotechnology Oceans and Seas Sustainable tourism Transport Waste - Hazards

Atmosphere Climate Change Energy Human Settlements Water Fisheries

Biodiversity Demographics Fresh Water Industry Mountains Mining

Capacity-building Forests Health Poverty Sanitation Wild Life


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Environmental movements of various countries have emerged due to different reasons. It is basically due to prevailing environmental quality of the locality. The environmental movements in the north are basically on the issue of quality of life. Whereas the environment movements in the south arise due to some other reasons, such as due to conflicts for controling of natural resources and many more. It is being said that the, environmental movements in U.S.A arises, when the book silent spring written by Rachel Carson came in the market in the year 1962. In this book she had written about the impacts of poisonous chemicals, particularly the DDT on the environment. This book had raised the public consciousness. And it leads to the emergence of environmental movements in the U.S.A. The participants of these movements in North are the middle class and upper class people, who have concern for the nature. But in the south the protesters are generally the marginal population – hill peasants, tribal communities, fishermen and other underprivileged people. The different environmental movements in our own country support this argument. The examples could be taken as Chipko, N.B.A. , Mitti Bachao Andolan, Koel-Karo Andolan etc. That is why the environmentalism of the North is refereed as “full stomach” environmentalism and the environmentalism of the south is called as “empty – belly” environmentalism. Environmental movements in India, therefore, are not necessarily for the 'green' or 'clean' earth or for saving mankinds' heritage and endangered species as in the west, but for the very survival of the local poor (Rao, 1994). Even amon g these ecological movements, only a few can claim success in achieving some of their objectives. On the other hand, the overwhelming popularity or coverage received by some of these movements overshadows the importance of other environmental problems whi ch may be equally, if not more strident. And the success of the

movement is often linked with its' popularity rather than the importance of the issue.


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The first lesson is that the main source of environmental destruction in the world is the demand for natural resources generated by the consum- ption of the rich (weather they are rich nations or rich individuals and groups within nations)…. The second lesson is that it is the poor who are affected the most by environmental destruction. (Anil Agrawal, 1986)

Some Popular Environmental Movements & NGOs in India Chipko movement Tehri Dam (river Bhageerathi in the Garhwal region -Tehri Baandh Virodhi Sangarshan Samithi- Veerendra Datta Saklani,-Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna ), Silent Valley Project Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishat (KSSP) Narmada Bacho Andolan .Medha Patkar Ralegan Sidhi experiment (named after the village Shri Anna Hazare); Pani-Panchayat (w ater council),Shri Vilasrao Salunke (the force behind Pani-Panchayat) Rajendra Singh Tarun Bharat Sangh C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre Center for Science & Environment


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Indian NGOs Working For Saving the Environment India has a number of NGOs that work in the field of environmental conservation and ecology. Here is a comprehensive list: Assam Science Society BAIF Development Research Foundation Kamdahnu Bombay Natural History Society Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Clean Ahmedabad Abhiyan CPR Environmental Education Centre (C.P.Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation) Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal Darpana Academy of Performing Arts Development Alternatives Friendicoes, Society for the Eradication of Cruelty to Animals Friends of the Doon Gandhi Peace Foundation – Environment Cell Green Future Foundation Indian Association for Environmental Management (IAEM) INTACH Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage Jammu and Kashmir Environment and Wasteland Development Society Environment and Wasteland Development Society Kerala Sastra Sahitiya Parishad Kalpavriksh Ladakh Ecology Development Group (LEDG) Madras Naturalists Society (MNS) Narmada Bachao Andalon Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association Orissa Environmental Society Rajasthan Environment Preservation Society Ramakrishna Mission Lokashiksha Parishad Srishti The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Theatre in Education Company Tarun Bharat Sangh Tiger link Uttarkhand Seva Nidhi Vanarai Vatavaran World Wide Fund for Nature


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Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities. Empowerment is probably the totality of the following or similar capabilities: * Having decision-making power of their own * Having access to information and resources for taking proper decision * Having a range of options from which you can make choices (not just yes/no, either/or.) * Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making * Having positive thinking on the ability to make change * Ability to learn skills for improving one's personal or group power. * Ability to change others’ perceptions by democratic means. * Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending and self-initiated * Increasing one's positive self-image and overcoming stigma

Women’s Empowerment The term Human Empowerment covers a vast landscape of meanings, interpretations, definitions and disciplines ranging from psychology and philosophy to the highly commercialized Self-Help industry and Motivational sciences.

Sociological empowerment often addresses members of groups that social discrimination processes have excluded from decision- making processes through - for example - discrimination based on disability, race,

ethnicity, religion, or gender. Empowerment as a methodology is often associated with feminism:

Strategies for Intervention The intervention strategy for empowering women to have informed and effective choices on their health and nutrition and for the development of children and adolescents has to be multi-pronged. i) Convergence of service delivery at village levels There are two main programs in the Department of Women and Child Development, which aim at convergence of services delivery at the village level, namely, Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and Integrated Women's Empowerment Program (IWEP). The ICDS network through Anganwadi Centres reaches 85% of the villages and hamlets in the country. The IWEP (erstwhile Indira Mahila Yojana) which extends to 650 blocks operates through the self help groups of women. Both these programs can be effective vehicles for the implementation of the National Population Policy. It is therefore critical that both the schemes are universalized.

Women's advancement involves the process of empowerment and defines it as a process, by which women achieve increased control over public decision making.


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Operational Strategies for achieving the goal of Empowering Women for Improved Health and

Nutrition Creating an enabling environment through convergence with other programs; • Opening more child care centers for working women; • Using energy saving devices to reduce drudgery of women; • Improving access to drinking water, fuel wood and fodder; • Improving health management at all levels; • Improving accessibility and quality of maternal and child health care services; • Monitoring performance of maternal and health care services; • Disseminating IEC material intensively; • Expanding the availability of safe abortion care; • Supporting community activities package; • Developing a health package for adolescence; • Enforcing standards for clinical services; • Contraception service delivery; • Focusing on distribution of non-clinical method of contraception; • Create a national network of public, private and NGO centers for delivering reproductive and child health services free to any client.

ii) Nutrition The Supplementary Nutrition provided under the ICDS Scheme is one of the most vital

components under Basic Minimum Service Program aimed at eradication of the menace of malnutrition of children and women. The success of the program however depends largely on adequate provision of funds to the States and UTs. An Action plan needs to be drawn up for taking up nutrition in a mission mode to cover infants, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating mothers - the three critical links in the inter-generational cycle of malnutrition. One intervention that has successfully worked in improving nutrition levels as well as impacting favorably on retention of children in schools is the mid-day meal scheme. This has shown positive results in programs like TINP and needs to be replicated widely. iii) Formation of Self-Help Groups The formation of self-help groups as a basis for the social and economic empowerment of deprived and disadvantaged women has been found to be a successful mechanism for the

organization, mobilization and self development of women. With the feeling of ownership and management of their own resources and savings, poor women have been able to choose their priorities and have even been found to cover the cost of additional nutrition and health gaps. The success of this approach has resulted in universalization of this mode of organization in all the southern States. There is a need to replicate this mode throughout the country. iv) Access to Resources For women to be empowered we need to ensure a) Equitable access and distribution of resources like land, credit etc. b) Access to education. c) Access to health /nutrition d) Access to water and sanitation

Components of Social, Legal, Political and Economic Empowerment

Child Marriage, Trafficking of Women and Children Child Labor Exploitative Social Practices Gender Violence Food Security Health Insurance for the Poor Disabled Persons Land Access for Tribal’s and the Poor Improved Farming Practices Economic Empowerment Political Empowerment


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v) Women's Component Plan

While the Planning Commission has already incorporated the concept of Women's Component Plan in the 9th Five Year Plan whereby 30% of funds/ benefit on every women related sector actually flow to women, it is important that guidelines are finalized early so that this could be implemented effectively. vi)Development of Gender Disaggre- gated Data System One of the constraints in the preparation, implementation and monitoring of plans for the development of women is the absence of gender segregated data on various indices of development at the State, district and sub district levels. This lacuna in our statistical system should be addressed on a priority basis. vii) Legislation Many of the existing statutes such as Indecent Representation of Women's Act, Minimum Wages Act, Equal Remuneration Act, and Pre-natal Diagnostic Act, Maternity Benefit Act, etc., are implemented more in their violation. A number of these Acts are under review in order to strengthen their provisions. The Maternity Benefit Act needs to be strictly implemented and expanded to cover women in the informal sector, along with provision of paid leave for a longer period. viii) Freedom from Violence Women and girls face violence in various forms at various stages of their life cycle. This takes the form of female foeticide and infanticide, rape, dowry death and more indirect forms such as

desertion or abandonment of older women. This calls for a multipronged strategy of implementation of laws, awareness, community sanctions etc. ix) Participation in Political Life For empowerment, women need to have a voice in decision making and planning through adequate representation. Reservation of women in the rural and urban local bodies had enabled representation of nearly a million women at the grassroots who play a very important catalytic

NGOs working in the following areas with a gender perspective can be very well called as NGOs working for Women’s Empowerment v Economic Empowerment of women Ø Working for Poverty Eradication Ø Micro Credit Ø Promoting women’ participation in economic

production & distribution. Ø Lobbying for reinterpretation and redefinition of

conventional concepts of work Ø Raising awareness on globalization and its

impact on women Ø Attempting to create enabling environment for

Women involved in agriculture Ø Providing support services to achieve the above v Social Empowerment of Women Ø Promoting women’s education Ø Promoting women’s health Ø Promoting women’s nutrition Ø Drinking Water and Sanitation Ø Housing and Shelter v Environment v Science and Technology v Women in Difficult Circumstances v Violence against women v Rights of the Girl Child v Mass Media v Institutional Mechanisms v Resource Management v Legislation v Gender Sensitization v Panchayati Raj Institutions v Partnership with the voluntary sector organizations

v International Cooperation


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role in transforming the society. Similar representation in State Legislature and Parliament would further strengthen the process of empowerment of women. x) Sustained Media Campaign One of the most effective interventions that can take place to address the issues of attitude and mind sets of men and women, of the community and also of the functionaries of the government - the bureaucracy, police and judiciary is media campaigns. A sustained campaign through the print, electronic and folk media is necessary on various issues related to empowerment of women, health and nutrition, laws, value of the girl child, violence against women etc.


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Civil Society Organizations Definition Ø Civil Society is a collective name for all kinds of organizations and associations that are not

part of government but that represent professions, interest groups or sections of society. It includes (for example) trade unions, employers' associations, environmental lobbies and groups representing women, farmers, people with disabilities and so on. Since these organizations have a lot of expertise in particular areas and are involved in implementing and monitoring government policies, the governments regularly consults civil society and wants it to become more involved in policymaking.

Ø Civil Society means all the incorporated association, charitable trust, foundation, society, etc., that is operated as a non-profit organization. If any profit is earned by a civil society, it can be saved or spent but cannot be distributed among its founders, members, trustees, etc. Also called friendly society.

Ø Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that state's political system) and commercial institutions of the market.

Ø Civil Society (in German bürgerliche Gesellschaft or bourgeois society) refers to the system of social relations based on the association of people independently of the State and the family which first emerged in Europe in the seventeenth century. Civil society is characterized by "free" labour and a commodity market, a system of law enforcement and voluntary association.

There are myriad definitions of civil society in the post-modern sense. The London School of Economics (LSE) Centre for Civil Society's working definition is illustrative: Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organizations such as registered charities, development non-governmental organizations, community groups, women's organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups. Perhaps the simplest way to see civil society is as a "third sector," distinct from government and business. In this view, civil society refers essentially to the so-called "intermediary institutions" such as professional associations, religious groups, labor unions, citizen advocacy organizations that give voice to various sectors of society and enrich public participation in democracies.


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But this does not solve every definitional question that the idea of civil society can give rise to. Many would hold that a free and vigorous press is an essential element in civil society. But most newspapers and TV stations in the U.S. are run as for-profit businesses. Should they be counted as part of civil society, of the third sector, or should they be seen as part of the commercial world? Ø The set of intermediate associations which are neither the state nor the (extended) family; civil society therefore includes voluntary associations and firms and other corporate bodies. The term has been used with different meanings by various writers since the eighteenth century, but this main current usage is derived from Hegel.

The need to (re)build civil society after the collapse of communism in eastern Europe has been a common theme of reformers and commentators there since 1991. The communist regime had disapproved of the institutions of civil society. Therefore, apart from hardy examples such as the Catholic Church in Poland, there was not a lot of it about. Marxian Perspective of Civil Society Civil Society (in German bürgerliche Gesellschaft or bourgeois society) refers to the system of social relations based on the association of people independently of the State and the

family which first emerged in Europe in the seventeenth century. Civil society is characterised by "free" labour and a commodity market, a system of law enforcement and voluntary association. Early bourgeois thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract) generally saw Civil Society as expressing human nature and tried to work out how it could be managed to avoid catastrophe. It was Hegel who showed in his Philosophy of Right, that it was the growth of Civil Society which was the most characteristic feature of modern society, in contrast to medieval society in which the state was inseparable from the kinship system which determined the station of every person in life and even their occupation. Nowadays, the term "Civil Society" is sometimes used to refer to the emergence of a petty bourgeoisie independent from the State, sometimes to strengthening of the "rule of law", and sometimes to refer to the development of voluntary association independently of commercial relations.


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Why civil society? What is this sudden interest in civil society all about? Some may recall that the term was in vogue in the 18th and 19th centuries, but had long fallen into disuse, and became a term of interest to historians primarily. For a long time, social scientists believed that we lived in a two-sector world. There was the market or the economy on the one hand, and the state or government on the other. Our great theories speak to them, and virtually all our energy was dedicated to exploring the two institutional complexes of market and state. Nothing else seemed to matter much. Not surprisingly, 'society' was pushed to the sidelines and ultimately became a very abstract notion, relegated to the confines of sociological theorizing and social philosophy, not fitting the two-sector world view that has dominated the social sciences for the last fifty years. Likewise, the notion that a 'third sector' might exist between market and state somehow got lost in the two-sector view of the world. Of course, there were and are many private institutions that serve public purposes-voluntary associations, charities, nonprofits, foundations and non-governmental organizations-that do not fit the state-market dichotomy. Yet, until quite recently, such third-sector institutions were neglected if not ignored outright by all social sciences. Such a short-sided approach has had disastrous consequences for our understanding of how economy and society interact, of which the inability of the social sciences to predict and understand the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe is just one of many examples. One of the most important events of the 20th century escaped the attention of mainstream social science until after the fact. Looking back, we can see how events in central and eastern Europe were indeed instrumental in bringing the topic of civil society to the attention of social scientists in the West. CCS researchers would reach similar conclusions for the way in which the social sciences typically approached 'development' in the South. For too long we have held preconceived notions of 'the' market and 'the' state that were seemingly independent of local societies and cultures. The debate about civil society ultimately is about how culture, market and state relate to each other. Concern about civil society, however, is not only relevant to central and eastern Europe and the developing world. It is very much of interest to the European Union as well. The Civil Dialogue initiated by the Commission in the 1990s was a first attempt by the EU to give the institutions of society-and not only governments and businesses-a voice at the policy-making tables in Brussels. The EU, like other international institutions, has a long way to go in trying to accommodate the frequently divergent interests of non-governmental organizations and citizen groups. There is increasing recognition that international and national governments have to open up to civil society institutions. One could reach a similar conclusion about the United Kingdom, where the transition to post-industrial society brings up many important questions about social cohesion and social participation in a country that is becoming increasingly heterogeneous and diverse. What role will civil society institutions play; what is the function of charity and philanthropy in a more diverse Britain, and what will be the impact of devolution on the voluntary sector?

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