Project Detail

Innovation in media empowerement

The main aim of the project was to bring alive successful experiments in two vital areas of development: women in elected office and watershed management through visual & visually attractive media of television. For this, villages with women Sarpanchs were identified, a written & audio case history of these women was prepared that will later be developed into a script. Case studies on the work and experiences of the women as Sarpanchs were done through meetings and workshops with them. NGOs working in political awareness processes to train or empower women in elected positions were identified. Successful and unsuccessful efforts at watershed management in Gujarat were also identified

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Darpana Academy of Performing Arts

Country:

India

Area Of Work:

Multifocal Area

Operational Phase:

Phase 2

Grant Amount:

US$ 21,978.00

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 1,009.00

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 10,046.00

Project Number:

SGP/GEF/IND/OP2/03/GUJ09

Start Date:

8/2003

End Date:

12/2005

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

Poor, Small and Marginal Farmer (who produce their food for less than 6 months and mainly depends on forest extraction by NTFP collection and illegal cutting of forest) belonging to the Santal, Kolho, Bhumija, Bathudi, Bhuiyan, Ganda, Khadia, Mahali, Mankidia tribes were the target of the project interventions.

Gender Focus

The gender focus was designed in the project and the films are the stories of the women and by he women. In the 5 regions in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, with the project partners many of the women were identified to share their success stories and they were supported to analyze the issues. After agreeing on certain indicators, the 5 institutions were selected. Women-led, self-help, local contributions were started and process of women enterprise for better livelihood was also initiated. Many of the women from the project were exposed to other areas as ?Messaihs? (model/lead farmers) to inspire the others and motivate sections of women in those areas. The interests of the poorest groups in the project area especially women have been addressed through the social regulations of the water management. In each project village, a "livelihood support team" analyses the livelihood needs of the most vulnerable; initiates social organization and capacity building; initiates non-land based activities for them and facilitate negotiation of resource rights for them within the watershed micro-plan. Enhancement of the leadership status of socio-economic weaker sections inside the community with special reference to women have brought about social cohesiveness thus ensuring the sustainability of socio-cultural life. In most of the committees the woman has become the chairperson or secretary. Bargaining power of the people especially the women has also increased through this process. Gender employment has integrated women into the mainstream production system, and consequently, women?s social status has gone up on a sustained basis. The goal of the films was to unlock the human potential of individuals mainly women and girl child, increasing their capacity to think, to relate, to act and to reflect from a foundation of communication competencies. To take forward the local empowered women?s sharing of experiences widely on the network and to inspire the others the films were telecasted on the TV network. The number of beneficiaries clearly shows that the main focus was laid on women and children: No. of females: 9300 No. of males: 7410 No. of children: many children.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

The program encouraged understanding the environmental problems in a narration which collective self-enquiry and reflection of the social environment and the working of its processes. Although, the project partners were already sensitive to such issues and addressed them as core issues in their respective institutions. The sharing and screening of films brought about great public awareness on the issue. With the help of VIKSAT, the villagers collaborated and started re-growing forests and built check dams to conserve water. Women have started re nourishing the earth with organic manure and created wormy-culture. They have realized the pitfalls of chemical fertilizers. Viksat also started a nursery in the village. Through various trips, conferences and trainings, the villagers were explained the connection between preserving forests and the rain cycle.

Notable Community Participation

The project did not directly work with the communities, but it did take the partners? real work, and the SGGP PA Ahd needed to get all the copies of the revised films from the partners.

Replication of project activities

The project had a limited opportunity for scaling up, but the NGO needs to use the skills created and also then approach the other donors in sharing what it had achieved in the project. The resources need to be harnessed through the system and efforts should be made to make the program more effective.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The project has directly reached 401households in 7 villages. The project?s target groups are primarily the landless, small and marginal farmers, who comprise about 87 percent of the population. The project has directly covered a micro- watersheds comprising an area of 187.10 hector. In addition, the work on capacity building and promotion of an enabling environment has been operational much beyond the project watershed. Indirect benefits would accrue through improved poverty-focus and improved effectiveness of government schemes operating in the project area. Efforts were made to increase the forests products like gum, timru leaves, bamboo, fruits and flowers which would bring in additional income for the villagers. Earlier the villagers used to get 2 lakh worth of grass but now with better organization they earn about 3.5 lakh.

Capacity - Building Component

The use of LCD projector for film?s projection increased the interest and participation of the locals, and focused more on the women empowerment The communities were extremely thrilled to see themselves performing and reflected to do even better. Communities and the participating NGOs realized its effectiveness and started using the approach for local capacity building and skills enhancement.

Project Results

? Interactions led to strong attitude building within the communities and empowered them to share and realize that they were also contributing economically
? Development functionaries and others had responsibility for the well being of the poor and vulnerable
? Developing competition competencies and access to information and technology were crucial to empowerment of locals
? Many of the women in SGP projects were socially committed, culturally sensitive empathetic in their interpersonal reactions, knowledgeable in their work and shared openly
? Trust holding during the filming provided the foundation for all interpersonal interactions and human capacity building.

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