More democracy, less violence - that's the main focus of SWISSAID's work in India.
In India, one of SWISSAID's focus is promotion of people's cooperative movement for livelihood development in the central and western states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chattisgad. We work particularly with the people who are adversely affected by unequal economic development and are victims of structural violence. The main focus population is women, adivasis (indigenous communities) and dalits (lower-caste Hindus, or "untouchables").
The SWISSAID programme in India aims to curb discrimination and infringement of human rights by democratizing civil society institutions and empowering the most marginalized to fight for their rights. To achieve this goal, we strengthen local decision-making bodies and interest groups, such as Adivasi organisations and women's self-help groups. The idea is to enable both women and men to participate in the decision-making process.
Ensuring food security is a core area of intervention: SWISSAID supports people's organizations in their efforts to develop, manage and control their livelihood sources to ensure food security. We promote sustainable farming, we halp Dalits manage natural resources, and we support landless families to generate income opportunities besides farming.
Mendah, a village in the Maharashtra region of India where SWISSAID is active, was the first community countrywide to be granted forestry usage rights including selling bamboo on its own account. Now, other communities will also profit from this: the new project will help 50 villages secure rights to exploit their forests.
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Well done! Shashwat, our long-standing Indian partner organisation, has won the prestigious Equator Prize awarded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its outstanding work over the last two decades.
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India’s agricultural policy and its focus on export products was the ruin of many farmers in the Vidarbha region. The conversion to organic cultivation and GM-free crops has already taken about 50,000 farmers out of the debt trap. Now YUVA, a SWISSAID partner organisation, aims to boost profits with a lentil mill and to expand the market.
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About one third of the Pardhi tribe has obtained official identity papers, thanks to SWISSAID’s assistance. This gives them access to state support. Now, a targeted campaign is under way to help women assert their own identity in India’s patriarchal society.
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The same Dalit men who once used to beat and rape their wives and neighbours’ wives are now helping to teach others never to do this kind of thing again. The women are also learning how to change their passive acceptance of such acts of violence. SWISSAID's Indian partner organisation, SPMM (Savitribai Phule Mahila Mandal), is supporting this successful strategy for change.
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One woman in four suffers violent abuse in India and cannot count on getting help. SWISSAID supports those affected to build a new life.
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