Project
Active democracy and political participation of tribal communities in the Indian Himalayas
- India
- October 2012
The project’s principal objectives were to enhance civic participation among Himalayan tribes and empower marginalized groups (women, people with disabilities and nomads); and to engage with governance issues and democratic dialogue. To this end, the project aimed to build a supportive environment for enhanced democratic participation through supporting state and non-state actors. The project consisted of 10 core components creating a continuum of involvement from awareness of rights to access to those rights, supported by the training and mobilization of relevant support actors and those who could make the rights a reality. The project design was logical and very much tuned to the needs of the beneficiaries and other stakeholders in this challenging region. There were no delays in project delivery, since it had been designed with the seasonal obstacles relevant to the target region in mind.
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- Tools for knowledge
- India
- October 2012
While this project in the Himalayan districts of India was well designed to be sustainable after funding had ended, the use of a volunteer workforce might put this at risk. This risk needs to be managed to ensure ongoing sustainability. Since even enthusiastic volunteers will not work for ever without compensation, consider providing modest honoraria to those who have volunteered and also to prepare new volunteers to replace those that drop out.
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- Tools for knowledge
- India
- October 2012
When people are encouraged to claim their rights and entitlements, there is a risk that they will not be successful or that the services they are seeking will not materialize, and this risk must be taken into account. It is inevitable that not all those who apply for government schemes and entitlements will receive them and it is also possible that promised services may not materialize, or that louder voices may prevail. In order to mitigate negative examples they may see, put in place an active process for sharing success stories.
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- Tools for knowledge
- India
- October 2012
A principal reason for the project’s impact was the coherence between training/education, bridging processes and mobilization of stakeholder groups and community structures such as Resource Centres to support them. Training, education and sensitization will are more effective if there are processes or structures in place that can contribute to transforming them into practical outcomes.
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- Tools for knowledge
- India
- October 2012
There were no delays in project delivery, since it had been designed with the seasonal obstacles relevant to the target region in mind. The high Himalayan districts are cut off from the rest of the country for four to five months a year. Therefore, the project was extremely effective. It achieved its objectives and in many cases exceeded the quantitative targets set.
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- Tools for knowledge
- India
- October 2012
The project was coherent, gender-appropriate and highly relevant to the needs of the beneficiaries living in the Himalaya region. The design of this project within a broader strategic planning and programming process also led to the individual actions being well designed and relevant.