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Other Programmes

Sanitation

The felt need for latrines on grounds of improved sanitation and convenience is increasing rapidly as a result of programmes mounted by local CBOs and women's groups supported by the UEEC. The support for these programmes is limited to the supply of a latrine pan and a small grant to purchase building materials, the actual construction work being the responsibility of the beneficiary family itself with the support of the NGO and women's group. The usefulness of these latrines is so manifest that in many villages families are constructing them on their own with no assistance at all.

Preventive health care and education

Our health programme is aimed particularly at children and women. Local CBOs are creating awareness of health problems through puppet shows, plays, songs, village meetings, exhibitions, and workshops. The girls and women engaged in this work require training which is provided by UEEC.

In most cases, these activities represent the first-ever attempt to discuss health and nutrition issues, particularly reproductive health issues, openly in a village forum. Finding appropriate ways of doing this has been a great challenge and much is being learned in this respect by the CBOs involved and by UEEC workers. A survey of the health status of children (birth to 15 years of age) has been done, and some of the factors that affect children's growth identified. This has generated a lot of discussion in villages and has prompted parents of underweight children, especially girls, to take necessary measures to overcome the problem. Health camps with the state Department of Health have also been organised. Issues relating to accessibility to and utilization of the health care system, health behaviour, etc. are analyzed with a gender perspective among women’s groups, CBOs, balwadi workers etc. and solutions found to improve upon the situation. Use of local herbs and home remedies is promoted in remote villages where no health care facility exists.

Eco-works

Small grants of money (Rs 5,000 to 10,000) are made to CBOs, schools and women’s groups, youth groups for specific environmentally related projects. Most popular are the creation of tree plantations in village common lands and tree nurseries, rehabilitation of village water sources, digging pits and trenches to increase ground-water recharge, plastic-lined water-storage tanks and polyhouses for growing vegetables and seeds off-season. The rationale for these projects is that they are first-time efforts by the village communities and therefore are invaluable learning experiences. Further, communities, especially women, learn and gain confidence while doing small projects for the collective good. By doing these projects successfully, women also show that they can plan, make the right decisions and sustain activities that they think are useful to them.

Environmental awareness programmes

Meetings, workshops, seminars, group discussions, slide shows, padyatras (walking tours), plays and puppet shows are organised by NGOs and schools. Since 1992 the UEEC has acted as a regional resource agency for the National Environmental Awareness Campaign sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Grants of about Rs 5000 and more are given to NGOs and schools for specific awareness-generating programmes. Preliminary orientation workshops are held for participating NGOs, CBOs, school teachers, university professors and the others.

Youth Group - "Peoples’ Connecting Forum"

The Youth Group, called Peoples’ Connecting Forum, was created in Lodh village of Nainital district in Uttaranchal in 1992 by a small group of youth who wanted to do "something meaningful" to improve the quality of life in villages. The genesis of the forum can be traced to informal meetings held amongst the youth of Dhari and Ramgarh blocks, facilitated by the founding members, without any suggestion of what shape it was going to take and without any financial support.

When the forum was struggling to gain roots in villages, many founding members drifted away, but a few remained, still with the urge to do "something meaningful for their villages". Most of them were self-employed either as farmers, vegetable growers, fruit cultivators, or nursery raisers. Some of them were studying but had the idea of settling down in villages after finishing their courses in school and universities.

On 15^th August, 2002 the forum was reorganized with some more clarity and the members agreed to initiate informal discussions with the youth of Ganaigangoli, Pavvadhar in Pithoragarh, Pachar in Bageshwar, Galla and Supi in Nainital districts. The purpose of these meetings was to share experiences, ideas and opinions, to review "successes’ and "failures" over the last ten years and to plan for the future. These meetings raised the whole question not only of organizational structure but also of the context within which the voices of the youth of Uttaranchal could be integrated in development programmes and policies.

Organization

The idea that the Peoples’ Connecting Forum shall evolve as an informal organization has emerged from the work of women’s groups associated with Uttarakhand Women’s Federation. The forum is not yet registered and, if possible, the founding members intend to continue working as an informal network of youth.

Peoples’ Connecting Forum is managed by a group of motivated, dedicated young boys and girls who meet regularly to review the work and assess the programme. A few of them have been involved in community-based activities for more than a decade now and the Forum draws heavily on their experience of development activities in villages of Utttaranchal. The Executive Committee meets once a year to review progress and to plan for the future.

Coverage

Currently, more than three hundred members of the Forum are spread in five districts of the Kumaon Himalaya in Uttaranchal. However, we intend to expand our activities to more villages, initially in Kumaon and later in Garhwal.

Current activities

Currently, the Forum is organizing village, block and regional level meetings/workshops to mobilize support and to clarify and prioritize issues that members should work on in the future.

The village and block level meetings focus on issues such as the livelihood options for the rural youth and migration, education, health, gender equality, indigenous knowledge, building up a sense of community. Lessons from the work of women’s groups in villages are discussed too.

The regional level meetings/workshops focus on issues related to the organizational structure, gender equality, fund raising, documentation of activities, strategies for mobilizing support, etc. Issues emerging from village, block and regional level work are also reviewed.

Regional congregation of youth

As a consequence of informal contacts with many members of the forum and on request made by the founding members, UEEC organized a congregation of youth during 23-24 December 2005. 101 young boys and girls from all over Kumaon (a division of Uttaranchal) gathered at Almora to voice their concerns which, they felt, should be the basis of a "development ideology" that the forum could work on and promote in the future.

The workshop encouraged each participant to "speak up" and narrate his/her experience of not necessarily development issues but on life in rural and urban areas to help evolve an understanding of how to restore dignity to local livelihoods. For many, especially the college students, this was the first experience to participate in a meeting!

The participants felt that the Forum should challenge the conventional development programmes on youth by generating ideas and completing practical work in villages. The following "human needs as indicators of happiness" were identified around which the participants felt, the work should revolve:

Contrary to a conventional sectoral approach to development, the Forum envisages an integrated, long-term approach based on the voices of communities, especially women and youth. The participants agreed that the work of the Forum shall be based on the felt needs of communities, especially youth and women.

The report of the proceedings of the workshop and a CD is available from the office of the one of the founding members at Ganaigangoli.

Resource Mobilization

To date, the Forum has worked without any external financial support, except occasional grants from UEEC, Almora. A membership fee has been the main source of funding but that is very small and erratic.

Given the constraints in raising funds for informal, village-based institutions, the Forum shall focus on getting support around specific activities. However, funds will be required to create and establish infrastructure, appoint staff and sustain work around activities that youth of Uttaranchal feel is "right" for themselves.

Corporate sector, funders, and individuals are welcome to facilitate this work which will require modest support along with the freedom to innovate and experiment with different ideas and to build up capacities of the local youth which we hope to carry forward in the future to develop a "different" programme on youth.

The Forum calls upon donors, government, other development organizations, and well wishers to help in moving towards and achieving the goals set by the youth of Uttaranchal to promote community-based participatory sustainable development in villages.