ACTIONAID NATIONAL CONCLAVE – TOWARDS A PEOPLE’S ALLIANCE

11-14 JUNE, HYDERABAD

WHO’S HERE? SPOKESPEOPLE AND THEIR STORIES

From women vegetable sellers and extraordinary Aids activists, to dalit and tribal leaders risking their lives to protect their communities and make rights a reality, the conclave will play host to an array of stories and spokespeople.  Some are mentioned below.

Women leading the way

i)       Women entrepreneurs – Amar Bazaar, upper Assam: “For us women to bring about such changes is a great achievement. We are successful in running markets which were considered to be a male domain,” says Dipika Doley, a vegetable trader and member of the women’s cooperative Amar Bazaar Kendriya Samiti in Dhemaji district of upper Assam.

Women’s groups with Amar Bazaar have reduced exploitation increased women’s control in the vegetable trade – from production to revenue collection and control of retail outlets – by cutting out the traditional middlemen between producer and consumer. 

ii)       Naga women have a say: Shanti Lungleng a Tangkhul Naga is now happy and looking forward to playing a more powerful role in her community.

Women belonging to the Tangkhul Naga Tribe have been systematically discriminated against, reinforced by customary laws which prevent them having a say in decision making. Volunteers for Village Development, an ActionAid partner in Naga has been successful in encouraging women’s political participation.

Through workshops and negotiations, a real breakthrough came about when the ‘Riyan’ (the Naga Constitution) was reviewed in 2005 and accepted the inclusion of women in the traditionally all male governing body.

iii)      From food collectors to food producers: Veenaya belongs to the Koraga, primitive tribal group in Karnataka who once relied on collecting food. Sources are now declining leading to ill health and malnutrition. 

The concept of ‘self help group’ has brought a new sense of power and unity to the women like Veenaya. Alcohol consumption amongst men meant that men’s income never met the domestic needs and violence against women was highly prevalent. 

Veenaya and her women’s group now proactively intervene when incidence of violence occur. They are also engaged in cooperative vegetable farming and jasmine plantation bringing work to women of the community a sense of economic empowerment as well. 

iv)      Midday meals and more - Making rights a reality: Soniben, 38, is a fiery Dalit woman from the village of Khokhra in Kutch district, Gujarat. She is an active member of Lok Adhikar Manch a platform of the marginalized which fights for rights and entitlements that are wrongfully denied.

With her active leadership school children, not only in her village but eight neighbouring villages, can be sure of getting their midday meals. Under the right to food campaign she has secured food rations for local Antodya families (people living below poverty line who are entitled to free rations)

Her work merits special attention as she has struggled against all odds from being illiterate to threats on her life from local goons running the Public Distribution System and yet her journey continues undeterred.

People living with HIV and AIDS 

i)   We are not alone: Satya Suner Misra aka Sunderi 23 echoes these thoughts upfront. A transgender and MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) herself, it has not been easy journey for Sunderi.

Sunderi pursued her Masters in Social work and is involved with Lakshya Trust an organsiation working on the issue of MSM, transgender and people living with HIV&AIDS in Surat, Gujarat.

“It has been a struggle all along. I know I am not alone in the society and will keep fighting for myself and those like me”, says Sunderi.

The scrapping of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code, which outlaws homosexuality and brands it unnatural, is a clear demand – it currently criminalizes Sunderi and many like her.

“When the law of the land goes against us, how can we expect the society to chage their attitude and accept us”, she said.

The struggle is long but message is positive.

ii)  Women suffer twice over:  Namita Nanda 26, was thrown out by her in-laws after her husband died of AIDS. She returned to her native State Orissa.

“It is the women who bear the brunt discrimination. Many HIV positive women are thrown out of their house and have no where to go”, she said

She has been living with HIV/AIDS for ten years. What she regrets most is that she could not prevent her children from getting infected.

“I did not have any information about HIV/AIDS. Proper counseling and availability of drugs could have at least prevented the transmission of virus to my children. They both died so young,” she explains Namita.

Namita founded the Orissa AIDS Solidarity Forum to take up the challenges faced by many like her.

Vedanta, Posco and the paradox of 'development’

i)  Who gains from the land grab: "When the factory starts, the company (Vedanta) will take over our land...If we leave, where do we go?" said Ghasi Majhi echoing the question which all those living in the shadow Vedanta plant want to know. The plant was constructed without proper permissions and is currently being challenged in court.

UNDP says that in Orissa perhaps 100,000 have been displaced since independence and about two million because of industrial development projects.

The Vedanta Alumina Ltd claims to have spent millions on the local community to re-house those who lost land, open schools and training programs to ‘rehabilitate’ them.  

"They are making fool of us….we all know we do not have the education to get jobs at these plants", said disillusioned Majhi.

“This is our place, we have been here for ten generations… if we leave, we will become beggars. What will happen to our children? And what jobs will the women get? 

“We know how to plough, grow food and collect from the forest. Why do they want to end our life?”

Local people are united in their struggle and have enlisted the support of national and international activists. They are determined their voices will be heard.

ii)  Displaced and destroyed: "POSCO will be a poor alternative for farmers who will turn into labourers in their own fields", shared Basudeo Behra of Posco Pratirodh Samiti.

         Local groups are concerned that if the POSCO project goes ahead, a vibrant agrarian and fishing economy where people grow two paddy crops a year and women often earn an income from bamboo cane and livestock rearing will be destroyed.

          The deal between Orissa government and Steel Giant POSCO would bring a total of 5,20,000 million rupees, the highest ever Foreign Direct Investment in the country and requires as much as 4,004 acres of land to be acquired at the project site.

The question local people are asking is ‘Development for whom’? Basudeo is an undaunted voice of struggle eager to tell many untold truths.

Education against the odds

i)    A ray of hope: For 25 year old Kavita of Madhya Pradesh, it was not too late to start her education again.    

"I left school without completing my primary education and entered our traditional occupation of commercial sex", shared Kavita.

Madhya Pradesh Sikhsha Abhiyan (Education Campaign) brought new hope

for Kavita who was keen to study further. Though she was made fun of, Sikhsha Mitra (Village facilitator) supported her and Kavita enrolled in National Open School.

Kavita has appeared for the class VIII examination and is confident of a better future for herself and her two children.

ii)  Home bulldozed, education suffered: Komal at the tender age of 13 has seen too much too early in life.

"I had to stop going to school since our homes in which our families had lived for 35 years were destroyed by bulldozers in the winter of 2004."

Komal and her family were moved from Bhopal to a village some 20 km outside the city limits where they had no food, roof or livelihood. Her father left her mother, Komal and three of her siblings to fend for themselves.

Being the eldest in the family the burden to earn a living fell on Komal’s young shoulders.

The Bachpan group, an ActionAid partner, persuaded Komal's family to send all three of them to school in the nearby village.

An elated Komal chirps, "I just heard that we will no longer need to cross the Highway as a new Government primary school and preschool have been sanctioned through the work of the bhaias of Bachpan".

Fishing communities out at sea

i)      Engdangered livelihood: Sankar Teddu 36, from Vishakhapattnam belongs to fishing community facing eviction and loss of livelihood due to large scale investment by the state to boost tourism, without considering the needs of local citizens in their plans.

"The state seems bent on eroding our age old source of living, we need a strong leadership to resist this, if we don't, we have nothing to survive", said Sankar.

Shankar founded Fishermen Youth Welfare Association and took up welfare programmes for the fishing community like education and implementing government welfare schemes in the fishing hamlets.

Sankar has become the voice of the community and is taking the struggle forward through legal interventions against the state and coastal regulation zone violations.

National and international campaigners available for comment

Professor Babu Mathew, a distinguished trade union leader, social activist and law professor, joined ActionAid as country director in April 2004. He has had a rich experience of organising trade unions in both formal and informal sectors and working closely with social justice and human rights movements.

Babu now leads ActionAid’s work in India where he is at the forefront in supporting alliances of marginalised groups in coming together to tackle injustice. He is also part of international campaigning efforts to end poverty.

Ramesh Singh has worked with ActionAid for over 20 years, in Africa, Asia and Europe and is now Chief Executive of ActionAid International. Ramesh has had first hand of development issues in Asia and Africa for a major part of his life.

Coming from Nepal, Ramesh trained as an agronomist-seed technologist at the University of Edinburgh and came to ActionAid with a depth of experience in agricultural research. He now leads ActionAid’s in its work with poor people around the world towards ending poverty.

Dr Colm Ó Cuanacháin joined ActionAid as head of international campaigns in January 2007 following over 15 years with human rights watchdog Amnesty International. He has extensive experience in research and campaigns on economic and social justice issues.

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