The Issue

Marginalised communities in India, including Dalits, tribal communities, nomadic tribes, deprived urban communities, women, youth and refugees, face numerous challenges. Many communities struggle with landlessness and the lack of secure land tenure. Access to quality education remains limited for many marginalized groups. Inadequate healthcare services and poor health outcomes persist among these populations. Informal workers face exploitation, poor working conditions, and lack of social security. Communities are disproportionately affected by climate change and environmental degradation, impacting their livelihoods and living conditions. Systemic discrimination and social exclusion hinder their ability to participate fully in society.

Objectives

Empower Marginalised Communities: Amplify the voices of vulnerable groups and ensure their participation in policy-making.
Promote Inclusive Policy-Making: Advocate for policies that reflect the needs and aspirations of marginalized communities.
Expand Rights Frameworks: Advocate for collective rights and the protection of commons, ensuring access and control over resources.
Address Social and Ecological Crisis: Tackle issues related to climate change, inequality, displacement, and conflict.

What ActionAid Association is Doing for Communities

The process

• Listening to people’s aspirations
• Facilitating people’s expectations into and agenda for service and action
• Reaching out to people’s formations, people’s representatives and sharing people’s asks

Objectives

Empower Defenders: Equip human rights and ecological defenders and community leaders with the legal knowledge and skills necessary to advocate for and defend the human rights impacted by climate change. Create Legislative Framework for Climate Justice: Develop comprehensive climate change legislation outlining concrete legal actions and protections to address the human rights impacts of climate change. Protection of Vulnerable Communities: Enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate change by prioritizing their protection through targeted policies and by ensuring equitable access to disaster relief, healthcare, and climate-resilient infrastructure. Community-leadership in People-centered Climate Policy Decision-Making: Enhance community’s role in climate policy decision-making to uphold rights to information, expression, and association. Securing Legal Protections for Vulnerable Communities: Enable vulnerable communities to access the legal resources and avenues that safeguard their rights and interests in the face of negative climate change impacts.

Grassroots Engagement:

Conducted over 45,622 community-level meetings across 362 districts, involving approximately 17,22,427 participants.

Engaged in extensive community listening and collaboration, ensuring the representation of diverse marginalized groups.

Held discussions with community-based organizations, civil society groups, and people’s movements in 260 districts, 14,674 villages, and 180 cities.

Human Rights Defender Conclave:

Organized the National Human Rights Defenders Conclave in Delhi from 10th to 12th February 2024, with over 90 HRDs representing 67 districts.

Facilitated detailed discussions and deliberations to draft the comprehensive People’s Agenda document.

Publications:

Created a document reflecting the voices and recommendations of marginalized communities, available in English, Hindi, and Punjabi, with more translations forthcoming.

Advocates for expanding the rights framework, safeguarding resources, and ensuring access to land, forests, and water bodies for historically marginalized groups.

Engaging in Issue-Based Campaigns:

Addressed a range of issues including workers’ rights, education, land reforms, housing, urban governance, and disaster resilience.

Focused on confronting social and ecological crises exacerbated by climate change, inequality, and mass displacement.

How You Can Help

Volunteer: Join us in empowering marginalized communities by participating in grassroots engagement activities, community meetings, and policy advocacy efforts.

Donate: Your contributions can help expand our outreach and support more communities. Donations will be used to organize community meetings, facilitate the drafting and dissemination of the People’s Agenda document, and support ongoing advocacy efforts.

Join Us!

The People’s Agenda Campaign is a call to action for inclusive, deliberative policy-making that centers the voices of marginalized communities. By volunteering or donating, you can help amplify these voices and contribute to a more just and equitable society. Together, we can ensure that the concerns and aspirations of vulnerable communities are at the forefront of democratic governance and progressive action.