Pragya joins The People's Climate March

The People's Climate March was one of the largest activist event in recent years to advocate global action against climate change that took place on Sunday, September 21, 2014, in New York City, USA. Pragya's Research & Advocacy and Communication & Engagement team members joined the Climate March held in New Delhi, India, Saturday, September 20, 2014, anchored by 350.org India. They joined thousands of college students, children, civil society representatives, and members of communities affected by disaster/climate change. The team carried its banner raising concerns regarding the frequent high impact natural disasters in the Himalayas and were at the forefront of the procession from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar. (More info)

Addressing nutrition - the Pragya way...

Food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition continue to pose a major challenge for development, globally. The Himalayan belt, a particularly remote and backward region, where food production is constrained by the terrain and severe climatic conditions, and the problems are compounded due to weak infrastructure, displays the worst food insecurity and nutritional status, with maximum impacts on women. Pragya is addressing these concerns through three broad strategies: (i) Women’s nutri-gardens and Nutrition Watch: small agricultural initiatives for women to increase family food security and nutritional levels; (ii) Nutrient-dense montane farming: agricultural practices and technologies which address nutrient deficiencies; and (iii) Himalayan agri-production scale-up: agricultural improvements for improving land productivity and crop yields to enhance farm incomes.

In Kinnaur district in the western Himalayas, early detection of high iron deficiency (Hb 7.0) in a women’s group member, by the women’s care and ‘Hunger & Nutrition Watch’ processes, and appropriate and sustained dietary intake via growing of cabbage and spinach crops in Nutri-Gardens helped the woman farmer achieve acceptable Haemoglobin levels (Hb 11.0). Women's groups in Sikkim, Darjeeling as well have shown keen interest in managing their home gardens and poly-houses for year round production.

   

Mountain Agricultural Assistance Service Launch

Pragya organised a national workshop to initiate a multi- stakeholder network: Mountain Agricultural Assistance Service (MAAS). The event held on 7th August, 2014, at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India was inaugurated by Dr. Sanjeev Chopra, Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture – Govt. of India and had participation from national, regional and local institutions, government & non-governmental, as well as experts on mountain agriculture.

The workshop was designed to facilitate interaction among the participants to document the existing pool of knowledge and support services and draw out recommendations for functioning of the MAAS network and insights on key action options to address food security of the small farmers. 

The one-day event began with a brief inaugural session that highlighted the relevance of MAAS network in the current Himalayan context, which was followed by multi-stakeholder deliberations for two sessions: Working session 1: Pathways for Alliance and Working session2: Specific Interventions for Mountain Agriculture.

The process looked at the issues plaguing the mountain agriculture and posing threat to food security of the small farmers in the region and facilitated cross stakeholder understanding of the issues. The participative process also brought out recommendations for the network functions that are expected to be far closer to the stakeholder needs and area specific requirements.

The post-lunch session saw presentations by technical experts from NCPAH-Ministry of Agriculture, IMD Agro-met Division and SASE on existing support services and potential contributions towards Mountain Agricultural Assistance Service. The event concluded with sharing of results of the deliberations and summarization of the key priorities.

Photographs from the event

"Ganga Manthan" dialogue

Research & Advocacy Team of Pragya, participated in national dialogue: “Ganga Manthan" - a multi-stakeholder dialogue, hosted by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India, on 7th July, 2014 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India. The event was inaugurated by nion Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Water Resources Minister Ms. Uma Bharti. The event was also attended by Union Minister of Environment Mr. Prakash Javadekar. Post inaugural session, the participants were divided into parallel working sessions by stakeholder categories - Scientists, NGOs/Civil Society and Religious Leaders. 

The event highlighted the focus of Ministry of Water Resources on 'Aviral aur Nirmal (continuous and clean) Ganga'. The government seeks to provide around 30% cost and plans to raise the rest through public-private partnership (PPP). The discussions focused more on waste water treatment, water sharing issues rather than rejuvenation of water sources. The Pragya member participated in 'Aviral & Nirmal Ganga' session, chaired by: Justice Girdhar Malviya, that was designated for the NGOs & Environmentalists and submitted several recommendations during the consultation. 

Pragya works to reach benefits of technology in water sector to deprived indigenous communities. (Read more about our work)

E-book published - DMS-HIMALAYA

In June 2013, high-intensity rain and cloudbursts in the Indian State of Uttarakhand in the Himalayas triggered a series of hydrologic and geologic disasters, including glacial lake outbursts, landslides and flash floods, affecting more than 2,036,000 people and leading to one of the worst catastrophes of the decade. 

One year on, as the country still grapples with the calamitous event and its aftermath, in DMS-Himalaya, Banerji, Ipe and Basu through first-hand observations, vividly recapture the cascading combination disaster that occurred and the event trajectory. The book also examines the response process to the disaster, what worked and what did not. The learnings, from pre-event stages to post-event response, are drawn out with consideration of the complex interlinked issues related to disaster response in remote locations with fragile ecologies, and have been woven into a fortified disaster management system for the Himalayas.

View the book

Recommendations for State & Non-State Development Collaborations

Although the past nine years have shown a healthy movement towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, the disappointments and gaps indicate the areas in need of attention during the post-2015 period. Traditionally neglected and excluded groups on the social, economic and geographic margins have remained deprived of the benefits of development. Inequities have grown and the festering dissatisfaction has contributed to violence and conflicts, in turn eroding the gains made. These inequities are often perpetuated by local political structures, indicating the critical need for a rights-based approach and an inclusive agenda within nations after 2015.

Pragya highlighted these concerns and its recommendations on State & Non-State Development Collaborations in its statement submitted to UN ECOSOC High-level segment: annual ministerial review - 2014 session. (View full statement)

"Inspiring Change"

Members of Research & Advocacy Team & Communication & Engagement Team participated in the event "Inspiring Change" held at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India, on 10th March 2014. The event was jointly organised by EU Delegation to India and UN Women. The inaugural session was graced by presence of dignitaries from various embassies. Dr. João Cravinho, EU Ambassador to India & Bhutan, mentioned an MoU between UN Women & EU in his opening speech. Dr. Rada Boric from Croatia gave the Keynote address and spoke about women's rights scenario during wars. She mentioned the steps that Croatia had to take towards women's empowerment before being included in EU. She also spoke about the struggle & solidarity of women in her country & in neighbouring countries. She has interacted with several stakeholders in India and finds the challenges to be similar. She spoke of instances from Norway where women's empowerment led to increased profits. Spoke about her experiences as part of EU women's lobby.

Ms. Kamla Bhasin, Dr Rebecca Tavares (UN Women) advocated for a stand alone Gender Equality goal in Post 2015 SDGs. India has recently supported this idea. This was followed by a launch of an EU film and a panel discussion featuring Ms. Indira Jaisingh, Archana Sardana (sky jumper & deep sea diver), Kanchan Gaba (lawyer & scout, visually impaired) and Anju Pandey (UN Women). A UN Women Report that captured the voices of women across India, was also launched. The session on CSR, chaired by Ms. Sonia Srivastava (CSR Head, Intel) focused on how the companies deal with their women staff and their needs & challenges. The event also featured a series of success stories on women empowerment from rural India as an exhibit.