Strengthening Poor and marginalized citizens’ collective and leadership by advocacy is the theme of the project implemented by SMS in Birbhum district.
SMS aimed at enhancing human dignity motivating through training/workshop especially in the remote backward area.
While the workshops disseminated information creating awareness about several rights & issues, the trainings brought about capacity building & strengthening collective leadership among the women.

Objective:
Empower local community
Upscale bottom-up planning process
Gender issues-Empower women through increased bargaining power
Ensure access to health/education/income generation of the poor
Women’s awareness to democratic rights
Create better environ/health awareness
Involve grass root-people with development planning procedure
Strengthen process of decentralization ensuring better governance
Enhance capacity of marginalized women
Link SHG Federation with the Government delivery system.

Operational area: 27-gram panchayats in 18 Blocks of Birbhum district including 150 backward villages.

Activities (June’08-March ’09)
Baseline data in respect of socio-economic-institutional area are collected through PLA method.
Women resource persons evolved (18)
40 SHG leaders in each Panchayat have been selected & trained for implementation
Several trainings & workshops are conducted and effective linkage is established for integrated approach.
44 Training camps, 44 work shops an 81 CD show are organized to sensitize and aware the women on the issues of Gender equality, opportunities of Govt. & other developmental programme, strengthening SHG, PLA, POA etc.
Through PLA gaps in the community are defined and taken up in the Plan of Action (POA) and placed before the Gram Sansad. This is how the basic rights (like safe drinking water, toilet facility etc.) of the community so long deprived of, are won through collective leadership of the marginalised women.
Project staffs are striving hard to establish better collaboration among SHGs, GP functionaries, partner NGOs & government departments.

Remarkable feats
Substantial rise in female participation & voice resulting in empowerment in the minority and other marginalised community as well.
Initial hesitation, distrust and harassment in the villages Kapista, Hetampur & Rupushpur were won over and willingness & positive response was found when the women group confronted discouragement from the local male members and established their rights.

The brave women admitted that intervention by SMS was an eye-opening instance for them making them aware of rights & facilities unknown till then that went into their empowerment in the male dominated society.

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