Overview
Responding to emergencies
Concern’s work in India has been dominated by the various natural disasters that have hit the country, from cyclones to floods, earthquakes and droughts. Since 1999, Concern has been on hand to help the people most affected by these disasters, including the earthquake in 2001 and the tsunami in 2004. Most recently, Concern responded to the severe flooding in June 2007, providing food and non-food items to thousands of affected families. To read more about the flooding, click here.
Preparing for future disasters
Concern is also focusing on helping people to cope with future disasters in the Puri and Cuttack districts of Orissa. The projects sought to assist groups that would be particularly vulnerable to disasters, including women, Dalits, who are the lowest Hindu caste, and marginalised farmers. These projects have reached more than 65,400 people. Concern has also helped 50 villages develop contingency plans for disaster, established 30 seed and grain stores and encouraged 5,000 people to take out insurance policies.
Promoting family income in Orissa
Although some regions of India have substantially reduced poverty, Orissa remains one of India’s poorest states. Concern has introduced programmes aimed at increasing economic opportunities in the area. These include micro-finance, developing community-based organisations and supporting local self-governance. Concern also works with local partners to campaign for land rights, and improve access to local natural resources.
HIV and AIDS awareness raising
India has the world's second highest number of HIV and AIDS affected people, and there is a danger that the numbers will continue to increase. Concern continues to promote HIV and AIDS awareness and education programmes. It supports three partner projects focused on raising awareness, addressing the needs and rights of people that are HIV positive, and campaigning at the state level.
Supporting child education
Concern supports education programmes in the Andhra Pradesh state through its Alliance 2015 partner Hivos and the MV Foundation. The programmes target 200,000 children in ninety villages. This is part of the Stop Child Labour campaign, a project which aims to eliminate child labor by encouraging all children to attend school.
