India

Related articles

Our charity work: land rights

On 1 January 2009, the Forest Rights Act finally came into force, a year after it was originally passed. This act gives forest dwellers the right to claim legal possession of the land they have lived on and cultivated for generations.

We helped more than 100,000 households in 2,475 villages stake their claims for recognition of their individual and community rights. Around 90% of eligible households in the areas where we work have submitted their claims.

Marching for rights

We were also involved in the Janadesh march organised by our partner Ekta Parishad in October 2007. More than 25,000 landless people travelled 350km from Gwalior to Delhi to demand their right to land.

After massive international coverage, the government announced the establishment of a national land reform committee. The video below documents the final stage of the protest.

Increasing income

We have helped 10,000 households increase their income. This was done through access to credit, collection of non-timber forest products and training on sustainable farming methods. Many farmers were able to grow a second crop after we improved irrigation and thus water availability.

HIV awareness

We recently reached 8,542 young people in urban areas – including college students and slum dwellers – through 1,153 HIV and AIDS awareness sessions. To get our message to young people in rural areas, we held two training sessions on HIV and AIDS basic facts and set up a seven-day mobile awareness camp.

Fear and Hope

We have also been working to build a support network of people living with HIV and AIDS. We organised 52 support group meetings and ten family awareness programmes. We published a case study book featuring examples of positive living through a programme called Fear and Hope.

Responding to emergencies

We recently reached 21,000 families affected by three separate flooding incidents. We provided food and non-food items, temporary shelter and access to safe water.