SDG 1: NO POVERTY – OPPORTUNITIES FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS

 Dear All

Please find the brief details of the recent publication made in the Journal of Desh Vikaas of Oct - Dec 2021 as: 

“Poverty is not an accident. It is manmade and can be removed by the actions of human beings”….Nelson Mandela.

 ABSTRACT

‘Poverty’ is the biggest barrier of development and affect the People, Communities, and Nation in all forms. Nation has got sufficient resources to cater the needs of its people but not their greed. The limitations of service delivery systems in catering benefits of development to the targeted groups who are poor and vulnerable on one side and on the other side widened the gap between the poor and rich and thus affected the larger population both socially and economically leading for poor quality of life. It is the fact that the needs of the human covering food, shelter, health care, education, employment, and other needs moves around poverty limiting their access and affordability. After Water, the Goal of ‘No Poverty’ gains priority and it is very much linked up with the progress of other goals of Sustainable Development Goals. With such agenda, Nation is moving with the missions of achieving Water for All, Food for All, Health Care for All, Education for All, Equality & Equity for All, and others on the mode of empowerment and sustainability and thus to become empowered Nation. The progress made in respect of the targets and indictors of ‘No Poverty’ is significant and at the same time do face several limitations to achieve the same by 2030. The limitations of the Government will be minimized by working with Private and NGOs on partnership basis. The opportunities emerged out of such partnership are significant and expected to build connectivity and collaboration with relationships among the stakeholders. The initiatives taken up are need based and very well matches to the dynamics of the people and communities and thus to achieve sustainability with improved quality of life.      

Key Words: Poverty, Health Care, Education, Development, Environment, Isolation, Quality of Life, Sustainability.

Statement of the Problem

The limitations of service delivery systems in catering the benefits of development to the targeted groups who are poor and vulnerable on one side and on the other side widened the gap between the poor and rich and thus affected the larger population both socially and economically leading poor quality of life.  

Introduction & Background

‘Poverty’ is a state or condition in which a Person or Community lacks the financial resources and other essentials for a minimum standard of living covering human critical needs covering Food (Roti), Clothing (Kapada), and Shelter (Makhan). Poverty means that the income level from employment and other sources of income generation is so low that basic human needs of an individual, family or community can't be met. Based on the observations made by the experts and policy makers, Nation has got sufficient resources to cater the needs of the its people but not their greed. On the other side, the limitations of Service Delivery Systems (SDSs) in reaching the targeted groups who are poor allows its exploitation by a smaller group and thus affect the larger population both economically and socially with poor quality of life (QOL). Later, Nation came up with a mission of Poverty Alleviation or eradication (Garibi Hatao) and the magical figure or line fixed to group the people into two groups as Below Poverty Level (BPL) and Above Poverty Level (APL) is in mismatch with the ground realities. Inspite of several efforts made, still several factors are influencing to fix or draw the line between BPL and APL. Lack of opportunities for employment and other sources of income generation, people are getting migrated to urban areas leaving their children, family and elder people as the victims of poverty with vulnerabilities for basic food, health care, education, and other minimum facilities. Shifting of the imaginary line between BPL and APL on one side and shift towards business oriented development (which widens the gap between rich and poor with low priority for people and environment) on the other side given a feeling that the mission of Poverty Eradication or Alleviation (Garibi Hatao) is slowly shifting towards remove the poor People (Garibonko Hatao). It reflects the limitations of the systems on one side and lack of willpower of the groups who are behind such systems. In spite of working on poverty eradication or alleviation since decades, still majority of the people are lacking basic facilities for food, shelter, sanitation, health care, education, and other such required for minimum standard of living. The Nation came up with several Acts and Policies and accepted to move forward to achieve the targets and indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. After Water, the goal of No Poverty (SDG 1) gains priority and it is very much linked up with the progress of other goals of SDGs. With such agenda, Nation is moving with the missions of achieving Water for All, Food for All, Health Care for All, Education for All, Equality & Equity for All, and others on the mode of empowerment and sustainability and thus to be empowered Nation. Without going much into to the details of definition, and what has done previously, this paper will concentrate more on the targets and indicators Poverty (SDG 1) and the role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).      

 Initiatives

The Author is well connected with the areas of exploration cum management of natural resources, mentoring of NGOs, and training cum facilitation for developing livelihoods and some of the key initiatives taken up during the last four decades are listed below as:

ü  Creation of awareness in advocacy mode in respect of the causes and consequences of poverty, acts & policies, schemes & benefits, and other opportunities of income generation.

ü  Training cum workshops on entrepreneurship opportunities for the targeted groups both in urban and rural areas.

ü  Mapping and management of water resources for domestic, irrigation, industries, and other utilities of the people and community with the focus of water security (both in quantity and quality) for all.  

ü  Mentoring of CSOs or NGOs working for the development of people and communities in general and particular connected with poverty alleviation.

ü  Vocational Training cum Skill Development for enhancing the employable skills or employability.

ü  Guidance cum facilitation for employment in general and particularly in creation of livelihoods (both self employment & group employment) as part of Income Generation Programme (IGP).

ü  Guidance to the Students of Master Courses for Project Works and Research Scholars for finding out better solutions to the challenges of the people and communities in general and particularly related with poverty and development.   

ü  Trained and facilitated the people and communities to face the unhealthy consequences resulted out of hazards, disasters and other environmental emergencies (including present pandemic of Covid 19) as part of disaster risk reduction (DRR).    

ü  Presentation of study papers connected with development covering both economic and social areas at Workshops, Seminars, Conventions, and other forums of Social Development making online forums more effective.

ü  Use of e forums for sharing and dissemination of such models and benefits to the larger groups as part of learning cum motivation for its replication.

ü  Publication of success models in Journal (both National & International), Books (Edited), Souvenirs, and other such publications of Government and Private.               

Cumulatively, the initiatives taken up have resulted for the growth and development of the people and communities in general and particularly in respect of poverty alleviation. The initiatives taken up are simple and flexible matching to the dynamic of the people and communities and more and more need to be done as the poverty is dynamic and time variant.     

Conclusions

The study made on Poverty gains priority as it is the biggest challenge or barrier of development of the People, Community and Nation and key conclusions emerged include:

 

ü  The limitations of Service Delivery Systems in catering the benefits of the development to the targeted groups who are poor and vulnerable on one side and on the other side widened the gap between the poor and rich and thus affected the larger population both socially and economically leading poor quality of life. 

ü  Poverty is a state or condition in which a Person or Community lacks the financial resources and other essentials for a minimum standard of living covering human critical needs covering Food (Roti), Clothing (Kapada), and Shelter (Makhan).

ü  Nation has got sufficient resources to cater the needs of the its people but not their greed.

ü  The limitations of Service Delivery Systems (SDSs) in reaching the targeted groups who are poor allows its exploitation by a smaller group and thus affect the larger population both economically and socially with poor quality of life (QOL).

ü  Nation came up with a mission of Poverty Alleviation or eradication (Garibi Hatao) and the magical figure or line fixed to group the people into two groups as Below Poverty Level (BPL) and Above Poverty Level (APL) is in mismatch with the ground realities.

ü  Inspite of several efforts made by the Government, still several factors are influencing to fix or draw the line between BPL and APL as it is dynamic and time variant.

ü  Lack of opportunities for employment and other sources of income generation, people are getting migrated to urban areas leaving their children, family and elders as the victims of poverty with vulnerabilities for basic food, health care, education, and other minimum facilities.

ü  After Water, the goal of No Poverty gains priority and it is very much linked up with the progress of other goals of SDGs.

ü  Poverty and Development will work as a cause and consequences of each other and every effort should be made to eradicate Poverty.  

ü  Nation has got specific action framework with matching targets and indictors to achieve the same by 2030.

ü  The efforts made (2016-2019) have resulted for very good progress in respect of targets and indicators and more need to be done.

ü  On the other side, Nation do face several challenges or limitations and needs the support of other players at all levels.

ü  Government working with Private or Corporate and NGOs on partnership basis will have better opportunities for making the whole processes of poverty alleviation and development into reality.

ü  NGOs do play a key role in minimizing the limitations faced by the Government and further to empower the targeted groups to come out of the clutches of poverty with better connectivity and relationship.

ü  The initiatives taken up have resulted for need based outputs, outcomes and impact with change in their living.

ü  The initiatives and other opportunities made are simple, flexible, replicable, scalable and sustainable matching to the dynamics of the given targeted Groups and Community.        

Recommendations

In view of the need to continue the study on Poverty and Development for the benefit of People, Community and Nation, recommendations made include:

ü  To encourage and support students to take up Project Works and Research Studies in developmental areas with focus on Poverty Eradication.

ü  To organize more and more Trainings, Workshops, and Seminars at all levels focusing on Poverty and Development.

ü  To get better supports from Private or Corporate with participation with access for advocacy, reach, connectivity, technologies, product making, marketing and other matching areas.

ü  To support NGOs to work with Government and Private or Corporate on Partnership (GPNP) mode.

To Train the people and communities for better preparedness to face hazards and disasters as part of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).     

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with thanks and looking forward  

EMPOWERMENT OF PARENTS OF PWDs: ADVANTAGES WITH CBR APPROACH

 Dear All

Happy New Year 20222 to all and and hoping for having healthy environment with normalcy. 

Continued my interest of publication and  during the last Quarter of 2021 2022, published a paper in the Journal of Mahila Pratishtha and a brief details of teh same were presented below as: 

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ABSTRACT

Limited or non participation of Parents of PWDs in the processes of training and rehabilitation will limit their opportunities of working for their empowerment leading for independent living in an inclusive and accessible community and to get a better solution for their concern of “what will happen to the child after us?”. Disability is unexpected as it affects the growth and development of Family, Community and Nation both socially and economically. Having a child with special needs in any family needs special services, supports, and environment as they are unique in their own way. Presence of such child in any family affects its dynamics with challenges and vulnerabilities both social and economical. Government came out with several Acts and Policies to support the persons with disabilities with matching services, supports, schemes, benefits, training, rehabilitation, education, employment, livelihoods, and others so that they can be empowered for better living in an accessible and inclusive environment and community with equality, dignity and respect as a right. At the stage of its implementation, several stakeholders covering: Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Community Members, Health Workers, Paramedical Professionals, Disability Professionals, Service Providers, Local Establishments, National Institutions, Donors, People’s Representatives, and others do play their own role in the whole of process of empowering PWDs with matching strategies and interventions. Among the Stakeholders, Parents of PWDs can play a key role as PWDs will spend majority of their time and thus have better scope for learning and sharing on life cycle basis which finally will lead for getting a better solution for their concern that “what will happen to the child after us?”.  Parents particularly from rural areas do have limited scope to participate in the processes of training and rehabilitation of their child at Centers managed by Government or NGOs. The present pandemic (Covid 19) has changed the whole environment of training and rehabilitation of PWDs puts more pressure on parents particularly mothers. The shift towards Community Based Rehabilitation will have several advantages with better scope to work on ownership basis.   

Key Words: Disability, Training, Rehabilitation, Empowerment, Independent Living, Community, Inclusion, Accessibility, Prevention, Sustainability, Quality of Life.    

Statement of the Problem

Non or limited participation of Parents of PWDs in the processes of training and rehabilitation of their ward will limit their opportunities of working for their empowerment leading for independent living in an inclusive and accessible community and to get a better solution for their concern of ”what will happen to the child after us?”.    

Introduction & Background

Disability is unexpected as it affects the growth and development of Family, Community and Nation both socially and economically. Having a child with disability or special needs (CWSNs) in any family needs special services, supports, and environment as they are unique in their own way. Presence of such child in any family affects it dynamics with challenges and vulnerabilities both social and economical. Government came out with several Acts and Policies to support the persons with disabilities (PWDs) with matching services, supports, schemes, benefits, training, rehabilitation, education, employment, livelihoods, and others so that they can be empowered for better living in an accessible and inclusive environment / community with equality, dignity and respect as a right. At the stage of its implementation, several stakeholders covering: Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Community Members, Health Workers, Paramedical Professionals, Disability Professionals, Service Providers, Local Establishments, National Institutions, Donors, People’s Representatives, and others do play their own role in the whole of process of empowering PWDs with matching strategies and interventions. The Departments / Institutions working under the Government (both Central and State Governments) do follow the specific service delivery systems or channels (SDSs or SDCs) which are mostly dominated with top down approaches (TDAs) having limited scope to reach the targeted groups particularly living in rural areas. To overcome such limitations, community based initiatives which works mostly with bottom up approaches (BUAs) have been preferred as they do have several advantages to reach and work for the empowerment of the targeted groups. Among the Stakeholders, Parents of PWDs who are the first stakeholder can play a key role as PWDs will spend majority of their time (except the Orphans) and thus have better scope for learning and sharing on life cycle basis which finally will lead for getting a better solution for their concern that “what will happen tot eh child after us?”.  Parents particularly mothers from rural areas do have limited scope to participate in the processes of training and rehabilitation of their ward at Centers / Institutions (which are away from the home & community) managed by Government or Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The present pandemic (Covid 19) has changed the whole environment of training and rehabilitation of PWDs and put more pressure on parents.  

Role of Parents: Once the Parents of PWDs are empowered, they can play various roles at various levels and some of them were presented below as:  

ü  Individual Level: On individual level, Parents can work and play various roles covering: Awareness cum Advocacy, Mobilizer, Facilitator, Referral Services, Self Employment, Donor, Mentor, Caregiver, Trainer, Accessibility, and Prevention,

ü Service Provider: As a Service Provider, Parents can work for developing: Non Governmental Organization (NGO) legally, and CBR Centre to work from early identification to empowerment, facilitation for Schemes and Benefits, Legal Guardianship, Employment, Livelihoods, Mainstreaming, Social Security, Barrier Free Environment (BFE), Prevention of the causes of Disabilities (Disability Free Society – DFS), Life Care Facilities and other matching services and suppose on the model of Empowerment.

ü  SHGs: Parents can form Self Help Groups (SHGs) with legal base and can work for creating Awareness cum Advocacy, Mobilizer, Facilitator, Production cum Marketing of Products, Networking and Connectivity, Group Employment / Livelihoods, Sheltered or Protected Workshop, Life Care Facilities (LSF) and other matching services and supports with the main focus of working for the  Economic Empowerment of PWDs as well as their Parents so that all together can enhance their strengths to overcome the limitations of disabilities and to be part of accessible and inclusive community as part of development.  

ü  Professional: Some of the Parents can become Special Educators by doing the Disability Courses recognized by Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) either on regular or distance mode. With that, they can work as an Employee, Self Employment, Facilitator, Freelancer, Advocacy, Development of Teaching cum Learning Materials (TLMs), Support Devices, Aids & Appliances, Collaborate for the development of Disability Free Society (DFS), and Barrier Free Environment (BFE).

ü  Employer: Some of the parents depending upon their economic status and living environment (rural or urban) can develop business (micro to macro level) which includes existing Family Business, Local Establishments, Sheltered or Protected Employment and other modes on inclusive or exclusive or both to cater the needs of PWDs as well as their parents including referral services for Health, Education, Accessibility, and Life Care Facilities.

 

There exists some overlap in the roles of Parents at various levels, but broadly, empowerment of parents will work for the empowerment of their Children with Disabilities (CWSNs / PWDs) and further to support for the prevention of the causes of disabilities and thus strengthening Community and Nation.  

Advantages: The empowerment of Parents (mostly along with their Children with Disabilities (CWSN / PWD) particularly with community based initiatives (CBR) do have several advantages and some of them include:   

ü  Better Acceptance with reduced Stigma with Positive Attitude.

ü  Working for the Training cum Rehabilitation of PWDs as an Empowerment within the Family and Community Environment.

ü  Working in the same environment of PWDs and Parents will be a strength with people around them.  

ü  There will be better scope for Early Identification particularly during the early age of 0 – 3 years and Early Interventions with better scope for school preparedness.

ü  It supports for effective and efficient participation of Parents, Siblings and other Family Members both at Home and Community.

ü  Better Scope for the utilization of local resources to the maximum extent possible.

ü  As the use of transportation is nil or minimum, there will be limited or less issues with transportation to avoid the issues of access and barriers.

ü  Better Scope to get connected with PHC, Anganwadi Centres (under ICDS), Schools and other Community Utilities and sharing of Resources.

ü  As Parents are working within the Family and Community Environment, the CBR Strategy supports family both socially and economically.

ü  Wider scope for the continuation of livelihood activities like: Self Employment, Group Employment (by forming into Self Help Groups – SHGs), Microentreprenuership and other forms of Income Generation Programmes (IGPs).

ü  The whole processes of empowerment of Parents and PWDs will work more of independent with ownership where other stakeholders will work as facilitators.

ü  The services and supports of training cum rehabilitation can be made more available, accessible, and affordable (3As) as it works as part of the community development with scope for continuity. 

Local Manpower covering: Parents, Siblings, Elders (including retired people), Community Workers, can be effectively utilized with better flexibility both in time and duration.

Initiatives

The Author is well connected with Community Development particularly Disability Rehabilitation with inclusive strategies and contributed significantly for the empowerment of Parents as well as PWDs and some of the key initiatives (both directly and through Institutes / NGOs) include:

Ø  Awareness cum Advocacy for PWDs, Parents, and other Stakeholders at Community on Acts and Policies, Schemes and Benefits, Early Identification, Training and Rehabilitation, Education both Normal and Special, Employment / Livelihoods, Accessible Environments, Prevention of the Causes of Disabilities, and other aspects of Disability and Community Development.

Ø  Training to the PWDs and their Parents (at Home, Centre, & Community) for minimizing the limitations of disabilities with better scope for matching services and supports with better availability, accessibility and affordability.  

Ø  Facilitation for Schemes and Benefits with improved digital technologies for registration, application, utilization, monitoring and evaluation.     

Ø  Guidance cum facilitation for the Parents of PWDs to improve their qualification both in regular as well as in special education (courses approved by RCI) so that Parents can transform themselves as a Care Giver, Trained Teacher, Qualified Teacher, Mentor, Facilitator, Service Provider (Sheltered or Protected Workshops), Employer, and other matching roles connected with Disability Sector.

Ø  Development of Human Resources at all levels with collaboration for suitable employment or livelihoods.

Ø  Organization of Training, Workshops, and Seminars (both on regular & virtual modes) both on exclusive and inclusive forums with better visibility on the needs and opportunities for PWDs as well as to their Parents.

Ø  Facilitation for developing Livelihoods (self employment, group employment, or microentrepreneurship) as part of income generation and further economic empowerment.  

Ø  Publication of developed strategies, interventions and models of rehabilitation in both exclusive and inclusive Journals / Books.

Ø  Use of technologies (particularly in view of present pandemic emerged due to Covid 19) moving towards digital environment for better reach, connectivity, relationship, learning, sharing, reporting, documentation, and presentation.

Ø  Consultations and initiatives to provide better solution to the concern of every parent of PWD that “what will happen to the child after us?”.

 

The outputs, outcomes and impact resulted due to the initiatives took up are significant and connected PWDs and their Parents with other Stakeholders for better living in an inclusive and accessible community / environment with better sustainability and improved quality of life. More and more work need to be done as disability is dynamic and well connected with poverty, and development.             

.   

Conclusions

The study made has gained priority while working for the empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and some of the conclusions emerged include:

ü    Non or limited participation of Parents of PWDs in the processes of training and rehabilitation of their ward will limit their opportunities of working for their empowerment leading for independent living in an inclusive and accessible community and to get a better solution for their concern of ”what will happen to the child after us?”.   

ü    Disability is unexpected as it affects the growth and development of Family, Community and Nation both socially and economically.

ü    Presence of such a child in any family affects its dynamics with challenges and vulnerabilities both socially and economically.

ü    Government cameup with several Acts and Policies to support the persons with disabilities with matching services, supports, schemes, benefits, training, rehabilitation, education, employment, livelihoods, and others so that they can be empowered for better living in an accessible and inclusive environment / community with equality, dignity and respect as a right.

ü    At the stage of its implementation, several stakeholders covering: Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Community Members, Health Workers, Paramedical Professionals, Disability Professionals, Service Providers, Local Establishments, National Institutions, Donors, People’s Representatives, and others do play their own role in the whole of processes of empowering PWDs with matching strategies and interventions.

ü    The Departments / Institutions working under the Government (both Central and State Governments) do follow the specific service delivery systems or channels which are mostly dominated with top down approaches having limited scope to reach the targeted groups particularly living in rural areas.

ü    To overcome such limitations, community based initiatives which works mostly with bottom up approaches have been preferred as they do have several advantages.

ü    Among the Stakeholders, Parents of PWDs who are the first stakeholder can play a key role as PWDs will spend majority of their time (except the Orphans) and thus have better scope for learning and sharing on life cycle basis which finally will lead for getting a better solution for their concern that “what will happen to the child after us?”. 

ü    Parents particularly from rural areas do have limited scope to participate in the processes of training and rehabilitation of their ward at Centers / Institutions (which are away from the home & community) managed by Government or Non Governmental Organizations.

ü    The present pandemic Covid 19 has changed the whole environment of training and rehabilitation of PWDs and put more pressure on parents.

ü    Parents do have several needs both to protect themselves and their children with special needs.

ü    The model of Training cum Rehabilitation works from the stage of early identification to empowerment resulting for an independent living with better sustainability and improved quality of life

ü   The Disability Acts (as exclusive) and inclusive focus more on the capabilities of PWDs putting questions on the barriers in the environment.

ü   The Institutional Based Rehabilitation do have several advantages and limitations leaving less scope for the parents to be part of this and to get empowered.

ü    Community Based Rehabilitation working within the community development as a strategy do have several advantages giving better scope to Parents to get connected with their child’s rehabilitation as well as their own empowerment with ownership.    

ü    CBR works (with multisectoral and multidisciplinary approaches) with five domains covering Health, Education, Livelihoods, Social and Empowerment and are effective empower the PWDs as well as their Parents with better sustainability.

ü    The initiatives are need based and the resulted outputs, outcomes, and impact are significant with better scope for participation, accountability and responsibility mostly on ownership.

ü   The strategies and interventions deployed in the processes of empowering PWDs and their Parents are need based, simple, flexible, replicable, and sustainable matching to the dynamics of the given environment.         

Recommendations

Disability is dynamic and well linked with Poverty, and Development and its impact on the growth and its sustainability of People and Community and gains priority for its continuation. Some of the recommendations made include:

Ø  To create awareness on Community Based Rehabilitation with priority for multisectoral and multidisciplinary approaches.

Ø  To develop technologies to move towards Digital Environment with better connectivity, relationship, teaching, learning, sharing, documentation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

Ø  To conduct more and more Trainings, Workshops, and Seminars on the model of Empowerment with priority for Community Based Rehabilitation.  

Ø  To develop Human Resources (both formally and informally) at all levels with registry at RCI.

Ø  To collaborate with public utilities for addressing the challenges and needs of the PWDs and their Parents with scope for ownership.   

Ø  To support NGOs and other Service Providers to work with Government and private / Corporate on partnership basis (known as Government – Private / Corporate - NGO Partnership – GPNP).

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With thanks