Plan sponsors from Denmark make a visit to a sponsored child at Chudangapur village

LARGEST SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN OF INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN INDIA

Educating the next generation

PREM, in collaboration with Plan International, operates child-centered development programmes through child sponsorship. The two projects devoted to child sponsorship are PREM-Plan Koraput which covers 350 villages in Mohana, Nuagada, Rayagada and Gumma blocks and PREM-Plan Chilika which covers 158 villages in Konark, Astarang, Brahmagiri and Krushna Prasad blocks in Puri district of Orissa. These projects extend support to 6,000 sponsored Adivasi and Dalit children in Gajapati and 5,300 sponsored children in Dalit and fisher people communities in Puri district. About 30,000 families living in the project areas have directly benefitted through the development interventions and special focus is given to the care of children the aged between four and 18 years.

A Plan sponsor visiting a community school

Houses built for fisher people after the 1999 Super Cyclone

A community cyclone shelter

Raising awareness on HIV and AIDS in the community

Members of a village Self Help Group at a meeting on HIV/AIDS

Access to quality education
Healthcare services at community level
Internalization of child rights by various stakeholders
Access to safe drinking water and sanitation
Sustainable livelihood
Active political participation through democratic institutions

Under the programme young learners are provided with early childcare education through pre-schools. Children from villages where there are no government educational establishments are provided with hostel facilities to enable them to continue formal education at primary and secondary level. A total number of 3,194 children aged between six and 18 years receive scholarship support for the completion of formal education. Additional teachers for 55 primary and 45 secondary government schools are supported to reduce the student-teacher ratio. At the same time teachers receive skills training and modules are developed to promote quality education in the local schools.

Fellowships for advocacy

PREM awards fellowships to activists to support advocacy for empowerment of the marginalized. In collaboration with international donor agencies and well wishers the programme has been in operation since 1991 and 45 activists in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu have benefitted through the fellowships. The fellowships provide financial assistance to community advocates enabling them to concentrate fully on advocacy and organization in their communities until they are able to generate funds through internal and external sources that will support sustainable development initiatives. Mostly the fellowships are awarded for advocacy and lobbying on various social issues.

Housing for the disadvantaged

The Royal Norwegian Embassy supported PREM in the construction of 150 cyclone-resistant houses in the coastal villages of Bandara, Dharmapur, Venkatraipur of Ganjam and Kakatpur, Terabasa in the Puri district of Orissa. Houses were provided for fisher people who lost their shelters in the Super Cyclone of 1999. The building cost for each house was estimated at Rs. 40,000 and each beneficiary was supported with Rs. 30,000 while the balance of Rs. 10,000 was met in form of capital and labour by concerned families. In addition cyclone shelter centres were constructed in the vulnerable coastal villages.

Campaign against HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is a growing threat to the rural poor and Adivasi of Orissa. Seasonal unemployment drives many younger people to migrate to larger cities in search of work and leaves them vulnerable to situations in which they might become infected with HIV. Ganjam district in Orissa in particular has been identified as a high risk zone for the spread of HIV/AIDS and in response PREM has developed a programme in the Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts of the state with support from NORAD, Plan India and OXFAM Australia.

PREM�s campaign aims at bringing sustainable behavioural change among the target community. It engineers activities related to behaviour change communication, operates health and STD camps, promotes condom use and availability and creates awareness of HIV/AIDS through folk media. Its primary target groups comprise sex workers, truck drivers, wives of vulnerable groups, migrant labourers, elected members of Panchayatiraj institutions, village committees, youth groups, teachers, members of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and NGOs. The campaign also organizes sensitization sessions for secondary stakeholders, and orientation programmes for peer educators and condom outlet owners. Interpersonal, group communication and village level meetings act as the medium for social marketing.

Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility

Orissa is one of the most rural and economically deprived states in India but it is also rich in natural resources and with the growth of globalization has attracted the interest of corporate business in India and further afield. As a result the state is entering a phase of rapid industrialization and awareness on CSR among the corporate sector, policy makers and general public is an urgent necessity in protecting the basic rights and maximizing benefits among the most marginalized communities.

At the beginning of 2005, PREM conducted a study aimed at assessing the understanding and status of Corporate Social Responsibility in Orissa. The study was organized in partnership with Concern Worldwide, Bhubaneswar, Partners in Change, New Delhi and Traidcraft, U.K.

The scope of the study necessitated the participation of representatives from corporate industry, small business sector, policy making and regulatory bodies of government, civil society organizations, including local and international NGOs, Community Based Organizations, trade unions, impacted communities and multilateral institutions, all of whom have a stake in working on or influencing CSR in the state, along with academic institutions, the media and consumers. The study also collected case studies of good practices from different stakeholders in the sectors of mining and spice trading.

The study formed the basis of a workshop at the end of 2005 and the initiation of awareness programmes aimed at sensitizing policy makers and industry leaders to implement best practice in CSR.