Centre for Social Research recognises the increasing impact of climate change on rural communities and the marginalisation of women from environmental management. Given the growing concern over water scarcity, Centre for Social Research with the support of Hanns Seidel Stiftung (HSS), initiated the project, Water Conservation and Climate Change Training of Trainers Program for Elected Women Representatives of Rural Rajasthan, in the year 2012. We recognize that women have natural leadership qualities and decision-making ability, and that women’s leadership is necessary to achieve social change and progress. We believe that with support and capacity-building, women will become strong and effective leaders in water management and will support their communities to better adapt to climate change.
The first Phase of this project was successfully executed in Sanganer (Jaipur district) and Abu Road (Sirohi district) in 2015 with a ready Training Module and Residential Training of Trainers (TOT) programme which focuses towards empowering elected women representatives to take on leadership roles in water conservation within their communities. This phase recieved commendable evaluation feedback along with few suggestions for improvement which CSR with support of Hanns Seidel Stiftung; India (HSS; India) tried to achieving in the Second phase of the program.
AIMS OF THE PROJECT
• To increase the understanding of the link between water issues and gender inequality
• To increase knowledge amongst Women Elected Representatives of tools and schemes for water conservation and water management
• To build the capacities of Women Elected Representatives to lead water conservation initiatives at village level
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
• Basic trainings based on ToT manual in a newly selected district i.e. Jalore in Rajasthan.
• Hand-holding programmes in the project areas of phase-1 i.e. Sirohi Abu Road district and Sanganer Jaipur district.
KEY ACTIVITIES SHEET APRIL TO DECEMBER
| S. No | Programme | Venue | Date Planned | Date Held | Target Group | Female Participants | Male Participants | Total Participants | |
| 1. | Preliminary Meeting to finalise the Programme for Climate Change and Discussion on Safe Cities Programme for 2016 | Centre for Social Research; Delhi | April 13; 2016 | April 13; 2016 | CSR, Jan Chetana Sansthan (JCS) & HSS | 7 | 3 | 10 | |
| 2. | International Conference on Innovations in Sustainable Water & Wastewater Treatment System (ISWATS) | YASHADA, Pune | April 21 to 23; 2016 | General public in the exhibit and NGOs | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3. | Evaluation Reviews and Planning Meeting for Climate Project 2016 | Centre for Social Research; Delhi | April 29; 2016 | April 29; 2016 | CSR, Jan Chetana Sansthan (JCS), International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC) & HSS | 10 | 9 | 19 | |
| 4. | Preparation and finalization of Needs Assessment Forms for conducting Needs assessment in Jalore | Centre for Social Research; Delhi | May 1; 2016 | May 31; 2016 | Government officials, EWR’S and House-hold surveys in Jalore | NA | |||
| 5. | Refresher Meeting & Conducting Needs Assessment in Jalore | Abu Road; Bhinmal and Raniwada; Jalore | June 7; 2016
June 8 to 10; 2016 |
June 7; 2016
June 8 to 10; 2016 |
Government officials, EWR’S and House-hold surveys in Jalore | 34 | 3 | 37 | |
| 6. | 4 Handholding Programmes in Sanganer (Jaipur) | Jaipur | June 15, 17, 20 & 29; 2016 | June 15, 17, 20 & 29; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 143 | 59 | 202 | |
| 7. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Abu Road (Sirohi) | Abu Road | June 10 to 15; 2016 | June 17, 18, 20, 24 & 28; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 163 | 12 | 175 | |
| 8. | 6 Handholding Programmes in Sanganer, Jaipur | Jaipur | July 01, 04, 07, 08, 11, & 12; 2016 | July 01, 04, 07, 08, 11, & 12; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 205 | 24 | 229 | |
| 9. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Abu Road | Abu Road | July 05, 06, 08, 11 & 13; 2016 | July 05, 06, 08, 11 & 13; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 149 | 2 | 151 | |
| 10. | Monitoring & Evaluation Workshop | Pipal Tree Fireflies Intercultural Centre, Bangalore | July 04 to 08; 2016 | July 04 to 08; 2016 | HSS team and HSS partner organisations | 3 | 0 | 03 | |
| 11. | CSR-HSS Consultation: Discussion on the Training Strategies for the Upcoming ToT under HSS Climate Project 2016 | Centre for Social Research | July 20; 2016 | July 20; 2016 | HSS Team, CSR Climate Project team, Local Experts from Rajasthan, one member from CEE Ahmedabad team | 8 | 8 | 16 | |
| 12. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Sanganer, Jaipur | Jaipur | August 02 or 05 or 06, 08, 10, 12 & 20; 2016 | August 02, 14, 16, 22, & 23; 2016
|
Elected women representatives and community members | 163 | 9 | 172 | |
| 13. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Abu Road | Abu Road | August 04, 16, 19, 23 & 25; 2016 | August 04, 16, 19, 23 & 25; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 183 | 1 | 184 | |
| 14. | First Training of Traainer (ToT) Programme in Jalore | Bhinmal, Jalore | July 31; 2016 to August 04; 2016 | August 05 to 08; 2016 | Sarpanch, Wardpanch & Anganwadi workers | 31 | 0 | 31 | |
| 15. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Sanganer, Jaipur | Jaipur | September 02, 09, 10, 15 & 21; 2016 | September 02, 09, 10, 15 & 21; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 195 | 25 | 220 | |
| 16. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Abu Road | Abu Road | September 15, 15, 16, 17, 18; 2016 | September 15, 15, 16, 17, 18; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 177 | 1 | 178 | |
| 17. | Review & Feedback Meeting with Trainers in Abu Road (Handholding Programmes) & Making Arrangements for Prof Grambow’s Visit in October 2016 | Abu Road | September 29 to 30; 2016 | September 29 to 30; 2016 | Trainers and participants of the handholding programmes conducted in Abu Road | 48 | 1 | 49 | |
| 18. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Sanganer, Jaipur | Jaipur | October 02, 03, 05, 07 & 21; 2016 | October 02, 03, 05, 07 & 21; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 159 | 76 | 235 | |
| 19. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Abu Road | Abu Road | October 10, 14, 14, 16 & 18; 2016
|
October 10, 14, 14, 16 & 18; 2016
|
Elected women representatives and community members | 166 | 5 | 171 | |
| 20. | Second Training of Traainer (ToT) Programme in Jalore | Bhinmal; Jalore | September16 to 19; 2016 | October 22 to 25; 2016 | Sarpanch, Ward-panch and Aanganwadi workers | 31 | 8 | 39 | |
| 21. | Visit of Prof Martin Grambow to Abu Road (HSS-CSR Climate Project Areas) | Abu Road | October 26 to 27; 2016 | October 26 to 27; 2016 | EWRs from Jaipur, Abu Road and Bhinmal-Jalore, Government officials, HSS Team members, CSR team members, JCS team members, SARD Team and Jaipur Local Resource person | 29 | 13 | 42 | |
| 22. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Sanganer, Jaipur | Jaipur | November 07, 16, 17 & 21; 2016 & December 16; 2016 | November 07, 16, 17 & 21; 2016 & December 16; 2016 | Elected women representatives and community members | 176 | 12 | 188 | |
| 23. | 5 Handholding Programmes in Abu Road | Abu Road | November 14, 15, 20, 25 & 27; 2016 | November 14, 15, 20, 25 & 27; 2016
|
Elected women representatives and community members | 172 | 2 | 174 | |
| 24.
|
Review & Feedback Meeting with Trainers in Jalore (ToT Programmes) | Bhinmal | November 21; 2016 | November 21; 2016 | Trained Sarpanch, Ward-panch, Anganwadi workers and Government officials | 15 | 3 | 18 | |
| 25. | Third Training of Trainer (ToT) Programme in Jalore | Bhinmal | November 21 to 25; 2016 | November 21 to 25; 2016 | Sarpanch, Ward-panch and Aanganwadi workers | 30 | 8 | 38 | |
| 26. | Review & Feedback Meeting with Trainers in Jaipur (Handholding Programmes) | Jaipur | November 27 to 28; 2016 | December 06 to 07; 2016 | CSR, HSS, Kamala Sharma & water management experts | 60 | 7 | 67 | |
| 27. | Review & Feedback Meeting | Centre for Social Research | December 21, 2016 | December 21, 2016 | CSR, HSS, JCS, SAARD, Kamala Sharma, CEE & water management experts | 10 | 10 | 20 | |
| Total | 2369 | 301 | 2670 | ||||||
CONCLUDING REMARKS
This program began with a vision of building understanding of rural Rajasthan community on water conservation and climate change in 2012 such that elected women representatives become confident in addressing the issue of water scarcity at community and personal level. With five years of developing a training module, testing it through pilot trainings, residential training of trainers (TOT’s) and Training of trainings (TOT’s) in a new area in 2016, along with continued support to the trained batch through hand-holdings, it has been observed that elected women representatives have worked at multiple levels to make this vision a reality. The effective implementation of the activities with full participation of the community proves that the project activities are ratified by the people. So, CSR believes that if such support and appreciation will continue to flow in, then the project will have many more achievements to showcase in the coming years.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Hand-Holdings are an effective way of building awareness amongst the community and should be continued.
- It is important to support the government program in Bhinmal in order to spread awareness amongst larger number of PRI’s & Community members so we are looking forward towards participating and conducting sessions in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Shivir in Bhinmal.
- The existing TOT module is effective even for the first time training batch
SUGGESTIONS
- The 3 Trainings held in Bhinmal were not sufficient as the area demands more of these, in conjunction with gender sensitization trainings. So, it is important to conduct hand-holdings in Bhinmal; Jalore.
- There is a requirement of expansion of knowledge of the trainers who conducted the Hand –holdings in Abu Road and Jaipur in 2016. For this they should get training on technical part which would empower them to keep a check on the requirements of construction or repairing of a water source.
- The support of the local partners was immense but there is a requirement of building understanding of submission of accounts for the organizers
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