India
In 2023, we continued to build on our decades-long history in India by providing technical support and guidance to Project Concern International (PCI) India, which is an independent organization localized by Global Communities. Over the course of the year, PCI India reached 15.3 million people to effect multidimensional and sustainable change, formulating and implementing evidence-based solutions to address complex problems related to health and nutrition, livelihoods, gender and climate change.
To prevent early and child marriages, PCI India developed a solution to work with mother-daughter dyads in the state of Jharkhand using “Social Norms Shifting Interventions” under UMANG, a program funded by the Lucille & Ronald Neely Foundation. Two separate Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions were held and covered topics such as the importance of nutrition in adolescence, promoting girls’ education and strategies for addressing child marriage. Program efforts ensured more than 250 local girls re-enrolled in school in over 21 different districts. PCI India also reported a 25% increase in the aspirations of girls to go for higher education and a 23% increase in their agency to resist early marriage. The program is now being scaled up by the state government.
With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), PCI India continued to support health & nutrition and gender empowerment activities in the northern state of Bihar under the JEEViKA Technical Support (JTSP-II) program. PCI India worked in close collaboration with the state government and within women’s collective networks to empower local women to build upon and improve dietary diversity campaigns to bolster nutritional outcomes for women and young children.
Funding from BMGF also supported PCI India’s efforts to provide technical assistance to the state and district governments in Bihar around improving women’s access to entitlements and to safe and dignified employment. Since its inception, the RD + OLM / TARA project has provided a total of 4,535 women with 84,000 days of employment training and guidance.
Through direct implementation led by our local partner PCI India, Global Communities continued support to the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (UPSRLM) program funded by BMGF. The program seeks to build the capabilities of the Rural Livelihoods Mission to scale up social mobilization with quality institution building and the integration of health and nutrition with the self-help group platform. In addition to facilitating key partnerships and developing sustainable livelihoods prototypes, PCI India supported the establishment of commodity value chains for cereals and pulses to benefit more than 5,000 households. The program also helped identify women self-help groups that can create opportunities for large-scale socioeconomic empowerment.
Finally, in partnership with the CORE Secretariat in India as well as a consortium of local district authorities, PCI India and partners launched the fifth immunization phase of the CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP), which focused on unvaccinated children under the age of 5 and pregnant women. In the most recent phase, more than 10,000 children were eligible to receive a dose in CGPP catchment areas. Over 75% of the total eligible children received their antigen. PCI India and partners provided support to local health departments in planning, identifying pockets of low coverage and organizing various social mobilization and communication activities to cover missed children. Coordinated campaigns included street plays, e-rickshaw rallies and community meetings to raise greater awareness. Global Communities served as a sub-awardee with World Vision, while direct implementation was led by PCI India.