Citizens’ Interface: Building a Network of Parliamentarians/Legislators for Development – MPs Exposure Visits
ICPRD is seeking to build a network of parliamentary advocates for development   through exposing Members of Parliament and Legislators to ground realities across the country.  These exposure visits have been highly successful and have led to an interesting interface between civil society and Parliamentarians/Legislators.  In India, this is the first time that a NGO has taken up such an effort successfully.  ICPRD’s tally as of now is 70  MPs in its last several years in its 600 events/activities.

Young Men’s Forums Against Gender Based Violence (YFAGBV):

‘Youth Forums Against Gender Based Violence’ initiated by the ICPRD is path-breaking, innovative and unique as it successfully engages young men, the possible perpetrators of tomorrow, and makes them partners/allies in combating Gender Based Violence– a project of its kind in the world at the grassroots/policy levels.

Public Hearing of Farmers’ Suicide Victims Families at the Planning Commission:
“Voices from the Ground”
A Public Hearing titled “Voices from the Ground” was organized by the ICPRD NGO network at the Planning Commission where 11 Suicide victim households, 5 landless labourers households and trafficked women (all direct and indirect victims of continuous drought at Rayalseems region of Andhra Pradesh shared their experiences before a panel of 3 members at the Planning Commission.  This was the first time that the victim families got an opportunity to directly inter face with policy makers.

Translation of tools in local Santhali or tribal language
As a first for India, in its micro-finance advocacy campaign in Jharkhand, ICPRD facilitated the preparation, in local Santhali language, of its field training manual on SHG group formation to reintegrate tribal women into financial institutions. The manual for management of tribal women’s groups has pictorial representation of social mobilization concepts to reach out to the tribal women.

To link them to the formal banking system, ICPRD also facilitated the preparation of SHG Bank linkage forms and other necessary banking formats in Santhali language as promotional ventures.

SAARC Regional Meets on Gender and Poverty/Gender and Development
ICPRD held two SAARC Regional Conferences/Training meets on Gender and Poverty/Gender and Development issues.

The Conference on Gender and Poverty was titled ‘Poverty and Gender Issues in the SAARC Region: A Dialogue among NGOs and Parliamentarians’, the first with SAARC Members of Parliament.  The Hon. Home Minister of India, Shri Shivraj Patil, inaugurated the event.  The Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission gave the key note address, Minister for Women and Child, Minister for Planning also participated as speakers alongwith 2 other prominent MPs, Mme. Mohsina Kidwai and Mme. Nirmala Deshpande, who engaged with the 6 SAARC MPs from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives etc.

‘The SAARC Regional Training Workshop on Gender and Development’ was focused on Gender Violence with participants from six SAARC countries representing well known civil society institutions.  Her Excellency, Mme. Pratibha Patilji, Hon’ble President of India, gave the valedictory  address as the then Governor of Rajasthan.

Gender Budgeting

Member-Secretary Privileged
Dr. Nandini Azad, Member-Secretary, ICPRD, was privileged to be invited to set up and Head, the Outcome Monitoring Division in India’s Planning Commission as a Civil Society leader.  She received appreciation from the Hon. Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh,  with a letter on her impressive work on Outcome Monitoring in Government of India of 65 Ministries/Deptts., (July 1, 2005), which is the first pioneering Report of this kind in Government of India.

Tsunami : Disaster Management
ICPRD was one of the first NGO networks to do a study and call for a review meeting of Tamil Nadu NGOs on Tsunami relief in Cuddalore on January 7, 2005 to discuss and monitor challenges and  analyse  progress of relief work in the aftermath of the December Tsunami. Two advocacy papers were submitted to the National Advisory Council (NAC) on the Tsunami Disaster Management which was well received on the strategies/ground solutions by the NAC and also the Hon. Prime Minister after Dr. Azad visited the Tsunami areas around the disaster period, ie, Dec. 28 – 31, 2004, to Cuddalore, Pondicherry and Madras city to the coastal villages for an in-depth eye witness report to the Central Government/Planning Commission.