PACS
The Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme is an initiative of the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), aimed at reducing the gap in the well-being status between the socially excluded groups in India and the rest of the population.
PACS works with the civil society organizations to help groups claim their rights and entitlements, by promoting inclusive policies, programs and institutions at local, district and state levels.
It aims to address the most pressing constraints faced by the socially excluded groups in India and help people access opportunities and rights to improve their lives.
The PACS Programme focuses on two key themes in our work to help the socially excluded groups in India: non-discriminatory access to livelihood opportunities and the right to basic services.
Fund for Global Human Rights
Since 2003, the Fund for Global Human Rights has had one goal, i.e., to move human rights forward by providing resources and tools to the people and organizations on the ground who have real potential to generate a positive change.
The grants and technical assistance are focused on the crucial and difficult work that otherwise might falter for lack of resources, bring financial stability to human rights groups, and help human rights defenders increase their visibility and impact. The Fund supports a wide range of human rights issues, such as defending indigenous land rights in Guatemala, promoting women’s rights in Morocco, pressing for accountability for war crimes in West Africa, and ending the practice of bonded labor in India.
The Approach:
The way it identifies and works with the human rights groups is critical to their success. Using the deep knowledge of the region, our staff members work closely with the local activists who are accelerating progress on the ground. We embrace their agenda, while sharing our considerable in-house expertise and experience, along with our financial resources. This builds stronger organizations and movements and gives our donors the opportunity to get their contributions closer to the ground in a strategic, relevant, well-informed way. It’s an on-the-ground, grassroots approach that gets results and sets us apart from other organizations.
In our grant-making, the Fund strives to be flexible, courageous, and responsive to the needs on the ground. Roughly half of the Fund’s board members are activists to ensure that the perspective is embedded in decision-making.
Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Programme (UUHIP)
The Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Programme (UUHIP) of the United States and the Humanistic Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries (Hivos) of the Netherlands came together to establish the Just India Fund (JIF).
The Just India Fund (JIF) was established in 2008 by Hivos and the Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program (UUHIP), to invest in grassroots social change. The objective of JIF is to support the civil society organizations working collaboratively with community-based organizations (CBOs) to secure the socio-economic justice for the marginalized groups.
The principles that govern JIF’s partnerships include:
- Commitment to grassroots, community- level organizing as a central strategy for social change.
- Democratic decision-making structures, processes and strategies within the organization that enable community members to take the lead.
- Attention to the issue of gender, class, caste and ethnicity in all intervention.
- Clear indicators for change that can be traced back to the activities undertaken.
JIF’s support revolves around the following themes:
- Women’s Rights at the Grassroots.
- Adivasi (tribal) rights, Identity, and Leadership.
- Rights of Informal Sector Workers, Dalits and other Marginalized Communities.
- JIF uses various instruments, including grants, capacity building, networking support and research inputs, to support its partners.