Oxfam India journey to end discrimination – glimpses from 2020

Oxfam India journey to end discrimination – glimpses from 2020

2020 was a tough year. However, despite the hardships faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oxfam India, with committed support from its partners and donors continued working on the ground.

We directly reached out to nearly 10 lakh marginalised people from Dalit, Muslim, Tribal and other communities in over 1300 villages in our 6 focus states. Women comprised over 34% of the total number of people supported; over 10% were girls.

Through our advocacy, campaign, and public engagement efforts, we reached out to over 90 lakh people.

COVID-19

  • Oxfam India’s COVID-19 response spanned across 16 states. We reached out with food and safety kits to people in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
     
  • 432,250 people received dry ration for one month. Families that received dry food ration comprised daily wagers, tea garden workers, migrant workers, cancer and leprosy patients, sex workers, transgenders, domestic workers, and survivors of domestic violence.
     
  • 60,080 ready to eat meal packets distributed. Of these 7725 meals were distributed under Project Pathik which was especially for migrant workers returning home.
     
  • 8,326 PPE kits distributed to government hospitals, state health departments, and the Indian Army deployed in the northeast.
     
  • 67,025 safety kits distributed among front line workers including health workers and police personnel.
     
  • 3,600 girls received sanitary napkins.
     
  • Winter kits distributed among 905 households*.
     
  • Rs 296.05 lakh direct cash transfer to 9,481 households*. The households consisted of those led by women, single women, widows, people with disabilities, and sanitation workers.
     
  • 81 women self-help groups were given livelihood training and raw material support to start small businesses such as tailoring and catering to support their families.
     
  • Over 5 million people received awareness information on the coronavirus disease.

*Average size of a household is 5 members

Read how cash supporting is helping restart businesses.

Saving Lives

  • Oxfam India has reached out to 564,084 people from various disaster hit areas including cyclone hit Odisha and floods hit Bihar.
     
  • We supported 109,200 people affected by cyclone Amphan in South 24 Parganas in the Sunderbans in West Bengal, with hygiene and shelter kits.
     
  • We reached out to 120,000 children and adolescents through public health promotion activities for improving community hygiene and sanitation practices.
     
  • Oxfam India worked in 15 schools in Madhubani and Sitamarhi district of Bihar to install water filters, solar panels, and hand wash stations. Repair work was also undertaken in these school. This is likely to benefit around 6,000 school-going girls and boys.
     
  • We supported 21,000 families across nine districts in Bihar with dry ration and/or cash transfers.
     
  • We reached out to 1,800 households in cyclone hit Puri and Jajpur districts of Odisha with hygiene kits, 1,500 households with food ration, and INR 1000 as unconditional cash transfers.

Building disaster resilience by empowering marginalised communities.

Disaster Risk Reduction - DRR

  • Through our DRR initiatives we have reached out to 103,477 people from marginalised communities, including self-help groups, WASH groups, Task Force Committees, masons, adolescents girls, students, village disaster management committees and volunteers across four states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, and Odisha.
     
  • Over 200,000 women and youth were trained on WASH, menstrual hygiene management, hand washing, and personal hygiene management.
     
  • We supported the state governments in developing DRR road maps in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Bihar, and Sikkim.
     
  • As a result of rigorous advocacy for three years, the Government of Odisha released its climate budget 2020-2021.

How to maintain menstrual hygiene during a disaster?

Education

  • 30,743 children, among whom 50% are girls, from our intervention areas are now receiving quality education.
     
  • 153 school development plans were prepared in January – March 2020 with active participation from School Management Committees (SMC) and community leaders.
     
  • Over 600 SMC members were engaged through the state forums on advocacy and awareness on compliance of Right to Education Act.

Read how we ensured children continued learning during lockdown.

Gender Justice

  • Oxfam India, along with partners have reached out to more than 3.48 lakh (nearly 3.5 lakh) men, women, boys and girls on the issue of violence against women.
     
  • 5,046 influencers and service providers were sensitised to take action against violence against women and girls.
     
  • 3,010 members of women’s and girls’ collective were trained on their economic rights in 110 villages.
     
  • We have been instrumental in preparing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the state for implementing the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, (PWDVA), 2005 in Jharkhand.
     
  • 2,275 marginalised women in Chhattisgarh were trained to develop leadership capacity, understand their rights and claim them, and speak up against gender-based violence.
     
  • We provided counselling and other support services to 704 survivors of violence through 11 women support centres.
     
  • The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Uttar Pradesh has agreed to work with Oxfam India on the issues of children, especially girls, working in the bidi industry.

 

Natural Resource Management

  • 54 villages in Jharkhand were awarded Community Forest Resource Rights (CFFR) titles on World Indigenous Day on 9th August.
  • Facilitating formation of two Vana Dhan Vikash Kendra (Promoting Tribal Enterprise through value addition, branding and marketing of forest produces) with 600 households as members in Keonjhar district of Odisha.

Women and Agriculture

  • Oxfam India in association with SEWA Bharat supported more than 3,000 women farmers across 35 villages of Munger and Bhagalpur districts of Bihar to empower them socially and economically.
     
  • 2,576 women farmers received the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna benefits in Bihar.

Rights Over Profits campaigns

  • Through our rights over profits campaign to regulate private health and education sectors, we reached out to 20.2 lakh (over 20 lakh) citizens.
     
  • 11,000 people signed the petition demanding quality public healthcare and education.
     
  • 3,500 people in Uttar Pradesh were trained on the issue of patients’ rights.
     
  • After constant advocacy, the state of Odisha issued a stay order on government school closure to ensure education continued for marginalised children.

Read why community involvement is important to ensure quality healthcare.

Oxfam India won the Gold Award at the 4th CSR Health Impact Award in Covid Relief Project (NGO) category on 22 August 2020. The CSR Health Impact Awards is a flagship event of the Integrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW) Council, a premier think thank promoting health for all.

In addition, Adhikaar Vani - a digital platform imparting information on citizens' schemes and entitlements through audio and text messages in vernacular languages - was launched to connect the people who have been left behind in development with government schemes.

The portal has reached to more than 5 million citizens, thereby helping us take one more step towards achieving equity and inclusion. Adhikaar Vani has been listed in the 30 most inspiring digital innovations of 2020 by the Dutch Innovation Group Spindle.

Support from our donors has come a long way in helping us reach out to communities in need. As we go back to our normal lives, we are working on ending discrimination and building a more equal world for all.

Please click here to keep supporting us.

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Find out how Oxfam India is enabling communities by working to provide a life of dignity and equal opportunity for all.Get to know more about Oxfam India`s latest projects.

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