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With much hardship Laxmi Talia, 19 years, could manage to complete her secondary level education in nearby college with the support of CYSD’s Child Development Project. Laxmi belongs to Maheswarpur village from Korukonda Block of Malkangiri District. To become a good student was not her prime intention; she rather wanted to “live and let others live”.

Getting involved in CYSD’s activities, she realized the importance of adopting a healthy and productive adolescent life style which provides a solid base to become a healthy mother. With this motivation she started working with adolescent girls likely to be most neglected in tribal areas. She took an oath to fight against all kinds of ill mindsets in society and began forming adolescent girl groups focusing on girls’ right to Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH). Gradually, she was accepted by the girls’ groups and could win the confidence of community people.

Next, she took it upon herself to combat ‘child marriage’ in her community. She demonstrated her protest in the form of silent rallies and pada yatras with the support of all adolescent group members. As of now, she has stopped 2 child marriage cases in her locality. This apart, she has contributed immensely to regularizing the support services of her Gaon Kalyan Samiti (GKS). With her active role, the Village Health and Nutritional Days (VHNDs) have become more regular and vibrant. Almost all adolescent girls taking part in the VHNDs and exercising their ARSH rights.

“I want to create many more Laxmis who can bring changes in the adolescent life style in the tribal communities”, says Laxmi confidently.

Padiabeda Upper Primary School of Thakurmunda block, the operational area of CYSD, sets an example in terms of cent percent students’ enrolment; their retention till completion of elementary education; monitoring of school activities; and preparation and implementation of school development plan. This is possible only due to the active functioning of its School Management Committee (SMC) and adherence to the RTE (Right To Education) norms.  The school experiences changes in education standards through genuine community participation, especially the parents.

Drawing an ambitious School Development Plan, the SMC perfectly achieved targets and a bit more. This includes school beautification, renovation of school building, regular water supply to toilets, provision of safe drinking water, roof repair, temporary fencing of school boundary, creation of kitchen garden, and improvement in school attendance.

To achieve the last, it came up with an ‘out of the box’ idea. The SMC created Child Clubs with a boy and girl, from each hamlet, in each class, as child leaders. Their task is to ensure highest attendance from their hamlets, with those achieving perfect record are awarded with a small national flag every evening in front of other child leaders. That spurred such peer competition that school attendance never drops below 90%.

This SMC’s dynamism is due to active synergy between PRI representatives and their constituent parents. The former helped tap into hitherto unknown resources. Consequently, SMC members mobilized funds for regular water supply in toilets from CYSD-Plan Project while obtaining funds for repair of roof from Gram Panchayat.

The SMC has focused its attention on keeping school environment clean and attractive. For this, members collected flower saplings locally in monsoon, and built a garden at low cost in school. They mobilized free community labour to beautify the campus. They even created a kitchen garden using similar model while recycling waste water. The parents’ sense of ownership and pride in the institution is clearly evident, with female SMC members using cow dung to disinfect and level school campus every weekend, gratis.

Koraput / Rayagada: CYSD has added new feathers to its two project locations. With the intention of “Inspiring and Activating Young Minds to be the Change Agents for social inclusion and realization of SDGs, CYSD, in collaboration with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) India, has launched an innovative project ‘YUVODAYA’ in Boipariguda and Kolnara blocks of Koraput and Rayagada respectively.

Young minds play a very crucial role in visualizing as well as achieving the SDGs of 2030. Over one third of the 169 SDGs targets highlight the role of young people and the importance of their empowerment, participation, and well-being in materializing SDGs in true sense (UNDP, 2017).  Most young people are optimistic about the future. A Youth Speak global survey states that 68% of the young people believe the world will be a better place by 2030.  This marks the evidence to realize the importance of Youth participation in realizing SDG by 2030. In this context, CYSD is motivated to engage young minds across the globe in conceptualizing the context of SDGs from local levels and at the same time orient them to become the future change agents of the society and advocate for social inclusion in the community and local governance.

At the impact level, CYSD seeks to promote inclusive development in Odisha through strong community based development interventions, to complement already existing governance efforts, through capacity building, research, creating information based reflection platforms, advocacy, and creating of a vibrant youth base.

 Objectives of the programme:

1. Creating Youth leaders to be the Change agents in sensitizing the local youth & community on Sustainable Development Goals. These youth leaders shall act as the face of all other youth as well as the community (including men, women, other socially excluded groups and differently able persons) who can understand, identify, raise the issues of the community and include them at local planning level.
2. Creating a Youth Platforms to build their capacity and basic understanding on the entitlements of the people with disabilities, women, and other socially excluded groups in the communities. Also to strengthen their leadership qualities and Communication skills to evolve as more Informed citizens of the state as well as be the Face (representatives) of the Community before Government (at panchayat, block and district) level.
3. Sensitising and Mobilising PRI members to increase their knowledge on disability and other issues related to social exclusion. Also to train them on necessary skill, knowledge and framework required for planning by focusing on SDG 2030 agenda with the help of Youth leaders and Volunteers.
4. Developing a common Consensus on Sustainable Development Goals by Federating the Youth Groups of Panchayat Level, with the Block and District level.

 YUVODAYA, an eight months project commenced in August 2018 will continue till March, 2019.

Thakurmunda & Saharapada:  CYSD envisages that its engagements in community development process will be strengthened more by video documentation and dissemination processes.

Keeping in view the above, CYSD has recently launched, an innovative Project ‘Samvad’ – Digital Community Engagement Platform for Improving Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Outcomes supported by Digital Green. The project is being implemented in 150 villages covering 23000 women in Jashipur, Thakurmunda and Saharapada blocks under Mayurbhanja and Keonjhar district respectively. The aims of the Project “Samvad”- is to create demand and enabling environments for adoption of practices that are critical for improvements in planned family and nutrition outcomes by integrating behavior change communication regarding nutrition-specific interventions with nutrition-sensitive approaches (including use of health and other safety net services and hygiene practices).

Project Samvad’’s core intervention is centered around, a) scaling-up its participatory video-based approach targeted to women’s groups; b) leveraging the use of other ICT-platforms including community radio and mobile platforms and c) partnering with state government programmes to deliver locally feasible solutions at scale. Further, the activities shall be replicated in other operational areas of CYSD as well.

This new initiative will certainly strengthen our engagements in community development processes; through video documentation and dissemination processes which is intensively monitored at the grassroots level for adoption and impact assessment processes.

Bhubaneswar: Under the aegis of Odisha Development Initiative, more than 2600 delegates drawing representation from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), government, academia, intelligentsia, PRI, and the media congregated at Bhubaneswar on 24^th August, in a carnival like atmosphere,  for a three-day Odisha Vikash (Development) Conclave-2018 (OVC) that which concluded on 26^th  of August 2018. Following intense deliberations, the participants delineated clear action agendas on 19 critical development issues and challenges of the state like tribal empowerment and development; women and violence; community rights over forest and community governance of commons; food and nutrition security; rain-fed agriculture; rural employment and migration; green skill and entrepreneurship development; school education and quality learning; health and wellness; drinking water, sanitation and hygiene; river ecology; inclusive governance, fiscal management and social accountability; democratizing urban governance; panchayati raj (local self-governance); towards resilient Odisha : disaster and climate change action; corporate sector in localizing SDGs; university community linkage; social exclusion and inequality; and child rights.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE CONCLAVE

1. Enhance transparency and accountability in the local self-governance system through proper bottoms-up participatory planning, monitoring and implementation of welfare schemes and programs;
2. Double the budget of MGNREGA and reach out at least 50% job card holders and ensure 100 days employment to 25% job card holders;
3. Increase public spending on health to 2% of GSDP by next 3 years and regulate price, quality and access to health care in private sector; closely monitor the implementation of health insurance schemes;
4. Invest on building human capital, through higher levels of resource commitment for social sectors, especially education;
5. Promote rainfed farming systems including livestock and fishery in aspirational districts and develop Farmers Resource Centres that can act as convergence points for rainfed areas in all the districts;
6. Enforce regulation on conservation of water and promote decentralized water supply systems rather than mega piped water supply systems;
7. Formulate Odisha Migrant Workers Welfare board (OMWWB) and corpus fund for the welfare of vulnerable migrant workers in the state; strengthen interstate coordination and facilitation centres at both source and destination locations;
8. While dealing with nutrition, follow a life cycle approach with a focus on 
9. first 1000 days, promote lactational management units, creche services for pre-school children and home visits at critical life stages;
10. Activate Area Sabhas and Slum Improvement/Welfare Boards in urban areas;
11. Ensure 100% RtE compliance in schools by next Academic Year;
12. Ask for adequate budgetary allocations for proper curricular and co-curricular activities through well-defined School Development Plans (SDPs);
13. Re-activate the regional imbalance commission to address inequality; take block as the lowest possible unit; bring the State Finance Commission around to prioritising the backward rural and urban local bodies that are plagued with gross inequality;
14. Universalize social security pension and fix it at a minimum of the half of minimum wages per month; go for 5% reservation of PwDs in the local self-governance system;
15. Include the third gender in all facilities, rights and entitlements;
16. Prepare and empower communities to undertake local Hazard-Risk-Vulnerability (HRV) analysis; factor the risks and remedial measures in GP plans and allocate resources accordingly;
17. Restrict the transfer of patta land of tribals to non-tribals;
18. Formulate and implement an Inclusive River Policy and set-up a River Science Institute to promote research, advocacy and model for effective management of river basins;

The proposals of all the 19 thematic tracks shall be complied and submitted to the State and Central Governments, for necessary and timely action, said Jagadananda, Convener of the Odisha Development Initiative.

Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairperson, Niti Ayog; and Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Cabinet Minister (Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) Government of India, who both graced the inaugural ceremony as guests of honor promised that the proposals emerging from the Conclave would be seriously considered by the Union Government through a process of inter-ministerial consultation at the national level.

Gracing the valedictory session, the State Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare and Cooperation Minister Shri Surya Narayan Patro affirmed his commitment to convey the various proposals emerging from the Conclave to his State government and initiate swift action on the same. He also promised to ensure that the conclave’s recommendations got included in the election manifesto of their party.

Dr. Subrato Bagchi, Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) emphasized the need for improved governance and accountability at the grassroots level. While Prof. H.K Senapati, Dircetor, NCERT laid emphasis on intensification of training of teachers for quality school education, Prof Srikant Mohapatra, Vice Chancellor, Odisha Open University concluded that the conclave has created a wonderful opportunity for linking the academic bodies of higher learning with the aspirations of the community.

The event was organized collectively by more than 65 organizations known for their work at the local, national and global levels. Presence of key international development agencies and corporate bodies enriched the profile and dialogues of the Conclave. Many leading donors like UNICEF, WFP, PCI, Ajim Premji Philanthropic Initiative (APPI) and key development leaders from India and abroad deliberated upon and chalked out strategies as to how to localize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the specific context of Odisha. Among others dignitaries who addressed the gatherings were Parliamentarians Soumya Ranjan Pattnaik and Pinaki Mishra; the Chairperson of the State Food Commission, the Development Commissioner of Odisha; the Mission Director, National Nutrition Mission; and Officials from University Grants Commission, Government of India.

1. 2670 representatives and 65 organizations participated and shared development plans on 19 thematic areas;
2. NITI Aayog assured to consider the proposals from the Conclave through a process of inter-ministerial consultation.
3. Odisha’s Development Commissioner promised to hold periodic dialogues on the Conclave recommendations;
4. State Minister promised inclusion of OVC recommendations in election manifesto of their political party.

A severe cyclonic storm “Phailin” with wind speed of more than 220 km per hour struck Odisha on 12th October 2013 resulting in massive devastation and severe floods in many districts. Incessant rain followed the cyclone brought floods in two phases. Ganjam and Puri are the worst affected districts due to Phailin. 59 persons died in Cyclone and flood that affected half of the state’s 4.19 crore population spread over 18 districts as per the official figure. Standing crops over nearly 11 lakh hector have been destroyed. Over 8 lakh houses were damaged in nearly 22000 villages while 2000 livestock perished. while Power installations worth about 12000 crores got damaged. Nearly four lakh (400000) electric poles uprooted alone in Ganjam district.

Immediately CYSD set up a forum called Odisha Phailin Response Forum (OPRF) an alliance of civil society organizations for Phailin response. CYSD in collaboration with local NGO partners undertook the activities to respond to the immediate needs of the people.

Immediate Relief support

• Distribution of Non-Food Item kits for immediate use by the affected people
• Distribution of Supplementary nutrition for children
• Distribution of Sanitary materials like bleaching, Halogen tablet, phynile, soap etc…
• Health check-up and free medicine distribution
• Renovation, making Anganwadi Centers child friendly & play material support to AWC
• Sanitation drive through local volunteers

Restoration support

• Village disaster management committees were formed to mobilize the community, identify the beneficiaries, manage the distribution of NFI kits, and facilitate sanitation drive in villages.
• Orientation cum cleanliness activities to maintain sanitation at village level
• Self employment mechanics training organized for the selected groups

Rehabilitation

• Livelihood restoration through unconditional cash transfers
• Promoting and strengthening the capacity of Self Help Groups, child clubs, youth clubs, farmer groups, and emergency response groups on disaster risk management

Training to families on adoption of climate friendly livelihoods & water conservation

Odisha has always been a victim of disasters. Apart from natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, persistent droughts also affect the interiors of the state. CYSD’s new strategic plan calls for strategic interventions and initiatives for strengthening disaster response both in the civil society space and across other sectors. Accordingly the disaster response and mitigation unit is in place to

• Maintain basic equipment (boats, life jackets, warning and rescue equipment
• Maintain an updated information base on disasters in Odisha / India
• Monitor the situation during the disaster-prone time periods and
• Facilitate response when needed

The severe floods affected 6481 villages from 137 blocks in 19 districts. As part of the rescue operation, CYSD deployed boats in unserved areas. Health caps were organized in three coastal districts, Puri, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, benefiting 3090 persons, including 1055 women and 654 children.

Odisha witnessed a severe spate of floods in 2006 affecting 12 districts with a loss of 22 lives. The worst hit district was Kendrapara with a total 4, 98,854 people affected in 612 villages. Sustained water logging posed a serious threat on an epidemic with no access to basic human health services and safe drinking water, and livestock were stranded with little or no access to water, fodder, and veterinary medicines.

CYSD undertook relief operations in 62 villages in 4 blocks of Kendrapada district collaborating with the NSS (National Service Scheme) of Utkal University. Four powerboats were deployed and local volunteers undertook rescue operations and carried relief materials to the affected and marooned villages.

The state witnessed severe floods caused by unusually heavy rains in 2001 and 2003 affecting many districts of Odisha. The affected villages were cut up from main cities, the flooding damage to property, destruction of crops, and loss of livestock, deterioration of health conditions owing to waterborne diseases.

CYSD responded quickly to this critical situation by mobilizing 100 of volunteers and resources for relief and restoration activities. The following activities were immediately planned and implemented

• The disaster mitigation team promoted to join hands with the volunteers
• Volunteer deployment in affected areas for rescue, relief distribution and restoration
• Boat deployment to facilitate the rescue operation
• Community kitchen set up to provide cooked food to the flood victims
• Dry food items distributed
• Health, Veterinary care and Sanitation camps were organized
• CYSD and Odisha Disaster Mitigation Mission together brought out a flood bulletin for different stakeholders awareness.
• Restoring Normalcy (Grama Uddhar Abhiyan) was launched to create temporary employment opportunities for the affected people.