Ubantu Foundation Together we can. . . .

Report prepared by: Sumit Singh, Director, Ubantu Foundation, Goa. Ph: +91-8318989797 Email: [email protected] Ubantu Foundation

Introduction Name of the Foundation has been derived from Ubuntu, a traditional African philosophy often translated as “I am because we are,” but is used in a more philosophical sense to mean “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.” Ubantu Foundation was registered a social organization in October, 2018 under companies act, 2013. The organization in its current form has evolved in last five years out of the extensive community organization and research work undertaken by Sumit Singh, Director of Ubantu Foundation (henceforth referred to as Director) in and Goa. The two successful initiatives namely smart colony – smart wad initiative and social intervention for establishing biodegradable sanitary pad making as a potential livelihood model for women self-help groups (SHGs) in Jodhpur and Goa have provided a solid background to the Foundation for future interventions. Mission To promote happiness through social inclusion and enhanced quality of life for all. Vision To utilize the power of community capacity, social entrepreneurship and sustainable technologies through an integrated and participatory approach for social development and environment conservation.

Objectives The Foundation has been formed to work on the following objectives: a. Promoting health care and sanitation and making available for safe drinking water. b. Promoting education, including special education, and employment enhancing vocational skills especially among children, women, elderly, and the differently-abled. c. Promoting gender equality, empowering women. d. Ensuring environmental sustainability, ecological balance and conservation of natural resources. e. Protection of national heritage, art and culture. f. Training to promote rural sports and paralympic sports. g. Development projects in Slum and rural areas.

Strategy To achieve the objectives of Ubantu Foundation, it is aimed to adopt a multi - pronged strategy as summarized below:

a) Undertaking research & consultancy work b) Implementing grassroots interventions for social inclusion c) Supporting social entrepreneurs d) Partnering with academic institutions e) Facilitating place making for designing public spaces

1 Ubantu Foundation – Background The genesis of the organization goes back to 2014 when the Director started working with district administration, local bodies, citizens, SHGs and other stakeholders in Jodhpur to devise strategies for ensuring meaningful citizen participation in urban governance in Jodhpur district of . Through his persistent efforts, he succeeded in conceptualizing Smart Colony – Smart Ward Initiative in 2105 which was appreciated by Government of Rajasthan. The initiative was recommended to all municipalities as a success story under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in April, 2016.

In September 2016, he was engaged as Governance Expert by Urban Development department, Government of Goa. He successfully developed a smart colony in first month and took efforts to build linkages with civil society groups, academic institutions and companies for achieving objectives of SBM. In July 2017, he worked with a women enterprise in Goa for over a year to upgrade the quality and design of product and develop promotion & marketing strategies which has helped in establishing the business as a potential livelihood model for SHGs in Goa. Both the Smart Colony – Smart Ward Initiative and biodegradable sanitary pad story have evolved as best practices which can be replicated to various objectives of social development and women empowerment in sustainable manner. Both the initiatives got appreciation from government and reputed social organizations in Goa and Rajasthan. The objective, procedure followed and outcome of Smart Colony – Smart Ward Initiative and developing biodegradable sanitary pads as a potential livelihood model has been discussed in the next section.

Smart Colony – Smart Ward Initiative Smart Colony – Smart Ward initiative involves devising IEC and Public Awareness strategy to make SBM a community led movement. The goal of the project is to develop an integrated and participatory approach to ensure behavior change of citizens in sustainable manner. The project emphasizes not only on municipal waste management but also banks on the energy, experience and expertise of citizens and all other stakeholders for developing clean and vibrant environment. This is done by motivating and empowering community actors to form citizens committee at community level and steer the campaign in residential and commercial areas. The initiative was conceptualized and executed in Jodhpur with support from district administration in 2015.

Implementation Methodology

The initiative adopts a micro level strategy and selected a cluster of colonies for pilot project to develop it as a model for replication in other wards. The idea was to motivate people to own the initiative and the methodology adopted is as follows:

Ø Introductory visit to the colony by city level committee (CLC) comprising the District Collector, Mayor, Municipal Commissioner and the Director. Ø Formation of citizens committee (CC) at colony level by residents Ø Inspection of colony area by CC to identify all pending tasks to clean their neighbourhood and mobilize support of all residents through home visits

2 Ø Preparing an Action Plan by categorizing activities to be completed through Shramadaan, municipal resources and resources hired by financial contribution of community Ø CC to be authorized by municipal corporation and members are provided ID cards. Ø CC collects funds and resources from residents to hire resources and complete cleanliness and beautification work in locality. The funds collected to be deposited in account of Mohalla Vikas Samiti/ RWA. Ø Citizens to launch cleanliness drive with support from municipal staff to complete all pending tasks mentioned in the work plan in specified timeline. Ø Photo documentation of the entire proceedings of the initiative to be carried out for ‘before, during & after’ analysis of the initiative at a later stage Ø Inspection of the selected colonies by city level committee to assess the overall impact of the initiative Ø The colony having achieved all benchmarks of the initiative is declared smart by ULB

Impact vis-à-vis SBM

The outcome of the initiative vis-à-vis SBM can be described as follows:

Ø In smart colony areas, SBM has become a community led movement and residents are working hand in hand with ULB. Ø Workload and expenditure of ULB on cleanliness in smart colonies has reduced as people are themselves managing and paying for door-to-door waste collection system. Ø The initiative has increased community cohesion among residents of the colony and they are coming forward to discuss and resolve local issues. Ø Because of the enhanced levels of community mobilization, it is easy for the municipal body to implement other welfare and development projects in respective colonies. Ø The members of citizens committee have become agent of change and ready to work in neighbouring colonies to tart the initiative. Ø The initiative has helped to identify and build a pool of committed individuals and professionals in community who are willing to contribute to social development through their energy, experience and expertise.

Impact as a governance intervention

Some of the larger objectives achieved by the initiative are the following:

Ø The initiative provides a platform for citizen participation at neighbourhood level recognized by ULB and thus utilizes energy, expertise and experience of individuals in governance Ø The initiative bridges the gap between ULB and informal structures like RWA/ Mohalla Vikas Samitis/ CBOs and develops synergies for resolving civic issues Ø The Initiative provides a mechanism for convergence of various social welfare schemes which in turn enhances accountability and transparency.

3 Ø The initiative helps in deepening democratic values to grassroots level and encourages people to contribute in planning and execution of local development projects. Ø The initiative works well in residential, commercial as well as industrial areas to develop clean and green public spaces.

Awards and Recognitions

Ø Smart Colony – Smart Ward Initiative was shortlisted under IEC and Public Awareness category of national SBM Awards by Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India Ø During the Familiarization workshop organized by Local Self-Government Department, Govt. of Rajasthan in for elected and administrative heads of all 187 ULBs in October 2015, Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje appreciated the initiative and endorsed the model in her speech to Jaipur and all cities of Rajasthan. Ø The initiative has been circulated by Department of Local Self-Government to all municipalities of Rajasthan for replication. Ø During the 13th International Conference on Sustainable Habitats and Smart Cities organized by Municipalika and Good Governance Foundation in December, 2015, Smart Colony-Smart Ward Initiative was given ‘Award for Excellence’ under ‘Best city initiative’ category. Ø The initiative has been recommended for Jaipur city in draft proposal prepared by Ernst & Young under Smart Cities project. Ø The success of the initiative has been highlighted in reputed media groups like India Today, , DNA, Times of India, Urban Digest, Rajasthan Patrika, etc Ø Government of Goa has endorsed the Initiative and has engaged Coordinator of the Initiative as Governance Expert to create awareness and ensure meaningful citizen participation under SBM on the lines of the initiative

Goa Experience In October 2016, the Director was invited by State Urban Development Agency, Government of Goa to replicate Smart Colony – Smart Ward Initiative on pilot basis for one month in Goa. He started working with citizens and elected representatives in selected wards of three municipalities – Mormugao (Vasco), Margao and Cuncolim on the lines of Smart Colony – Smart Ward initiative. Citizens in all selected colonies showed exciting response to collaborate with municipality for developing their neighbourhood as smart colony. Within one month, the colony in Mormugao city was declared smart by the municipality. The smart colony was inaugurated by Shri Carlos Almeida, local MLA and Secretary, Urban Development department in presence of Chairperson, Chief Officer, councillors and citizens of Vasco municipality.

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Photo story of the stepwise implementation of smart colony initiative in Mormugao city has been described as follows: Ø Community mobilisation by Chairperson, Chief Officer and Coordinator of the Initiative

Ø Introductory meeting with residents of the colony and formation of Citizens Committee at colony level with consensus.

Ø Review of Colony to list out all tasks/activities and preparing an Action Plan

Ø Progress of cleaning work jointly by citizens and council staff

5 Ø Visit by Chairperson, Chief Officer and Governance Expert to review progress and interact with citizens to plan for all renovation/repair work and beautification of public spaces jointly by municipality and citizens committee

Ø Progress and completion of small renovation/repair work after review meeting

Ø Awarding Smart Colony status and felicitation ceremony by Mormugao municipality

Based on the success of the pilot project, the Director was engaged as Governance Expert by State Urban Development Agency in November, 2016. The scope of his work included handholding municipalities to achieve objectives of SBM, coordinate with civil society groups, academic institutions and various government departments to solicit their active participation under SBM and

6 suggest sustainable technologies and practices. During the course of his work, he had taken an intervention related to menstrual hygiene which has been discussed in next section.

Sakhi Sanitary Pads – Success Story Society in India still being largely conservative and patriarchal in nature, menstrual hygiene management has still not been planned well and women have to face various socio-cultural barriers while menstruating due to lack of access and information on cost-effective, affordable menstrual health products. In addition to it, disposal of sanitary pads with mixed waste or in dry waste bin category poses problems to sanitation staff while segregating waste at processing plant. Because of the taboo associated with the subject and lack of information about menstrual hygiene issues, it is difficult to engage women from needy sections to even talk about it and using sanitary pad making as a livelihood model. The Director met Mrs. Jayashree Parwar, leader of a women’s enterprise in June, 2017 who was running biodegradable sanitary pad unit for the last two years in Pilgao village near Bicholim taluka of north Goa. Though the product was biodegradable and friendly to skin, she was struggling to run the business and generate enough income for her due to issues in product design and machine efficiency. Realizing merits of the product, the Director decided to work with her to provide visibility and market to the enterprise. He had a detailed discussion with the women working in the enterprise and her regular customers to understand the issues that hindered the process. The challenges thus identified have been discussed in the next section.

Challenges Ø The enterprise lacked proper promotion & marketing strategy to capitalize on the eco- friendly nature of the product and because of this, they were not able to attract middle class

and elite consumers. Ø The design of the biodegradable sanitary pad had many shortcomings like no wings, short length, too thick and no impressions in between to prevent clogging. The packaging design was below average too. Ø The enterprise was based in village and didn’t have proper visibility and access to market. Ø As they had got the machine and one set of raw material donated free of cost by a company, they had not done cost and benefit analysis of the business.

Interventions To address these challenges, the Director did extensive research on current market scenario, potential market strategies and through the process identified the relevant stakeholders which can

7 be roped in to provide visibility to the biodegradable sanitary pads. He executed the following interventions to provide market to the product: Ø He connected Jayashree, leader of the enterprise to SHGs of Bicholim and Valpoi municipalities during city level stakeholder meetings under SBM. Ø He invited Dr. Anita Dudhane, renowned Allergy Specialist of Goa to visit the unit and assess merits of the product. She wrote to journalists of Goa to convince them about the merits of the product and provide visibility to it in print and electronic media. Ø He gave presentations to Secretary, Urban Development Department and Mission Director, SBM, Government of Goa to provide visibility to the product at state level. Ø He travelled to Mumbai and other cities to consult professionals and manufacturers of menstrual hygiene products for upgrading the product in terms of quality and design.

Impact in first two months Ø On 7th July, 2017, the news was published on The Better India portal and over 50,000 people from across the world liked it. Within a week, it was published in several national and state level dailies including International Business Times, London, , Business Standard, India Today, Outlook India. Ø The huge publicity has boosted confidence of Jayashree and it has helped in establishing her business. She has got bulk orders from across India and her unit now runs full time and provides sufficient income to her enterprise. Ø Sakhi biodegradable sanitary pads are now available on Amazon website and consumers from across the world are buying it. More than half of the monthly production is being sold online through the portal. Ø Jayashree has been invited by renowned academic institutions like MIT, Pune, Goa Institute of Management and many TV channels for lectures and interviews. Her success story has provided a ray of hope to SHGs across Goa and many SHGs have come forward to start similar business.

Impact after two years Ø Ubantu Foundation has established an advanced semi-automatic machine which is three times more efficient than the older machine unit. Ø The product has been upgraded to address all inputs and grievances of users. The new product is at par with all branded products in terms of design and quality. Ø The new machine can be easily operated by women. In addition to it, the manual labour and efforts have been reduced in the interest of females working in the unit.

Both the smart colony – smart ward initiative and sanitary pad unit intervention were recognized and endorsed by policy makers at state level. Along with this, other notable interventions executed by Director in Goa are mentioned as follows:

A) Building linkages with civil society In February, 2017, he organized first state level meeting of representatives of Rotary Club, Lions Club and NGOs under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Urban Development and all delegates responded positively to the call of government and promised to contribute to government initiatives

8 under SBM. Subsequently, he worked closely with these organizations to help them identify areas of collaboration and the impact has been substantial.

B) Building linkages with Academic Institutions Governance Expert has interacted with heads of reputed academic institutions in higher education and had invited them to attend our city stakeholder meetings for ODF campaign in many cities. He had given presentation in colleges to engage students in managing various activities under SBM. Many institutions have shown keen interest in supporting municipalities and Panchayats of Goa.

C) Building linkages with Industries In February, 2017, Governance Expert had facilitated in organizing the first meeting of ten leading pharmaceutical companies under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Urban Development. Mission Director, SBM-Urban and Managing Director, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited also attended the meeting and interacted with delegates to explain potential areas where companies can support government interventions under CSR.

9 Along with this, news about both projects was covered widely by print and electronic media. Some of the key testimonials by dignitaries and names of prominent media channels who covered them has been mentioned in the next section.

Media coverage & Publicity The progress and achievements of interventions undertaken by the Director in Jodhpur and Goa have been covered widely in the following media channels at state, national and international level mentioned below: 11. Navhind Times 1. Times of India 12. Resilience Today 2. India Today 13. One India News 3. Business Standard 14. Dainik Herald (Marathi) 4. Daily News Analysis (DNA) 15. Gomantak (Marathi) 5. Outlook India 16. (Marathi) 6. International Business Times, UK 17. Rajasthan Patrika () 7. Swachh India, NDTV 18. Incredible Goa 8. Press Trust of India (PTI) 19. Innohealth Magazine 9. Indo Asian News Service (IANS) 20. Forca Goa Portal 10. The Better India portal

Testimonials by dignitaries for Smart Colony Initiative “The impact of Smart Colony – Smart Ward Initiative in terms of behavior change and women participation is remarkable. I want to see the initiative replicated in Jaipur and all cities of Rajasthan.” - Smt. Vasundhara Raje, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan during State Oreientation Workshop for Urban Local Bodies in October, 2015. “The residents of this colony have shown other a path of determination and willingness and have proven that the change can be brought through people’s initiative”. - Shri Gajendra Singh Khinwsar, Hon’ble Minister for Indusries and Sports of Rajasthan while felicitating citizens of first smart colony in Jodhpur on 15th August, 2015 “Government alone cannot do anything significant unless there is people contribution in the initiative taken by the government. We need to come forward with a spirit to clean the city collectively in order to achieve the dream of Swachh Bharat and set an example for others.” - Shri Arun Chaturvedi, Hon’ble for Social Justice and Empowerment of Rajasthan while felicitatig citizens gof 11 smart colonies in Jodhpur on 2nd October, 2015 “Wonderful initiative…. Jodhpur is the only city in North India which is putting its efforts in city cleanliness with active participation of citizens.” - Shri Nipun Vinayak, Director (SBM), Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Government of India during site visit to interact with citizens of a smart colony in Ward 24 of Jodhpur “The initiative has helped in ensuring meaningful citizen participation in project areas…” - Dr. Manjit Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary, Urban Development & Housing, Govt. of Rajasthan “The initiative has provided a model for engaging the energy and expertise of citizens in achieving objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission and it will be replicated in all municipalities of Goa.” - Shri Sudhir Mahajan, IAS, Secretary, Urban Development Department, Government of Goa

10 Profile of the Directors The Foundation currently has a Governing Board consisting of two Directors. Their profile has been mentioned below:

1) Sumit Kumar Singh Sumit has over a decade long experience of working closely with central government, urban local bodies and panchayats in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and other states, state governments, industry groups, non-government organizations and other stakeholders on wide range of issues related to participatory planning, urban governance, urban livelihoods, poverty and slum rehabilitation in urban areas, environment, and service delivery. Through the course of his work, Sumit has worked alongside – senior policy makers at all levels of Government, political representatives, urban planners and engineers, activists, community leaders, and corporate sector professionals amongst others. Backed by exposure in his formative years in towns and villages across the north India heartland, Sumit has built further on the same through in- depth training and close interaction with political and democratic institutions. This provides Sumit with the unique insight to examine the nuances of many development issues, and analyse it from perspectives that are rarely explored. He has also conceptualized and executed a Smart colony – Smart Ward Initiative to ensure meaningful participation of citizens on issues related to governance. He has also worked closely with social organizations, academic institutions and companies to facilitate meaningful collaboration with government for achieving objectives of SBM.

2) Ram Mohan Singh Ram Mohan Singh has over twelve-year long experience working with leading brands and companies in hospitality and retail sector. He has completed an executive management programme from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and has a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management from MJP Rohilkhand University, Bareilly. Coming from a humble village background, he is always passionate to contribute his part on social issues. In 2015, he took a novel initiative to save water by encouraging residents of his colony to install alarms to prevent overflow overhead tanks. His colony level campaign in this regard helped in reducing wastage of water by eighty percent and earned appreciation from the authorities.

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