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 Jodhpur 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 Rajasthan. 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 Jaipur 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, Business Standard, DNA, Times of India, Urban Digest, Rajasthan