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Center for World Solidarity (CWS) is a voluntary organization founded as a
Public Trust in 1992 to create a more just society.
CWS works through a network of partnerships with voluntary groups,
networks of NGO’s and individuals to promote people centered,
participatory development in five states of India namely Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar.
Areas of Action
Mainstreaming Gender
Organization of women into self-help groups, village Sanghas,
farmer collectives and unions is the chosen method to address
women’s needs, including addressing systemic violence against women.
These formations build the capacity of partner NGO’s and community
organizations to struggle for rights over resources and to enhance
their livelihoods, both through government and NGO programmes.
Currently CWS supports women’s struggles to gain land rights, rights
over forest resources and to ensure equal rights to women.
CWS promotes women’s networks to campaign against domestic violence,
female feticide, and infanticide and child marriages. Women’s
networks are active in all the states CWS works in. In Andhra
Pradesh alone the network outreaches 150,000 women spread over
twelve districts.
Recognizing the emerging trend of national and international
trafficking of women, CWS links local action to regional and
international countervailing campaigns preventing and to focus on
rehabilitation of trafficked women with dignity.
Dalit Rights
CWS attends the problem of social, economic and cultural
exclusion of Dalits, which exists despite constitutional provisions.
Multiple forms of discrimination, destruction of livelihoods and
lack of access to productive resources such as land marginalize
Dalits. CWS works to strengthen Dalit organizations and their
networks to access productive resources and develop barren land to
create work and food security. Local watch groups and fora of Dalit
activists that CWS helps, work for prevention of atrocities, and
providing legal aid to victims. The programme has led to Dalit
farmers accessing land rights, create food security at the household
level and pro Dalit right interventions at the policy level.
Minority Rights
The rising Hindu fundamentalism internally, and the current
anti-Muslim environment globally make all minority groups feel
insecure. CWS strives to work with the Muslim and other minority
communities to ensure their constitutional rights to equality in
every sphere. CWS strategises to overcome their marginalization in
the civil society. CWS development initiatives are linked to
livelihood enhancement and promotion of the rights of Muslim women
through women’s networks.
Human Rights
CWS encourages NGOs to take up cases of rights violation. CWS works
closely with NGOs in this, providing legal rights training, advice
and information on International Bill of Human Rights, which has
enlarged the human rights discourse. These interventions address the
grievances of the victims. Overall, communities have been
sensitized. The police and state systems realize that rights
violations are no longer tolerated, and that they can take recourse
to the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for
Women and the Minorities Commission.
Child Rights
Child survival, protection, development, participation and the
provisions of the Convention on Rights of Child are the guiding
principles of CWS work. Partners are involved in providing
pre-school care, identifying school dropouts and enrolling them,
campaigning against child labour and organizing adolescent girls to
provide them reproductive rights education. While this programme
supports a modest number of children, it is CWS effort to develop
models by working with communities to ensure sustainable results and
the spread of ideas. |
