Annual Report 2016-17

Dear Friends,

Writing of an annual report is a frenzied activity in Azad, as we try to summarise a whole year of hectic activity, hard work, and sometimes chaos into a few pages that will hold the attention of all those with whom we want to share our work and learnings. I hope this report communicates to you our excitement and hope, as much as the challenges we face and learnings we harvest.

The year 2016 has been a rather tumultuous year for a lot of us around the world. From Brexit that shocked many of us to the US elections, the horrific images of migrants from Syria and countries in conflict seeking shelter. We have all witnessed increased intolerance towards minorities, the have-nots, hate-inspired crimes, and attempts to limit democratic spaces. In India, the year also saw an unprecedented clampdown on civil society by arbitrary use of FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act); student unrest has been responded to by the use of disproportionate state force; movements for rights of people – tribals, dalits, minorities, campaigns against mining, nuclear power plants have all had to counter the might of State. There has been a liberal labelling as anti-national of any sentiment that the ‘powers-that-be’ do not agree with. Demonetization saw a majority of us and members of communities we work with spending a lot of time queuing up to access our own hard-earned money. At the same time, outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, and other viral infections affected almost one in every two households in large parts of North India, incapacitating people for considerable periods of time.

Yet, all has not been bleak. There have also been very inspiring and hopeful voices of resistance – across the world. We have seen thousands march for democratic rights, for pro-poor state policy, for peace and justice, across continents. As I write this, we just witnessed a great expression of people protest in India – NOT IN MY NAME – a citizen protest against violence, mob violence specifically against minorities – across more than 18 cities in the country. The expressions of protest have moved out from being confined locally to taking on a larger and more organic form of citizens coming together to express their anguish and pain.

We at Azad, locate our work, in the crevices of all of these changes in the society – nationally and globally – that threaten human rights, and the protest and resistance to the same. We understand, that as one organisation, we are a tiny drop in the ocean of social change, but as part of a larger collective of voices that struggle for equality and justice, we are a mighty life force. We work with communities across Delhi, Jaipur, and Kolkata and reach out to others in Indore, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore through partnerships, to make non-traditional livelihoods accessible to resource-poor women. It is important to note that this effort is embedded within an aspiration to facilitate a building of critical thought and reflection, not just amongst the communities we work with, but also within the team at Azad and its partners. We engage with young men to question dominant norms and understanding of masculinity, we work with young women to help them become feminist leaders and resources in the communities they live in, apart from provoking an understanding of work that goes beyond traditional roles of men and women – both in public spaces and at homes. We work with women who choose to become drivers to question patriarchy and re-shape the discourse on women and safety.

Our work, limited as it is in numbers, does offer a ray of hope, of what is possible if things were to change. As per the National Family Health Survey 2005-06:

• Only half the women in India are allowed to go to the market by themselves, just 15% have their own bank accounts.
• About 54% of women in India agree that a man is justified in beating his wife if he has any reason for it, such as wife showing disrespect for her in-laws or leaving home without telling him.

We are very proud to state that, once the women have been through the Women on Wheels training in Azad and gone on to employ themselves as chauffeurs:

• 100% of them learn to exercise their right to mobility and in fact majority of them are able to travel alone at all times of day or night in their respective cities – Delhi, Jaipur, and Kolkata. Some of them have traveled outside their cities; all of them have not only their own bank accounts but are able to also exercise their rights to control them.
• A 100% of the women will also not tolerate any kind of violence either at home or in public spaces.

Our experience has led to a deeper understanding of the world of livelihoods and young women, public transport and women, and over the year we have made use of several strategic opportunities to ensure that these insights from the ground can be further researched, written about, and shared in policy spaces. Our book “Lady Driver” published by Zubaan (in English) and Yatra (in Hindi) was a step in that direction. We have engaged with the process on monitoring of Social Development Goals – SDGs (especially SDG 4 and 8) and also participated in the Commission for Status of Women – CSW 61 in New York. The women drivers, as well as the Azad team, have spoken at several fora and communicated the layered nuances of processes of empowerment and social change. We have continued to strengthen the larger collective of women’s movement and draw inspiration through our involvement in campaigns such as One Billion Rising, 16 days of activism against violence on women, “I will go out” – a spontaneous protest of women to reclaim their right to public spaces in day and night, etc.

You will read in these pages more about how we translate our vision into reality. Needless to say that none of this could have been possible without the support of all our strategic funding partners – Human Dignity Foundation, Oak Foundation, American Jewish World Service, EMpower, iPartner, Mahindra Finance, Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd, COMO Foundation, and C&A Foundation – all of whom have been with us for two years or more. We are glad at having been able to build mutually respectful and energizing partnerships with all our donors. Last year we also established new partnerships with The Cartier Foundation, Sapient, DMI Finance, HT Parekh Foundation, and One Footstep UK. Also last year, for the first time, we undertook a fundraiser in the form of a musical – Mamma Mia! Again, directed by Ritu Chandra – a dynamic, enterprising, and well-known director. Mamma Mia! Again helped us build many new partnerships and extend our circle of support even wider. Our partners on the ground – SAMAAN, JAN VIKAS, and NEEVA – have come in over the years at different points in time and added to the enriching experience of the collective of Women on Wheels.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you. We look ahead to 2017, wiser through our learnings, determined to address all our gaps, building further on our strengths, as we continue with our efforts to learn as we do and do as we learn….

In Solidarity,
Meenu Vadera

Read the 2016-17 Azad Foundation Annual Report