Annual Report 2018-19

Dear friends,

It gives me great pleasure to share with you our Annual Report of 2018-19. The report also contains a brief sharing on the celebrations that marked ten years of journey of Azad.

In a sense of history, ten years is not a very significant time frame. Yet, in the life of an organisation that is a significant lifespan. When we founded Azad and through many of its initial years, we were too busy putting in practice the ideas that we had dreamt of to worry about where we would be ten years hence. The idea of Women on Wheels was disruptive enough to occupy all our minds and keep us grounded towards building, nurturing and defining our practice. Over the ten years, as our practice deepened, it helped expand our own understanding of the spectrum of issues concerning women and work. The understanding we gained has in turn informed the practice on ground making it more complex and more nuanced over the years.

The world around us changed as well in historic ways over these ten years. There were no sustainable development goals (SDGs) when we started out. Global community had in fact not been able to deliver on the MDGs. But then the Agenda 2030 came up – a much more expanded and revised effort. Countries, regions, corporates and civil societies have all tried to locate themselves within this agenda of “leaving no one behind”. One year short of completing five years, it almost seems as if the nations around the world are once again not going to be able to meet their promises. On the other hand, there has been an unprecedented increase in militarization around the world, a rise of the right-wing ideology, religious fundamentalism and conflict leaving millions in very vulnerable circumstances. The economy of our country has as well been through unprecedented highs and lows. Large Corporates have disappeared, new ones that did not exist in 2008 have emerged and a consolidation of corporate power has happened with those who are better aligned with the political power. Within the transport industry, radio taxis were the new wave in 2008. The revolution of radio taxis has given way to the era of aggregators making transportation definitely easier, not necessarily safer nor more inclusive. Women continue to drop out of the labor markets in India. In fact, India ranked 142 out of a total of 149 countries in the economic opportunity and participation sub-index, as per the (World Economic Forum) WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2018. Yet, there have been Malalas of the world who have quietly stood steadfast with their courage and beliefs, and like her many of the women trainees and drivers have struggled against all odds to transform their own lives and those of people around them.

Within Azad, over these ten years, we grew from one centre in South Delhi to three centres in Delhi, one in Jaipur and two in Kolkata. We built partnerships across several states in India and reached out to some countries in Africa and South and East Asia. Expanded presence has meant a bigger team, increased time spent on fund raising and challenges that come with the same. Starting with 9 women in 2008, we have been able to enable more than 2000 women gain employability as professional chauffeurs and have contributed more women into the driving industry than any other single institution in the country. That is nothing short of creating history! And we are proud of this legacy. Over the years we have been able to improve upon our own efforts, and a recent study indicates that we are able to deliver, on a conservative estimate, 26% return on investment. A return which will only get better and stronger over the years to come.

Women drivers continue to undertake amazing challenges in their lives, inspiring us to stay the course. Our work with young men in the bastis has deepened our understanding towards male experiences of patriarchy. The PARVAZ leaders through the feminist leadership programme continue to motivate us by their energy. They have been able to help more than 6000 women acquire their basic citizenship documents over the years. Documents which in this era of NRC are critical to a life with dignity. The hopes and aspirations of 4007 adolescent young girls that we have reached out to through Azad Kishori programme challenge us to work in creative and collaborative ways to ensure that they have opportunities to choose rather than just being forced into a life of drudgery.

Yet the larger questions remain. We are in a post Beijing, post MDG, almost post 5 years of SDG world, still there are 33 million women missing from the labour force, 15 million young girls as per the latest statistics from UNICEF are getting married before the legal age of marriage. Clearly we the people, need to commit ourselves for many more years of partnerships that are collaborative, of work that will be disruptive, towards social justice and accountability, towards ensuring a world where all resource poor women will have opportunities for livelihoods with dignity. While most investors, donors and impact funds are looking at quick exits or short time frames for supporting social action, we understand like never before that social action has to be with deep roots and sustain itself over long periods of time. Institutional leadership will need to be layered and multi-talented to adapt to a rapidly changing external context and to ensure that the teams are able to invest their best without exhausting their physical and emotional energies. Regenerative processes that are committed to transformative change at all levels need to be supported.

We have been fortunate and blessed to have had long term support from many of our donors and individual supporters. We thank you all for standing by us over the last ten years. We thank our partner organisations for your generous collaborations, our sisters and brothers and the extended community of Azad from around the world. And finally, the Board of Azad that continues to be our lighthouse through stormy and calm seas. Together we move into this next decade with this hope that “another world is possible”.

In Solidarity,

Meenu Vadera

Read the 2018-19 Azad Foundation Annual Report