ABOUT PRAXIS
STRATEGY
Praxis periodically reviews its strategy with an eye on its performance, a study of contexts of marginalisation, shifts within the development sector; and a streamlining of emerging concerns with our vision and mission.
This was done, most recently, in March 2011. There emerged a renewed commitment to equity and governance – two key areas Praxis looks forward to concentrating its work in. Located within this frame of reference, Praxis feels the seams of social inequity in India are most exposed in the urban context and in post-disaster situations. The organisation will approach both key areas and contexts through a five-pronged approach:
- People-centred research which goes beyond tokenistic participation of communities;
- Critical engagement with the state born out of the need to fill the vacuum that has been created by the co-option of civil society within the state;
- Networking to share knowledge, create platforms for dialogue and push agendas;
- Capacity building which encompasses organisational development, building and managing relationships between different stakeholders, organisations, networks and sectors, institutional development and advocating for policy and legal changes; and
- Tracking trends in the development discourse in line with its projected image of a knowledge organisation.
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WHAT
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WHY
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HOW
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Reinforcing the need for affirmative action
Study and dissemination of issues of political economy
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People Centered Research
Capacity Building
Breaking the Silence
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Approaches
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Equity
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Governance
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People-centred research
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Exclusion of urban poor, migrant labour, landless, women and other stigmatised communities in the context of livelihood, post-disaster situations, access to services
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Social equity audits studying how policies and laws alienate the poor
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Measuring community mobilisation
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Studying marginalisation in terms of access to rights
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Engagement with the state
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Tracking state and central budgets to see allocation and expenditure on social sector
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Report cards for cities in terms of providing services to migrant labourers, slum dwellers, urban poor
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Reviewing and commenting on draft policies such as food security, Participatory Video process with marginalised communities
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Report cards for government mechanisms dealing with disaster rehabilitation
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Presenting charters of demands
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Facilitating formation of model blocks as we did in Sikkim
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Peoples’ manifestoes
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Networking
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Partnering with grassroots organisations etc. to raise issues of equity and social exclusion
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Partnering with grass roots organisations etc. to raise issues of lack of transparency or efficiency in governance
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Corruption watch
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Capacity-building
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Knowledge-support service and facilitating organisational development for government officials and organisations, NGOs, agencies, quasi-govt organisations, Community-based groups
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Raising awareness through workshops about disaster guidelines, rights to livelihood and life among the marginalised
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Informing about rights of disadvantaged sections
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Tracking trends in development discourse
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This will be an overarching approach that will feed into each of the above to make Praxis work effective, informed and relevant
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