ActionAid Association (AAA) proudly announces the culmination of the People’s Agenda Campaign. In this initiative, the organisation listened to the aspirations of vulnerable communities, and their ideas of progress across India and put forward the pathways they see to just futures.
Spanning nearly a year, this effort has been dedicated to amplifying the voices of various marginalised communities and groups, including informal workers and many specific categories and trades, including agricultural workers, plantation workers, construction workers and workers under specialised schemes – Auxiliary Social Health Activists or ASHA workers and anganwadi workers, Women, Dalits, tribal communities including nomadic pastoralists and denotified tribes and deprived urban communities.
The People’s Agenda Campaign has been a concerted effort to address a range of pressing issues ranging from land rights to climate justice, education, health, and labour rights. The process involved intensive grassroots engagement. AAA has facilitated over 45,622 community-level meetings across 362 districts, involving approximately 17,22,427 participants. This massive undertaking through neighbourhood meetings, chaupals, street corner meetings, larger gatherings and interfaces reflects our commitment to inclusive, deliberative planning and policy-making, ensuring that the concerns and aspirations of marginalised communities are at the forefront of our democratic governance.
Peoples Agenda for Just Futures guides us and embodies our commitment to serve people. “It is an agenda of service to those most in need,” said the Executive Director of ActionAid Association, Mr Sandeep Chachra, on the occasion of its release.
A significant milestone in this campaign was the National Human Rights Defenders Conclave held in Delhi from 10th to 12th February 2024. Over 90 Human Rights and Social Justice Defenders (HRDs) representing 67 districts participated in this conclave, engaging in detailed discussions and deliberations to draft the comprehensive People’s Agenda document.
The People’s Agenda document, released in English, Hindi, and Punjabi, along with several attendant documents focusing on specific communities and issues, is now available on the AAA website. Additional translations, including Marathi, are forthcoming.
This document reflects the power of community-led advocacy and grassroots empowerment. By training Community-Based Human Rights Defenders (CBHRDs) and facilitating dialogue amongst the most vulnerable communities in the country, ActionAid Association has achieved significant advances in amplifying community voices and ensuring that their vision of just futures is recognised and acted upon.
About ActionAid Association
ActionAid Association (AAA) Association is a civil society organisation working for social and ecological justice. ActionAid has engaged with the most marginalised communities in India since 1972. In 2006, ActionAid Association was registered as an Indian organisation governed by an independent General Assembly and a Governing Board. Together with supporters, communities, institutions and governments, we strive for equality, fraternity and liberty for all. ActionAid Association works in 24 states and two union territories with several partners and allied organisations.
