Don’t miss UnionAID’s new South Indian photo exhibition
Supported by UnionAID
12th – 25th March
De Luxe cafe
Next to Embassy Theatre, Kent Terrace, Wellington
Supported by UnionAID
The sixth issue of Solidarity, the newsletter of the Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust, is available below. This issue introduces new projects in Sri Lanka and the Pacific, as well as updates on ongoing projects in Tamil Nadu and Mae Sot.
Increasingly experts are questioning the role of aid in the reduction of poverty. Some are even suggesting that at times it might contribute to the problem. So what development programmes should we support?
The United Nations has claimed that co-operatives not only achieve the common goals of their members but also promote “poverty reduction, employment creation, empowerment of women and food security…” . Accordingly, they have declared next year as the International Year of Co-operatives.
So the Tamil Nadu Labour Union (TLU) is way ahead of the play. The focus of their work to date has been on participatory development, where Dalit (untouchable) and Tribal (indigenous) people are brought together so they can collectively identify their priorities and develop strategies to improve their lives. This first step has seen communities of more than 30,000 of the poorest and most oppressed people benefit from their union bargaining power. Building on this collective strength UnionAID is now funding a TLU project to set up five workers’ cooperatives. These will provide members with marketing and organisational skills to set them on a sustainable path to economic independence.
Helen Wilson
Gareth Morgan has agreed to match us dollar for dollar up to $30,000 a year with our fundraising for the new Tamil Nadu project. Thanks to hard work from UnionAID activists, and generous donations from our supporters, we are on track to meet that target for the first six months of the project. Our sincere thanks.
An online database has been developed with the help of Susan Iversen of Karo Data Management in Wellington. This will provide statistical information to evaluate the Tamil Nadu economic development project.
To gather this data a small survey was designed in collaboration with project directors in India. This covers demographic data and three measures which will identify changes to: a) daily income b) household indebtedness and c) school attendance for boys and girls. It was decided that these three ‘indicators’ would be a simple way to provide evidence of improvement in the lives of participants without making too much extra work for the project staff.
Because the majority of participants are illiterate the information is collected orally. The data is then entered onto the LimeSurvey database by staff in the Labour Union’s Madurai office. Twenty five surveys can be entered free each month and Karo has generously sponsored another 2000 extra entries. To date 528 surveys have been completed and data entered for agricultural workers and basket weavers who have signed up to the first two co-operatives.
An exciting new UnionAID project in South India will develop 5 cooperative based businesses and more than 120 micro-enterprises over the next 3 years.
This new project will build on the UnionAID project work of the past 3 years which has organised more than 30,000 people in Dalit and Tribal communities and will help them to achieve their goal of economic independence. India may be prospering economically but this prosperity has failed to impact on two of India’s poorest and most disadvantaged groups: Dalit (untouchable) and Tribal (indigenous) people.
The goal of this project is to take up this challenge at a grass roots level and, by breaking the cycle of poverty and discrimination, improve the livelihood choices and economic security of Dalit and Tribal (including previously nomadic) communities in Tamil Nadu, South India over the three year term of the project. The project will assist these communities to:
Basket makers' president Angali
The new UnionAID project will enable Dalit and Tribal communities to build their economic independence (from landlords, middle men and moneylenders) through cooperative based businesses and micro-enterprises.
On a recent visit to South India UnionAID Executive Chair Ross Wilson was able to talk to many of these groups about their aspirations.
Rajalakshmi and Rana are the leaders of a Tribal nomadic (Narikuravar) community who, as part of the UnionAID project, have settled on government land near Madurai. Organised as a union they are proud of their achievements in obtaining the land and a water supply. They now want to work with two other Narikuravar communities to extend their jewellery making business as a cooperative venture providing an important source of income for the community.
There are 189 units of Dalit sandalmakers in and around Madurai City working in poor conditions on piece rate work. The UnionAID project will enable them to develop these businesses together as a cooperative venture, and link them directly with the market.
Angali is the president of the Bamboo Basketweavers’ Union. Dalit women in several villages aim to develop their existing bamboo weaving skills and micro-enterprise activity into a cooperative based business. These women are working in the forecourt of the Dalit temple in Ambedkar Nagar which is the Dalit area of Perunkueli village.
Erammal is the leader of the Women Agricultural Workers’ Union which has built the collective bargaining power and confidence of these workers over the past few years. Erammal says that the women want to build their economic independence by developing their agricultural activities as a collective based business.
Your Kiwi Solidarity contributions recently reached a high of $3000 a month.
Thanks to the efforts and encouragement of our volunteers, unionists and others, people are signing up to UnionAID in growing numbers.
This regular monthly income provides UnionAID with a sound financial base from which to plan future projects and consider expanding into other regions.
The UnionAid philosophy is to build on existing international union relationships to ensure that money is well spent. Projects are driven on the ground by trusted project partners, with identified local grass root needs, and ideally take a community development approach.
There is an increasing expectation that projects are sustainable and the aim is that they are self-supporting within the medium term.
The focus is holistic, on the assumption that if lives and livelihoods are better and more dignified for adults, the lot of the whole family, including children, will be improved.
Bracelet makers’ micro-enterprise leader Karuppayee
The past six months have seen a major shift in focus for both of our major projects in Mae Sot and Tamil Nadu.
We have been working with the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB) in Mae Sot, and the Tamil Nadu Labour Union (TNLU) for several years. In both cases the projects have been training and organizing projects, and both have now evolved into economic development projects. Reports on those projects are included in this issue of .
In the case of Tamil Nadu this is because the 11,000 union members and their families (totaling about 30,000 people), now have the organisational capacity through their union, to develop their earning potential through cooperative based businesses, micro-enterprises, and vocational skills training.In Mae Sot the union women identified skills training for young migrant women as being their most urgent need.
We have been fortunate to get financial support from the New Zealand Government Sustainable Development Fund for the Mae Sot project, and from the Morgan Foundation for the Tamil Nadu Project.
Gareth Morgan has agreed to match every dollar that we raise up to $30,000 a year. This provides a new urgency to our UnionAID campaign to recruit Kiwi Solidarity Members committed to monthly donations. So please help us fund the Tamil Nadu project by recruiting your friends and family. $10, or even $5, per month will make a real difference to our project communities in South India.
Ross Wilson
Executive Chair
UnionAID
Meet Rajalakshmi and Rana from the Gypsy communityRajalakshmi (l) and Rana are the leaders of the Gypsy (Narikuravar) community which is part of the UnionAID project. They settled on government land near Madurai and are organised as a union, proud of their achievements. They want to work with two other Narikuravar communities to create a jewellery-making cooperative.
Five cooperative-based businesses and more than 120 micro-enterprises will be created over the next three years in Tamil Nadu, South India with UnionAID assistance.
The project will build on the work of the past three years which has organised more than 30,000 people in Dalit and Tribal communities which is helping them to achieve economic independence. India may be thriving economically but its prosperity fails to impact on these two peoples - India’s poorest and most disadvantaged groups -most of whom are landless, own no assets, and have high rates of indebtedness and illiteracy. About half live below the poverty line on less than $1 a day. This new project will work at a grass roots level by breaking the cycle of poverty and discrimination while improving livelihood choices and economic security.
The project plans to assist these communities to:
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Your regular donations mean that UnionAID can guarantee funding to its projects. A small amount each month makes a real difference to people’s lives. Sign up for monthly donations now.
UnionAID
P O Box 6689, Wellington
email: unionaid@nzctu.org.nz
