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STRENGTHENING CIVIL SOCIETY ON GOVERNANCE AND INCLUSION |
Towards promoting social justice NFI has been strengthening hundreds of civil society organizations (CSOs) for over 25 years. Within the framework of social justice, the thematic focus of NFI encompasses Governance and Inclusion. These themes are integrated in our grant-making as well as our technical support to CSOs and individuals. These themes are at the foundation of the dialogues we convene, and the leadership we strengthen..
Inclusion
Since its inception, NFI has strongly focused on social, economic and regional inclusion within a social justice framework, given the extremely diverse nature of our society and the differences that persist. Currently NFI reaches out in 24 Indian States and Union Territories, supporting those initiatives that work on especially difficult issues in hard-to-reach terrains, often with the most marginalized communities. NFI provides flexible funding approaches that enable them to respond to local needs and priorities. The rich learning from the field helps to devise context-specific strategies.
Social
NFI supports the active inclusion of those marginalised on grounds of gender and sexuality, class, caste and religion.Economic
NFI supports innovative models of livelihood security that help those with very limited resources to live with dignity.Regional
Addressing regional imbalances, NFI supports interventions among the Adivasi communities of central India, as well as religious and ethnic minorities in north-eastern India.Governance
Within its social justice framework, governance has been a core concern for NFI, especially around civic engagement, responsive policy-making and social accountability. Given the steep power asymmetries that hinder access to rights, NFI has on the one hand supported civil society organizations to strengthen citizen participation across sectors. On the other hand, NFI-supported technical assistance has benefited public policy actors such as elected representatives and state officials.
Civic engagement
NFI supports the participation of communities in local government, and the voice of civil society in the policy spaces.Responsive Policy Making
NFI provides technical assistance to public officials and strengthens media to play an active role.Social Accountability
NFI promotes community ownership and builds capacities to ensure access to public services and entitlements. |
SHAPING PHILANTHROPY |
We promote thoughtful giving by engaging with corporates, donors, foundations, and individuals, and
encourage them to give grants and make long-term investments to grassroot organisations. We do this
by communicating to donors the importance of CSOs work on social justice, facilitate a dialogue between CSOs and donors on the importance of long-term investment, and support for capacity building of CSOs. Over the last few years, with support from Rockefeller foundation, we started an initiative to influence philanthropic discourse and practice towards a more pro-social justice approach.
We have partnered with over 200 small and mid-sized CSOs working on difficult issues and in hard-to-reach areas. Our funding follows basic principles of gender equity and participation, investment in institution building of the voluntary sector, and building of grounded knowledge through its grants and programmes.
We provide a platform for the government, civil society, and the private sector to come together and move the debate on corporate responsibility and mobilise support for human rights issues.
