Kaarak

01/04/2016

For those who are interested more on the subject of E-commerce for Reproductive Health Supplies: Family Planning in the Digital Age can read the India case study authored by Kaarak in collaboration with Institute of Reproductive Health, Goergetown Universityhttp://irh.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/E-commerce_Case_Study_India_2016_digital1.pdf

Case studies of other countries, Kenya, Mexico and US are also available at: http://irh.org/e-commerce-for-rh-supplies-case-studies/

The findings of each of these are quite thought-provoking, unique given the unexplored subject and insightful. So read away!

23/02/2016

A week away from the Centre's budget announcements we are at the edge of our seats to look at the allocation to various sector and hence the priority of the government. While Make in India has been upheld and endorsed, the idea of India is incomplete without recognising the current rural distress. The Jat reservation agitation is an result of such economic instability. If the budget fails to target education, health and rural livelihood, the spill-over of such a lapse is bound to be eye of the storm. To put things in perspective (read: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/OsrwVoBI5i5sqCtJDBu7LO/India-turns-tide-on-malnutrition.html) the NFHS- 4 data has shown some tangible improvement in health. On the other hand, the economic survey of India doesn't paint a positive picture. Hence, to graduate from the current social-economic standing and make head-way for structural improvement, the budget allocation will most surely impact the social order of this country.

According to health experts, more than 50% of child mortality under five years of age can be attributed to malnutrition

24/11/2015

Some programs are often monitored and evaluated on basis of numbers or head count of beneficiaries. The following article summarizes evaluation of Mahila Samakhya (MS) programme, a 26-year-old low-investment programme that is slanted towards the socially disadvantaged, including its nearly 15 lakh female participants, of whom more than 55% are from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, in some of the most disadvantaged blocks of 11 states implemented by MHRD. More can be read about the scheme on http://mhrd.gov.in/mahila-samakhya-programme. The program is intriguing because one of the premise of the programme is "unless marginalized women are enabled to recognise and address the roots of gender discrimination themselves, it would not be possible to break the vicious cycle of isolation, discrimination and marginalization" and not promise tangible or monetary benefits.

Hence, the program is about introspection, realisation, acceptance or dismissal and articulation; a complete circle for someone to categorise a practice/ idea/ action as right or wrong. This is remarkable because one of the problem Kaarak has faced during its interviews or discussions with the community or beneficiary at ground level is lack of expression. The difference between what is violation of an individual's right or not, is not always clear to those who reap the benefit or are deprived of it. Their cause it often led by someone who is external to their situation. This to our mind, is a problem, especially when evaluating a programme or intervention.

To address this problematic, the authors very interestingly write, “the signs of success are not necessarily evident in the resolution or elimination of problems that have particularly impacted marginalized women—although several such examples were also identified—but in the contestation of spaces from which these women have been historically excluded and in the challenges to discriminatory practices”. Lastly, do take out some time and read:

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Z7uPVHwejoHvNLNE6M2JNO/Nurturing-voices-of-the-excluded.html

19/11/2015

For those who are interested in some socio-economic insights about the Menstrual and Reproductive Health Practices and products, please glance at our report which is now available in public domain.

In short, its a KAP (Knowledge, attitude and practice related) study emphasising on women and girls belief, awareness and behaviour and the role of variables like age, education and mobility.

http://media.kaarak.in/Images/Social%20and%20Market%20Research%20Menstrual%20and%20Reproductive%20Health%20Beliefs%20Practices%20Products%20and%20Markets%20in%20Barmer,%20Rajasthan%20Final%20Report.pdf

17/11/2015

Precarious times calls for soothing measures. We are all a jumble of emotions. Some are making these hopeful resolutions, will you too?
--
What I will do

I will not
dance to your war
drum. I will
not lend my soul nor
my bones to your war
drum. I will
not dance to your
beating. I know that beat.
It is lifeless. I know
intimately that skin
you are hitting. It
was alive once
hunted stolen
stretched. I will
not dance to your drummed
up war. I will not pop
spin beak for you. I
will not hate for you or
even hate you. I will
not kill for you. Especially
I will not die
for you. I will not mourn
the dead with murder nor
su***de. I will not side
with you nor dance to bombs
because everyone else is
dancing. Everyone can be
wrong. Life is a right not
collateral or casual. I
will not forget where
I come from. I
will craft my own drum. Gather my beloved
near and our chanting
will be dancing. Our
humming will be drumming. I
will not be played. I
will not lend my name
nor my rhythm to your
beat. I will dance
and resist and dance and
persist and dance. This heartbeat is louder than
death. Your war drum ain't
louder than this breath.
- Suheir Hammad, a poet of war, peace, woman and power.

15/10/2015

The problem is unusual and unprecedented. When we discuss international aid we work out the numbers as per basic necessities like food, shelter, water, poverty, diseases or NCDs et cetera. War has not been accounted in this budget previously. With the increasing imbalance in Middle East and Europe- "Last year the area (read Middle East) consumed almost 60% of the global budget for humanitarian relief".

Here is something discussing the "unplanned consequences of aid", shedding some critical thoughts on the aid agencies and critically analysing on-ground problems faced during disbursement of massive donation.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21672332-even-if-they-have-enough-money-it-hard-aid-agencies-be-effective-how?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/howthequalityofmercyisstrained

IMPOVERISHED Jordanians in the northern city of Mafraq have learnt to curse the arrival of foreign aid agencies. Since they began dishing out cash to Syrian refugees...

01/10/2015

Conditions of child slavery or any other form of slavery is well researched, extensively documented and is public knowledge. We are somewhat aware of who the employers of such forced labour are. What we don't know is of the social cost at which such services are rendered and the extent of economic benefit reaped.

What we do know is the size of a MNC, its sales and profit figures and their well PR-ed social initiatives.

What do the consumers do, “Consumers have not been critical enough,” he said. “They have not asked why a chocolate bar only costs $1 when the cocoa comes from Africa. Customers have been too easy to trick with smart ads."

The judiciary will take care of the former, but what is the consumer ought to do?

If one were to extrapolate this article in principle to other goods (both edible and non edible), consumers will be in a lurch. So lets not practice abstinence from these product (which is most often the first thought) rather be intolerant towards such social vices practiced in our day-to-day life.

Please read the article below to understand the context better.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/30/lawsuit-your-candy-bar-was-made-by-child-slaves.html?source=socialflow&via=twitter_page&account=thedailybeast&medium=twitter

A lawsuit filed Monday alleges that some of the world’s largest chocolate makers are knowingly using child labor in Africa.

29/09/2015

One can read this as a follow up post which reiterates the urgency in policy changes to improve the quality of education

http://thewire.in/2015/09/28/delhis-schools-need-a-quality-upgrade-not-a-hasty-cut-in-syllabus-11823/

The defence being offered by officials is that the contents deleted will be fitted in “some form or the other” in higher grades, but are curricular decisions so simplistic and bureaucratic?

23/09/2015

Important to note that "Just increasing education in and of itself is not necessarily going to change behaviors in the way we thought, though quality might have,”. Examples from African continent.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/22/when-education-doesn-t-prevent-child-marriage.html

Going to school is supposed to empower young girls—and delay early marriage and childbirth. That’s the conventional wisdom, at least. But a new study on Malawi shows another outcome.

08/09/2015

A constructive proposal, roadmap for healthcare in India- National Health Policy 2015, open for feedbacks and suggestions:

http://www.thehinducentre.com/multimedia/archive/02263/Draft_National_Hea_2263179a.pdf

03/09/2015

Kaarak's mouthpiece opines on relevance on Social Impact Assessment (SIA):
http://www.india-briefing.com/news/social-impact-assessments-india-red-tape-good-business-11182.html/

For further discussion/ deliberation please get in touch with researcher Dustin Robertson at [email protected]

Social Impact Assessments (SIAs) are an important part of the investment process for many companies in India. Learn more about SIAs here.