Advancing Citizens' Awareness and Micro-Justice in India

An UNDEF project in India works to address inequalities by improving local services provision to women and youth in disadvantaged communities in the Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Orissa.  

Implemented by the DHAN Foundation, the initiative facilitates capacity development and creates an enabling environment for women self-help groups, youth associations and student groups to support their own democracy action initiatives. The project also initiates intensive campaigns on the Right to Information Act for developing informed citizens, and creates paralegal clinics to facilitate citizens’ awareness of their rights and entitlements.  

By focusing primarily on tribal and rural communities, the project seeks to build the capacity of 7,500 women, 1,000 youth and 1,000 students by informing them on their rights and training them on identifying gaps in public service provisions and requesting the local authority to respond to their needs. Finally, the project will begin micro-justice initiatives by mobilizing 250 trained participants as para-legal volunteers to provide para legal services to communities in cases where there are serious violations of rights to development that are not being addressed by authorities.