Category: Thematic Area of Intervention

One of the most overlooked forms of violence in today’s society is violence against women. Violence against women in the north eastern state of Assam has become a cause for severe concern as like all over India, women in Assam too have been facing violence in the domestic and public spheres. Assam registered second-highest number of incidents of crime against women in the entire country. According to the NCRB report of 2012, Assam tops the rate of cognizable crimes against women in India in 2012 at 89.54%. This high incidence of crime against women is a matter of great concern. The data available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that most of the cases are related to kidnapping, rape and cases of domestic violence under section 498 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Despite various legal provisions in the state to protect women against domestic abuse, women are still victims of domestic violence, dowry, rape, kidnapping and other forms of atrocities, both physical and mental.

Disasters like flood and river bank erosion are directly interconnected with food insecurity and vulnerability of livelihood. Floods hazard shatter agricultural, livestock and agriculture assets, inputs and production capacity. They interrupt market access, trade and food supply, reduce income, deplete savings and erode livelihoods. Disasters create poverty traps that increase the prevalence of food insecurity and malnutrition.The vulnerable livelihood programme seeks to improve food security and support livelihood of target communities by providing productive assets for livelihood and building resilience even when they are disrupted by disasters.

In 2011, the literacy rate of Assam was estimated to be 73.18% (78.81% male and 67.27% female).The literacy rate of Assam is slightly below the national average of 74.04%. Although Higher Education has gradually expanded in Assam since independence, issues involving access, equity and quality still continue to present challenges that need to be addressed in the backward, poorest and isolated pockets of the region of the state. Problem of infrastructures, inequality in education, neglect in traditional fields of knowledge, geographic isolation and the remote landscape in many areas are indirectly affecting the school going children. It is observed that the female literacy in still remaining low which is another worrying fact found in most of remote and untouched villages. This is particularly true for middle and high school level environment of formal education system. In fact, in middle and high school drop rate is high for both boys and girls. NEADS found that communication stands as a major problem for the mobility of the school going children. In addition to that, poor socio- economic condition, lack of proper help and guidance at family level and gaps in the awareness have been resulting in the increase of problems such as school drop out, low female literacy rate in the areas. The state Assam is grappling with the issue of quality in education. The average literacy rates in the North Eastern Region (NER) of India have not translated into higher employability or productivity as such. In terms of Access, infrastructure, teachers and educational outcomes, Assam flare poorly in comparison to other states. NEADS is taking up certain thematic areas in its operation in line of access and quality education, education for women and girl child etc.
Some of the broader and core issues that have emerged in children education are :
• There is no understanding and practices to impart quality education
• Increase gap of community ownership to schools and vice-versa participation
• Pedagogical gap – No use of teaching and learning materials
• Irregularity of students and teachers attendance in schools
• Monotonous and stereotype teaching methodologies
• Increase in school drop-out especially in upper primary and high school level resulting into high migration to other places in search of work
• No familial capacity to guide on course curriculum due to illiteracy and ignorance on the part of parents
• Early marriage of girl child due to school drop-out
• There are need for more lower primary and upper primary schools as students have to travel far for attending schools
• Perennial flood and stagnant water creates difficulty for students to access school
• Education is no more a community concern and there is hardly any discourse on education
• Ineffective and irregularity in parents-teachers meet
• No perspective plan of individual schools
• Gap in school infrastructure and lack of human capital and other logistical facilities
• Private schools are increasing and performing better

The main objective of WASH promotion programmes is to reduce the transmission of water borne diseases and exposure to disease-bearing vectors through the promotion of good hygiene practices, the provision of safe drinking water, the reduction of environmental health risks, the conditions that allow people to live with good health, dignity, comfort and security. Simply providing sufficient water and sanitation facilities will not, on its own, ensure their optimal use or impact on public health. In order to achieve the maximum benefit from a disaster response, it is imperative that disaster-affected people have the necessary information, knowledge and understanding to prevent water- and sanitation-related diseases and to mobilize their involvement in the design and maintenance of those facilities.

The eastern part of Brahmaputra river basin represents a severe floodplain area in the state of Assam. The southern valley is highly prone to water induced hazards such as flood, flash flood, river bank erosion and land degradation. The districts of Upper Assam region represents many severe flood-prone areas where river Brahmaputra and its tributary rivers are comparatively high and have deep channels right from the upper hills of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Due to heavy downpour and dynamic rainfall in the catchment area, the river get charged with enormous quantity of silt and in their run off the river alter the condition of flow and sometime changes the river courses causing untold miseries to the people living in the downstream riverine areas. Flood and river bank erosion affect all aspects of the land, lives, and livelihood of the communities living in the region to a significant degree, rendering them homeless and displaced, destroying crops, damaging public property, and worsening development infrastructure. Moreover, annual cycles of flooding cripple people’s resilience and intensify the poverty spiral. The floodplain pockets are most backward, poorest and almost entirely isolated and inhabited by different people groups including the Assamese, Mising (Tribals), Fisherman community etc.