IFPIAN: July 2009

Monday, July 20, 2009

Seventh Meeting of IFPIAN Governing Board held in Bhopal on 18th July 2009

Seventh meeting of IFPIAN Governing Board held in Bhopal on 18th July 2009. The meeting was attended by Mr. Tej Ram Jat, Dr. Sony Pellisery, Mr. Vivek Mansukhani, Mr. Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Ms. Sanjeeta Gawri and Mr. Haldhar Mahto.

The board reviewed the progress made by IFPIAN since the last GB meeting. The major actions taken place after the last GB were registration of IFPIAN under Society Registration Act, conduct of Leadership and Social justice Academy in Bhubaneshwar, Launch of IFPIAN blogsite and thematic discussion groups, The launc of first issue of IFPIAN News Letter 'Sajag' and preparation for the second issue.

The Board also discussed the future activities in which the major activities would be condut of regional consultations, annual conference and other collective social justice interventions in various parts of the country.

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News and Events

Jagmohan Bangani exhibits work at solo show in New Delhi October 2011.

http://www.fordifp.org/Home/Articles/tabid/293/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/30/language/en-US/IFP-Alum-Exhibits-Work-at-Solo-Show-in-New-Delhi.aspx

Dr. Meenu Bhambhani wins the Shell Helen Keller Award 2009!

Three cheers to Dr. Meenu Bhambhani, Global Head - Corporate Social Responsibility .

Meenu was awarded the prestigious NCPEDP – Shell Helen Keller Award 2009, under Category A: Disabled persons from within and outside the disability sector who have been active as ambassadors of the cause of employment for disabled people and are a positive role model for others.

The Selection Committee comprised of Dr. V. Krishnamurthy (Chairman, N.C.P.E.D.P.); Som Mittal (President, N.A.S.S.C.O.M.); Deepak Mukarji (Country Head, Corporate Affairs, Shell India Private Limited); and Preeti Mehra (Deputy Editor, The Hindu Business Line).

The Award comprising a medal and a citation was presented on December 2, 2009 at a function held at The India Habitat Center, New Delhi. The award was given by Hon’ble HRD Minister, Shri Kapil Sibal . The event was presided over by Shri Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, Indian Express.

Congratulations, once again!

Brief Profile and contact details
Dr. Meenu Bhambhani
Global Head, Corporate Social Responsibility, MphasiS Limited, Bagmane Technology Park, Byrasandra, C. V. Raman Nagar, Bangalore – 560 093. Mobile: +91.9880932542. E-mail: meenu.bhambhani@mphasis.com

Meenu is the Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at MphasiS, Bangalore. Her specific responsibilities, apart from leading the Corporate Social Responsibility programme at MphasiS, include leading and sustaining the company’s diversity initiatives, with specific focus on disability. It would be an understatement to say that she has been successful in her efforts; in just one year, she managed to increase the number of disabled employees from 40 to 327. In fact, the Chief Human Resources Officer of MphasiS has been candid enough in admitting that even though the company always had the intent of being an equal opportunity employer, not much moved till Meenu came on board!

In her stint at MphasiS, Meenu has instituted processes to transform policy into action, has extensively trained employees across locations in disability issues and ensured that MphsiS’s systems, including infrastructure, became significantly disabled-friendly. Her efforts have resulted in the company not only becoming a positive recruiter of disabled persons, but also a role model for other corporates.

Being a person with disability herself, Meenu is a strong believer in the philosophy of ‘Nothing About Us, Without us’. Thanks to her commitment and dedication to the cause of employment for persons with disability, MphasiS was one of the winners of the 10thNCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Awards in 2008. The company also received the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities presented by the Vice President of India the same year. In her personal capacity, Meenu has been recognised by the CEO of MphasiS for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Corporate Social Responsibility 2008’. She has also been awarded the ‘Outstanding Student Achievement Award’ and elected ‘Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges’ in recognition of outstanding merit as a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

IFPIAN-IRMA conference on " Climate Change and Human Development in India"

IFPIAN in collaboration with IRMA, Anand organised a conference on climate change in the IRMA campus between 19 - 21 September 2009. The conference was titled " Climate Change and Human Development in India".

For more information please contact Mr. Alok Barnwal at aloke.barnwal@gmail.com

Leadership Academy for Social Justice

Two IFPIANs, Dr. Sony Pellissery and Sanjay Kumar Sharma conducted first Leadership Academy for Social Justice for young social workers in Orissa in June 2009.

Dr. Sony Pellissery along with three other IFPIANs conducted second Leadership Academy for Social Justice for young social workers in Gujarat in August 2009.

For more information and reports please contact Dr. Sony Pellissery at sony.pellissery@gmail.com

Mission of IFPIAN

IFPIAN is committed to social justice. It works to remove all inequities in society and strives against discrimination of caste, gender, disability and class to empower marginalized communities. IFPIAN functions as a collective advocacy platform and supports organizations working for the emancipation of the disadvantaged and the marginalized. It engages with issues of farmers’ rights, dalit rights, advasi rights, women’s rights, minority rights, rights of disabled and other human, economic, social and cultural rights.

Membership base of IFPIAN

IFPIAN currently has more than 200 members across the country. The members of IFPIAN are involved in implementation of various programmes and interventions in different parts of the country for strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting intersectional coordination and advancing human achievement. They are engaged in the Government, International Development Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, NGOs, media and academic sectors. Most of the alumni members are working with underprivileged low-income communities, women, children, tribals, dalits, disabled people and minority communities. The contribution of members of IFPIAN has been widely recognized by Government and other stakeholders at national and state levels in the areas of promotion of human development, gender equality, human rights and social justice.

IFPIAN's Acomplishments

IFPIAN organized its first national level meeting and alumni get-together in December 2006, in which IFPIAN was established. Members of the Governing Board were elected and broad vision, mission, objectives of the network and focus areas were discussed. Three regional consultations were organised for identifying the pressing needs/social justice issues for action in the regions and firming up ideas for future interventions to be taken up by the IFPIAN.

In the Month of August 2008, IFPIAN organised its Annual General Meeting. During the progress of IFPIAN was shared and future plans were discussed. An inspirational lecture was delivered by Dr. Narendra Jadhav, Vice Chancellor of Pune University, in which he shared his experiences of working in various capacities and shared his vision for India’s development. He called for IFPIAN members to keep their passion for social justice alive and work together to contribute to India’s Development.

In order to promote professional interests and provide members with opportunity for professional development, a two days training for alumni members on ‘Asset-Based and Citizen-Driven Development’ was also organised. This training was attended by 28 members of IFPIAN.

Since its inception, IFPIAN has been helping IFP team in outreach activities for selection of new fellows and providing mentoring support to newly selected fellow-elects and fellows. Successful experience, achievements and opportunities are shared by alumni members with each-others through lively discussions and postings on an online list serve established by IFP team.

IFPIAN has also started publication of a quarterly newsletter ‘SAJAG’. IFPIAN members are collaborating with various campaigns, organizations and government agencies for their activities and interventions for social development.