Life Education and Development Support

Backdrop of LEADS

“Life Education and Development Support” (LEADS) is a voluntary non-profit organization registered under the Indian Trust Act (1882) in 2005. Our aim is to promote social inclusion and democratic governance so that the vulnerable sections of society are empowered to effectively and decisively participate in mainstream development and decision making processes. LEADS have all legal registration (including FCRA) required running the organization. LEADS was established with the purpose to create some developmental model by unfolding human potentials, which is the core element of sustainability and replicate such models with the support of Govt. and other developmental organizations. LEADS work at the field level in partnership with local civil society and people’s organizations. The collective experience, learning and insight enable us to work on knowledge building, training and advocacy. All initiatives are executed in a framework of collaboration and partnership to empower people for demanding their entitlements and enable the service providers, including the government, to deliver in a transparent and accountable manner. Since its inception, LEADS has planned to intervene at five levels:

• Intervention at community level
• Networking of likeminded organizations on issues like, Education, Livelihood, Governance, Budget Tracking, Health and Nutrition, Social Security etc.
• Issue based lobby and advocacy at community, block, district, state and national level platforms
• Research and Publication to generate evidences for pro-people policy advocacy
• Promotional and consultancy support to other developmental actors

Ideology

LEADS believe in potential of human being irrespective of caste, creed, religion and sex. Every individual has varieties of inner qualities, which can be promoted and utilized in the greater interest of humanity through appropriate life education and development support. Ensuring rights of every individual will provide ample scope for development of all sections of society, which will further help in unfolding human potentials and building confidence of poor and marginalized communities. The organization plans its intervention on the basis of its development understanding and ideology.

Core Guiding Principle

• Participatory Decision Making is Practiced from Community to organizational Level
• Decentralized structure for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of the program
• Team work within the organization with specific roles and responsibility
• Promotion of Leadership both at Community and Organizational level to ensure sustainability

Vision

To create an inclusive society where all stakeholders, particularly the vulnerable, participate with full empowerment and gain equal access to and control over services, resources and institutions. The values like mutual respect and cooperation, participation, trust and brotherhood, gender equity, peace and justice will prevail and be practiced in the society. Environment will be free from all sorts of pollution.”

Mision

Our mission is to make real the idea of a society consisting of free and equal citizens who are able to come together to solve the problems that affect them in their particular contexts. The commitment is to work for a paradigm of development and governance that is democratic and polyarchic. We seek to institutionalize the idea that development and governance should not just be left to the state and its formal bodies, such as the legislature and the bureaucracy, but that citizens and their associations should engage separately and jointly with the state.

LEADS believe in people's knowledge, skills and experience. LEADS is committed to give strategic thrust on the issues like: Empowering Tribal Community, Providing Life Education to Children and Adolescent, Women Empowerment, Livelihood Support to Poor and Marginalized, Natural Resource Promotion, Technical Skill Up Gradation for Employment Generation, Health etc. to bring appropriate changes and promote dignified life of poor and marginalized people of the society. Rights based intervention through participatory approach will be core commitment of LEADS.

General Objective

• To build collective confidence of poor and marginalized community through building/promoting the organization at community/cluster level
• To create awareness among the referral communities with regard to various issues like Child Rights, RTE Act 2009, Women Rights, Tribal Rights, Government Schemes, Livelihood options, MGNREGA, RTI, Roles and Responsibility of PRIs and Gram Sabha etc. and thereby to build their confidence
• To link the community after building their capacity for employment and income generation through various appropriate trades/institutions
• To build the capacity of grassroot organizations for policy advocacy at state level on State Budget, Education, Livelihood/Food security etc
• To conduct study for enhancing the quality of developmental interventions
• To publish issue based publications, manuals, booklets, postures, handbill etc for assisting the development actors in their interventions
• To provide consultancy services to various resource organization, CSO for ease of their operation
• To make thematic linkages with national and international advocacy initiatives
• To strengthen the local self governance at community level

Thematic Intervention of LEADS

Our Referral people

Ultra Poor, Vulnerable groups like Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Caste, Women and Children, Disable Persons etc.

Geographical Area of Operatione

LEADS is directly working in more than 1200 villages of Jharkhand, covering the districts of Khunti, West Singhbhum, Latehar, Ramgarh, Hazaribahg, Ranchi, Cakradharpur, Simdega, Saraikela Kharsawa. In addition to that, Lobby and Advocacy is taken up across the State through network interventions

Assets and Infrastructure

LEADS is directly working in more than 1200 villages of Jharkhand, covering the districts of Khunti, West Singhbhum, Latehar, Ramgarh, Hazaribahg, Ranchi, Cakradharpur, Simdega, Saraikela Kharsawa. In addition to that, Lobby and Advocacy is taken up across the State through network interventions

Human Resources of LEADS

LEADS is directly working in more than 1200 villages of Jharkhand, covering the districts of Khunti, West Singhbhum, Latehar, Ramgarh, Hazaribahg, Ranchi, Cakradharpur, Simdega, Saraikela Kharsawa. In addition to that, Lobby and Advocacy is taken up across the State through network interventions

Area Wise Interventions and Ongoing Programs

Geographical Area	Thematic Area	Coverage
Dist: Latehar Block: Mahuadanr and All blocks	Implementation of RTE Act 2009, Protection of Child Rights, Vocational Education, Farmers Club, Agriculture, Social and Financial Education	111 Village + 750 villages
Dist: Khunti Block: Murhu	Livelihood: Lac Cultivation, Agriculture, SHG Promotion, Credit Linkage, Small Business, Livestock Development, NTFP, RTE Act 2009	141 Villages
Dist: Khunti Block: Torpa	Realization of RTE Act 2009: Promotion of SMC, Child Cabinet, Institutional Building, Maternal and Child Health, Capacity Building of Stakeholders, Strengthening of Pragya Kendra, PDS, Capacity Building of Local Self Governance Institutions etc	95 Villages
Dist: West inghbhum Block: Bandgaon	Livelihood, MGNREGA, SHG promotion, Forest Dwellers Act, Participatory Planning by Community, Realization of RTE Act 2009	214 Villages
Dist: Ramgarh Block: All Blocks	Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Strengthening the Capacity Building of Child Cabinet, Teachers, Parents, Community members.	364 Villages
Dist: Ramgarh Block: Mandu	Streamlining the Ultra Poor with the Social Security Schemes, promotion of SHGs, Credit Linkage, Poverty Assessment Tool and Community Mobilization.	13 Village
Dist: Hazaribag Block: Dadi , Churchu		15 Villages
Dist: Ranchi Local Slums	Vocational training on different subjects like, Retail, Electrical, Automobile, Beautician, Fabrication etc. Lead the rural unemployed youth to different Income generating Activities (IGA), Skill Development.	30 Villages
Dist: Khunti Local Slums		12 Villages

Field Level Activity

• Promotion of Community Based Organization (CBO) in the Form of SHGs, Gram Sabha, SMC, Farmers Club etc
• Promotion of Livelihood activities through Vegetable Cultivation, Lac Cultivation and SRI, Vocational Education, Linkages with Govt. Schemes
• Promotion of Natural resources, Horticulture / Afforestation
• Mother and Child Health, Tools developed for the assessment of Anganwadi Centers for it service delivery
• Promotion of Child Education, Child Protection, Social & Financial Education
• Promotion of Swachh Bharat Mission (WASH)
• Promotion of SHGs and linkage of Ultra Poor to it for social security
• Gender Sensitization and Women Empowerment
• Technical Skill Up gradation for Employment of Rural Youths
• Rational support to community through Micro Credit/Development Initiatives

Pro People Lobby, Policy Advocacy and Network Promotion

LEADS believes that to create greater impact in favor of poor and marginalized people, CSOs needs to play a role of pro-people policy lobbyist and advocates on various issues like:

Realization of RTE Act 2009 to provide Quality Education to children

• State Budget Group formation for the analysis of budget with special reference to poor/tribal people
• State Level Displacement and Rehabilitation Policy
• Jharkhand Agricultural Policy
• Panchayati Raj and Gram Sabha in Jharkhand
• Realization of Millennium Development Goal & National Development Goal
• Realization of RTI Act at for promoting transparency at state level

LEADS is facilitating the networks in Jharkhand like Jharkhand Right to Education Forum (JRTEF), Jharkhand Primary Education Forum (JPEF), Jharkhand State Budget Group (JSBG), Jharkhand Livelihood Action Forum (JLAF), Jharkhand Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (JWNTA) by playing key roles.

Research and Publication

The human resources associated with LEADS have been doing research and issue based publications, manual preparation etc for enriching the development interventions. This work will be further reinforced to utilize the organization's professional qualities. In LEADS, there is a Publication Committee who looks after the overall publication materials with strong content. Our publications are in the form of newsletters, books, manuals, leaflets, pamphlets, posters, audio and video visuals etc.

Promotional and Professional Support

• Training on various themes like Women Empowerment, Gram Sabha and Panchayati Raj, People's Organization and SHGs, Participatory Micro Plan, Proposal Writing, MGNREGA and RTI,WASH and SBM, RTE Act 2009, Forest Dwellers Act, Organization Development, Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Participatory Strategic Planning, Fundamental Food and Tribal Rights etc are conducted by LEADS for CSOs


• LEADS has professional background and rich experience of providing consultancy/professional support to various civil society organizations, resource organizations, training institutions, networks etc in their endeavor

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