ROHINI'S PROFESSIONAL LIFE

ROHINI’S PROFESSIONAL LIFE

ROHINI’S PROFESSIONAL

EXPERIENCE

APWLD Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development

Thailand Programme Officer, APWLD Secretariat 2010-2011, for both the Women in Power Programme and the Feminist Law and Practice Programme (May 2010 – May 2011)

Website www.apwld.org

APWLD is a regional network

of women’s organisations and activists

in Asia Pacific, committed to

enabling women to use law as an

instrument of social change for

equality, justice and development.

APWLD’s members are drawn from

26 countries and the secretariat is

based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Programme Officer

Women in Politics (WIP) and

Feminist Legal Training &

Practice (FLTP)

The PO worked closely with APWLD

membership; particularly the organising

committees responsible for these

programme areas, but will report

directly to the Regional Coordinator.

The main work also involved

organizing WIP and FLTP trainings,

and also assisting in the updating of

the FLTP training manuals.

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2Rohini’sProfessional

Life

Job description

THE HUNGER PROJECT New Delhi, India(July 2007 – May 2010)

Website www.thp.org/india

The Hunger Project is a non-profit,

non-government International Human

Rights Organisation working in 14

countries across the world. In India,

The Hunger Project works on gender

equity and governance. It works with

women elected to structures of local

governance (panchayat) to build their

leadership in decision-making.

Rohini’s Primary responsibility:

To Coordinate the Capacity-Building portfolio for India

Rohini would conceptualise, plan, organise and implement

Training of Trainers (ToT):

With trainers of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

and community based organisations (CBOs) on primary level

Women’s Leadership Workshops.

On thematic or need based capacity building of elected women

representatives.

On federation building of elected women representatives.

Conceptualise and prepare capacity building frameworks and modules.

Evaluate capacity building workshops with elected women representatives.

Evaluate and assess trainers from local NGOs and CBOs.

Prepare and design learning-material like handouts and workbooks used

by trainers as well as by elected women representatives.

Coordinate with trainers from across India.

Conceptualise, plan and organise capacity building for the staff of

The Hunger Project.

Other involvements in The Hunger Project:

Initiating an Anti Sexual Harassment Committee in ‘The Hunger Project’.

Managing and evaluating state programmes in three states in India.

Annual Report 2007-08 of The Hunger Project

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Life

JAGORI, Programme Associate In The Training Unit(November 2004 – June 2007)

Website www.jagori.org

JAGORI is a women’s training,

communication, documentation and

resource centre that aims at

spreading feminist consciousness

using creative media. Rohini was a

member

of the Training Unit, which

conceptualises, organises and

implements training workshops on

Gender and related issues.

As a member of the Training Unit, responsibilities included:

Conceptualising, organising, planning and implementing workshops

called the Gender Basic Courses to build a primary understanding

of gender, patriarchy, empowerment and feminism for development

activists.

Organising and planning advanced workshops called Thematic

workshops, which view specific issues like Masculinity, Law and

Globalisation with a feminist perspective.

Conceptualising, planning and implementing workshops and sessions

on the social construction of gender and related issues like sexual

harassment at the workplace and in public spaces with CBOs, NGOs,

students and faculty of Delhi University and common citizens.

Writing and designing a Trainers’ Kit for gender trainers at the

grassroots and CBO level. This kit comprises exercises for participatory

training; handouts on fundamental concepts; sectoral analyses on

patriarchal institutions and training modules for the target participants.

Documenting workshops in the form of reports.

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Other involvements in JAGORI:

Organising and conducting Safety Audits for research on

a campaign called the Safe City Campaign against Sexual

Harassment in Public Places.

Liaison with mainstream media and common citizens to spread

awareness on the issue of sexual harassment in public spaces.

Nominated as a member of a Committee against Sexual

Harassment in the Delhi School of Economics,

University of Delhi.

PRIA (Society For Participatory Research In Asia) Fatehabad, Haryana, India Program Intern(May 2003 – February 2004)

Website www.pria.org

PRIA is a Delhi based non-profit

organisation with a mission of

strengthening local self-governance

under the 73rd and 74th Constitutional

Amendment Act (CAA), an Act of

Parliament passed by the Government

of India. Rohini was assigned the task

of expanding and strengthening civil

society in the district of Fatehabad,

in the state of Haryana.

Responsibilities:

Facilitated and strengthened a local women’s

collective called Nari Network to address

and question issues of gender based violence,

inside the home and institutional violence.

Organised and implemented workshops and

sessions on Gender and related issues with

Nari Network.

Prepared a team within Nari Network to

organise and facilitate awareness-building

sessions on local governance with the women

elected representatives.

Facilitated training workshops on the 73rd

CAA and Social Development with elected

representatives in selected blocks in Fatehabad

and Faridabad districts of Haryana. This was done

in collaboration with the Haryana Institute of Rural

Development.

Liaison with the local administration in Fatehabad

to address issues of women’s rights by involving

them in workshops and sessions at the grassroots

level and encouraging a dialogue between them

and Nari Network.

Initiated a study on local governance in urban

areas (under the 74th CAA) in the small and

medium town of Fatehabad. Designed the

questionnaire and prepared a team to carry out

the study.

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Life

ROHINI’S INTERNSHIPS

MAHILA JAN ADHIKAR SAMITI (MJAS)Programme Associate

Ajmer, Rajasthan, India (2004)

MJAS is a women’s collective in the state of Rajasthan

(Ajmer) working to address the issue of gender based

violence. A research study was conducted to analyse the

participation of women in local governance under the

73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) in Rajasthan.

The results of this study were integrated into a national

document ‘Removing Fences: Building Alliances’, and

used as a resource material by the Government of India

to assess the trends and level of participation of women

elected representatives under the 73rd CAA.

‘RIGHT TO FOOD’ CAMPAIGNResearcher

Jharkhand, India (2002)

Member of the team that conducted a national study

to understand the role and effectiveness of the Public

Distribution System (PDS) vis-à-vis food security and

destitution, especially amongst the Antyodaya card

holders (those living below Below Poverty Line). The

findings of this study were presented as a Public Interest

Litigation (PIL) on food security to the Supreme Court to

demand for a Right to Food as an essential human right.

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URMUL (UTTARI RAJASTHAN MILK UNION LIMITED)

Volunteer, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India (2000)

Volunteer at URMUL is, which is a non-profit

organisation working at the grassroots on diverse

issues like education, economic support and

socio-political structures. She participated in their

interventions and submitted a report on the status

of education in a particular village she visited.

YOUNG INDIA PROJECT ANANTAPUR Volunteer, Andhra Pradesh, India (2000)

Volunteer, Young India Project, which is a non-

profit organization working in the grassroots on

land rights and economic empowerment of women.

Observed the functioning of the district and block

level unions and attended meetings

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Life

GRAM VIKAS, GANJAM Volunteer, Orissa, India

(1999)

Volunteer with Gram Vikas, a non-profit

organisation working with tribal, scheduled caste

and other marginalised communities. Observed

and participated in various activities like

indigenous construction of disaster proof housing,

small scale industries of cane and bamboo, adult

education programmes and health camps.

VIJAYA Volunteer, Orissa, India (1999)

Volunteer with Vijaya, a non-profit organisation, initiated

outreach programmes for people affected by the super

cyclone that hit Orissa in 1999. Rohini helped their team

distribute relief material like clothes, books and stationery

for children, plastic sheets for makeshift tents and seeds

to the adults. The team visited Ersama, one of the worst

affected areas in Jagatsinghpur district and Astaranga

block in Puri district.

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Documents

ROHINI'S PROFESSIONAL LIFE