Recording

Organizers

This event was hosted by Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation and APC Project Odisha 

Background

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation (BRLF), an autonomous society under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, works to scale up civil society action in partnership with government and other stakeholders to transform the lives and livelihoods of rural communities in India. Often one finds islands of excellence led by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) but they do not find scale or integration in greater government efforts. Primarily making grants to CSOs of varying scales to cover operational and project management costs, BRLF’s key mandate is to reduce the gaps between programme outcomes and outlays. BRLF is also mandated to build capacity of CSOs across technical and organizational aspects. Under BRLF’s innovative State Partnership Model, CSOs strategically leverage programmatic resources through government schemes and provisions using an integrated approach to livelihoods through convergence of multiple government programmes. This has created a deeper connect between the CSOs and governments, better delivery of government programmes, improved perception of the government amongst the vulnerable rural communities, and better scale of impact for the CSOs.

Objectives

• To present BRLF’s experience of facilitating large-scale rural Adivasi or indigenous livelihoods across India, focusing on agency building  
• To highlight how the State Partnership Model of BRLF has innovated upon governance and finance to facilitate a multistakeholder platform for bringing together the government’s flagship programs with civil society organisations’ deep connect with rural communities 
• To generate a conversation around systems approach to livelihoods programming and the role of partnerships in achieving scale, keeping capacity building and measurement at the core of such partnerships 

Structure & Speakers

Key Outcomes

• BRLF's innovative state partnership model leverages government flagship programs through a systems approach, creating a multi-stakeholder platform to build climate-resilient livelihoods for indigenous and women communities, while fostering recognition for small and medium-scale CSOs and enabling a co-financing model.

• BRLF provides technical capacity building in water conservation, groundwater restoration, climate-resilient organic and natural farming practices, and organizational capacity building.

• BRLF emphasizes community-centric approaches, advocating for traditional indigenous knowledge systems and practices, with the active involvement of communities and support from government, CSOs, and donors as enablers.

Resources

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation presentation slides