Fighting the effects of climate change with localisation

Figthting the effects of climate change with localisation

In this podcast episode, Enikő Vass interviews Tanvi Chattoraj and Paulami de Sarkar from Terre des hommes (Tdh) India about the Local Link Initiative, which officially launched in India on May 1st. 2024. They speak about the Sundarbans, a region severely affected by climate change, and emphasize empowering children and communities through participatory methodologies and safeguarding measures.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Hello
and welcome to LocalLink Hub's podcast, ashow with local impact for global change.
LocalLink Hub is the localisation and
partnership initiativefor Terre des hommes.
We are a global online platform thatprovides free e-learning
and capacity development resourcesfor local and national actors.

(00:28):
Through this platform, Terre des hommes
aims to contribute to a powershift to localise aid,
making the provision of aidmore equal and sustainable.
This project is foundedby the Somaha Foundation.
I'm your host, Enikő Vass,
I'm the communicationsand content manager for LocalLink Hub.

(00:51):
Thank you for listening to today'sepisode with the title, Fighting
the effects ofclimate change with localisation.
Let's get started.
On LocalLink Hub podcast, we discuss
topics related topartnership and localisation.
In today's episode, I will be talking with

(01:14):
Tanvi Chattoraj, LocalLink Hub's focalpoint in India, and Paulami De Sarkar,
Child Protection Managerat Terre des hommes, India.
Tanvi is Monitoring and Evaluation Manager
in Kolkata, India, but also thefocal point of LocalLink Hub.
She joined Tdh in November 2023.

(01:38):
Before Tdh, she worked in the areas of
feminist research and advocacyand helped implement education programmes.
Paulami joined Tdh five years ago,
bringing with her extensive childprotection knowledge and expertise she

(01:58):
accumulated working at variousinternational NGOs in India.
She is the child protection programme
manager for India, but also the regionalsafeguarding focal point for Asia.
LocalLink Hub started its activitiesin India on the first of May 2024.

(02:21):
In our episode, we talk about the
importance of building the capacities oflocal organisations in the Sandarbuns,
a region severely affectedby climate change.
My guests talk about how we can empowerchildren and communities through
participatory methodologiesand safeguarding measures.

(02:45):
Hello, Tanvi.
Hello, Paulami.
It's really great tohave you on our podcast.
The reason that we are talking today is
that on the first of May, the LocalLinkinitiative started officially in India.
India.I will start with you, Tanvi.
You joined Terre des hommes in India abouta half a year ago as a MEAL officer,

(03:09):
but you are also a focal pointfor the LocalLink initiative.
So how do you settle in?
How do you feel?
Thank you so much, Enikő.
I think the experience so far has beenexciting and enriching.
Not only do I work with great people, but

(03:29):
I also strongly resonate with theethos of the organisation that I work in.
And I have worked in organisations in the
sector before, but the localisationdiscourse to me was introduced in Tdh.
And even despite it being newideologically, I would connect and
identify with it immediately,instantly, in fact.

(03:53):
And also as a focal point for safeguardingin India, what works brilliantly is that
as a delegation, India has alwaysbeen working with partners and building
capacities of partners isintrinsic to our functioning here.
I think the merging of the twohas been the easiest of possible.

(04:17):
I think when you work for something that
you really believe in, then itdoesn't feel like work so much at all.
I can relate to that.
I feel the same here at Tdh in Hungary.
In every pilot country, LocalLinkHub has few and selected partners.
And, Paulami, you work for TdhIndia for a longer time than Tanvi.

(04:41):
You are the person who knows thelocal partners really, really well.
So please, can you present briefly theselected partners for this project?
Yes.
Thank you, Enikő.
So basically Tdh has been working with a
lot of community-based organisationsand CSOs since last 8 and 9 years.

(05:05):
So we have been workingwith 35 local organisations.
And also these organisations were
selected, particularly becausethe remoteness of the geography.
Also, many of these local CSOs, they donot necessarily have the resources or
access to the city-based trainingand learning opportunities.

(05:28):
So we had worked with these organisations.
For this particular initiative, out ofthese 35 organisations, we have chosen
Barasat Unnayan Prostuti (BUP) ,and also Praajak Development Society.
So with these two organisations, Tdhchairs a long-standing partnership.

(05:49):
Both these organisation comeswith a set of expertise.
For an example, Praajak is a very renowned
organisation, particularly working in thedomain of child protection and child
rights and comes with a lot ofexpertise, particularly on gender issues.
So they can actually look atissues from a gender lens.

(06:09):
They are very strongly working,particularly with boys and men, which
often is a Very important for anysocial change and development.
Similarly, Barasat Unnayan Prostuti,they're working with the survivors of
trafficking, and they have collectivisedthe survivors of trafficking as a group

(06:30):
and empowered them to raise theirvoices and ask for their rights.
So these two organisations we haveselected, but we intend to reach out more
organisation throughthese two key partners.
What are the specific criteria that you
took into consideration whenselecting these partners?

(06:51):
So both these organisations have used
various participatory methodologies likeTdh and project, jointly co-created the
Kabaddi for Empowerment methodology, whichhas been very successful so far in
preventing early marriageand also unsafe migration.

(07:13):
With BUP, Barasat Unnayan Prostuti, theTdh has used art-based methodology, and
both these organisations are very muchdedicated to raise the voice of the
children and young people buildingleadership, which is also a focus of Tdh
in terms of resilience building,empowering the community.

(07:33):
And I think that's very much linked withthe localisation approach, because the
localisation approach talks about thisbottom-up initiatives and how we can...
Our intervention remain informed by the
skills and expertise andknowledge which is locally rooted.
So that's the reason we chose thesetwo organisations for this initiative.

(08:00):
Could you talk about what are the
specifics of the projects that you will beworking on with these selected partners?
Before I get into the project, I'd like to
explain the geography of theplace that we are working in.
We are working in Sundarbans, which weknow is largest delta region in the world,

(08:20):
and much of it falls inBangladesh as well as India.
But Sundarbans is alsofacing a huge climate crisis.
With climate change, thesea levels are rising.
It has become exceedinglyprone to disasters.
And the way Sundarbans' shapeis actually like a bowl.
So every time there is a disaster and thesea water enters into

(08:44):
the island-prone regions, the only way outis for the groundwater to stake it in,
which has increased thesalinity of the groundwater.
And it has actually changed the fabric ofthe region in terms of change in
livelihood patterns,change in agriculture.
And with that comes also increasingincidences of distress migration.

(09:09):
And we know that now the more we are
learning about the climate changediscourse, we understand that children's
vulnerabilities and threats are heightenedwith climate change,
with families adopting negativecoping mechanisms, unsafe migration.
And we are seeing all of thison the rise in Sundarbans.

(09:30):
So child marriage, child labour, child
trafficking, violence against childrenare all on the rise in the region.
This being the background, we are
specifically working in Kultali and Gosabablocks of South 24 Parganas district in
West Bengali, both of whichare disaster-prone regions.

(09:53):
And we are working primarily to increase
the child centricity inclimate change adaptation.
So the problem is also that with a lot ofclimate change adaptation mitigation
measures, we really look at children aspassive recipient of services and not
really recognising their agencyand their stakeholderships.

(10:13):
So the project reallybuilds on that premise.
And we do this by recognising the
importance of schools and localinstitutions
and how they play a very important role inproviding a space for children to
actualize their agencies andbuild their adaptive capacities.
Of course, the schools may not

(10:34):
currently have the resourcesand trainings to be able to do that.
So one of the things that we wish to dowith the project is really build the
capacities of the schools as well as otherlocal institutions to safeguard the rights
of children, offer psychosocial support,and facilitate within resilience building.

(10:56):
Also, these schools often become,
at the time of disasters, alsobecome some shelter spaces.
So it's very important that we bring intheir stakeholdership and work with them.
And using our other
participatory methodologies, we also wantto work with a collective and build a
collective of children who can advocatefor their needs and their desires in what

(11:19):
they seek from climate change adaptationand mitigation measures and really take
that forward to make policychanges and recommendations.
Yeah, just to add.
We mentioned that we also understand thatany climate change adaptation, we do not
consider that the community, they do nothave the coping and adaptive capacity.

(11:40):
They certainly, because they are there for
many, many years and they areexperiencing this constant disaster.
So in this project, we also intend to
understand the existing coping andadaptive capacity and how we can build on
to their strengths rather than introducingsomething which is not relevant for them.
So we want to design that model with the

(12:03):
communities, with the localorganisations in this project.
It's really interesting and sad at the
same time to hear that environment hassuch an impact on people's life every day.
What are the primary focus areas that do
you want to address with thehelp of LocalLink in India?

(12:30):
So we are looking at certain areas of
strengthening the capacityof the local organisations.
And these are the areas we have selectedbased on various discussions with the
local organisationsbecause these organisations, they do
receive various grant for projectimplementation, but there's very limited

(12:50):
opportunities for them to strengthen theinstitutional capacity as an organisation.
So we are particularly looking at
strengthening their capacity in terms ofmanaging their finance, building their
financial system, developingthe organisations.
Also an important focus on safeguarding
because accountability to the communityis very important and critical.

(13:15):
And it's safeguarding, it's not only about
having a policy, but having a system andbuilding that culture in the organisation.
We are also looking at supporting the
organisation that how they can manage theproject, how they can monitor and evaluate
the programmes they are implementing sothat not only for this project, but also

(13:36):
it supports the organisation to manageother projects and also raise resources
for the important work theyare doing in the region.
Also, we are looking at strengthening themental well-being of these frontline
workers in the organisation because weunderstand the challenges they face while

(13:57):
working with the vulnerable groupof children and communities.
And they also need some kind a supportmechanism established in the organisation,
which often not built in theregular grant or project.
So that is mental well-being of staffis one of the element.
And what we are looking atmapping various organisations.

(14:21):
And of course, there is Tdh has recentlydeveloped the localisationpolicy.
We want to be informed and also guidedthat policy, but we will create a
conversation and a spacewith the local organisations.
Like what localisationmeans to them, howdo they see localization, so that that

(14:41):
will also inform the donorsand external stakeholders.
And whenever we design any intervention orstrategies, the localisation framework
developed by the local organisation willinform us designing the framework which is
more appropriate andrelevant for for the region.

(15:02):
So a lot of organisational strength comesfrom the supporting network and building
these collaboration opportunities isalso one of the project's objectives.
But how do you see this happening?
One of the things that we feel that's veryexciting for us, as well as CSOs and

(15:22):
partner organisations in India, is to lookat the LocalLink Hub platform as a space
to really, yes of course, share capacitiesand share knowledge, but also advocate for
indigenous knowledge systems thatare being developed in the region.
Like Paulami just mentioned a while ago,Tdh in India, in collaboration with one of

(15:44):
our partners, Praajak, have developedthe protection methodology.
And I think that the LocalLink Hub is alsoa space where such methodologies can be
amplified to the globalaudience with due credits.
And that's somethingthat's really exciting.
Of course, there are contexts, yes, but

(16:04):
something in Hungary could be extremelyrelevant to a intervention in India.
And to have that space of collaborationfor partners across countries,
across domains through a platformis exciting and is also very enriching.
So that's also another element ofcollaboration that we look forward to.

(16:27):
And just to add that when we are looking
at collaboration,of course, we are looking at collaboration
and space among the CSOs, but also becausemany of these organisations are working
with children and young people andtraining them and young people as leaders.
So we are also looking at how we cancreate a child and youth advisory board.

(16:50):
So it's like taking it down to the at thelevel of children and young people where
they can also inform, theycan collaborate as a group.
I need to mention that also our website,
LocalLink Hub, providesa space for networking.
It's called the Membership Directory.
If our listeners are interested,they can opt in.

(17:14):
After a brief verification, they will be
listed there, and there they can contacteach other, collaborate with each other.
So as a final question, if you, let's say,you had a crystal ball to to look into the
future, how do you see the impact of thislocalisation project five years from now?

(17:41):
I think that one is certainly that in theregion where we are working in Sundarbans,
where CSOs have been present since along period and have a huge presence.
One is certainly to have a strengthened
networking and association andcollaboration between these organisations

(18:01):
and sharing the knowledge,sharing the capacities.
That's something that I see.
And the second thing is, I think a littlemore intrinsic in terms of just
organisations acrosshaving more intention meant to talk about
localisation, just people in general, anorganisation to be concerned about
localisation, to be talking aboutit, to be thinking about it.

(18:25):
So we're also working towards a discoursethat is really, as Paulami also mentioned
before, is more bottomup, is also grounded.
And I think that decisive shiftin this course is something that I
really, really hope comes through asa long term impact of the project.

(18:46):
Yeah.
And to me, I know whenever we talk aboutlocalization, we say how we shift power.
To me, I feel that at the end of the five
years, if we consider maybe they havethe power and we are not able to see it.

(19:07):
So if we try to understand that power andjust facilitate a process so that
they can share the wealth of knowledge andthe capacities, competencies.
So I think that ship and learning, I see
as five years down the line, if webe informed of the power they have.

(19:32):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your time and forthe interesting insights you provided.
And wish you both successwith this new endeavour.
I'm Enikő Vass, and you've beenlistening to a LocalLink Hub podcast.
We had help from my colleague,Judit Németh Almási.

(19:55):
Thanks to all of you for listening, andthank you, Paulami De Sarjar
and Tanvi Chattoraj, for joining metoday on this LocalLink Hub podcast.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you want to learn more about Terre des
Hommes initiative, pleasevisit our website, localink.

(20:17):
childhub.org.
If you have any comments on the episode orwant to share your thoughts
for the focus of future episodes,contact us via social media on Facebook or
LinkedIn, or email us onlocalink@childhub.
org.
Thanks for joining, and seeyou on our next episode.