Page 8 - TRIF Annual Report 2021

with agility in helping rural communities
Dr. Sanjiv Phansalkar
For us at the Transforming
Rural India Foundation, it was
a year of gratitude, and a
reckoning to move forward
with agility in helping rural
communities tackle the
imperatives brought forward
by the pandemic.
08 TRANSFORMING RURAL INDIA FOUNDATION
support, aid to Migrants, deepening of local
Chairperson's
Message
Dear Friends
As we reflect on the year that has gone by, we
move forward with gratitude and humility,
guided by a clear strategic vision to deepen our
impact and reaffirm our purpose. I am pleased
to present our 5th annual report for your
perusal.
The year 2020 was like no other. The pandemic
impacted us all in unimaginable ways, and
exacerbated the inequities that exist in the
society. The vulnerable and the marginalized
communities were struck the hardest,
suffering not only loss of lives, but income and
livelihood, while also facing the burden of
infrastructural deficits. The same year,
however, also saw the coming together of
citizens, communities, and organizations to
protect their own, and also going above and
beyond to address the common challenges
facing the country. For us at the Transforming
Rural India Foundation, it was a year of
gratitude, and a reckoning to move forward
tackle the imperatives brought forward by
the pandemic. Our teams were at the at the
forefront of the COVID-19 response that
ranged from providing relief, to ensuring
the continuity of services across health and
education, to re-establishing the economic
cycle and restoring livelihood
opportunities. We were fortunate to garner
invaluable support from our donors, new
and existing, for the entire range of
interventions. We are grateful for their
generosity and their belief in our ability to
deliver. With their assistance, we were also
able to mobilize institutional resources to
support our colleagues and their families
during the difficult times of the pandemic.
We learned many lessons from the past
year. In the areas where we helped, our
teams witnessed the rise of the community
champions, and a growing wave of
empowered groups of women shouldering
non-household responsibilities and care
work during the pandemic. This affirmed
our belief that TRIF’s focus on
community-led, multi-thematic
engagement has created pathways for
galvanizing action for a larger impact. The
processes and protocols developed as part
of these engagements have systematically
cultivated confidence, and nurtured the
communities to take charge of their
development. The past year gave us a
glimpse of the very foundation that was
created - atop the evolving context of
massive social mobilization of women
under National Rural Livelihood Mission,
complemented by the growing leadership
of the Panchayati Raj Institutions. During
the year 2020-2021, we also expanded our
footprint through new programs. The
programs were spread across COVID-19
democracy, and livelihood interventions.
Our engagement with the National Health
Mission in Jharkhand for strengthening
health care systems has been instrumental
in the prevention and management of
COVID-19, as well as in the integration of
public service delivery of Health &
Nutrition. TRIF is deepening its engagement
with the State Health Mission through a
partnership on reducing the burden of
Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD),
specifically cervical cancer, in the coming
year. Further, as anchor partner to the
Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN),
a multi stakeholder initiative for the youth
that was launched last year, we saw
significant engagement in the development
of the local eco-system for systematically
creating dignified and sustainable
entrepreneurship and employment
pathways for the Youth. As TRIF completed
five years since the India inception, we took
time out to look back, reflect, and pivot as
we ‘look ahead’ at the developmental
landscape in the coming years. We
undertook a thorough Quinquennial Review
(QQR) and engaged our partners, staff,
development professionals, mentors, and
advisors for developing a point of view on
the strategic choices to be made, and
pivoted an emergent theory of change as
our response to navigate the changed
landscape. In this year's report, we bring to
you learnings from our programs, areas of
synergies with the Government systems
and glimpses of the innovations launched
in the past year. We thank all those who
continue to stand by us, inspire us, and
help us in achieving this shared vision of
transforming rural India.
ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021 09