When I joined Milaan as the Program Officer for Movement Building, I underestimated the significant challenge that awaited me: revitalizing and uniting a coalition network in need of consolidation.
The task at hand was not only immense but also crucial, as it involved uniting CSOs with diverse interests and expertise, which proved daunting. Given that most coalition members were familiar with me from my previous roles in the sector, I felt a sense of apprehension due to the high expectations placed upon me.
But despite the challenges, my priority was clear: UPCEG needed to function as a unified network with a clear mandate to drive lasting change in the lives of girls. I began brainstorming strategies to foster cohesion and ensure that such a diverse coalition could work together as one.
To move in that direction, I organized an activity designed to encourage members to engage with and address common issues collaboratively. This took place during the 7th State Level Workshop in Lucknow, where coalition members valued the special sessions on Juvenile Justice systems, Cyber Crime, and aligning programming with government and state commission priorities. The diverse exposure provided participating CSOs with valuable insights into working within the system, aiming to address the challenges faced by adolescent girls and to build a future where every girl has the opportunity to achieve her dreams.
The workshop was designed to enhance the collective’s knowledge about the recent changes in the juvenile system and also have a direct interaction with representatives of the Government. This gave the members a chance to discuss and share their cases related to adolescents which they were handling in their districts.
In-house sessions on developing advocacy plans and putting up presentations of the group work got the members getting involved in the different activities which took me back to my days when I first started my career as a journalist and would cover such events. Listening to the presentation on cybercrime brought back memories of reporting on the Crime Beat which gave me the first exposure to rights-based issues and violations.
The State level workshop was important as it brought together the collective expertise of a network of grassroots-level organizations working on adolescent girls focussing on rights-based issues. Through the efforts of UPCEG, girls now have access to education, protection, health, and financial empowerment.
Hearing the members sharing cases of cybercrime and cyberbullying was like filling the missing gaps of learning during my 16 long years of working in the philanthropy sector. It was a throwback to my past again when I too used to attend capacity-building workshops as a rookie activist who was eager to come back to our home districts and roll out all that we had learned to bring impactful change in the lives of children, particularly girls. The same zeal and enthusiasm were visible in the NGO partners of UPCEG most of whom were known to me during my long stint in the philanthropy sector.
The UPCEG group is the think tank that guides as part of the coalition’s work role. The state-level Workshop created exactly that space for members to meet and plan for interventions with and for adolescent girls to be truly effective in UP. Most having a good and firm grasp of grassroots realities the plans they made were to effect lasting change.
Planning and organizing the workshop at such a scale was not only successful but demonstrated once again that when multiple actors and stakeholders are united by a single vision and purpose of creating a grassroots coalition effective change can be achieved.
In UP’s context where challenges are manifold and communities heterogeneous, a coalition can unite the aspirations of those seeking change. What a single organization may struggle to achieve, a coalition can deliver powerfully, especially while dealing with local government, communities, and other powerful stakeholders.
The aim of the coalition is to build a pool of diverse organizations with different experiences and backgrounds- and pre-decided outcomes achieved by setting short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. The impact of these activities will help reach the maximum number of girls and bring lasting and meaningful change in their lives.
Here’s giving the UPCEG coalition a big thumbs up!