One of our earliest learnings at Ambuja Foundation, was that to tackle poverty in rural India, we needed to build the livelihood capabilities of rural people.

Rural women are key agents for development, yet in India, there remains a large, latent potential in the country's women - particularly in rural areas. However, many communities are finding ways to tap this latent potential to enable 'last mile reach' in remote, rural communities for various community services - in particular, healthcare.

The 2019/20 Annual Report was launched in September, highlighting the achievements of the Foundation over the last 12months, and once again an e-version of the report was distributed online to all key stakeholders.

Women's role in India has typically been limited to 'the home' thanks to a patriarchal society and a 'permission culture' which, according to an IDHS survey, sees 79.9% of women having to ask for permission from a male family member to seek medical care, and 58% of women reporting that they needed permission to visit the local kirana (grocery store)

Anagha Mahajani - GM, Program Research & Monitoring at Ambuja Foundation has over 25 years' experience in the development sector and is a qualified management and research practitioner with publications to her credit.

Dairy plays a crucial role in the rural economy of the country with high potential to generate income and employment.

Ambuja Foundation has worked with communities of Chandrapur, Ambujanagar, Nadi Kudi to install water systems which distribute water equitably in the communities whilst maintaining both quality and quantity.

Here's how 325 landless women labourers from Ropar district are earning an additional income during this lockdown period

With the outbreak of Covid-19 virus and subsequent lockdown across the entire country, daily wage earners have been struggling to survive, with many facing starvation.

Women from Sorath Mahila Federation have come together to prepare 1200 ration kits for the deprived communities in Kodinar District of Gujarat. Each ration kit includes 7 kgs of wheat, 2.5 kgs of rice, 1 kg of oil and 2.5 kgs of potatoes and is enough to last a family for 4 weeks.

Predominantly involved in inter-lending and in providing community support, Self-Help Groups in Ambuja Foundation's core villages are now also playing a role in fighting COVID-19 - by making face Masks!

Ambuja Foundation works with over 144 Sakhis across locations, and today they are playing a major role working closely with the village health authorities in restricting the entry of COVID19 into the villages we work in. Ambuja Foundation spoke with two Sakhis from Farakka, West Bengal, who are working rigorously to curb the virus.