Kamla Bhasin

From April 1970 to March 1971 Bhasin was a Lecturer in the Orientation Centre of the German Foundation for Developing Countries in Bad Honnef, West Germany. Then from 1972-1975 she was the Development Secretary of Seva Mandir in Udaipur, India. Seva Mandir is a non-government organization working with the poorer segments of the population in Rajasthan, India. While with Seva Mandir, Bhasin worked directly with the rural poor (men & women) to organize agricultural, economic and educational activities for their upliftment. The main emphasis was on mobilising people for their own development. They started developing strategies for participatory development, popular education, women's empowerment, etc. In addition, they developed close contacts with other NGOs in India and became part of the NGO movement. During these four years Bhasin wrote extensively for newspapers on the rural realities and the impact of development programmes and policies on the rural poor.

From Oct.1975 to August 1979, Bhasin was the FFHC/AD Programme Officer in FAO-RAPA Bangkok, in charge of a Regional Project, "Role and Training of Change Agents," which supported NGO initiatives. Her main work during these four years was to:

1. organize regional and national workshops, participatory training programmes for field level and workers and decision makers mainly from non-governme nt organizations, people's organisations, women's groups on issues related to poverty, development, environment, gender etc.,
2. identify and create linkages between innovative innovative NGOs and their field level programmes in Asia and the Pacific.
3. to write about FFHC/AD's work in the field of training for participatory development and about the innovative activities of NGOs and people's organisations in Asia.

Since April 1979 Bhasin has been posted in FAO, New Delhi, to carry out an FAO-NGO South Asian Programme which works with and supports to NGOs, people's organisations, women's groups and poverty-oriented government programmes. The focus of this Programme now is on sustainable agriculture and women's empowerment. Her duties have been the following:

1. initiating, supporting and coordinating training programmes at regional (South Asia), national and local levels
2. helping national organizations to create and/or strengthen their own ac tion and training programmes and teams
3. supporting the organisation of/ participating in and organizing different fora, mainly for NGOs, to share ideas and experiences on issues related totraining for participatory development, people's participation, the role of de velopment workers, sustainable agriculture, gender, policies, etc.
4. helping NGOs and government agencies in South Asia to draw up and implement projects for the development of landless labour, marginal and small farmers, small fisherfolk and women, through workshops, trainings and technical support
5. mobilising funds for NGO activities from bilateral and UN agencies and NGO donors
6. functioning as an informal focal point for collecting and disseminating useful documents, audio-visuals, posters, cassettes etc. to partners in the field as well as editing and getting published booklets, books, audio visuals on issues related to sustainable agriculture and development, gender and training
7. supporting women's activities and women's groups in the region and conducting gender sensitisation workshops
8. planning and organizing exchange visits between field workers from development programmes/organizations to programmes in other Asian countries
9. creating an informal network of organizations and individuals in South Asia working with issues related to sustainable agriculture and rural development, gender, development communication, development policies, etc.
10. creating and supporting links between NGOs in South Asia and like-minded groups in other parts of the world
11. maintaining close cooperation with Northern NGO donors
12. providing NGO and gender related inputs to other FAO programmes.

Bhasin's work has involved close collaboration with U.N., government, and bilateral agencies, media, researchers, academics and others. As part of this work she has travelled extensively in Asia, specially in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. She have been able to see the work of and establish personal contacts with a large number of organisations involved in development action and reflection at different levels.

Participation in other organizations:

1. A member of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development (ACFOD) a regional NGO, since 1975 and a member of its Advisory body
2. Member of the People's Plan for the 21st Century,an Asian NGO network
3. One of the founder members and convenors of South Asian Women's Forum, an informal network of women
4. Member of the Advisory Body of ISIS-International and ISIS-WICCE two international NGOs
5. Governing Body member of the Spastic Society of Northern India, New Delhi
6. A founder member of JAGORI - Women's Resource and Training Centre, New Delhi
7. Founder member of ANKUR - Society for Alternatives in Education, New Delhi.
8. Invited as a resource person for consultations and training programmes by various UN agencies, international and regional NGOs. governments , Universities, schools etc.

Bibliography

Many of these books have been translated into Spanish and French by FAO and into various Asian languages by national organizations.

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