Welcome to the website of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung - India office
Introducation
The face of the India programme was carved out of its concern for various forms of prejudice, discrimination, exclusion, and violence amplified especially between diverse ethnic, communal and religious groups within India; the South Asian contours of globalization; the neglect of environmental concerns given the increasing pace of climate change; and the challenges to India’s democracy that lacks truly an emancipatory and participatory component.

Imperative to all programmes and projects of the Foundation is a commitment to gender justice and equality. Gender democracy is an overarching and crosscutting issue being mainstreamed in all activities and approaches.

National conferences and political campaigns on many critical issues, as well as active engagement with the international community on Global and South Asian experiences of democracy and inclusion have been key tools of political education to face political challenges. HBF India’s encouragement of new forms of civil society assertions has been significant in this light.

Our overall approach is to (a) generate opportunities of sharing, analysing and learning among formations of civil society (b) engaging in independent and critical analysis of societal trends and issues (c) enabling dialogue across varied perspectives, sectors and institutions of the concerned stakeholders.

January 27, 2010 - India along with other countries forming together BASIC group supported developed countries move to clinch a deal leaving vulnerable and poor countries aside. The outcome was ‘Copenhagen Accord’ that were criticised widely in terms of low ambition. Praful shares his analysis on role of India in such move. By Praful Bidwai more»

Copenhagen Climate Accord or Discord? – The Copenhagen Accord and its ‘Noting’ by COP decided in last hours of COP 15 raises many questions on legal status of Accord and its implications on status of future negotiations. The document is a reaction from a legal expert on UN decisions. Professor Dr. Bharat H. Desai* more»

PUBLICATION

Climate Change and the Right to FoodThis study highlights how the climate change regime and the human rights regime addressing the right to food have failed to coordinate their agendas and to collaborate to each other’s mutual benefit. It proposes concrete methods by which institutions can address climate change problems and realize the right to food symbiotically, in compliance with the principles of systemic integration under international law. more»

Publication

Climate Change Violates Human RightsIt is mainly the inhabitants of the global South who suffer from the effects of climate change. This publication uses case examples to illustrate the dangers faced by indigenous peoples in particular, as well as the tools the UN human rights system gives them to support their struggle for just climate policies. By Theodor Rathgeber more»

Magazine

Böll.Thema Number 2/2009 - Climate Change and Justice – Copenhagen must lead to a breakthrough. The industrial countries bear double responsibility: not only do they need to take reducing their own CO2 emissions seriously, they are also called upon for the substantial financial and technological transfers needed to put developing and newly industrialized countries onto low-carbon development paths. more»

Publication

Green Solutions to the Auto Crisis - From Auto Makers to Mobility Service ProvidersThe current automotive crisis is not merely the result of an economic downturn, but has revealed structural flaws within the industry itself. This strategy paper analyzes the current crisis and outlines a vision of the “mobility products of the future”. By Weert Canzler and Andreas Knie more»

Interview

What special threat does Bangladesh face from global warming – The 21st century is expected to see warming more quickly than at any time in the past 10,000 years due to many anthropogenic activities, which will affect the fundamentals of human life, including food, water, health, fodders and fuel. It seems that we cannot prevent climate change. more»

Interview

At least we don't subsidize the car industry but public busesAn interview with Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), on India's climate policy and its international and national context. By Sven Hansen more»

Gender and Trade
Workshop

At the end of August India’s new Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 entered into force. The new Foreign Trade Policy lays out ambitious objectives in times of the challenging worldwide economic, food, fuel and climate crises. Commerce Minister Sharma states “We would like to achieve an annual export growth of 15% over 2010-11 with an annual export target of $200 billion by March 2011.

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Book

The Global Food Challenge, Towards a Human Right s Approach to Trade and Investment Policies – This is a synthesis of a conference held in Geneva in November 2008. It was called “The Global Food Challenge – Finding New Approaches to Trade and Investment that Support the Right to Food”. more»

Study

Trade Liberalisation, Gender Equality, Policy Space: the case of the contested EU-India FTA In the context of the multidimensional crises and the restructuring of economic and political power relations, a fresh look at trade policies between the EU and India and at the nexus of social justice, gender, development and trade is necessary. Christa Wichterich and Kalyani Menon-Sen explore social and gender justice dimensions of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations. more»

Memo

The EU-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations: Gender and social justice concerns. – The EU-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations: Gender and social justice concerns. A memo for Members of the European Parliament. Written by Laura Paulus, it intends to inform the new Members of European Parliament (MEPs) about the state of play of the EU-India FTA negotiations and highlights critical concerns in relation to gender, social and sustainable objectives. more»

Interview

On the EU-Indo Free Trade Agreement and its impact on gender issuesGlobalization and trade liberalisation affect group of individuals differently including men and women as separate groups.An interview with Amarendra Khatua, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce and Chair Steering Committee on Gender and Trade more»

Interview

Presently, FTAs or any other trade policy instruments are gender ignorant. – The following an interviews with Dr Shahid Ahmed, Senior Economist earlier with United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – India. It raises questions of gender justice in trade. more»

Democracy and Conflict Resolution
Publication

Politics can only succeed when it is inclusive of all genders. Gender justice is an ambitious goal, one that the Heinrich Böll Foundation is pursuing together with many different allies worldwide. This publication gives an overview of their work. more»

Book

Roadmap to 1325The UN resolution 1325 It could be a milestone for gender-equitable security policy. This volume contributes to filling the gap in knowledge about approaches both to gender-sensitive peace and security policy. Edited by the Gunda-Werner-Institut. more»

Publication

Women in Electoral Politics – Although women from almost 50% of the country’s population, their representation in the Parliament and State Legislatures has been depressingly low even after sixty years of Independence. So is the case with Maharashtra, one of the states in the forefront of Indian politics since the days of freedom struggle. The aim of the project is to study the status of political participation of women in Maharashtra and ascertain the reasons for the inability of the State’s women to enter the legislative Assembly in more numbers than at present. The inquiry also proposes to look into the present status of the All Women parties that were launched earlier. The study also touches on the socio-economic background of some of the women who could make it to the Assembly in the past and what criteria are followed by the political parties in selecting their women candidates. more»

Research Paper

Government of India’s Northeast policy – The incessant conflict scenario in the Northeast seems to be far away from the “mainland” of India, not only from the geographical perspective, but also from the notion of how it is perceived. To engage in the region is a great challenge for the Central Government of India (GoI), as well as a necessity. Therefore, this paper aims at reviewing the Central Government involvement in the Northeast. However, due to the scope of the paper it will focus only on particular aspects of those broad and complex issues surrounding the North Eastern Region (NER) By Anne-Sophie Maier more»

Opinion

Theory of War and Peace in Islam – Islam has been much maligned today as religion of war, not peace and compassion. The acts of terrorism on the part of some international terrorist groups who indulge in needless and wanton killing has further aggravated this image in the contemporary world. This articlediscusses the theory of war and peace in the Qur’an so that such misunderstandings could be clear. Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»

International Politics
Publication

This publication is designed to provide a differentiated view of Pakistan’s complex political processes and social challenges to a broad international audience. Authors from a variety of disciplines present their analyses of Pakistan’s deficits and shortcomings, as well as their ideas and visions for a more democratic and peaceful future. more»

CONFERENCE

India - Pakistan Conference: A Road Map towards PeaceIndiaand Pakistan constitute a volatile region of Asia. Distrust, suspicion and hostility has flared into wars and conflict on occasion, and kept relations between the two countries simmering even in the best of times.  Ten organisations are part of this initiative: ANHAD, Centre for Policy Analysis, COVA, Focus on the Global South, India; Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, Peace Mumbai, SAHR, SANGAT, and SAPA. more»

The Impact of the Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal on the NPT and the Global Climate RegimeThe climate and the non-proliferation regimes are crucial to protect our world from the two potential crises of catastrophic climate change and nuclear war. Promoting nuclear power will weaken these regimes, make nuclear war more likely, and is unlikely to protect us from climate change. It is time to move away from nuclear power towards more sustainable ways of generating electricity By M. V. Ramana more»

Publication

Questioning Globalization – Originating from the association with the Heinrich Böll Foundation Asia-Europe Dialogue project Kavaljit Singh's Questioning Globalisation is a critical analysis of the motivations and ulterior goals which accept certain global developments in the name of an essential reactionary agenda responding to the forces of globalisation.With the help of case studies, statistical data and cogent analysis, the book debunks several myths associated with the globalization process. Kavaljit is Founder-Director of the Delhi-based Public Interest Research Centre. more»