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.

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lecture
The future of the international climate regime

The director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation India, Michael Koeberlein, will deliver a speech at the Institute of Defence and Security Analysis (IDSA) on 15th of March at 4 pm.
The topic of his presentation will be "The future of the international climate regime".
The presentation deals with the outcome from Copenhagen COP15, the assessments and future strategies of the EU and Germany with regard to international climate policies and options for an equitable and fair climate deal.

Research Study

An India That Can Say Yes: a Climate-Responsible Development Agenda for Copenhagen and BeyondMarch 1, 2010 - The book analysis at environmental policy framing approaches within India, its priorities, challenges and opportunities. The climate change as an issue have been looked through in detail from all aspects like equity, poverty, diplomacy, policy framework, etc… The COP in Copenhagen was an important milestone in International climate Negotiations and weighing all the aspects of taking a decision, the author has proposed a way forward more»

Interview

Latest research on climate change and the Indian monsoon. An interview with Prof. Levermann (PIK)

The Q & A with Prof. Anders Levermann clarifies the disturbances in Indian monsoon phenomenon due to anthropogenic activities causing abrupt transition. Since the economy of the country is still agrarian in nature, it adversely affects the livelihoods of poor and marginal.

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Publication

HALF LIFE: Radioactive Waste in India – Nuclear Energy generation is slated to rise in the coming decades from the present 3 percent to upto 20 percent in the energy mix of India. With climate change concerns, nuclear energy is now being brought back and reconsidered as 'clean' and 'zero cost' energy. The amount of waste created will increase manifold. more»

Gender and Trade
Publication

February 11, 2010 - In search of economic alternatives: Voices from India" is a new publication from WIDE and Hbf. It is an edited collection of short essays by Indian authors on economic structures, relations and principles that are needed to serve the goals of sustainable economic and human development, poverty eradication, social justice, and empowerment of the most vulnerable segments of society: women, Taken together, the 12 essays form an agenda of alternative thinking, linking gender with other social, livelihood, and democratic concerns. more»

Policy Paper

Doubling the Damage: World Bank Climate Investment Funds Undermine Climate and Gender Justice April 2009
Based on the premise that “there will be no climate justice without gender justice,”7 and vice versa, this introductory paper takes a preliminary look at the linkages between climate change, gender justice and the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). By Anna Rooke, Gender Action more»

Article

The Current Economic and Financial Crisis: a Gender Perspective – This paper shows how the mortage debacle in the US affected not only the world economy, but also, and most seriously women and the poor. By Rania Antonopoulos, Levy Institute more»

Workshop

Free Trade Policies and Impact on Sustainable Development, Social and Gender Justice: A Case Study of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement.

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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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»

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»

Democracy and Conflict Resolution
Report

It is a Report from a one-month training programme cum field trip from 10 December 2009 to 10 January 2010, under which a batch of students from University of Madurai and University of Mumbai were sensitized to the concepts of Peace and Communal Harmony. The participants were given a theoretical training at the Centre through lectures on the subjects of Peace and Communal Harmony, Religious tolerance, Fundamental Rights of Citizens and Human Rights etc., for a period of 15 days. Following the theoretical sessions, they were taken on a field visit to Ahmedabad for 15 days to enable them meet the families of the victims of the communal violence that rocked Gujarat in February-May 2002 and study the status of rehabilitation, their lives in the rehabilitation camps/colonies and their problems.

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Publication

Gender Politics Makes a Difference - Experiences of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Across the World – 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»

International Politics
Interview

An interview with Shanthie Mariet D’Souza (Associate Fellow at IDSA) about the London international conference on Afghanistan. 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»

Article

London Conference and Pakistan March 3, 2010 - "In the post-London scenario, caution becomes even more necessary; if the international community wants to try the dialogue option, it shall have to lower the temperature by scaling down combat operations." by Imtiaz Gul more»

Article

State-building light won’t work. The path of re-constructing Afghanistan – In this commentary, former UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, discusses the outcome of the London Conference with a focus on US and German engagement in reconstructing Afghanistan. By Tom Koenigs, more»

Article

Afghanistan on the Eve of the London Conference – "Nine years after 9/11 and all the blood and treasure expended on efforts in the region, President Barack Obama told People magazine on January 11 that 'the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan remains the epicenter of al’ Qaeda, their leadership and their extremist allies.'" By Ahmed Rashid more»

Events & Newsletter

Lecture: The director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation India, Michael Koeberlein, will deliver a speech at the Institute of Defence and Security Analysis (IDSA) on 15th of March at 4 pm. The topic of his presentation will be "The future of the international climate regime".

Indian Express - Track II: Full steam ahead. Post-26/11, India and Pakistan saw a long break in formal dialogue. But there was a flurry of unofficial exchanges

Declaration of “India Pakistan Conference – A Road map towards Peace
India International Centre, New Delhi, 10th - 12th January, 2010

Workshop Report - Free Trade Policies and Impact on Sustainable Development, Social and Gender Justice: A Case Study of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement.

Gastbeitrag: Mehr Verlierer als Gewinner
Nach dem Weltklimagipfel könnte jetzt die Wirtschaft der Schrittmacher im Klimaschutz werden.
Von Michael Köberlein
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Newsletter

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