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Top social entrepreneurs honoured at IEF

Our Correspondent in New Delhi

On the opening day of the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2002, ten outstanding social entrepreneurs from India and Bangladesh were honoured by Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and president of the World Economic Forum and of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

Their achievements as the drivers of social change were highlighted in a special plenary called, 'Recognizing Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs.'

Over 400 participants from 25 countries along with a record number of ministerial and senior government officials from India and from abroad took part in the summit.

Each year the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship selects a group of accomplished, innovative social entrepreneurs from around the world.

Among the 60 'Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs' recognised so far, 12 come from India and Bangladesh.

"This very large number highlights the entrepreneurial activity as well as the needs in the social sector in the two countries," said Klaus Schwab. Listed below is a short description of their work: ·

Fazle Abed, represented by Erum Mariam, founded BRAC, one of the largest NGOs worldwide. This group was established in 1972 and has evolved into a large multifaceted development organisation. BRAC has disbursed more than $1 billion in microloans. ·

Its health programmes reach 10 million, its non-formal schools teach 1.2 million children, mostly girls, and it has established a number of successful enterprises to generate most of its budget. ·

Dr Raj Arole founded the Comprehensive Rural Health Project, a community-based healthcare programme for the rural poor in the state of Maharashtra, with his wife. ·

They engaged villagers in the creation of healthcare services by training local healthcare workers and helping villagers address economic, social, agricultural and health needs through self-organisation. ·

Jeroo Billimoria founded Childline India, a 24-hour hotline for children operating in 40 Indian cities. ·

The group has assisted over one million vulnerable children in need of medical assistance, protection from abuse, education, repatriation, counselling, long-term shelter and other emergency services. ·

Mirai Chatterjee is the Coordinator for the Self-Employed Women's Association, the largest union in India with more than 318,000 members. ·

Since its establishment in 1972, SEWA has increased the bargaining power, economic opportunities, health security, legal representation and organisational abilities of poor, self-employed Indian women in the informal economy. ·

Iftekhar Enayetullah and Maqsood Sinha founded Waste Concern to promote the use of 'Waste as a Resource.' Their model addresses the hindrances of waste generation and soil depletion in an integrated fashion by transforming organic waste into compost and marketing the latter as an organic fertilizer. ·

This groundbreaking process resulted in new jobs, lower fertilizer needs and the promotion of organic farming. ·

Suraiya Haque founded Phulki in 1971 and has been a pioneer in providing high-quality work-based and community-based day care for the children of women employed in factories, businesses and government offices in Bangladesh. ·

While demonstrating to the private sector that day care increases worker satisfaction and productivity in the workplace, Haque is also working to establish child care as a legal right in Bangladesh. ·

Joe Madiath founded Gram Vikas in Orissa to help thousands of villagers organize themselves to address a wide range of social and health problems. ·

Madiath's goal is to improve living conditions in villages by increasing local economic options and restoring dignity to marginalized populations to reverse the trend of villagers departing for urban slums as a result of limited opportunities. ·

Roy Prosterman founded the Rural Development Institute, a non-profit organisation composed of land law and policy experts that helps poor farmers in developing countries gain ownership of land, thus alleviating poverty on a massive scale. ·

RDI enters countries at the request of government or international agencies when opportunities for reform are ripe. ·

It interacts with local farmers, studies laws and consults with government officials, then recommends enforceable and politically viable reforms. After mapping out land reforms in the Philippines and Central America, RDI is now working extensively in India. ·

Saidur M. Rahman, founder of the Social Standard Working Group, a business consortium, is working to disseminate workplace innovations throughout Bangladesh's garment sector. ·

Rahman has introduced worker benefits in healthcare, children's education, family planning, day care, savings schemes, purchasing discounts and the development of social awareness. ·

Saidur Rahman also founded the Disaster Preparedness Centre.

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