This blog is a personal means of learning about and promoting the Millennium Development Goals. It is admittedly small and meager compared to many but I believe that we need many more small voices speaking up about these efforts and so have no problem with being a slacktivist. I also get a certain satisfaction out of creating these posts. I do often though get to interact with others who are doing more and Taking a Step Beyond - Personal efforts in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. As usual, this post complies data from different sources and provides links to hopefully provide a helpful source of information of this effort.
One such person and one of my online friends doing more is Susanta Biswas, an internationally recognized documentary maker (Homepage) who hails from Kolkata, India.
I can't show you one of his films but the slide show below will give you a taste of his work.
He started off documenting the blight of the less fortunate. Now he is taking another step. One of his more recent endeavors is the founding of the Krishnaa Human Initiatives (KHI), a Citizen Sector Organization founded in memory of (Smt.) Krishna Biswas who dedicated herself to progressive movements for the welfare of women and society. According to their website,
"KHI works with the grassroots-level organizations working directly with and for the underprivileged. It aims to play a significant role in augmentation of livelihood opportunities for the people at grass root level which leads to sustainable future. The Organization is registered under The West Bengal Societies Registration Act XXVI of 1961."Taking advantage of freely available social media tools, he has also created a new
Generate rural income by managing Natural Resources 
on Facebook which at last count had reached 66 members. Through this and other online venues, he is promoting an upcoming seminar in his country.Krishnaa Human Initiatives (KHI) works to explore various possibilities of managing Natural Resources to play significant role in Rural Development. It is going to organize an important seminar in Kolkata on Rural Development. Eminent speakers from relevant fields have given their consent to participate in the discussion. The Citizen Sector Organization aims to play a significant role in augmentation of livelihood opportunities of the people at grass root level.The Krishnaa Human Initiatives (KHI), seminar in Kolkata on the “Significance of Natural Resource Management in Rural Development” will be taking place at Jivanananda Sabhaghar at Paschimbanga Bangla Academy, 1/1 A.J.C.Bose Road, Kolkata-700 020 on Friday, August 6, 2010. The discussion may lead to explore livelihood opportunities for the rural poor through natural resources.
Renowned Physicist Prof. Bikash Chandra Sinha {Padma Shri Award Winner 2001}, 2010 Padma Bhusan Award Winner, presently the Homi Bhaba Chair Professor of the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre will be the Chief Guest Speaker of the seminar. Shri Sailesh Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Padma Bhusan, Member of Khadi & Village Industries Commission will preside over the function. Prof Ashoke Nath Basu, Former Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University will participate in the seminar. As will eminent speakers from relevant fields representing , Ramakrishna Mission Shilpamandira, Vivekananda Institute of Bio-technology, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and Exide Industries.
This is of particular interest to me because what Dr. Jeffrey Sachs calls the on-the-ground solutions to the Millennium Development Goals will come from efforts like this. While I fully support the work of the United Nations and their many organizations such as UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO and others, it will be hundreds of efforts such as this that will make the true difference in people's lives. Because of the World Wide Web we can share the lessons learned across the globe. It is my hope that they not only share what they learn with others of similar passions on the web, but they are also able to share it with the ongoing 2015 End Poverty Millennium Campaign and contribute what they solutions they are finding in their part of the world. My latest effort is trying to create sites where this could be possible at Bloggers Unite Make Noise for the Millennium Development Goals and Make NOISE for the MDGs on Grou.ps, both of which are still evolving.
Here are some other issues the KHI is working to address. What is noticeable is that they can all be included, either directly or indirectly, under the purview of the Millennium Development Goals either as issues to be addressed or means of finding solutions.
- To acquire, establish, start, aid, run, maintain or manage educational institutes, libraries for the benefit of the public.
- To arrange and organize lectures, debates, discussions, seminars & excursions for the diffusion of knowledge.
- To publish or cause to be published useful literatures, magazines etc. without profit motive.
- To promote and encourage advancement of literary, cultural, political, religious & scientific education.
- To help the needy students of all communities for prosecution of studies.
- To collect and preserve manuscripts, painting, sculptures, works of art, antiquities, natural history specimens, mechanical and scientific instruments and designs.
- To help the aged, sick, helpless and indigent persons.
- To alleviate the sufferings of animals or other living creatures as may be deemed appropriate.
- To help to organize self-help group based programs for augmentation of the livelihood opportunities of the people at the grass root level as being beneficial to the public or to a section of public.
- To fight against exploitation, injustice and corruption if found against any individual, class, community in the society.
- To work for uplifting the status of women in the society. To work against female circumcision and to fight against the victimization of girl / women by anybody in the society on female circumcision or any other related issues.
- To propagate the need for tree plantation / pollution control and environmental awareness.
- To help and generate training program for self-employment of women and educated unemployed people and to work for adult education.
- To create the means for providing medical assistance to the people suffering from diseases, especially for helpless people.
- To provide help under health & nutrition services for women and children.
- To promote rural industrialization including cluster development and Khadi
- To promote entrepreneurs
- To provide technical assistance and consultancy
- To perform research and development as well as sharing science and technology
- To provide help to people suffering from Natural calamities such as flood, Earthquakes etc.
- To provide free legal advice to poor people.
