OBJECTIVE
The objective of this Initiative was to develop creative learning processes that enabled activists to broaden their understanding and network with each other.

STRATEGIES
Conceptualizing and conducting thematic exchange programs and study tours for social change makers
Creating background resource materials that relate to the exchange programs and study tours

CREATING AND STRENGTHENING LINKS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND ADVOCACY FOR YOUTH
Palestine, Egypt, Kenya-India 2004 - 2007

This exchange program was inspired by the cross-cultural links that exist in young people’s community development and advocacy efforts. In 2004 – 2005 the participants were young leaders from Palestine, Egypt and Kenya, and in 2006 – 2007, young leaders from India, Palestine and Egypt, who work in community development and advocacy on issues that affect young people.

The program emphasized the importance of including issues of gender, sexuality, and rights into programs that work with young people. CREA also aimed to enhance participants’ abilities to influence youth policy and change at different levels. Participants broadened their expertise and knowledge of issues that affect young people and developed their organizational and programmatic skills to create innovative approaches for working on issues of young people.

To strengthen the process of learning initiated through the exchange program, in 2006 – 2007 CREA introduced an internship program for past participants from Egypt and Palestine. The program brought three interns to India for one month each to work with CREA and other organizations on issues of gender, sexuality and young people’s rights. 

In November 2007, CREA organized a three-day training workshop on gender, sexuality and rights in Egypt for development workers from Egypt and Palestine on the suggestion of past participants of the exchange programs. This workshop objective was to build understanding on issues related to gender and sexuality; how these are linked to human rights related to health, education, livelihood, housing, safety and security; how these may be basis for discrimination and violence; what implications these have for work on human rights; and how this understanding can be incorporated in community development work.

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The main objective of this two-part exchange program was to draw attention to the neglected field of young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in India and Nigeria through a cross-learning strategy. The exchanges created and fostered links between organizations and individuals; enhanced the capacities of individuals and organizations to address sexual and reproductive health issues of young people; identified culturally appropriate means of promoting positive sexual and reproductive health for young people. The programs focused on information exchange and experiential learning; revealing the intersections of class, caste, gender, policy, race and sexual orientation, and the impact on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young persons.

Participants: Individuals from development organizations working on issues of young people’s reproductive and sexual health. Nigeria - Action Health Incorporated, International Center for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Girls’ Power Initiative, Adolescent Health and Information Project, and the Federal Ministry of Health and Safe Motherhood India - CHETNA, Point of View, Sangath Center for Child Development and Family Guidance, Swasthya Trust, MAMTA, The Concerned for Working Children, Indian Institute of Young Inspirers, CREA and Naz Foundation.

Learning from Each Other: Pushing Forward the Field of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in India and Nigeria 
This report recounts the exchange visits and highlights critical issues concerning young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in India - Working Paper December 2005 
This working paper attempts to understand the complexities of advocating for the rights of young people, such as the problems that arise in defining the population, and the state of government policy on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights.

In addition, a booklet on facts concerning young people’s reproductive and sexual health and rights in India will be published.

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STUDY TOUR ON GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Nepal-India 2004

CREA organized a study tour for a delegation from the Ministry of Health, Nepal to visit India. The objective was to give the visiting delegation opportunities to examine the links between gender, violence and health and to understand community responses in India to issues related to gender-based violence. In Nepal, non-governmental organizations engage with issues of violence against women, but with no involvement from the Ministry of Health. This study tour aimed to equip the participants to conceptualize, formulate and implement program interventions and policies on violence against women; and build partnerships with non-governmental organizations in their own country.

Participants: The Nepalese delegation included three senior officials from the Family Health Division of the Ministry and the public health administration, and a head nurse from a government hospital.

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STUDY TOUR ON GENDER BASED VIOLENCE FOR MYANMAR POLICY MAKERS
Myanmar – India, 2003

This study tour organized by CREA on the request of the World Health Organization was an opportunity for Myanmar government officials to examine the links between health and violence, meet with government institutions like the National and State Commissions for Women in New Delhi. The objective of the tour was to learn about community responses to gender based violence.

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ENHANCING CAPACITY AND BUILDING LEADERSHIP TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Tajikistan-India 2002-2003

Through technical assistance and intensive training on counselling, gender violence, reproductive health, community organizing and women’s rights, this program aimed at building the capacities of women leaders in not-for-profit organizations in Tajikistan to address violence against women. Members from CARE Tajikistan and three other NGOs came to India to meet organizations working on issues of violence against women. Following the visit to India, CREA organized for three Indian practitioners working on issues of violence against women to each spend a month in Tajikistan during which they conducted trainings on counselling and violence against women for CARE Tajikistan and other NGOs.

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DIFFERENT WEAVES COMMON THREADS: EXPLORING ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES
U.S.A - India 2002

CREA brought to India members of INCITE!, a U.S.A. based organization of radical feminists of color working to end violence against women of color and their communities through direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots organizing. The aim of the visit was to examine organizational processes in social movements working on issues of violence against women. The eight INCITE! members, who were of Indian, Cherokee, Asia Pacific island, Mexican and Iranian origins, met with various individuals, organizations and networks working on issues of violence against women in India.

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BUILDING YOUTH LEADERSHIP
India-U.S.A. 2002 | U.S.A.-India 2002

This two-part exchange program was designed by CREA, in collaboration with the U.S. based Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, for young people in India working on young people’s programs to meet, share experiences and network with similar organizations and individuals in the U.S. Through the exchange, participants learned how organizations in both countries work with young people to develop leadership and to get them actively involved as members of civil society; gained an understanding of social movements and their impact on young people; and examined issues of gender, health, sexuality and livelihoods that arise in community based work.

India-U.S.A.: For two weeks in April 2002, people working with youth in India visited relevant groups in Washington D.C, the Hopi Reservation and Denver, Colorado. The Indian participants were from Pravah, New Delhi; Dreamcatcher's Foundation, Mumbai; Chizami Women's Collective, Nagaland; Akshara, Mumbai; and CREA.

U.S.A.-India: In November 2002, activists working with The Innovation Center visited Delhi and Mumbai where they met with organizations working on a range of issues including juvenile justice, volunteerism, sexuality, health and livelihoods, as well as with members of youth led organizations. Some of the groups the participants visited were Pravah, Action India, Talking about Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues (TARSHI), and Karm Marg in Delhi; and Childline, Akshara and Dreamcatcher’s Foundation in Bombay. In Delhi and Nagaland, members of the Innovation Center organized a training on community development. Participants who attended the training in Delhi included staff from Sangini, PRISM, TARSHI, We for Yamuna, Action India and CREA. The training in Nagaland was organized for members of the Chizami Women’s Collective.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE STUDY TOUR
U.S.A.-India 2002

CREA organized a visit by eight members of The Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative for Social and Economic Justice (SBRWI) to India. This initiative covers the three states of Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia, three of the richest states in natural resources and with some of the country’s poorest women. The SBRWI is designed – collectively, individually, and as communities – to come together to address economic, civil, political and human rights of southern rural black women. The visit was designed to introduce the members of the SRBWI to issues of economic and social justice in India.

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ADDRESSING DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Bangladesh, India and Nepal-U.S.A. 2001 and 2002

In a collaborative effort with the U.S. based Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), CREA implemented a 10-day study tour over two years, to enhance the leadership capacities of young South Asian women activists from India, Nepal & Pakistan, working on issues related to domestic violence. This exchange program enabled participants for the first time to visit organizations in the U.S. to observe first hand new models and strategies currently being utilized to prevent domestic violence. It was hoped that these intervention strategies would provide insights for incorporating new strategies into the ongoing programs of their respective organizations & communities. Based on their experiences, participants developed short-term action plans to implement new prevention strategies on the ground.

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HEALTH SECTOR RESPONSES TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Vietnam-India 2001

CREA implemented a study mission for a group of health professionals including policy makers and community based service providers from Vietnam to learn about the responses of the health sector to violence against women in India. The weeklong program focused on theoretical learning and site visits to government and non-government interventions in this sector with the final aim of developing a plan for implementing activities in Vietnam to address gender-based violence. The study mission focused on studying the steps to establishing India’s first One Stop Crisis Center for Women in a public health hospital in Mumbai.