Posted: 15/03/2011
I am greatly privileged to welcome all of you to our event this evening, as we launch this flagship programme to support the aspirations of Delhi’s urban poor, honour the achievements of these amazing children, and celebrate the dawning of a new India Australia Partnership.
India and Australia have had a longstanding and fruitful relationship. In recent years there has been a growing consensus between the two countries that we must stand together to act on global developmental issues. One of our most powerful commitments to bilateral cooperation is in the area of education. In 2010, the Hon’ble Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Kapil Sibal and the then Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon’ble Julia Gillard, affirmed their pledge to expand collaboration in education, training and research through the Education Exchange Program between Australia and India.
I am so happy today that Asha, the Australia India Institute and the University of Melbourne’s Nossal Insitute for Global Health are able to build on this splendid foundation. ‘A New India Australia Partnership’ is a flagship programme designed to address the many challenges arising from the rapid expansion of India’s urban population. In its mission and action plan, it also represents a truly 21st century partnership. Asha embraces the opportunity to join hands with Australia India Institute and the Nossal Institute as together we face the many problems present in modern urban India.
For the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population is living in urban areas, and this population continues to grow. This rapid increase of people living in cities is one of the most important global issues of the 21st century. Cities, with their concentration of culture, infrastructure, and institutions, have long driven the progress of civilization, and have been the focus of opportunity and prosperity.
Cities can therefore be places of inclusion and participation, but they can also be places of exclusion and marginalization. The UN estimates that the number of people in the world living in slums passed 1 billion in 2007. It also estimates that 20% of the world’s slum dwellers reside in India. The residents are disadvantaged in nearly every conceivable way, suffering from numerous health, environmental, social and political problems. The Underfive Mortality Rate in Delhi slums at 149 is among the highest in the world.
Although access to education is greater in cities than in rural areas, economic, social and cultural barriers continue to deny slum children the opportunities for education. The unequal access to primary education greatly intensifies at higher levels of education, and this restricts the physical and intellectual potential of millions of urban poor children. They end up working in the urban informal sector which is characterized by job insecurity, low wages and dangerous work. They are then automatically excluded from a wide range of outcomes associated with economic growth and globalization.
This urban divide between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ can produce social instability, high social and economic costs for our cities, and threaten the long term growth of our nation. Working to eliminate the causes and effects of poverty of those in our city’s slums has been the focus of my career and the passion of my life.
The Asha Model of Urban Development that has been established over the last 22 years, has shown that slums can attain sustainable poverty reduction through community based programmes of healthcare, access to education opportunities, financial inclusion, women’s empowerment, improved access to safe water and sanitation, and safe and healthy shelter through land tenure reform. This intersectoral approach is one of the primary reasons for its success, and has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the Child Mortality Rate from 149 to 28.
Another important aspect is that Asha acknowledges that in order for a community to develop, it must first function like a community. Few urban poor settings in the world are homogenous. In most, the residents clash over lack of resources and cultural differences. But by community activism and empowerment, you can instill a shared sense of purpose and community ownership. This is what we have done in Asha slums. And this is something that Asha can offer both the Developing and the Developed world, in a sort of Reverse Development, if you like. This idea that community values and social functionality can inspire new solutions to modern problems is a standout feature of 21st century partnerships, like the one we are building here today. Future Development will not just be the one way transfer of aid from the Developed world to the poorer nations. It will be about mutual exchange and understanding; the sharing of knowledge and ideas.
The 400 Asha slum children, many of whom are seated here today, who have found places at Delhi University and other prestigious colleges, are a wonderful testament to what can be achieved through hard work and determination, with the right kind of help and support. They have struggled against enormous odds such as huge financial obstacles, the debilitating slum environment, and absolutely no role models. Most of them are the first in their families, their entire villages or slum communities to go University.
I am happy to let you know that this flagship programme will, among other things, support a scale-up of Asha’s higher education programme, which aims to send 5000 slum children to University in the next 5 years. As our slum children become well educated, they will contribute significantly to enhanced economic productivity, will yield enormous intergenerational gains and become a major asset to our nation. The education of girls in particular, will yield powerful poverty- reducing synergies.
In addition, Asha, Australia India Institute and the Nossal Institute will initiate an integrated programme of research on effective models of reducing urban health inequities. These results will assist policy makers, service providers and funding bodies both in India and Australia to adopt clear policy and programming goals. We are extremely excited that this research will also create opportunities for Australian researchers and students to study urban inequity interventions at Asha, enhancing the intellectual and cultural enrichment of Australian university students and staff. All of these actions, through the medium of education, will contribute to the progress of Australia and India’s broader knowledge partnership, which has been endorsed in 2009 by the prime ministers of both countries.
I pay my tribute to Hon Mr. Sibal for his visionary leadership that has brought about so many historic and momentous achievements in our country. I congratulate you, sir on the revolutionary Right to Education Act and I thank you for your commitment to promoting the discourse and practice of higher education among the impoverished children of the slums. It is my hope that your goodwill and support will be available to us all as we seek to implement this partnership. We appeal to the Government to scale-up and replicate these programmes, so that they might, one day soon, benefit not only 5000, but millions of slum children in our country.
I am so grateful for the presence of Hon. Alex Chernov this evening. As Chancellor of Melbourne University and Chairman of Australia India Institute, he has been a champion of justice and learning in Australia and internationally, and a leader on strengthening India Australia relationships. To all those from the Australia India Institute and the Nossal Institute, thank you all for your hard work in developing this programme and for being with us tonight. I look forward to a long working relationship. I am also indebted to our honoured guests from the Australian High Commission and Delhi University, who have shown incredible support for Asha and its programmes. And to the Asha board members and the many Asha partners, our work would not be possible without your belief and assistance. I’d also like to acknowledge the presence of Prof. Jonathan Simon, Director for the Centre of International Health at Boston University. I am delighted that you were able to join us today. (I am also pleased that Shri Amarnath, CEO of the Delhi Shelter Improvement Board has been able to join us on this occasion).
Finally, to the Asha students, I offer my warm congratulations on your continued achievements. I wish you every possible success in your future education. Education is about the joy of shared knowledge, personal discovery and laying the groundwork for your life ahead. It is my sincere hope that you may enjoy all that education has to offer you and that these opportunities for learning will spread into every corner of our country and our world.
Return to more recent news articles
When Asha first came to my slum I didn't think that they could help - other organisations had been and gone. They stayed, and so I got involved and was trained as a community health volunteer. Now I have more confidence, I help to make changes in my community and I take pride in being able to help others.
Bimla, women's group president, Zakhira
