SDF was founded in 1997 by social activists committed to the cause of liberation and improvement of the conditions of Dalits and tribals, who are the social outcasts in Indian society and work mostly as landless agricultural workers. SDF believes that a key issue for their emancipation, especially the women, is their access to land. SDF is equally concerned with ways in which the right to food is being jeopardized by the globalization process, such as in cases where government leases large tracks of forests to transnational corporations while tribals are displaced, in the name of the environment.

Despite SDF being a relatively young organization, its' founders have had a long and solid experience and have built a strong credibility in the area of human rights. It operates primarily in Uttar Pradesh State.

Coalition
Programme Activities:

Member of the International Land Coalition 2003
Coalition Council Member 2003-2005

ARnet

Community Empowerment Facility

Secure Access to Local Lake Empowers Fisherfok and fosters Economic and Environmental Development

Women's Resource Access Programme

"Women's Access to Land and Other Natural Resources in India". A series of five workshops conducted with poor rural villagers in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. September - December 2001

Advocacy

Informal interactive hearings of the General Assembly with NGOs, SCOs and the private sector. The International Land Coalition was represented by the Social Development Foundation (SDF)
23-24 June 2005

Knowledge for empowerment and capacity-building through land literacy and human rights education. As knowledge is power, SDF provides training in human rights education and the legal recourse for human rights violations. It focuses on land literacy training programmes for Dalits and tribals which involves increasing their understanding of the country's land laws and ways by which land frauds that disenfranchise the rural poor especially the indigenous peoples, are committd by those with legal know-how or political power. There are clauses, for example in the Indian constitution, giving Dalits and tribals special protection, such as the Protection of Civil Rights Act and the Land Alienation Act; likewise information on possible roles they can play in Panchayat bodies, which are the self-government mechanisms at village level to assist them in defending their rights and planning for their community development.

Bringing grassroots concerns to policy makers. Aside from training workshops, SDF assists landless and indigenous communties on their land rights by raising public awareness of their situation, especially to policy makers.

With its information resource centre, SDF is able to link grassroots knowledge to the government and other development agencies as well as with academics and the media and to bring forward the concerns and issues faced by the indigenous peoples and the Dalits.

Linking and coalition building with communities: SDF serves as a guiding force on agrarian issues for many local organizations in Uttar Pradesh, more than 100 of which were involved with the agrarian refoerm campaign in the State in 1997-98. Tribal groups and the landless have mobilized to act on their problem through such actions as hunger strikes and protests marches.

SDF links a number of activists and NGOs working to defend and strengthen the land rights to Dalits and tribals in Uttar Pradesh and surrounding areas of India. It is involved in community-based activities directed at increasing the capacity of marginalized communities to understand their rights and to make effective demands for them at local, regional and national levels. SDF has initiated training programmes in land literacy. SDF aims to create a rural information resource centre to help its partners and other grass-roots community-based organizations to acquire knowledge and create links with other national and international initiatives.

AMAR Shaheed Chtana Sansthan: A partner organization of SDF working in Deoria and Mau districts (Sansthan). They train village council representatives and organize training programmes for women's empowerment as wel as other initiatives.

Chitrakoot Sewa Ashram: A partner organization of SDF, working in Chitrakoot among the Koi tribals and dalits of uttar Pradesh and Madhaya Pradesh. They focus on training rural women and unemployed youth, and supporting their land rights.

Navchetan Sansthan: A partner organization of SDF, working in Bujhia village of Bahraich district (bording Nepal). They work with dalit women and the Tharu tribal community, and also focus on the elderly.

Sambhavana: A local partner of SDF in the town of Gangoh in Saharanpur district (western Uttar Pradesh). They work primarily with women. In addition to the WRAP workshop in Gangoh, they have organized various human rights training workshops.

March for Land, Dignity and Freedom in Poorvanchal
Social Development Foundation (SDF) PDF

Land Literacy
Community Capacity Building
Linking and Coalition Building with Communities
Human Rights Education
Land Acquisition
Land Tenure Systems
Instutional Development
Lobbying and Advocacy
Post Land Acquisition Services
Land Literacy
Womens Access to Land
Indigenous Peoples Resources Rights
Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Land and Water Rights