2024 Dignity Report

Dignity may seem like a lofty concept in the research literature, and we know that putting it into practice can be quite challenging. To better understand these real-world complexities, we visited several organizations that have made upholding human dignity a central focus of their work. We aimed to gain insights into how these organizations live their values, what they have achieved so far, and what their key barriers are today. We visited Legado, Dasra, and Goonj. Our discussions and observations, though informal, offer valuable insights that will deepen our understanding of possible interventions to test in our upcoming RCT.

These learnings further build on the organizational profiles presented in our previous report, ‘Cultures of Dignity are possible’.

Legado

Legado works with Indigenous and local communities and local partner organizations to advance a community-driven approach to climate justice. Traditional conservation projects have largely overlooked the importance of Indigenous knowledge and the role of community-led action in achieving climate justice. Legado aims to change this through an assets based approach to community thriving that takes into account the people and the ecosystem in which they live as a whole, understanding that without centering the multi-faceted aspirations of the community itself, holistic, sustainable change is impossible. 

During a field visit to attend Legado’s community convenings with Maasai communities in Narok County in Southwest Kenya, we observed how Legado prioritizes communities and their dignity throughout their process.

• Community Entry and Relationship Building: Legado emphasizes entering communities respectfully by meeting with community leaders and village elders to explain their purpose and obtain permission, and hiring program staff with existing local relationships and from the communities in which they work. 
• Capacity building for program staff: Legado focuses on developing capacity for their community coordinators, consistently emphasizing the values they hold and how these values can augment the impact on the community.
• Focus on Community Strengths: Discussions with communities focus on strengths and existing resources in addition to community priorities. Participants said that they feel that Legado recognizes the value of their communities and way of life, fostering a sense of pride.
• Respecting Cultural Norms: Legado attempts to balance respecting cultural norms while ensuring marginalized voices are given space to participate meaningfully in discussions.
• Conflict Resolution: Legado takes the necessary time to resolve conflicts or confusion, listening to all perspectives and addressing them. Trust is seen as fundamental to sustainable, long-term community engagement. They frequently emphasize doing this work more slowly.

In a reflection circle at the end of a community session, a participant expressed how happy he was to have this space to come together and discuss their strengths and challenges. He said they never had the opportunity to do this before, and he now feels more confident that the community can achieve its goals. Legado believes that all change begins by bringing the community together and actively listening to them, supporting Indigenous and local people to center their needs, challenges, aspirations and expertise. We are excited to see how Legado’s people-centered approach to conservation evolves in the future and how the ideas of dignity can contribute to the larger conversation around climate justice.

Dasra

Dasra has worked for the past 25 years to empower philanthropists, non-profits, and social enterprises by providing strategic funding and management support. Like IDinsight, they pay careful attention to impact, and estimate that they have impacted 170 million lives and influenced the spending of $330 million. They are a pioneer in exploring trust-based philanthropy in India. Their Rebuild India initiative aims to strengthen grassroots non-profit leaders and organizations by offering them recurring funding for five years targeted solely at building the capacity of these organizations.

We attended a Rebuild India leaders cohort induction session and talked to both participants, who were grassroots leaders from across India and Dasra team members, about how they try to keep cohort participants and their dignity in focus throughout their process.

• Selection Process with Respect and Support: Participants described the selection process as respectful and supportive, with assistance provided during document submission, making participants feel part of a collaborative process rather than a one-sided grant application.
• Diversity and Inclusion in Selection: The selection process actively included marginalized groups and ensured diversity and inclusion. Around 70% of the cohort is from scheduled castes or tribes, or other tribal communities that have historically faced marginalization. Special focus was given to ensure gender representation in the cohorts too. 
• Valuing Participant Experiences: Cohort members were not just treated as participants in capacity building activities but also as experienced grassroots leaders with valuable practical knowledge of their communities and their work. Participants told us this helped them feel comfortable sharing their experiences and in learning from others.
• Community Building: Participants said they felt part of a larger community, gaining confidence and hope for their work’s future due to the network and support provided by Dasra.
• Strong two-way communication: Each participant was allocated at least one point of contact to request support or send queries. Feedback was collected, and this prompted actual changes – for instance, language was identified as a key barrier for participants engaging with the program, and as a result, translational and communication support was added.

Dasra’s approach to engaging with grassroots organizations aims to challenge the conventional dynamics often seen between funders and smaller NGOs, prioritizing dignity, respect, and genuine engagement. 

One participant eloquently captured this sentiment, expressing that Dasra’s recognition and understanding of their deep-rooted relationship with their communities was more valuable than any financial support or training.

Goonj

Goonj also recently completed its 25-year anniversary and has played a significant role in rural development in India, having supported projects for more than 3 million people across 31 states. Their unique approach to turning urban surpluses into a mechanism to alleviate poverty is what sets them apart. When recycling clothing donated by city residents and redistributing it to those rural areas, Goonj focuses on ensuring the entire process is dignified for all the people involved. They have also launched Rahat, an initiative focused on disaster response and rehabilitation – ensuring that in the process of repairing and reviving people’s worlds we make them feel valued and respected. 

We had the opportunity to visit their office in Delhi and see multiple projects in action while interacting with their enthusiastic team.

• Sensitive Messaging and Language: Goonj believes that the language we use and the message we share are key. Clothes and materials shared with rural communities are not simply considered giveaways; they are instead communicated as ‘rewards’ earned by individuals who actively contribute to community-driven initiatives.
• Changing Perspectives need deliberate action: Goonj understands that their work also involves actively working to change the perspective around charity and donation. This involves looking not just at the rural side but also at the urban level, where giving needs to be made more respectful. 
• Building Trust: Like Legado, Goonj recognizes the importance of trust in long-term community engagement. They focus on community entry and engage stakeholders from the outset of their projects.
• Investing in Community for Sustainable Change: Goonj tries to involve the community stakeholders and leverage existing local structures, resources, and knowledge to develop solutions.
• Respectful Media Practices: Goonj ensures that any photos or media taken respect the dignity of participants. If you look at their digital photos, you will never see people receiving goods, but you will see people coming together and actively being part in collective action in their surroundings.
• Internal culture of dignity: For a large organization with its large range of processes and their multi level engagement with participants, how can it keep dignity at the forefront always? Goonj believes the answer lies within. Focusing and building an internal culture of dignity is essential before we think about the outside world. Goonj aims to provide staff at every level with a working environment that upholds their dignity and empowers everyone to carry those values in all their external engagements, too.

Video: Anshu Gupta founder of Goonj joined our gathering of dignity leaders during the 79th UN General Assembly in New York.

By transforming how charity and donation is perceived and practiced, Goonj is questioning a fundamental power asymmetry that has always existed within the sector. They show us that such a transformation is possible and can be rooted in the ideas of dignity and how we practice it – not just externally but also within our organizations. Goonj pushes us to think more about cultures of dignity and how they can be built and sustained.

Conclusion

These partners demonstrate a remarkable ability to uphold dignity amidst real-world challenges. Their stories have deepened our understanding and will inform the interventions we test in our upcoming RCT and methods described in Chapters 1 and 2. Ultimately, they push us to think more holistically about building and sustaining cultures of dignity.