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Vashi2Panvel.com: Navi Mumbai: Sept 12: “If there is one thing that underlies YUVA’s birth, growth and raison d`etre, it is change”, says Minar Pimple. Started 21 years ago, by Pimple as an NSW Project, for Youth for Unitary and Voluntary Action (YUVA), the obsession with transformation has only grown. YUVA’s primary objective has been to enable underprivileged groups to understand their human rights. In this process, they have tied up with several organizations and NGOs in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to provide training and financial support. The organization has also been accredited as an NGO with General Consultation status with the UN Economic and Social Council.

The YUVA Centre in Kharghar is an embodiment of all YUVA values. Says CEO Pimple, “The idea of a training centre arose from the need felt within YUVA to scale up its training efforts, especially within the context of the changes in the external socio-economic and political environment, mostly starkly seen from the early 90’s onwards.” Thus was born the YUVA Centre, established for training and capacity building.

The YUVA center now houses the South Asian Learning Institute for Human Rights Education (SALIHRE), a joint programme with the People’s Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE), USA. The institute serves as a venue and co ordination center for a range of human rights education initiatives in the region. Says Sanjay Chaturvedi, Centre Administrator at Kharghar, “The Objective of Salihre is to train and support new generations of human rights educators, who will in turn initiate such learning processes in their communities and cities.” It also hosts a programme for Women’s Empowerment, a joint initiative of YUVA with Stree Global Investment in Women, USA. The partnership aims at developing a preventive health education center in Mumbai which will provide free access to preventive clinical health services and information for women and girls in poverty. The center also has provision for housing distressed women and teenage street girls while educating them on how to run their own businesses through the social welfare complex.

The other uniqueness about the YUVA center in Kharghar include the CIDCO YUVA building center which imparts hard skills training and hands on practices, the Bodhi, a herb garden with fruit trees and flowering shrubs for spiritual and meditative sessions.

In keeping with YUVA’s values and beliefs, the organizations non hierarchy and transparency is found in the essence of its design and open spaces. The structure has found mention in the Indian Architect for its design that enables people with disabilities to reach even to the top floor. Solar energy has been used for water heating and a water treatment plant has been proposed. Chaturvedi sums up, “in essence, the center stands as a space for collective learning and is an articulation of a commitment to renew the relevance of civil society action in an ever changing socio- political- economic environment.”

Lakshmi Subramanian