Special features of the organization
COHESION was set up in 1996 by a team of professionals, most of who are alumni from leading institutes of India like Indian Institute of Management, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Institute of Rural Management, Indian Institute of Technology, NIIT etc. It got registered in 2001. This group came forward to form a multi - disciplinary team after having acquired grassroots and other levels of experience in different facets of development. The experience of the group includes areas such as community organization; research, capacity building, project finance & management services; project management including planning, monitoring & evaluation; designing & maintenance of Impact assessment and Management Information Systems; democratization of development process & empowerment and advocacy related works. COHESION has rich and in depth experience of research, project management, support and implementation. It has been covering sectors like Health (especially Reproductive & Sexual Health), Natural Resource Development, disaster management, information technology, child rights especially of girl child, Savings and Credit and other facets of sustainable livelihoods and Infrastructure Development. , , Though about twelve years old, it has already established a niche and is recognized as an efficient and effective partner by Government, International Agencies and Corporate bodies. The skills in community mobilization, project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation are recognized as its strengths. Consequently, organizations like NABARD, Government departments and INGOs have been partnering with it for Baseline Research, Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact assessment. , , Approaches of the Organization , There are certain cross cutting themes, observed in all strategic interventions to ensure sustainable development and social justice. Cohesion s approach is community based and bottom-up to ensure the needs and issues faced by communities get represented and addressed by programs. , Strengthening people s institutions and prioritizing women s role in decision-making ensure processes that help in mainstreaming gender. On the other hand most vulnerable communities are identified at micro planning stage to empower them and help secure proper position in community-based institutions. , , The following are the elements of community-based approaches, followed by Cohesion: , Participation , Gender mainstreaming , Evolving inter institutional linkages , Decentralization of resources , Local capacity building , Development of special groups around different interventions , Bottom-up planning and design , Equity in resource sharing , It works in three states - Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. It strives for holistic development. , It has got different awards: , 1.CSR Best Project - Education ( 3rd CSR Impact Award - NGO Box and Next Gen , 2. CSR Good Practice (Case study) Recognition - 2nd CSR Impact Award - Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and NGO Box. , 3. Sitaram Rao Livelihood Asia Summit - Livelihoods Asia Summit, ACCESS Development Services , 4. The E-NGO Challenge South Asia (Best NGO Practices using ICTs and Finalist)
