Partners’ Forum
Every two years, Action Village India hosts a Partners’ Forum in collaboration with one partner. The Forums bring together all of AVI’s Indian partners from across the country, alongside participants from the UK including staff, trustees and supporters. Lasting for 4-5 days, the forums provide a unique platform for sharing and learning, and lead to new collaborations and ways of working. It is always the case that the host partner provides visits to its own projects.
Partners sharing experiences are at the heart of the Forums.
The first Partners’ Forum was held at ASSEFA’s Pooriyampakkam in 2004. Following forums have been held at:
- Ekta Parishad (Chhattisgarh – 2005)
- ASSEFA (Pooriyampakkam, Tamil Nadu – 2005)held just after the Tsunami
- Lakshmi Ashram (Uttarakhand – 2007)
- Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra (Jharkhand – 2010)
- CRUSADE + KGSN (combined Tamil Nadu + Kerala – 2013)
- ASSEFA – (Pooriyampakkam, Tamil Nadu – 2015)
- Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra – (Hazaribag, Jharkhand – 2018)
During the 2018 Forum which focussed on Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra’s work on Disability Rights, field visits were linked with in-depth discussions and sharing of experiences alongside workshops and a panel discussion on gender equality to mark International Women’s Day.
“The Partners’ Forum fulfilled my goals of connecting in person with the people behind the organisations……. I heard, learned and experienced about as much I possibly could do in the time we had….I understood a lot more about the value of the way AVI works in developing its relationships, I made friends and I got to know and appreciate my fellow AVI members better. The partners also seemed to gain a lot from hearing each other’s experiences and views, having the opportunity to ask each other questions and sharing solidarity on common challenges.”
— Ellie Kellet – AVI Trustee, 2018 forum attendee
