Right every wrong movement
The RIGHT every WRONG Movement is a movement for building awareness among citizens on various different issues started by iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs 1. It culminates in the Right every Wrong Conclave and Karmaveer Puraskaar held every year on the 26th of November in New Delhi.
AbOUT iCONGO
Confederation of NGOs (iCONGO) was established in 2004 when its founder, Jeroninio Almeida realised the need for creating a collective that would adhere to standard best practices for promoting ethical social investment from Individual supporters in India by being absolutely 100% transparent, accountable and thus, credible. iCONGO is the first body of its kind that is attempting to bring together various grass root level NGOs and Voluntary Organisations under one umbrella, all working together towards a common cause, with a collective vision. Positioned like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) or the NASSCOM for the NGOs, iCONGO's main function and vision are divided into 4 pivotal cross-functional areas, "Training and Empowerment", "Policy Influencing and Lobbying", "Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Consultancy" and "Fund-raising, Campaigning and Outreach". iCONGO is not an apex body but a co-operative hub and a collective that is a joint venture among NGOs. As a first, iCONGO does not retain any administration or transaction fees from funds raised, and the donors money is channeled a 100% to the cause directly through the charity the donors’ choice.
With a vision of “Philanthropy for Social Justice”, the main aim of iCONGO has always been bringing in awareness for “citizen social responsibility” rather than blind, faceless fund-raising. Their aim is to get supporters involved with the cause not just as donors, but active partners to advocate for the cause. Today, iCONGO is the first organisation of its kind that raises funds for by offering supporters a bouquet of causes through pre-screened (by professional audit partners) charities that adhere to norms that are desired by donors for effective social investment.
The Right every Wrong Movement is iCONGO's signature movement for raising awareness. The Conclave is organised taking up a different issue every year and holding discussions, debates and other activities to understand the causes, consequences, preventive measures, etc. related to the issue.
Understanding the movement
The Right every Wrong Movement is divided into four parts:
The Conclave
Where leaders of opinion share perspectives to promote citizen movement and action and get people proactively involved with the cause.
The Awards
Wherein The Noble Laureates are recognised as people who have taken stands, spoken out and led change by being proactively involved to make a difference for various social causes.
The Campaign
A high profile media promoted campaign where fellow Indians are asked to come together as ONE to RIGHT every WRONG by taking active stands and wearing the transparent band by signing up as a REW member.
The Omega Rating (TOR)
In India, various people want to support various causes but do not know which "NGO/charity" they can get involved with and trust. The Omega rating would address this by pre screening and accrediting small but effective, efficient, transparent and accountable charities who are effectively working to make a change at grassroots level with minimal administration cost.
The Conclave
The Conclave is a platform for people from various backgrounds to get together and have output oriented discussions over issues that are affecting our society today. By presenting a holistic picture on these issues, the Conclave will provide people with a logical and unbiased view of social problems and the underlying solutions for the same. The main idea behind the Conclave is to sensitise citizens about social issues and create citizen involvement to drive social action for building a just, humane and responsible society through mainstreaming social issues and effective use of the media.
Curtain Raiser held at Satyagraha Mandap, Gandhi Darshan, on the 9th and 10th of March'07
The conclave witnessed a participation of over 500 people comprising of politicians, bureaucrats, business executives, development workers, activists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, students, youth leaders, children along with over 70 eminent thought leaders who had all gathered there to discuss social issues and understand the need for a CITIZEN MOVEMENT to come together as ONE and pledged to try and RIGHT every WRONG. The spirit of the Indian Constitutional Pledge was rekindled recognizing 26th of November, the day when the pledge was adopted in 1949, as the National Social Justice And Action Day.
The next conclave is scheduled for the 26th of November 2007 and the theme is "Climate Change: Preparing India for Emerging Challenges". The theme encompasses the causes and consequences of climate change on every sector of civil society and steps that can be taken to arrest its growth. It will see the participation of environmentalists and activists like Navtej Johar, Mike Pandey, Nand Rana, Crispino Lobo, Pawan Sukhdev, Bittu Sahgal, etc.
Karmaveer Puraskaar
Karmaveer Puraskaar is the People's and Citizens' Award commissioned by iCONGO – Confederation of NGOs with all sectors. These awards were launched at the curtain raiser event on 10th March 2007, wherein some well and some little known social investors dubbed as 'THE NOBLE LAUREATES' were felicitated.
These awards will be held annually to recognise people in industry, media, government, small & medium enterprises, students who have made that extra effort and gone beyond their business as usual to get involved with social causes to lead the change.
The Nobel laureates (March 2007)
Lifetime Achievement Award for Creating Real Wealth for the Community:
Dr. Verghese Kurien – Former chairman of India's National Dairy Development Board (NDDB),Dr. Kurien is a figure of how genuine leadership can bring about meaningful and sustainable development in our society. Recognition for promoting social responsibility
Mr. Harsh Mander - Harsh Mander, an IAS officer, is a social worker and writer. He is associated with social causes and movements, such for communal harmony, tribal, dalit, and disability rights, the right to information, custodial justice, homeless people and bonded labour. He writes and speaks regularly on issues of social justice.
Mr. J. M. Lyngdoh – Chief Election Commissioner(2001) and a recipient of 2003 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the board of trustees recognizes his convincing validation of free and fair elections as the foundation and best hope of secular democracy in strife-torn India.
Ms. Anu Aga - Former chairperson of Thermax Group and CII's western region. She is keenly involved in the causes of communal harmony and human rights, especially women and children.
Mr. Arun Maira - Chairman of Boston Consulting Group in India. Arun Maira is deeply engaged at present with collaborative processes for addressing issues of development in India and internationally, and the role of business corporations in these processes.
Mr. Crispino Lobo & Ms. Marcella D'souza - Co-founders of the Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR, founded in 1993) and Sampada Trust, they have been instrumental in supporting and building up the capacities of 403 NGOs across the country as well as directly touching the lives of over 5,90,000 people
Mr. Vikram Akula - Vikram Akula is the Founder and CEO of SKS Microfinance, one of the leading microfinance institutions in the world. Since 1998, SKS has provided nearly 565 crores in loans to over 500,000 poor women in impoverished regions of 11 states of India
Fr. Hermann Bacher (Lifetime Achievement Award Nov'07): Swiss by birth, Fr. Hermann Bacher came to India in 1948 as a Jesuit priest. Profoundly affected by the distress of the poor in the drought prone district of Ahmednagar, in the hinterland of Maharashtra, Fr. Bacher decided to devote his life to their social and economic upliftment. In 1994, Fr. Bacher was awarded Germany's highest civilian Award, the Federal Order of Merit, Class 1 by the German Minister for Economic Development and Cooperation in Mendhwan, the very village where Fr. Bacher had successfully mobilized the people to regenerate their watershed. In the same year, the Govt. of Maharashtra bestowed upon him the Krishi Bhushan in recognition of his outstanding services to farmers in the state.
Kishore Biyani, Ela Bhatt, Madhura Chatrapathy, Mallika Sarabhai are a few other lumanaries for the Karmaveer Puraskaar (Nov'07).