The Indian Forum for Inclusive Response and Social Transformation – IFIRST Consortium manages the Poorest Area Civil Society (PACS) Programme. It is a dynamic team of professionals, bound by a common purpose and intent: to create a receptive environment where socially excluded groups can freely claim their rights and entitlements.
IFIRST seeks to create strategic partnerships to develop a movement for inclusive change. Through PACS the forum shall enable the marginalized to access their rights and entitlements and articulate their concerns.
The PACS Team is governed by the IFIRST Management Board, chaired by Dr. Belinda Bennet, assisted by resource support organisations (RSOs) and constantly guided by the National Advisory Board (NAB).
About the Management Consultants: IFIRST Consortium
The management body IFIRST is a consortium that comprises of five complementary organisations: Christian Aid, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS), Caritas India, Financial Management Service Foundation (FMSF) and ACCESS Development Services. These member organisations of IFIRST are internationally acclaimed for their technical expertise as well as understanding of issues related to social exclusion and poverty in India. IFIRST addresses social exclusion through academic research, governance, livelihoods and advocacy at the national level. The members also work on promoting disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation approaches.
About IFIRST Consortium Members
Christian Aid (CA) is the UK’s largest, international grant maker in development and emergencies. It supports the poorest regardless of creed, ethnicity, caste, class or gender. It operates through partner organisations in 56 countries. Christian Aid’s tie with India is for over 50-years in supporting civil society organisations.
CARITAS India (CI) was established in 1962. It is one of the largest autonomous Indian agencies in development and humanitarian work. Its mission is to restore the dignity of the poor and marginalized through development work, advocacy, gender equity and disaster relief and rehabilitation. CI works at the grass root level through a network of about 300 implementing partners. It is part of the two working groups, set up by the Planning Commission, Government of India, for the formulation of the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012).
Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) is India’s leading social science research organisation on social exclusion, marginalised social groups and inclusive policies. It has an international reputation for its empirical and theoretical research, policy and advocacy work.
ACCESS Development Services is a national technical services organisation. It works on livelihoods, micro finance and institutional capacity strengthening. It develops sustainable, scalable and replicable models of viable livelihoods.
Financial Management Service Foundation (FMSF) is a development resource organizations promoting accountability in financial, legal and governance issues in South Asia. The core expertise of FMSF is financial monitoring, consultancy, assessments, reviews & evaluations, training, research & publications.
IFIRST Secretariat and State Teams
The PACS team in the national office is the secretariat of the IFIRST Consortium. The National Team includes the
Director, Deputy Director, National Coordinator (2), Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Knowledge and Communication Manager, Head of Finance, Finance and Administration Coordinator, and the
Front Office Team.
Each state team of PACS comprises of
State Manager, Programme Officer, Finance Officer and
Office Assistant.
IFIRST Support Teams
External Financial, Audit and Regulatory Advisors: IFIRST is supported by
Thakur, Vaidyanathan Aiyar & Co. Chartered Accountants, one of the premiere Chartered Accountancy firms in India.
Resource Support Organisations
IFIRST has a strong combination of organizational network with expertise and skills in diverse areas. To complement IFIRST’s strengths and to ensure that adequate support is available to the individual CSOs and CBOs, IFIRST has developed a panel of nationally and internationally renowned resource organizations in the areas of social exclusion, disability, networking, advocacy, communications, HIV AIDS, urban poverty. The organizations are:
- Navsarjan Trust.
- Television for Environment Trust (TVE)
- PRAXIS
- National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS)
- JAGORI
- Hazard Centre
- The Positive Women Network (PWN+)
- ASTHA
