Cohesion Foundation Trust, a development organisation with nearly 30 years of work in India's most underserved communities, today released its Outcome Report 2020–25: 5 Years of Impact at a national event titled ‘Roots and Horizons: 25 Years of Development Through Her’, held at Juniper Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The report documents 5 years of measured outcomes across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh, it further outlines the future plans for the next 5 years as it works toward its stated goal of transforming 1 million lives by 2030.
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(L-R) Sudarshan Suchi, Reliance Foundation; Poonam Muttreja, PFI; Rajesh Tandon, PRIA; Subodh Mishra, Cohesion Foundation Trust; Sivakumar Surampudi, ITC
Distinguished voices contributing to the day’s discussions included Dr. Rajesh Tandon (PRIA), who spoke on the state of government-civil society collaboration; Prof. Bina Agarwal (University of Manchester), on women’s land rights as the foundation for economic agency and intergenerational change; Mr. Gagan Sethi, on the lessons of 25 years of community-centred practice and what the next chapter demands; Mr. Sudarshan Suchi (Reliance Foundation), on how philanthropic capital can be aligned with public systems to reach the last mile; Ms. Saranya Pradhan (McCain Foods India), on how private sector engagement with women and youth in agriculture builds both livelihoods and supply chain resilience; Mr. Biraj Patnaik (National Foundation for India), on resourcing the civil society ecosystem and sustaining organisations that hold the long view; and Mr. Sivakumar Surampudi (ITC Limited), on market-linked models that connect rural women and youth to economic opportunity.
The Outcome Report 2020–25 captures a period of significant growth and impact for the organisation. Over the last 5 years, Cohesion supported more than 15,000 women farmers, reached 67,409 children through education and early childhood development programmes, linked over 43,000 individuals to government welfare schemes, strengthened more than 150 community-based organisations, and enabled community-led water management initiatives that created 259,188 kilolitres of additional water storage across 78 villages.
Speaking at the event, Rajesh Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, Cohesion Foundation Trust, said, “25 years ago, we began with a belief that communities themselves hold the knowledge, resilience and leadership needed to drive lasting change. Our journey has reinforced that belief time and again. Whether it is women farmers strengthening livelihoods, families accessing essential entitlements, or communities managing natural resources, meaningful development happens when people are empowered to lead it. As we look ahead, our ambition is to help transform a million lives by 2030 through community-owned development.”
The Outcome Report also sets out Cohesion's strategy for the next 5 years, the organisation's stated goal is to transform 1 million lives by 2030 through community-owned development. Building on its ‘Model, Replicate and Scale’ approach, the strategy will focus on climate-resilient livelihoods, women’s leadership, youth empowerment, stronger community institutions and evidence-driven engagement with public systems and development partners.
About Cohesion Foundation Trust
Cohesion Foundation Trust was set up in 1996 by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals. The team equipped with the experience of different facets of development, started as a support body, providing professional services to other organizations. The support included services like community organization; project finance & management services including planning, monitoring & evaluation; designing & maintenance of Impact assessment and Management Information Systems; research, capacity building, democratization of development process & empowerment; advocacy works etc. As a strategic move in the year 2000-01, Cohesion initiated its implementation units, with a view to enrich the exchange of learning through support activities.
