A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) document was signed between the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and the India HIV/AIDS Alliance on Thursday.
According to Dr Sudhir Mahajan, IAS ( Retd) and Chief Executive Officer of NCUI, it is a historic step in direction of empowerment of transgender community in India as two pioneer organisations working respectively in areas of cooperative development and advocacy for sexuality and healthcare rights have joined hands through MoU for fulfilling economic, social, and cultural aspirations of transgender community in India.
“Through collaboration, NCUI and India HIV/AIDS Alliance will organise stake holder consultation workshops at national and regional level to build consensus on key issues and identify success stories and approaches for enhancing livelihood opportunities of transgender community.
Furthermore, the two organisations will jointly conceptualise and implement pilot projects towards developing sustainable livelihood models as well as capacity-building programmes at selected locations in various regions of country.
Strategies will be formulated to ensure the holistic development of the community with a specific focus on economic development while retaining the community’s cultural ethos and diversity” , Dr Mahajan said. NCUI has taken initiatives to empower lesser known cooperatives and promote cooperative identity among vulnerable sections of society.
