Environmental Pollution Programme

Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs

This programme's aim is to enhance the ability of lower to middle income countries (LMICs) to manage chemicals in order to reduce air, chemical, and waste pollution. 21-22 is predominantly a scoping year for this new programme, which seeks to share expertise, best practice and invest in research to strengthen the capacity of low- and middle-income countries to meet their obligations under UN Multilateral Environment Agreements and frameworks; thereby helping to improve human health and promote prosperity, whilst also halting biodiversity loss and the key drivers for climate change.  

Sustaining Power: Women's struggles against contemporary backlash in South Asia

DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Women in South Asia have struggled for many decades to improve their lives within their families, in their communities, for securing their livelihoods, and in getting their voices heard as citizens by the state, with women's movements being critical in advancing their rights. However, contemporary social, economic and political changes have created new and multiple forms of backlash and contestations. How do women defend their rights, and secure their gains against these regressive forces and backlash? This question leads our research on the strategies and mechanisms that women use to retain power and sustain gains in women's rights. This research is particularly interested in how different groups of women understanding power and struggle, and how these change over time. We aim to assess what works to defend women's rights, and explain why some struggles are more successful than others in sustaining gains. We think that success of women's struggles depends on a) the types of strategies they use to counter different types of backlash; b) the ways in which struggles include voices and perspectives of different groups of women; and c) the ways in which struggles connect to other movements and groups across local, regional and national levels. The central research question therefore is: When, how, and why do women's power struggles succeed in retaining power and sustaining their gains against backlash? South Asia provides a valuable opportunity to investigate women's struggles. The region has witnessed rapid and large changes over the last decade, including urbanization, rising employment precarity, new electoral laws and regime changes, shifts in social norms, and the spread of digital technology. We aim to examine how these changes create new and multiple forms of backlash; and how women's struggles for power are variously challenged, opened up or are closed down by these changes. We are interested in unraveling the similarities and differences in processes and strategies used by different women's movements to retain power in the face of backlash; and in women's own experiences and interpretations of their struggles as these evolve and adapt over time. We will select 16 cases of women's struggles in four countries that represent the largest populations of South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Within each country, we will select on-going and contentious cases of struggle in one of four arenas within which gains in women's rights are being sought: family, community, market and the state. This research will use a variety of methods including: a) identifying and analyzing the types of backlash created by processes of contemporary change; b) mapping critical players and what shapes their motivations for action; c) tracing the struggles, nature and trajectory of each movement to counter backlash - through oral history methods, reflective and participatory techniques, qualitative interviews and archival research; d) undertaking comparative analysis to compare how different movements may have triggered, galvanized or been strengthened by power struggles across different arenas; and e) identifying and systematizing which combinations of mechanisms and strategies work to defend women's rights in South Asia and beyond. This is a collaborative research project that draws together a multi-disciplinary research team with deep in-country and conceptual expertise on women's rights and contemporary power struggles in South Asia. This project includes strong capacity building initiatives and opportunities for learning through reflective processes with women's movements and research partners. This research is ambitious in its scope and we hope that our findings that will be grounded in real life experiences of women, will be relevant and useful for feminist scholars, activists and policy actors to set their future course of action to defend women's rights across the world.

India Value Fund III

British International Investment plc

This is a 2007 vintage fund with a focus on SMEs in India.

Baring India Private Equity Fund III Ltd

British International Investment plc

This is a generalist private equity growth fund in India.

Kotak India Private Equity Fund Limited

British International Investment plc

Mid cap fund investing in India

Multiples Private Equity Fund I

British International Investment plc

A pan-India fund making mid and large-cap equity investments across financial services, manufacturing, consumer, and healthcare.

Asha Ventures GIFT Trust

British International Investment plc

Inclusion and sustainability focused fund in India.

Actis India Fund 2 LP

British International Investment plc

This focuses on private equity growth investing in parallel with Actis South Asia Fund II but only in India

India Value Fund II (PCC - Cell Beta)

British International Investment plc

This is a 2004 vintage fund with a focus on SMEs in India.

IDFC Private Equity (Mauritius) Fund II

British International Investment plc

This is a private equity fund focused on investing in infrastructure and infra ancillary sectors in India.

APF-I (Mauritius) Limited

British International Investment plc

This is a generalist SME private equity fund investing in India.

IDFC Private Equity (Mauritius) Fund III

British International Investment plc

This is a generalist mid-market private equity fund investing in India.

Sarva Capital LLC (Formerly Lok II)

British International Investment plc

This is a 2010 vintage fund providing long-term equity capital with a focus on financial inclusion and broader inclusion in India.

Sarva Capital LLC (Formerly Lok II)

British International Investment plc

This is a 2010 vintage fund providing long-term equity capital with a focus on financial inclusion and broader inclusion in India.

Ankur Capital III

British International Investment plc

Ankur is an early-stage venture fund investing in tech-enabled businesses and deep science-based innovations in India.

IB VOGT (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.

British International Investment plc

ib vogt (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (“Company”) is a Singapore-based subsidiary of German-based ib vogt GmbH, a global developer of wind and solar assets. The Company develops solar, wind and BESS projects in various Asia-Pacific markets.

Touchkin eServices Private Limited

British International Investment plc

Wysa is is an AI-powered mental health app that has been shown to help improve mental health. It uses AI to deliver clinical grade digital therapeutics along with human support and is used by 4 million users globally across 65 countries.

3one4 Capital - Fund III

British International Investment plc

3one4Capital Advisors LLP is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments. 3one4Capital Advisors LLP is based in Bengaluru, India.

The fund targets technology and technology-enabled companies whose disruptive solutions have the potential to reach large parts of the Indian population. These companies can help to increase economic opportunities and market participation for consumers, employees, and suppliers.

Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company II Limited

British International Investment plc

A commitment by CDC to the Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company II Limited investment fund. The fund makes investments that support enterprises active in the microfinance sector in India in order to increase access to finance for low income families in rural areas and low-income states.

Abraaj Pakistan Fund I

British International Investment plc

Fund investment in a country with growing economic potential, but a difficult place to do business, with low penetration from multinational companies.