Indian NGO Chintan chosen for first US Innovation Award

Chintan, an Indian NGO, has been chosen for America’s first Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls, for training and organizing wastepickers and eliminating child labour from recycling.

To be formally announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday, the award is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. It seeks to identify and support innovative ideas that hold the promise of transforming the lives of women and girls around the world.

This year’s awardees from India, Kenya and Tanzania represent scalable innovations in the sectors of agriculture, technology, economic empowerment and the “green” economy the State Department said.

Chintan, an Indian non-profit, has been given the award in support of its work to reduce ecological footprints and increase environmental justice amongst the informal sector through green jobs, advocacy and organizing, it said

Chintan implements grassroots work on the ground, which includes solid waste handling, plastics recycling, training and organizing wastepickers and eliminating child labor from recycling.

Chintan also undertakes research and advocacy, locally and internationally.

Chintan founder Bharati Chaturvedi’s own work has been on solid waste management and recycling.

She has been part of several national and global projects, such as the UNHABITAT’s 2010 report on Solid Waste in the Worlds Cities and the European Union’s ISSOWAMA project.

Bharati is part of various Indian government committees for policy making. She writes a column for the Hindustan Times and she is the recipient of the 2009 Johns Hopkins Alumni “Knowledge for the World Award.”

The awardees were chosen by a panel of experts including Mohammed Yunus (Grameen Bank), Cherie Blair (Cherie Blair Foundation), Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook), Beth Brook (Ernst and Young) and Noeleen Heyzer (United Nations).