OXFAM IN ACTION. UN My World Survey - May 2013 Summary Results from India INTRODUCTION OXFAM INDIA S ROLE IN UN MY WORLD SURVEY INDIA

Transcription

1 OXFAM IN ACTION UN My World Survey - May 2013 Summary Results from India NO. 1 SEPTEMBER, 2015 INTRODUCTION My World is a global survey by the UN asking people what they want for a better future. The significance of this survey is that the voices of all kind of people are going to be heard by world leaders on a real time basis, and will inform the consultative process on shaping the development path for the future this includes a direct and immediate sharing of the survey results with the UN Secretary General. The survey has been designed for the post-2015 advocacy. By May 2013, My World had accessed the opinion of nearly 530,000 participants in 194 countries, through various partner organizations, Oxfam India being one of them. The Indian voice, especially of the Youth, is likely to become exceedingly significant in influencing the global framework. My World survey enables everyone to participate in the advocacy movement aimed at creating a just, equitable and poverty free society. OXFAM INDIA S ROLE IN UN MY WORLD SURVEY INDIA The issues covered in the survey are congruent with those Oxfam India (OIN) works with. Therefore, along with making the voice of India matter in the global decisionmaking, this survey helps OIN get first-hand knowledge about the priorities of the people of the country and how these priorities differ in terms of age, gender, educational level, and geographical regions. The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team of Oxfam India was responsible for analyzing responses, and developing the India and State report of the survey.

2 METHODOLOGY COVERAGE: The survey was conducted by Oxfam India Essential Services Team in New Delhi and Regional Offices across 13 states with the help of respective NGO partners. A total of participants were mobilized under the survey spread across various age groups and educational qualifications among both males and females. Encouragingly, more than half of the participants were females and about half of the respondents were below 30 years of age. PROCESS: The polling survey asked the participants to mark out 6 most important issues to them and their family out of a list of 16 possible issues. These six issues were then given priority ranking from 1 to 6, where 1 implies most important and 6 imply least important. It was a self-administering questionnaire, and the responses gathered were entered in a pre-designed Excel-sheet by the partner organizations. The survey data was analyzed using the SPSS 19.0 software. Frequency distributions, bi-variate cross tabulation and averages were calculated as necessary. TABLE 1: STATE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS State Number of Participants Andhra Pradesh 645 Assam 1,549 Bihar 1,324 Chhattisgarh 161 Delhi 1,899 Gujarat 29 Jharkhand 858 Karnataka 543 Maharashtra (Mumbai) 57 Odisha 1,580 Rajasthan 702 Uttar Pradesh 1,984 Uttarakhand 234 Total 11,565 (6,038 females and 5,527 males) 2

3 CONSTRUCTION OF OVERALL PRIORITIES: Six different priority tables were made based on six choices mentioned by each respondent. From the six frequency tables for the 6 priorities, the total frequency for each issue was computed by adding the frequencies across the priorities. The total frequencies of the sixteen issues were then put in a single table. By the total frequency, the priority of each issue was found out; that is, the greater the total frequency, the higher the priority, and vice versa. Total frequency of an issue = [frequency of the issue in P1 table + P2 table + P3 table + P4 table + P5 table + P6 table] Where P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6 implies frequency tables for priority one, two, three, four, five and six respectively. Percentage of frequency (vote) is calculated by dividing the total frequency for a particular issue divided by the total number of respondents multiplied by hundred. % OF FREQUENCY OF A PARTICULAR ISSUE = Total frequency of a issue Total number of respondents = 100% 3

4 Key Findings The findings have been presented at two levels: National priorities and priorities as per Socio-demographic scenario. Within these, priorities are represented by: a) Age group; b) Gender; c) Level of educational attainment; d) Region (state) wise. PRIORITIES BY AGE GROUP The top six priorities were the same across the different age groups, though in varying order. Out of these, the top three were uniform across the age groups, and coincided with the overall national priorities as well. Protection against crime and violence and freedom from discrimination and persecution are ranked on higher priorities among youth than other age groups. The top six priorities and their distribution across the youth and the elderly are enumerated below. Table 2: TOP SIX PRIORITIES BY AGE GROUP UN My World Survey in India: National priorities The top three priorities that were found at the national level are a good education (82%), better job opportunities (70%) and better healthcare (65%). A GOOD EDUCATION BETTER JOB OPPORTUNITIES BETTER HEALTHCARE Infrastructure related priorities ranked very low on the priority list of respondents. All Participants (11565 votes) Youth (16-30Yrs) (4741 votes) The top seven priorities at the national level coincide with the existing Millennium Development Goals-1 to A good education 1. A good education 2. Better job opportunities 2. Better job opportunities PRIORITIES BY GENDER 3. Better healthcare 3. Better healthcare 4. Affordable and nutritious food 5. Access to clean water and sanitation 6. An honest and responsive government 1. A good education 2. Better healthcare 4. An honest and responsive government 5. Affordable and nutritious food 6. Access to clean water and sanitation Elderly (60 &more) (410 votes) 3. Better job opportunities 4. Affordable and nutritious food 5. Access to clean water and sanitation 6. An honest and responsive government The top three priorities of both the genders coincided with that of the overall national priorities. Gender Equality is not among the top three priorities. An Honest and Responsive Government was ranked sixth by both males and females. Notable variation in responses by males and females (across all age groups and states) were: Women rank Equality between Men and Women and Protection against Crime and Violence more highly than men. Men rank infrastructure and livelihood related issues, such as Better Road and Transportation and Support for People Who Can t Work, considerably higher than women. PRIORITIES BY EDUCATIONAL GROUPS The top seven priorities are- A Good Education ; Better Job Opportunities ; Better Healthcare ; An Honest and Responsive Government ; Affordable and Nutritious Food ; An Honest and Responsive Government ; Equality Between Men and Women. However, the order of priorities varies across different levels of educational qualification. Out of 4

5 TABLE 3: GENDER VARIATION IN PRIORITIZATION AMONG YOUTH (16-30 YRS) Youth (Male) (2213 votes) Youth (Female) (2528 votes) 1. A good education 1. A good education 2. Better job opportunities 2. Better job opportunities 3. Better healthcare 3. Better healthcare 4. An honest and responsive government 4. Equality between men and women 5. Access to clean water and sanitation 5. An honest and responsive government 6. Affordable and nutritious food 6. Affordable and nutritious food 7. Equality between men and women 7. Access to clean water and sanitation 8. Better transport and roads 8. Protection against crime and violence 9. Support for people who can't work 9. Freedom from discrimination and persecution 10. Protection against crime and violence 10. Support for people who can't work 5

6 top seven, the first priority A Good Education came out uniformly across different educational attainments. The main differences were: Better job opportunities ranked third by respondents having some primary education, but in the second place by all other `educational categories. An honest and responsive government ranked in fourth place by voters having secondary or beyond secondary level of education whereas it stands in sixth place for the voters having some primary or completed primary level of education. Voters having higher education have ranked the issue equality between men and women in higher order compared to the voters having lower educational attainments. Table 4: Priorities among youth (16-30 yrs) by different educational levels All Youth (4741 votes). Up to Completed Primary (1916 votes) 1. A good education 1. A good education 2. Better job opportunities 2. Better job opportunities 3. Better healthcare 3. Better healthcare 4. An honest and responsive government 4. Affordable and nutritious food 5. Affordable and nutritious food 5. Access to clean water and sanitation 6. Access to clean water and sanitation 6. An honest and responsive government 7. Equality between men and women 7. Equality between men and women 8. Protection against crime and violence 8. Protection against crime and violence 9. Freedom from discrimination and persecution 9. Freedom from discrimination and persecution 10. Support for people who can t work 10. Support for people who can t work Completed Secondary (1312 votes) Beyond Secondary (1513 votes) 1. A good education 1. A good education 2. Better job opportunities 2. Better job opportunities 3. Better healthcare 3. Better healthcare 4. An honest and responsive government 4. An honest and responsive government 5. Access to clean water and sanitation 5. Equality between men and women 6. Affordable and nutritious food 6. Affordable and nutritious food 7. Equality between men and women 7. Access to clean water and sanitation 8. Support for people who can't work 8. Protection against crime and violence 9. Better transport and roads 9. Freedom from discrimination and persecution 10. Protection against crime and violence 10. Support for people who can't work 6

7 PRIORITIES BY REGION Region wise data on priorities indicates an overlap of priorities with those at the national level. Education, health, water and food are in the top ten for every region. Equality between Men and Women is in top ten priorities for every state, except Chhattisgarh. An Honest and Responsive Government and Better Job Opportunities are among the top ten priorities for every state where the survey was conducted. Some notable variation in priorities across states include: Infrastructure and environmental issues: Better road and transport is in top ten priorities for all states studies, except-delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Reliable energy at home is in the first priority for Mumbai and among the top ten priorities for Gujarat, Karnataka and Assam respondents, but not in the top ten in any other states. Protecting forests, rivers and oceans is in the top ten priorities only in Gujarat, Odisha and Assam. Freedom from discrimination and persecution: It is among the top ten priorities for the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Rajasthan. 7

8 CONCLUSION The voting results at the national and state levels reflect a strong overlap of priorities. Education, health, water and food the existing MDG agenda are among the top ten for every region. In addition an honest and responsive government and better job opportunities are among the top ten priorities for every state that participated in the polling exercise. Equality between men and women was among the top ten priorities for every state except Chhattisgarh. As these issues reflect citizen s priorities, a post-2015 agenda may consider including setting goals on these additional areas. Remarkable state wise variation was noted in the treatment of infrastructure and of environmental issues. Better road and transport is among top ten priorities for all other states except Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Reliable energy at home is the first priority for Mumbai and is among top ten priorities in Gujarat, Karnataka and Assam although no other state kept it in the top-ten list. In contrast, protecting forests, rivers and oceans is in the top ten priorities only in Gujarat, Odisha and Assam. Similarly, freedom from discrimination and persecution also showed wide variations among states; this issue found place among top ten priorities for the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Rajasthan. Political freedom and phone and internet access did not find place among top ten priorities in any state that participated in the polling exercise was conducted. The responses to the survey gave important insights into citizen priorities and variations in priorities by age group, gender, educational qualification and geographical location. As the survey was designed for the post-2015 agenda, the findings would help to decide the new issues to include in the agenda and the existing MDGs that continue to be significant. Survey results also serve as an important reference for Oxfam India for understanding the voice and perspectives of people it works for. Author(s): Aniruddha Brahmachari, Ritesh Laddha The authors are grateful for the insights and words of encouragement by Nisha Agrawal, Ranu Bhogal and Shaik Anwar. Oxfam India Copy Right September 2015 This publication is copyright but the text may be used free of charge for the purposes of advocacy, campaigning, education, and research, provided that the source is acknowledged in full. The copyright holder requests that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, permission must be secured. mela@oxfamindia.org. Disclaimer: Oxfam India Monitoring Evaluation Learning Case Study series disseminates the finding of the work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. The findings, interpretations, and conclusion expressed in this paper are entirely for learning purposes. They do not necessarily represent the views of Oxfam India. Oxfam India: Oxfam India, a fully independent Indian organization, is a member of an international confederation of 17 organizations. The Oxfams are rights-based organizations, which fight poverty and injustice by linking grassroots interventions to local, national, and global policy developments. Oxfam India, 4th and 5th Floor, Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, 1, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi Tel: +91 (0) Oxfam India is a member of a global confederation of 17 Oxfams and 8is registered as a company under section 25 of the Indian Company Law.