Our History
Founded in 1994, Indian Community Welfare Organisation (I.C.W.O) is a non-governmental organisation operating in partnership with government, civil society and communities to support marginalized and exploited women in difficult circumstances in India. We strive to protect their rights and improve their health. Abiding by the Indian national programme, we provide support and advocate to strengthen the community-based HIV programmes to vulnerable populations affected by the epidemic with the aid of several dedicated volunteers, the constant encouragement and support of the government.
Our Vision:
To improve the quality of life of the several marginalized groups in India.
Our Mission:
To promote best practices in Health, Environment, Education, Technology and Public sector which improves the quality of life for the marginalized groups in India.
Meet Our Founder
- A.J. Hariharan (Founder Secretary, ICWO)
ICWO’s pillar, Mr A.J. Hariharan, is a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Economics degree holder from the reputed Madras University. He always had a keen interest in starting an organization that worked towards humanitarian efforts. That made him pursue a Course in Health and Human Rights (H.H.R.) at Harvard University in Boston, USA.
He started his journey as a Researcher for the World Health Organization (WHO), where he designed and implemented several breakthrough projects under the Health Care Communication Department. He has served as a devoted consultant for several renowned national and international organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), UNAIDS India, UNICEF and various Civil Societies like Initiatives of HIV/AIDS Net (IHN), Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Action Against Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation of Children (ATSEC) & TamilNadu AIDS Solidarity Action (TASA).
He has presented his abstracts based on his humanitarian services in several international conferences held in the USA, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China & South Korea.
Apart from his humanitarian efforts, Mr A. J. Hariharan is a passionate actor and has acted in several regional Tamil movies like “Kotiveeran”, “Kattupaiyan Sir Intha Kali”, “Billa Pandi”, “Kalavani 2” and he will also be seen in the upcoming period epic “Kumki 2”.
Resources:
Case Study:
Implement Exploratory Ethnography study & initiate Advocacy efforts to ensure life with dignity
Case Background:
In Tamil culture, sex is a taboo and prostitution is repressed. However, this does not restrain men from visiting prostitutes. This practice is more in the case of men who live separated from their families like migrant workers in the city. These are the main categories of men who escape social control and have sex with multiple partners.
Infected Sex workers and clients are spreading viruses to others. Married clients pass it on to their wives who in most cases are not empowered to insist on using condom protection. Through the infected mother, a newly born child is infected. Those who are young and unmarried get infected and will pass the virus on to their future wives and children. The travellers among the clients spread the virus to other female sex workers in other parts of the state. Female sex workers are amongst the most repressed categories of women. AIDS adds a significant new problem to their already long list. Most of these women have children who are also at risk of being orphaned.
Objective of the Study:
The overall objective of the study is to reach the situation regarding prostitution in the Chennai and thus to provide the solid groundwork for designing strategies and approaches to halt HIV transmission in this circuit. The research will be explanatory and ethnographic – and will be the first step in the development of intervention with the target groups of the sex workers and their clients in Chennai.