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India

Our work in India smashes gender stereotypes, tackles inequality and builds awareness with innovative, creative programming.

  • Our office: Delhi
  • Our areas of focus: gender equality and inclusion; women's economic empowerment; dignity of work; climate change; resilience; health; water, sanitation and hygiene
  • Our partners: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, H&M Foundation, Government of India, Centre for Social & Behaviour Change (Ashoka University), University of Pennsylvania Social Norms Group

About our work

From catchy condom ringtones to the world’s first TV drama about toilet waste, our India office is a creative powerhouse – consistently delivering award-winning communication projects for over 20 years.

Our India team created the innovative mobile health services, Kilkari and Mobile Academy, which have supported millions of mothers across India to have safer pregnancies and to better care for their newborns. Initially launched in Bihar and scaled up nationally, in 2019 we successfully transitioned the projects over to the Government of India to deliver this lifesaving work for years to come. Our learning and impact from a decade of digital development have now been published in a series of papers in , books, and conference proceedings.

Our portfolio builds on the government's Clean India Mission. We've developed mobile training modules for sanitation workers and we cover issues including how faecal sludge is managed to prevent water pollution and the spread of disease, and how to improve the lives of sanitation workers and waste collectors in the country. We’ve raised awareness and encouraged people to act through viral social media content, colourful TV drama, animations, radio spots, and attention-grabbing national advertising campaigns, from our hit TV show Navrangi Re! (Nine to a Shade) to our integrated outdoor campaign Malasur, the demon of defeca. Our second Navrangi season - Life Navrangi (Colourful Life) - is now available  (leads to third-party site). Evidence of impact from this work has also been .

Our current portfolio includes an important social media project in Bengaluru, The Invaluables, to help shift people’s perceptions towards, and ultimately improve the lives of, the unsung heroes and critical contributors to Indian society and economy – informal waste-pickers. The project includes a social media experiment and a viral 'Happy Number' music video.

Our digital Women’s Economic Empowerment project has worked to understand and develop scalable proofs of concept for how digital technology can strengthen women’s economic empowerment through women’s collectives. We are now working with leading academics and media platforms to design an intervention on understanding and affecting change in gender norms, focused on male 'gatekeepers' to women's access and meaningful use of smartphones and mobile internet.

Our work also tackles harmful expectations around gender roles, through our successful multimedia project, AdhaFULL (Half Full), with its myth-busting teenage stars; a mobile app called Nugget addressing gender norms; a #BigdiHuiLadki (Girl Gone Wrong) encouraging girls to break free of stereotypes and choose their own path; and a series of related eye-catching graphic novels.

Latest news from India

Our projects in India

Our insight and impact

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Past projects and resources

  • Condom is just another word

    A know-it-all parrot, a kabaddi king, a condom ringtone and a puppy named Condom were all part of a mass media initiative to make condoms more acceptable to Indian men.
  • Preventing bonded labour in India

    A 16-year-old boy was rescued from bonded labour in India after his family listened to a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Media Action radio programme, Majboor Kisko Bola! (Who are you calling helpless!) and sought help.
  • Superhero Bulgam Bhai

    Tuberculosis is the biggest single infectious cause of death in the world. In 2012, Indian superhero Bulgam Bhai came to the rescue.

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