Tami Nadu development activist Kulandei Francis wins Ramon Magsasay award

An Indian grassroot activist who helped thousands of rural women break the poverty cycle with his pioneering community initiatives in Tamil Nadu is among this year's six winners of the prestigious Magsaysay award.
 
Kulandei Francis, 65, whose Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP) in Krishnagiri helped transform many lives in the villages of Tamil Nadu villages was adjuged winner, along with other activists from Taiwan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
 
A statement from the Magsasay Foundation read, Francis was being recognised for "his visionary zeal, his profound faith in community energies, and his sustained programmes in pursuing the holistic economic empowerment of thousands of women and their families in rural India."
 
Francis, himself comes from a modest background and after attaining a graduate degree from Annamalai University, started the IVDP in 1979.  His initiative has over the years, expanded its reach across the state.
 
The project helped establish self help groups for poverty-stricken women that allowed them to start micro enterprises, create savings accounts, and secure reliable loans which enabled thousands of women lift their families out of poverty.
 
Currently IVDP supports over 8,000 self-help groups across the three districts of Krishnagiri, Dharmpuri and Vellore.
 
Both Francis's wife and daughter are actively engaged in running the organisation.

Other winners of the award this year are Chen Shu-Chu from Taiwan, Romulo Davide from the Philippines, Syeda Rizwana Hasan from Bangladesh, Yang Saing Koma from Cambodia and Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto from Indonesia.
 
Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation president Carmencita Abella said this year's six recipients had been involved in creation of sustainable solutions to poverty and helping fight  disempowerment of different sections of society.
 
According to Abella, the winners, workng selflessly in unprententious yet powerful ways had shown how commitment, competence and collaborative leadership can truly transform millions of individual lives and galvanise progressive community action.
 
The Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia's highest honour is widely regarded as the region's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the former Philippine president and is given every year to individuals or organisations in Asia who manifest the same sense of selfless service that ruled the life of the late president.
 
The awardees from outside the Philippines are expected to arrive in the country on 12 August for a series of lectures and to attend the presentation ceremonies on 31 August at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.