Grassroot level organization based out of Old Mustafabad in the northeast district of Delhi, Sofia Educational and Welfare Society has been working tirelessly for providing opportunities and access to education, vocational training, livelihoods, health, shelter, entitlements and support for persons from disadvantaged backgrounds. Beginning with tuitions for children, the founder and head of SOFIA, Suhail Saifi soon realized the need to focus on girls and women resultant from the multiple marginalizing factor of gender.

In its journey since 2004, the organisation has steadily grown from its own learnings and the needs of its primary stakeholders. Today the reach of SOFIA is spread across Delhi and parts of the State of Uttar Pradesh. Today, it is a well-regarded name within the community. Apart from running its own initiatives, SOFIA also works closely with the government and partners in implementing government led programs such as on skill development and the overall management of designated Raen Baseras (Shelters for the Homeless). Our head, Suhail Saifi is also a civil society member on many governmental bodies working on various social issues including the Committee on Asha Kiran, the home for the destitute mentally disabled in Rohini.

Over the years, SOFIA has branched out keeping a gendered lens to its work. At present the programmes running at the organisation include:

•  Support for education through tuitions for school going children, computer education primarily focused on girls and young women and the running of authorised study centers for the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Ministry of HRD and the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), Gol.
• Vocational skilling programmes including cutting and tailoring, fashion designing, beauty culture, computer accounting, calligraphy and Computer Application Business Accounting Desktop Publishing (CABA-DTP).
• The latest addition of a course of diagnostic training in healthcare.
•  Provision of support for setting up a livelihood venture after vetting through proper assessment.
• Mahila Panchayats to address issues of violence, gender-based discrimination against women and girls and declining sex ratio through community outreach.
• Provision of access to healthcare including assistance in health services and rehabilitation aids and appliances for persons with disabilities.
• Running the “Tihar Jail Rehabilitation Program”at the Mandoli Jail for both convicts and undertrials. The programme provides rehabilitation through education & vocational trainings including NIOS education along with soft skills & personality development.
• Support for understanding governmental entitlements and identity documents and applications for the same including Voter cards, Aadhaar, Ration cards, AAY cards, Widow and Disability pensions, UDID etc.
• Management and running of 15RaenBaseras (Night Shelters) for the Government of Delhi in Delhi-NCR.
• Provision of ration support for extremely needy families in times of disasters including the pandemic and nutritional support for persons with disabilities undergoing disability related treatment.
• Creation of awareness on energy saving for judicious and sustainable use of an important resource.
• Running of a diagnostic blood testing lab through provision of highly subsidised tests and provision of physiotherapy for persons with disabilities.

The unique and strong features of SOFIA include:

• Its presence within the community with a reputation that people rely on.
• Its ability to grow and evolve as an organisation in keeping with the times, the demands of those that it strives to serve and the changing policies and programmes supported by the government.
• Its ability to work with a range of marginalisations including sex, age, homelessness, migrant population and disability.
• A dependable and working relationship with local government bodies and functionaries, where the government bodies equally reach out to the organisation to partner with on the ground in implementing their mandate.
• An impressive high success rate in implementing its various livelihood trainings, initiatives and support. For example,26,500 persons have been trained in the past 17 years out of which 72%are gainfully employed or running their own business.
• To adapt its workings to meet demands of disasters such as the Covid-19 pandemic, wherein our organisation supported persons with food, medication and production of masks as a means of earning during dire circumstances.
• The organisation has a good track record of working with both corporate and governmental bodies. Some of these include an Mahindra Tech Company, Harshit Info Solutions Pvt. Ltd, BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL), Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), India Power Corporation Limited (IPCL), Directorate of Training and Technical Education, Delhi Urban Shelters Improvement Board, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and Tihar Jail Adminstration, Government of NCT of Delhi.
• The organisation also partners with other organisations to fulfill its work and mandate. For example, it has worked closely with Goonj.
• It is empaneled with Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) and works to implement its schemes on education, health and financial aidat the grassroots level in Delhi.

A hands-on and participatory approach underlying SOFIA’s grassroots presence enables the delivery of time bound outcomes. Its grasp on the region, its people, their skills and expectations enables it to expand on its on-going work. Since inception SOFIA has impacted approximately 7 Lakhs beneficiaries.

Its community led team has always displayed an enterprising and corporative spirit helping the organisations’ smooth functioning. For example, recently one of SOFIA’s Mahila Panchayat teams identified the disability related needs of a child whose mother is caught in a matrimonial case. Thus, the disability experts at SOFIA have worked closely with the District Magistrate’s office and another related NGO to support the child’s needs.

SOFIA has a record for quality-based outcomes including but not limited to:

• Over 70% rate of success in all its livelihood interventions till date;
• Approx. 6500  woman are self-employed;
• Welfare entitlement support to over 40000 of persons including family units, children, widows and persons with disabilities;
• Provision of skilling to 3000 persons including young girls, women and men in tailoring, fashion designing and computers at a time;
• Over 12000 women supported in cases of domestic violence through mahila panchayats;
• Covid relief assistance to 3.5 Lakhs including ration, hygiene materials and medicines.

Apart from time-bound projects, all interventions continue to run in a sustainable manner. It has a good record for transparency and accountability with both its primary stakeholders and donors. Always willing to adapt its interventions from its learnings.

It deals with a socio-economically marginalised community with a mix of migrant cultures, skill sets, sex, disability, religion and caste intersecting with each other and impacting lives as a whole. Additionally exist realities of a patriarchal society, poorly accessible environment (built, communicational and attitudinal), WASHconcerns, lacking social and cultural infrastructure, inferior educational provisions, limited options of growth in terms livelihoods and few social sector services catering to their daily needs and challenges. SOFIA is well positioned to provide the opportunity for working towards sustainable and impactful change in a systemic manner.