Established in 1993, Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR) has, over the years, entered diverse sectors and grown institutionally and geographically. It is one of the premier NGOs tackling water scarcity, rural poverty, and food insecurity in the dry lands of India today. Over these twenty years WOTR has amplified into different thematic areas and augmented its competencies, in the areas of - a. Watershed/ Ecosystems Development and Natural Resource Management b. Climate Change Adaptation c. Integrated Water Resources Management d. Sustainable Adaptive Agriculture and Food Security e. Rural Livelihoods f. Health, Sanitation, Hygiene, Nutrition g. Gender, Inclusion (equity) and Women’s Empowerment h. Renewable Energy i. Capacity Building and Training j. Institutional and Systems Development k. Knowledge Management-Action Research, Development Communication l. Policy Dialogue WOTR has embedded Ecosystem based Watershed Development in its philosophy which reduces risk, mitigates the impact of adverse climate changes through adaptation, and Sustainable Agriculture which promotes use of indigenous seeds to increase land productivity. The Climate Change Adaptation project is being implemented in 72 villages of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Systems thinking and Complexity Approaches are introduced in conventional development outlines and strategies are being formulated to incorporate this. Over the years, WOTR has been reorganizing and reorienting itself with new concepts and interventions. WOTR has developed and applied various tools to evaluate economic, environmental and social vulnerability of communities and ecosystems. With strong presence in seven states - Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha (Orissa). WOTR has supported and carried out development work in over 3500 villages. In its 20 years since inception, WOTR has successfully organised over 1992 watershed development and climate change adaptation projects, covering over 1.33 million hectares, thus impacting over 1.8 million people. Its involvement over 10250 women’s SHGs, micro-finance, trainings and other initiatives have benefitted over 130000 women. Similarly over 350000 people from 27 states in India and 62 countries have participated in WOTR’s Training and Capacity Building Programme. WOTR also provides support to projects in Somaliland, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. Today, the WOTR Group consists of 4 not-for-profit institutions – the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR); the Sampada Trust (ST) for women’s empowerment and micro-finance; Sanjeevani Institute for Empowerment and Development (SIED) which is the implementation wing of WOTR; and Sampada Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods Foundation (SELF) that has recently been set up to promote social enterprises and livelihoods. WOTR Vision Statement: “Communities, especially the poor within, are empowered and secure their livelihood and well-being in sustainable ecosystems.” WOTR Mission Statement: “To provide committed development support that motivates, energizes and empowers individuals, groups, communities and other organizations to undertake integrated ecosystems development for enhancement of well being on a sustainable basis.” Strategic objectives: WOTR’s specific objectives are to regenerate the natural ecosystem with a strong participatory, people-centric approach that will simultaneously repair the torn social-fabric of communities; address severe water-scarcity, recurring drought, low-agricultural productivity, resulting in chronic hunger and mal-nutrition, mal-adaptation; alternative diversified livelihood opportunities through partnerships between diverse groups: villages, NGOs, Government within India and across countries. Overall Objectives: • To organize people into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) so that they bring about changes in their own lives and the institutions and structures that affect them. • To provide resources by the way of capacity building and material support to these groups (and their facilitators) so that they can realize their hopes and aspirations in a sustainable manner. • To network and mainstream these groups into the local developmental framework so as to enable them to avail of opportunities and resources on a long-term basis. • To attempt to bring about a change in gender relationships so as to create space for gender balanced development within the family, social and institutional milieu. • To seek to bring about changes in the policy and institutional environment in favour of pro-poor development that is equitable and sustainable. • To network, liaise and build partnerships with individuals, institutions and organizations that share common values and objectives so as to decisively impact the lives of large numbers of people. • To build up awareness, capacities and competencies of developmental practitioners, opinion influencers and policy makers so as to create an enabling framework for pro- poor inclusive development.