Ending Untouchability. Reclaiming Dignity.
Even today, more than 330 million people across the world are treated as less than human - as “untouchable”.
The Inclusivity Project works to end all forms of discrimination that lead to practices of untouchability. This includes discrimination based on caste, occupation, inherited status, and descent-based slavery.
About The Inclusivity Project
We are a global not-for-profit organisation based in New York with 501(c)(3) status. Founded in 2017, our aim is to eliminate untouchability and all forms of discrimination based on work and descent, caste systems, inherited status and descent-based slavery across all parts of the world.
Our mission
To dismantle discrimination based on caste, descent and inherited status by harnessing the collective power of affected communities: to eliminate the normalisation of exclusion, hold global institutions accountable for commitments made, and build movements powerful enough to make inherited discrimination a thing of the past.
Vision
To live in a world where all communities are treated with dignity and enjoy full protection of their human rights.
How we work with Community
Communities facing similar forms of discrimination - based on caste, descent-based slavery or occupation - have united under the framework of “Communities Discriminated on the basis of Work and Descent”, a UN term used to describe these forms of discrimination, in order to advocate for their rights on the global stage. More on connecting previously isolated communities
The Inclusivity Project is the vehicle that brings the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) to life, connecting network partners from around the world who represent these communities.
Discrimination based on Work and Descent is UN terminology for communities seen as 'untouchable' and discriminated against on the basis of their occupation (work) and ancestry (descent), a concept clarified by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in General Recommendation 29 (2002), which confirms that "descent" in the ICERD covers caste and analogous systems of inherited status.
"Work" refers to occupations ascribed at birth, often seen as polluting, such as manual scavenging, sanitation, leatherwork or handling the dead. Rooted in notions of purity and pollution, people who do this work are branded "untouchable" and regarded as impure, which leads to their exclusion from shared spaces, services and opportunities, generation after generation.
Our story
A Personal Journey Behind the founder of The Inclusivity Project: Paul Divakar Namala.
Having experienced and witnessed untouchability firsthand, Paul has spent decades working at the intersection of human rights and social justice, which led him to start The Inclusivity Project (TIP).
In this video, Paul shares the story behind that mission.