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About Us

The KeSV Foundation home-based palliative care team is welcomed with affection in Sugibai's home in Nala village, Akkalkuwa. A patient suffering from stroke, she blesses our nurse and exudes love and warmth.

Bridging the gap - moving towards health equity

Karuna Evam Shanti Vahini (KeSV) Foundation aims to support the design and implementation of interventions in public health that address inequities within communities, focusing on those who are at the intersects of multiple marginalization situations, including but not limited to gender, migrant status, disability, chronic illness, homelessness, tribal status, and others.

The Foundation has been set up to honour the legacy of Mr. Keshav Desiraju, former Secretary, Health, Govt. of India. Mr. Desiraju's leadership in public health was defined by his remarkable vision for a just and equitable health care system, and his deep compassion that brought hitherto neglected areas of health care into focus: mental health, palliative care, disability rights, geriatric care, and others.

Our approach is to identify and nurture leadership within the community to respond to distress arising from health suffering, and to facilitate robust referrals to next levels of care and follow up. At the core of this is a belief in the need to build resilient communities and strive towards accessible and compassionate health care as a human right. We draw on our organizational strengths in communications, capacity building, and generation of robust evidence to engage with multiple stakeholders in an effort to support affirmative action to bridge the gaps in health care equity.

Karuna Evam Shanti Vahini Foundation, set up in 2022, is a not- for- profit organization, registered under the Companies Act, 2013 and headquartered in Mumbai.

Media Coverage

Nandurbar News 12 Sep 2024

Nandurbar news features the amazing work done by 2 Medical Officers from the government in saving the lives of newborn twins and their mother. The mother, in advanced labour, had to be carried slung on a bamboo pole across this river before she could be ferried by ambulance to the health centre. Read More...

Don Norman Design Award 2024

PROJECTS EXCELLENCE: Palliative Care in a Tribal Settlement: Developing a Community-Centred Model Read More...

World Hospice & Palliative Care Day

Meet Karuna Evam Shanti Vahini Foundation in Mariwala Health Initiative’s partner Read More...

Pallium India website

Our work was recently featured as a good practice in the Pallium India website Read More...

Public Health Experience

The team at Karuna Evam Shanti Vahini Foundation brings collective experience in strategy design, communications, capacity building, documentation and research in public health across various areas. As a network of professionals working at The Communication Hub the team engaged with donor organizations, the government, and philanthropic foundations across several projects. These included, among others, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Alliance-India, CINI, UKAid, DKT-India, IDS/ University of Sussex, FHI360, NMP+, ICCO, IPPF, NACO, the NHM, IPE Global Limited, Population Foundation of India, PHFI, PIPPSE, Population Council, PSI, SAVE THE CHILDREN-SARO, The World Bank, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNODC, USAID, UN-WOMEN, Helpage India and others. Specific private sector clients worked with on CSR projects include Ambuja Cement, Godrej, Deepak Fertilizers, and PepsiCo.

Reproductive and Sexual Health
Family Planning and Safe Abortion
Maternal and Child Health
Newborn Care
Adolescent Health
Vector-borne Diseases
Leprosy
Polio
Tuberculosis
Palliative Care
Elder Care
Blindness Control
Nutrition
HIV and AIDS
Substance Abuse
Violence and Mental Health
Sanitation and Health

Partner With Us

Karuna Evam Shanti Vahini Foundation can partner with you by providing technical support to your programme. Our expertise and experience can support you in strengthening, amplifying, and celebrating your work across several domains.

Designing your Communication Strategy and Intervention

We have extensive experience in design of strategic communication interventions, focusing on behaviour change communication, thereby helping organizations use their resources both efficiently and effectively to make for sustained change at the individual and community level. An example of the kind of work that our professionals have undertaken is the Design of a Comprehensive Social and Behaviour Change Communication Strategy and Action Plan for Maternal and Child Health in Jharkhand for UNICEF. The Strategy and Action Plan, based on rigorous research, were developed in a participatory and decentralized manner, working closely with district level communication teams.

Developing your Communication Intervention and Products

Our team has experience in the design and development of 360-degree campaign products including innovative interactive materials, materials for digital and broadcast media, print and audio materials. We work with the finest in the creative and design fields; films produced by our members have used approaches ranging from documentary, drama, animation and case study formats. An example of the kind of work that our professionals have undertaken in this is the design and production of a comprehensive communication intervention for child rights and WASH in the state of Madhya Pradesh. We also build capacity and handhold the actual implementation stage of the campaign in order to ensure the most effective use of campaign products.

Research Studies - from Formative Stage to Impact Assessment

The team has extensive experience across research studies that aid in better intervention design, in rigorous monitoring and in impact evaluation. We have a network of field personnel located across India. A key value-addition we bring is our experience in developing indicators that are suitable for your programme and that effectively capture both the pace and direction of change that your intervention is making. We also have experience in peer-led research studies among marginalized and vulnerable communities. An example is an 18- state study that explored HIV- related stigma among key populations, providers, and the general population.

Capacity building: Design of curricula, training tool kits, and implementation

Our team has handled the design and roll out of capacity building programmes from the needs assessment stage, through design of curricula, development of training materials, tool-kits and aids, and facilitation of cascade training. The comprehensive training package developed for ASHAs under NHM’s Maternal and New-born Health Programme, was rolled out across several states and translated into multiple languages. These tools and materials continue to be used extensively across the country and are available on the website of the National Health Mission.

Participatory Communication: Engaging with your communities to develop advocacy and communication interventions

Members of our Foundation have worked closely with communities to develop communication and advocacy tools in a participatory manner. An example is the work done with HIV positive women in Maharashtra under a World Bank grant to develop their own radio programme addressing stigma; this was recognized as a best practice at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

Documentation of your programme:Exploring and sharing good practices

Our team can help in documenting your efforts and in studying and presenting learnings and good practices evidenced through your work. As an example, our team members have in the past documented good practices in HIV prevention across the state of Maharashtra. We worked closely with the State as well as with the donor (BMGF) and the communities on the ground to develop SOPs that can be applied by partners working in HIV prevention in other geographies.

KeSV Team

Our core team has several years of experience in social sector research, capacity building, communication, and programme implementation in the subcontinent. The team has collective work experience across India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan.

Sonalini Mirchandani

Sonalini Mirchandani, a former civil servant, has over three decades of experience in the social sector. Her work in research, strategic design, capacity building and implementation has spanned sectors including HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, child rights, gender-based violence, governance, and others. She has held leading positions including that of Country Director, Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programs, and Founder CEO, The Communication Hub. Her work has won international recognition, and she is a member of several advisory bodies including the Technical Resource Group- Department of AIDS Control, CDMC-MICA's Global Advisory Committee, and UNICEF's International Polio Communications Review Team. Sonalini serves on the Advisory Boards of Population Foundation of India, SNEHA, Pallium India’s Board Advisory Committee for Policy and Advocacy and CCDT. She is a founding member of the Mumbai Palliative Care Network and Director at KeSV Foundation.

Raghu Roy

Raghu Roy, a founding member and Director at KeSV Foundation, is an experienced social and market research professional. Raghu has held senior positions in research in his career spanning four decades, including that of CEO, Operations Research Group (ORG, presently A C Nielsen). He has been engaged on projects supported by UNDP, the World Bank, NACO, USAID, several government departments as well as other multilateral and bilateral donors. He has worked in WASH (for UNICEF, and the Indo-Dutch Project), Reproductive and Child Health (for UKAid, DKT India, Population Foundation of India and UNICEF), Gender-based Violence (for UNICEF) Baseline Studies, Formative Research, Communication Needs Assessments, and Impact Evaluations (for USAID, Heroes Project, UKAid, IDS/ University of Sussex, Ambuja Cement Foundation, Helpage India, and others). His work in peer-led research among marginalized communities has been noteworthy for the engagement of community members through all stages of research design and dissemination.

Shabana Patel

Shabana Patel has worked in sectors including RMNCHA+N, HIV/AIDS, Sanitation, and other public health issues in geographic regions across the country. Shabana is the Founder and President of the Network in Maharashtra of People Living with HIV (NMP+) and has conceptualized and led the development of intervention projects that address the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and young people. She is skilled in qualitative research and capacity building initiatives. Shabana has attended and spoken at a variety on forums on HIV and sexual health, in India and abroad, and has been a recipient of the prestigious Bhim Ratna Puraskar by the Hon. Home Minister, Government of Maharashtra for her contributions in the field of HIV / AIDS focusing on mainstreaming of the community of people living with HIV. Shabana is a founding member at KeSV Foundation.

Aparna Sah

Aparna Sah, with a Master’s Degree in Medical and Psychiatric Social Work, has experience across qualitative research, social communication, capacity building and programme development in India, Bangladesh and Nepal since 2003. She has worked with organizations such as MART, Johns Hopkins University, The Communication Hub and as Communication Officer for the region with ICCO-South and Central Asia. Aparna has worked on projects funded by Government of India, USAID, UNICEF, UNDP, BMGF, The World Bank, and The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Kingdom of Netherlands.

Parag Pevekar

Parag Pevekar, Associate, Psycho-Social Support, holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Disaster Management and is a trained psychotherapist. Motivated by his battle with thyroid cancer, he has dedicated himself to Psycho-Social Care, championing patient rights through advocacy and social mobilization. Parag has worked in DRTB, HIV, and Hepatitis C. He also serves as a Consultant for St. Jude for Life's Pediatric Cancer Survivorship program. His previous experience includes Médecins Sans Frontières, India, as well as YRG Care where he was a Verbal Autopsy Consultant.

Manoj K Pandey

With a postgraduate degree in Information technology, Manoj K Pandey is Lead, IT (Software) and Analytics with KeSVF. Manoj has rich experience in systems management, bringing over twenty-five years of experience across several organizations, including Operations Research Group (ORG, currently AC Nielsen), the largest research and consultancy agency in India. He has undertaken the design of the website and the dynamic patient database used by staff at all levels at KeSVF. Manoj handles the analytics for studies undertaken by the Foundation and provides systems and advisory support as required across our interventions.

Yateen Ramakant Sawant

Yateen Ramakant Sawant has worked as a researcher and led teams as field manager across India. Fluent in Marathi, Gujarati, English and Hindi, he has been active in running numerous medical camps over years in the capacity of a volunteer. Yateen, a talented sculptor, photographer and illustrator is the field-based Team Leader.

Vasant Vasave

Vasant Fulji Vasave, is a MSW from Karve Institute of Social Sciences, Pune. He has been a District Magistrate Fellow-Nandurbar for the Dhadgaon Block under the government’s Aspirational District program and a Cluster Co-ordinator for CYDA. Proficient in the Adivasi dialects of the Satpura, Vasant brings local understanding and community insights to the team.

Saku Padvi

Saku Padvi, a qualified nurse, has a GNM degree from Nashik. She has worked with the Akkalkuwa Hospital and also under the government’s COVID-19 program. She exudes warmth and compassion towards her patients and their families as she delivers quality health care in her community.

Sameer Vasave

Sameer Vasave, is a MSW from Jalgaon. He is based in Akkalkuwa tehsil and had worked closely with the Gram Panchayat on issues of rural development and livelihood. Familiar with the terrain and government policies for rural communities, Sameer is an asset for our team with his networking and advocacy skills.

Rahul Thakur

Rahul Thakur, a nurse with a GNM degree from Bangalore, belongs to Nandurbar. He has over three years of work experience as a health care provider in a range of settings. Confident, compassionate, and skilled, Rahul is known for his ability to work hard and is used to working under challenging situations requiring medical interventions. He belongs to the Adivasi Bhil community and is based in Akkalkuwa under the project.

Dasharath Kalusing Shinde

Dasharath Kalusing Shinde has a GNM degree from Nashik, Maharashtra and is based in the very remote Dhadgaon block of Nandurbar district. He has nearly 3 years of work experience as Staff Nurse in various hospitals across Maharashtra. Dasharath has hands-on experience of working with patients in villages across Nandurbar district and brings a range of specialized nursing skills to our field team.