Collective Learning: Power and Trust in Partnerships in the 3D Program for Girls and Women in Rural Pune District, India

This chapter describes lessons learned through the partnerships jointly facilitated by the 3D Program for Girls and Women and Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Mandal (MASUM) in rural Pune District, India, from 2017 to 2021. The analysis is done from our different perspectives, as one partner based in India and the other in the United States. We describe our process of joint learning as we navigated our own North-South partnership and other multi-sectoral partnerships; advanced gender equality by putting girls and women at the center of partnerships and decision-making; held those in power accountable to protect the rights of girls and women; adapted through COVID-19; and worked together intentionally on different ‘sides’ of our partnership. We explore power and trust within our own partnership and in the other partnerships we facilitated to address social determinants of health and advance gender equality. We highlight how different priorities and needs among stakeholders enriched the process when power differentials were managed in a spirit of trust and camaraderie, within a process of identifying and working towards shared commitments. Based on this analysis, we share lessons we learned and key tenets for global health and international development partnerships.