Thursday, July 15, 2010
Afghan suicide attacks didn't deter SEWA mission
From The Hindu
Even attacks by suicide bombers in Afghanistan did not deter women working with the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) from continuing their transformative work at the grass roots in that country, said Reema Nanavaty, Director of SEWA, at a discussion on “Women's empowerment in India” at the Indian embassy here.
Ms. Nanavaty, who outlined the economic activities of SEWA, from anti-desertification programmes to coordinating employment for salt farmers and rural women's saving and credit programmes, said its motto was “women, water and work.”
In particular, Ms. Nanavaty said women were at the forefront of green jobs as most of their livelihood strategies were anyway about environmental conservation.
With a membership of over 1.2 million, SEWA worked towards “strengthening women's leadership, their confidence, their bargaining power within and outside their homes and their representation in policymaking and decision-making fora.”
Ms. Nanavaty also touched upon the extensive work SEWA had been doing in Afghanistan recently, where, she said, around 500 women participated in their programmes. In that regard and in the context of SEWA's broader, transformative role, Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, said SEWA was often mentioned during the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue recently held in Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was an admirer of SEWA's work, she said.
“Mixed picture”
Indian ambassador Meera Shankar said though the “picture was mixed” in terms of progress with the Indian women's struggle for economic and social equality with men, recent steps such as reservation of local-level political posts for women made a significant difference. Notably a greater proportion of women now held office in village panchayats than was mandated by reservation, and this reflected their growing political empowerment.
Even attacks by suicide bombers in Afghanistan did not deter women working with the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) from continuing their transformative work at the grass roots in that country, said Reema Nanavaty, Director of SEWA, at a discussion on “Women's empowerment in India” at the Indian embassy here.
Ms. Nanavaty, who outlined the economic activities of SEWA, from anti-desertification programmes to coordinating employment for salt farmers and rural women's saving and credit programmes, said its motto was “women, water and work.”
In particular, Ms. Nanavaty said women were at the forefront of green jobs as most of their livelihood strategies were anyway about environmental conservation.
With a membership of over 1.2 million, SEWA worked towards “strengthening women's leadership, their confidence, their bargaining power within and outside their homes and their representation in policymaking and decision-making fora.”
Ms. Nanavaty also touched upon the extensive work SEWA had been doing in Afghanistan recently, where, she said, around 500 women participated in their programmes. In that regard and in the context of SEWA's broader, transformative role, Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, said SEWA was often mentioned during the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue recently held in Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was an admirer of SEWA's work, she said.
“Mixed picture”
Indian ambassador Meera Shankar said though the “picture was mixed” in terms of progress with the Indian women's struggle for economic and social equality with men, recent steps such as reservation of local-level political posts for women made a significant difference. Notably a greater proportion of women now held office in village panchayats than was mandated by reservation, and this reflected their growing political empowerment.
Labels: SEWA mission, social service, suicide attacks
# posted by Narayan Lakshman @ 10:33 PM 
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