Celebrating women doers, leaders and change makers from across
the country, NITI Aayog - Government of India’s premier think-tank - has
launched the ‘Women Transforming India’ initiative on, March 8, International
Women’s Day, in partnership with the UN in India and MyGov.
As a policy think tank, NITI Aayog seeks to engage directly
with women leaders from across urban and rural areas of India. ‘Women
Transforming India’ is, therefore, our effort at putting our ear to the ground
to gather successful stories of change heralded by women at the grassroots
level, within communities.
Through the initiative, NITI Aayog is seeking for entries in
the form of written essays/stories (not exceeding 500 words), preferably
accompanied by photographs that set a context to the narrative. These stories should
reflect new ground broken by women in empowering themselves/others, or of
challenging stereotypes.
Winning entries will receive a certificate of appreciation
from NITI Aayog and the UN in India. Change makers may also have a chance to
interact directly with policy makers in the Government of India, to enable
affect positive policy action.
We seek to encourage and recognize women who have made a
difference, particularly, by demonstrating leadership in the economic,
socio-cultural and environmental front. Stories of change fostered through the
setting up of
small businesses/enterprises to generate
livelihood opportunities for communities, challenging discriminatory practices/norms,
or preserving the environment and responding to challenges of climate change
are encouraged. Successes in leading change could have been achieved either
through the use of technology or by employing innovating on-ground methods.
Entries must be submitted online (https://mygov.in/task/women-transforming-india-womentransform/) on or before March 31st, 2016. A shortlist of 8-10 best entries by a jury will
be put to poll on MyGov.in to determine the top three entries. The final
winning entry will be determined by a jury constituted by NITI Aayog.
Spread across a period of over one month, the initiative will also sensitize
citizens to gender issues and seek to promote gender equity and equality,
through a variety of media.
‘Women Transforming India’ is consistent with the government’s
renewed commitment to advancing gender equality. The many interventions
including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, Janani Suraksha
Yojana are testimony to its resolve to empower and educate of girls, and to
tackle discrimination against girls and women.
This initiative is also a step forward in furthering the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have Gender as a stand-alone goal. NITI
Aayog has been entrusted with the responsibility to plan, monitor and
coordinate SDG efforts across Central Ministries and State governments.
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AKT/HS/VK