Empowering Women aims to give women the courage to break free from the shackles of restrictive thinking patterns and societal or religious conditioning that have kept women restrained and unable to recognise their true power in the past. We need to step up our efforts to empower more and more women and help them advance. It is everyone’s moral, social, and constitutional obligation to ensure their advancement by ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women. Today, we're sharing the stories about organizations who had been working towards empowering women and the women empowerment events that occurred in the recent week.
NITI AAYOG'S WEP HOSTED 5TH WTI AWARD ON MARCH 21
The fifth edition of the Women Transforming India Awards (WTI) was held on March 21, 2022, by NITI Aayog's Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP).
The WTI Awards were presented to 75 women achievers as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, which will commemorate India's 75th anniversary of independence.
The Awards were presented by an equally exceptional group of women, including Kiran Bedi, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry; Lakshmi Puri, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations; Arundhati Bhattacharya, former Chairperson of State Bank of India; Dr Tessy Thomas, Director-General of Aeronautical Systems, DRDO; Salma Sultan, former news anchor at DD; Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM; Dr Sangeeta Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals; Ila Arun, acclaimed singer; and Shivani Malik, Managing Director of Da Milano Leathers.
AMAZON AIMS TO INCREASE ITS FEMALE WORKFORCE IN INDIA
The e-commerce titan Amazon is stepping up its efforts in India to increase the number of women in the workforce and encourage diversity in the workplace. Women at the corporation are being honoured for not just overcoming societal, cultural, disability, and economic barriers to achieve their objectives, but also for redefining the powerful position of a woman in the fast-paced e-commerce market. Female frontline employees, in particular, are on the rise.
Amazon's Director, DE & I, International Markets, WW Consumer Swati Rustagi said, "We have redoubled our efforts as an organisation. It becomes very crucial, as corporations (have) lost women workforce during this time (Covid), how do we really make sure that we are really putting the right programmes to attract women back into the workforce. It is also a very difficult transition for people working from home to start coming back to workplaces, create hybrid models, schools are starting up. How do you really support in terms of caregiving and provide multiple mechanisms for employees to cope with all the changes happening all around, I think that’s been a big focus for us."
STRONGHER VENTURES AND WEWORK INDIA PARTNERED TO EMPOWER ONE MILLION WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
WeWork India, a flexible workspace provider, has announced a partnership with StrongHer Ventures, India's and the world's first woman-focused venture capital firm, to establish 'Arise,' a programme meant to open doors for India's female entrepreneurial ecosystem.
WeWork Labs, WeWork's worldwide incubation and acceleration arm, and StrongHer Ventures will lead the association. Through a combination of competitive counselling, business support, community development, and broader societal impact, the initiative will assist women entrepreneurs.
Over the next five years, the initiative will engage with 5,000 companies, mentor 1000 entrepreneurs, and invest in over 100 startups.
SIMPLILEARN PARTNERED WITH JOBSFORHER TO TEACH & UPSKILL 1000 WOMEN IN FULL STACK JAVA DEVELOPMENT
Simplilearn has partnered with JobsForHer, an online network for women's jobs, to teach and upskill 1000 women in full stack java development over the next year, preparing them for future employment. Simplilearn hopes to hire 1,000 women Java engineers by the end of the year as part of this campaign.
“Women now make up 34 per cent of the IT workforce in India, but the participation of women in tech starts declining as we move up the career ladder. We need to address this issue head-on and focus on increasing the talented women workforce, or the already stubborn gender gap will only continue to widen for women in tech,” reads the press release from Simplilearn.
The goal of this 'women-only' effort is to increase the position and capabilities of women in technology. Simplilearn's job guarantee programme includes the Full Stack Java Development programme, which allows women to follow their goals without worrying about finding work.
VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS & PERSONALITIES CAME TOGETHER TO PROMOTE 'MENSTRUAL EQUITY'
Long-term Covid limitations had an unfavourable impact on menstrual hygiene, which had been improving steadily. Poor women were compelled to relegate personal hygiene goods to the bottom of their grocery lists as household incomes declined.
This situation is being addressed by a new coalition. The Miss Universe Organization (MUO), Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu, reigning Miss Universe 2021, Arunachalam Muruganantham aka Pad Man, social impact agency DDB For Good, and the NGO Plan India formed a coalition and social impact alliance to build a platform for "menstrual equity."
By 2025, the project hopes to reach five million women. Harnaaz, as Miss Universe 2021, promised to turn "period poverty into period powerty."
NAFL & FFFAI SIGN MOU FOR TRAINING, WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
Officials said at the conclusion of the 3rd Edition of LOGIX India in Dubai, which was supported by the UAE's National Association of Freight and Logistics, that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed by the UAE and India will be operational within one month, simplifying customs procedures, reducing logistics costs, and opening new opportunities for professional services (NAFL).
The three-day logistics conference came to a close with a closing ceremony at the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, which was attended by top officials from both countries.
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) conducted LOGIX, which was backed by the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India (FFFAI) and the National Association of Freight Forwarders (NAFL).
