International Women's Day 2012

Report on

International Women’s Day

Celebration

29th March 2012

International Women's Day

Celebration

and

A Seminar of

Self-Help Groups

under

Sunhara Walmart Project

Date: 29th March, 2012

Place: New Mandi Campus, Hapur (U.P.)

“Fight off the feeling of helplessness. You are a

woman, You have the power to create, nurture,

and mold. Your voice may be soft, but it carries a

sense of purpose. Your shoulders may be delicate,

but they can carry the burden of a family with

ease”

International Women's Day

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the

economic, political and social achievements of women. This is

first IWD event organized by Sunhara Walmart Project in Hapur

area of Ghaziabad district.

International Women’s day celebration dates back to 1908 when 15,000 women marched

through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. This was a time

of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population

growth and the rise of radical ideologies. Women's oppression and discrimination was spurring

women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Women continued to

celebrate this event till 1975 when this day was designated as 'International Women's Year' by

the United Nations. Women's organizations and governments around the world observe

International Women’s Day on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honor women's

advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to

ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's

and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger

generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the

1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more

women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of

women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women

have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of

their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics,

and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of

men.

Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and

celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all

around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and

networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion

parades and more.

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own

internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine

and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on

year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month

of March as 'Women's History Month'.

Sunhara Walmart Project

As women are the nucleus of rural family units, addressing their

socio-economic issues is imperative to the development of the

family. Thus, the overarching goal of the Sunhara-Walmart

project is to shift current formal and informal trends between

women and various community and marketing actors, which will ultimately be reflected in

increase of the household incomes due to women managed enterprise and livelihood activities.

The project is targeting 1,000 small, marginal and landless households, with focus on three

specific and interlinked objectives:

(1) Farmer Outreach will improve farmer production practices and ability to respond to

specific product and market demands

(2) Business Linkages will develop more efficient and profitable relationships with potential

buyers (with focus on a variety of distribution channels) and other market actors

(3) Women of Substance will attempt to address gender inequality in income distribution by

facilitating better access to information, finance and technology to create alternative

sources of income for woman.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and Laxmi Jan Kalyan Sewa Sansthan

are partner of ASI in Sunhara Walmart Project, Ghaziabad for community mobilization and

social development.

A federation of self-help groups has been formed in Hapur which name is "Mahila Kisan Vikas

Sansthan" This producer group is a federation of 8 village level federation of project area which

is registered under 1860 society Act. The producer group is comprised of 868 women SHG

members. This institution has been created for conducting business with retail chains and big

buyers under the umbrella of SUNHARA WALMART Project. The turnover of last four months of

the federation is more than 20 lacs and has 868 members under its ambit.

The Programme Objective

Keeping in view the overall goal of empowering women, Sunhara Walmart Project wants to

provide a common day for recognizing and applauding women’s achievements as well as for

observing and highlighting gender inequalities and issues. But not just for a single day, but all

year round, organization individuals works tirelessly to support gender equality through a

multitude of initiatives, causes and actions.

Project had planned to gather 1200 SHG members being promoted with the support of

NABARD for celebrating women’s day on 29th of March 2012 in Hapur. The objective behind

organizing the event is as follows:

1. Orientation of Women SHG members on their rights and entitlements.

2. Provide a common platform for recognizing and encouraging for their achievements.

3. Developing a sense of confidence and empowerment among the groups.

Event Detail

Venue: New Mandi Campus, Hapur (U. P.) Gathering: 1187 members

S.N. Time Events

1 11:00 am - 11:30 am Puppet Show & Magic Show

2 11:30 am Inauguration of the event by Mr. V. K. Gupta, DGM

Syndicate Bank

3 11:30 am - 11:40 am Welcome Song

4 11:40 am - 12:15 pm Welcome of dignitaries

5 12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Project Summary by Mr. Amit Kumar Singh

6 12:30 pm - 01:00 pm One Act Play on Banking Practices

7 01:00 pm - 02:30 pm Songs and Plays presented by women SHGs

8 02:30 pm - 02:45 pm Address by Chief Guest Mr. V. K. Gupta

9 02:45 pm - 03:30 pm Address by our special guest

- Mr. Jitendra Tomar, DDA Ghaziabad

- Mr. Arvind Mukherjee, DDM Ghaziabad

- Mr. A. K. Singh, Director RUDSETI

- Mr. D. K. Sharma, GM Sarv UP Gramin Bank

- Mr. Gajendra Tomar, Khadi Gramodyog

- Mrs. Lindse John, Global Gender Advisor, ASI

10 03:30 pm - 03:45 pm Visit to stalls by dignitaries

11 03:45 pm - 04:00 pm Vote of thanks

The Programme

The International Women's Day was

organized by Agri-business System

International ,NABARD and Laxmi Jan

Kalyan Sewa Sansthan under Sunhara

Walmart Project. The programme was

scheduled on 8th March, 2012, but

due to Holi festival the programme

was postponed to 29th March, 2012.

All self-help group members and

dignitaries of district administration

were invited for this celebration. The

SHG members presented their thought and action through plays, songs and dances.

On 29th March, 2012 the function started at 11 O'clock . Mr. V. K. Gupta, Deputy General

Manager of Syndicate Bank, Regional Office Ghaziabad was the chief guest of the ceremony.

A puppet show and a magic show was

organized on the need of Self-help

group and their unity. A strong massage

was conveyed on social evils and its

way out. It also explained some SHG

related schemes of government.

Programme started with floral welcome

of dignitaries, farmers and some staffs

followed by a famous prayer “itni

Shakti Hame Dena Data…” by Mrs.

Neelam Tyagi and Mrs. Savita Dubey

and her team.

Mrs. Savita Dubey, moderator for the event enlightened the progamme with beautiful quotations

and made the progamme very lively.

Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Programme Manager, ASI gave an introductory speech on the ongoing

project, it’s objective and rationale behind celebrating how Women’s Day. He said that the theme of

the ceremony is dedicated to “Empower Rural Women”. He also explained how NABARD helped in

grounding the project in a very short period of time and their cooperation throughout.

Mr. V. K. Gupta, Chief Guest of the event

gave a very encouraging Speech on this

day. He appraised the union of women

established in the Hapur. He said that if

women are aware about their own

betterment then the revolution is ensured

which would benefit the entire family,

society and nation as a whole.

Mr. Jitendra Tomar, Deputy Director-

Agriculture gave a very apt talk on day to day problems and hurdles that a woman face in her

routine life and ways to manage those problems. He humorously gave very nice tips on how a

woman can enjoy her life despite of her busy schedule. He insisted on use of new technologies to

reduce their hurdles and increase the profit through agricultural activities.

Mr. Dinesh K. Sharma, General Manager, Sarv U. P. Gramin Bank appreciated the programme

and gathering. He inform about some schemes and promise for full-support from the bank. He gave

focus on the importance of equal access to education, training and science and technology as crucial

pathway to provide women with decent work opportunities.

Mr. Arvind Mukerjee, District

Development Manager, NABARD gave a

simplified and very informative lecture on the

federation and their activities apart from

sustainability issues of the federation "Mahila

Kisan Vikas Sansthan". He also highlighted the

need of numerous economic activities for

benefit of the federation.

Dr. A. K. Singh, Director from RUDSETI gave a very encouraging lecture and said women have to

be aware for their development and empowerment. According to him Sunhara Walmart Project

could achieve outstanding results in such a short span of time due to awareness among the women

farmers and their SHGs on their rights and entitlements.

Mr. Gajendra Tomar, Khadi Gram Udyog Vibhag gave a simplified and informative lecture on

their schemes. He told that if women would want to start their own business then they would

provide financial and training support from the department. The department provides women with

opportunities to become entrepreneurs and access decent work. Department enables them to

move out of informal and precarious job markets. It improves access to credit, product and market

information, technology and training in management skills and enterprise development.

Ms. Lindse John, Global Gender Advisor

was glad to see the strength of women in the

programme. She said "I am very happy to

attend this programme and thanks to all

members for participating in this

programme."

Lastly Mrs. Neelam Tyagi, Secretary of Laxmi

Jan Kalyan Sewa Sansthan, gave vote of

thanks. She thanked all the speakers who

accepted the invitation and provided their valuable guidance. She remarked that as and when the

women federation becomes sustainable in the area, it will work for the overall development of the

rural women. Mrs. Tyagi also thanked to the organizations participated in the programme

Moserbaer, SUNDESH, Pest Control of India, Action India, Mahila Gram Udyog Sansthan.

Although this progamme was organized in a short time, the content and gathering was very much

appreciated by all the attending members and such a progamme gives a sense of belonging to

Sunhara Project.

SHG members also displayed their product in the stalls being provided to them with the support of

NABARD. SUNDESH NGO provide kits of DABUR products for women.

WELCOME SONG

WELCOME OF DIGNITARIES

ROLE PLAY, DANCE AND SONGS PRESENTED BY SHG WOMEN

SPEAKERS

STALLS

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