“And one day she discovered that she was fierce and strong and full of fire and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears.” – Mark Anthony.
Today, we live in a world where women take the reins, make their mark and lead in many fields.
Commemorating Women’s Empowerment
To raise awareness of the disparities faced by girls in society as well as the significance of education, health and nutrition along with rights of girl children, the ‘United Nations’ officially recognized and started celebrating International Women’s Day on 8th March since 1977 and likewise the ‘Ministry of Women and Child Development’ organization promoted National Girl Child Day on 24th January in 2008.
This year’s theme of International Women’s Day and National Girl Child Day was, - “For all women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” and “Empowering Girls for a Bright Future” respectively.
Empowered Women, Empowering World
Women’s empowerment can be defined as promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices and their right to influence social change for themselves and others. It is closely aligned with female empowerment – a fundamental human right that’s also key to achieving a more peaceful and prosperous world. A beautiful line by Meghan Markle – “It is said that young ladies with dreams become ladies with vision. May we be empowered to realize this vision together.”
“We always celebrate a great woman. But to be great, the girl child needs to be encouraged to excel from an early age.” – Similarly, a great quote given by Gift Gugu Mona. Women’s empowerment and promoting women’s rights have emerged as a part of a major global movement and is continuing to break new ground in recent years. Women–led development has been a key pillar of the present government and several significant steps have been taken towards gender mainstreaming in policy actions across various spheres.
Women’s Wave: Making a Difference (FACTS)
Consequently, India has rightly called for the inclusion of gender concerns into the core agenda of G-20 during its presidency, with Prime Minister – Narendra Modi noting that, “We have to maintain priority on Women-led development even in our G-20 Agenda.”
Likewise, our current 15th President of India, Draupadi Murmu on the eve of International Women’s Day, hailed India by accentuating the aspects and role of women in molding the nation’s future: “The perception that women will prioritize family over work must be challenged because raising future generations is a shared societal responsibility. True progress lies in creating an environment where every girl can pursue her dreams without fear or restrictions. Empowering women is not just about fairness; it is about building a stronger and more developed nation.” She herself is a living portrait of women’s empowerment for a brighter tomorrow. Being raised in one of the most remote and underdeveloped districts of the country, Mayurbhanj, Odisha, she has achieved a great pillar of success and is today serving as the 1st Adivasi/tribal and 2nd woman President of India.
According to UNESCO, 2.1 million children under age 5 were saved between 1990 and 2009 because of improvements in girls’ education. Similarly, according to a new Brookings report, ‘Increasing the number of women completing secondary education by just 1% could increase a country’s economic growth by 0.3%.’
One of the famous women – the first African-American First lady of the Unted States and the wife of President of USA Barack Obama – Michelle Obama inspires a lot of girls and women around through her famous quote –
“When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.”
Empowering women is essential to the health and social development of families, communities and countries. When women are living safe, fulfilled and productive lives, they can reach their full potential, contributing their skills to the work force and can raise happier and healthier children. They are also able to help fuel sustainable economies and benefit to societies and the humanities at large. “When you educate a girl, you kickstart a cycle of success. It makes economic sense, social sense and moral sense.” – by Queen Raina of Jordan.
Eminent Women of India: Pioneers and Trailblazers
- Lata Mangeshkar – The ‘Nightingale of India’ has marked her fame not only in India but beyond boundaries. She was recognized by Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in history.
- Mary Kom – The only boxer to win 8 World Championship medals. 1st Indian female boxer to win gold in the Asian Games 2014 and Commonwealth games.
- Indira Gandhi – The ‘Iron Lady of India’, became the nation’s 1st female Prime Minister.
- Mother Teresa – Founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation of women dedicated to the poor, serving the blind, the aged and the disabled.
- Kalpana Chawla – The 1st Indian – born Woman in space.
- Arunima Sinha – The world’s 1st woman to climb Mount Everest summit (Indian).
- Tessy Thomas – The ‘Missile woman of India’, having excellence in Indian missile projects like, Agni-V.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and India’s most popular actress with a global following, Priyanka Chopra, also said, “Ladies, it’s absolutely okay to be ambitious. Bold and ambitious girls make history.”
In today’s world, women are capable of doing anything and everything that they want. They are found everywhere, from CEOs of multinational companies like Falguni Nayar – Nykaa, Vineeta Singh – Sugar Cosmetics, Indra Nooyi – PepsiCo, to Sports, like Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza and fashion icons to even ambassadors of countries like Ruchika Kamboj – India.
Such women are an inspiration to girls who aspire to follow the same path in the future.
Strategic Implications by Government of India for Women
The government of India have implemented numerous Women Empowerment schemes, some of them are –
1. MAHILA SAMRIDDHI YOJANA:
It ensures the financial independence of women of specific groups (economically and socially backward classes) by providing microfinance loans at lower interest rates to encourage women to adapt an entrepreneurial mindset and career.
2. PRADHAN MANTRI MATRU VANDHANA YOJNA:
It provides financial (cash) incentives to pregnant women and lactating mothers for –
- Wage loss during and after pregnancy.
- Encouraging them to seek and have proper healthcare services.
- Improve overall health of mother and child.
3. BETI BACHAO BET PADHAO SCHEME:
It helps in the transformation of the mindset of people and educates them regarding gender bias for girl children by offering financial security for girls’ education and also provides protection from various crimes against girl children.
4. UJJAWALA:
Its purpose is to prevent trafficking along with Rescue, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of the victims of trafficking.
5. NIRBHAYA:
It enhances women's safety by providing funds as well as provides all-encompassing support to the women victims of violence through police assistance, medical services, rehabilitation, psychological counselling and so on.
6. WOMEN HELPLINE SCHEME:
It helps by providing 24/7 emergency and immediate response to women suffering from violence or seeking any information through the toll-free number 181 and many more.
Conclusion
Thus, investing in girls is one of the smartest things we can do to promote a healthier, more prosperous world. More importantly, it’s the right thing to do. Every girl has the right to be in charge of her future, her fate and we have the collective obligation to protect her rights and promote her wellbeing.
In worldwide, women have made a place for themselves and reached the top in every field that they have trailed. Nothing is stopping them.
The world’s youngest Nobel Prize Laureate and Pakistani education activist, Malala Yousafzai, once expressed,
“When half of us are held back, we cannot all success. We encourage our sisters all over the world to be brave, to recognize their own strength and to reach their full potential.”