Accelerating Progress Through Women Empowerment

Like most occasions and events that fall in the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown period, International Day of Girl Child celebration, which falls on October 11, was subdued this year. However, its significance remains the same or even increased owing to the ongoing global health crisis that has compounded human suffering. This year also marked 25 years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which was adopted by 189 governments across the world to take strategic action in 12 critical areas of concern such as poverty, education and training, health, violence, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment, and the girl child. The occasion envisages removing the barriers that obstruct women and girls from reaching their full potential as well as those factors that hinder them from taking equal participation in all areas of life – both public and private. The theme for this year’s International Day of Girl Child was “My Voice, Our Equal Future”, and this was what the executive director of Unicef, Henrietta H. Fore, tweeted: "Support girls. Listen to girls. Help girls realise their dreams.”

So much has been written and talked about the plight of the women across the globe; by now, the world must be already aware of the problems they face every day. In India too, the government launched Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (Save the girl child, educate the girl child) scheme in 2015 with specific objectives to address the critical issue of declining child sex ratio, to prevent gender biased sex selective elimination, to ensure survival and protection of the girl child, and to ensure education and participation of the girl child through co-ordinated and convergent efforts. Massive awareness campaigns on this scheme have been carried out even in remote villages over the years. But what is the ground reality of girl’s status in our society? Sadly, gender-based discrimination and crime, including rapes continue to this day. In Naga society too, many girls are deprived of education, inheritance rights, decision-making, etc. In fact, there is not a single country that can claim to have achieved gender equality. With certain laws, traditions and culture that undervalue women still remaining unchanged despite big talks to uplift them, real change for the status of females is agonisingly slow. They continue to earn less and face various forms of violence.

The Covid-19 pandemic could increase the problems of women and girls across the world as they are usually at the receiving end during crisis and conflicts; this despite women’s resilience that has helped society overcome emergencies. Women and girls, who constitute half of the world’s population, have at least half the world’s potential to spur productivity and economic growth. So, special focus should be given towards their well-being in order to build a resilient society and achieve sustainable development. Besides ending all forms of gender-based discrimination, women and girls should be empowered with the freedom to do what they love and excel. For this to happen, access to quality education is crucial. The world will come out of the ongoing crisis eventually and the pace of human progress will be accelerated if women are empowered.