The urgent need of the hour is women empowerment. The improvement of women's economic, social, and political standing in India enables sustainable rural and urban growth. To change the idle culture into a self-sustaining society, women must be empowered in these areas. The supply of proper educational resources, political support, an efficient legal system, and the creation of jobs for women are a few ways to empower women and Embrace Equity.
In order to empower women and promote gender equity, NGOs and self-help groups (SHG) offer basic education, vocational training, training for self-employment, legal aid, protection for women, and self-awareness programmes. To encourage gender equity, NGOs are therefore primarily focused on improving the status of women in society. They have been attempting to facilitate equal opportunities for all genders to overcome their historical and social disadvantages by ensuring fairness and justice in the distribution of resources to all genders.
Since the overall empowerment of women is crucial to achieve gender equity, NGOs engage in the following initiatives to support women:
• Educating and raising awareness among women, particularly those who live in rural areas
• Supports government initiatives for the empowerment of women
• Encourages the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for the empowerment of women; cultivates in women a sense of leadership and ensures their involvement in that empowerment
• Represents the issues rural women confront to different authorities and evaluates how decisions about women's policy will affect them
• Assembles the best resources, plans, and carries out the programmes that are related to the empowerment of women
NGOs appear to have a considerable impact on the radical transformation of women's lifestyles. They are highly successful in influencing women to develop their independence, drive, and ability to make their own judgements. Also, they have improved the health and literacy of women.
Akshaya Patra’s role in promoting gender equity
Giving women a voice is incredibly empowering and impacts the society and families, thereby playing a vital role in promoting gender equity. According to Akshaya Patra, women's challenges must be handled in the context of their social and institutional environments rather than in isolation. For a society to thrive, women must be represented in social, political, and economic processes.
To begin with, one of the biggest worldwide issues of the 21st century is advancing gender equity in the context of digital education. And keeping up with the theme of Women’s Day 2023 Embrace Equity, Akshaya Patra has brought digital education one step closer to children studying in Government schools and colleges to bridge the learning gap that largely prevails among children from lower income groups.
Digital Education Programme
The NGO under its Digital Education Programme, has collaborated with EdTech company BYJU'S in an effort to further the Foundation's aim of providing students with access to quality education. BYJU'S provides free streaming licences and smart classrooms to students as part of this collaboration, allowing students to access high-quality, tech-driven instructional programmes. This programme has largely benefitted children especially girls studying in secondary and higher secondary levels.
Pallavi Bai CH, PUC 1st Year, Government PUC College, Yediyur, Bangalore
The other programmes of Akshaya Patra that have benefitted girls and women of underserved communities are:
• PM Poshan Abhiyaan previously known as Mid-Day Meal Programme (MDM Programme): This is the core programme of the NGO. This programme serves hot and nutritious meals to over 2 million children in more than 22,000 Government schools across India. The MDM acts as an incentive for parents to send their children to school in the hope that they will have an access to at least one healthy meal every day. It holds especially true for parents of girl children who otherwise often do not realise the importance of educating them. The MDM programme also creates employment opportunities for women as many of them are employed in the 66 kitchens spread across the country.
• AVSAR Scholarship Programme: This facilitates financial assistance for meritorious students, giving them the tools to pursue their post-secondary education. The programme is part of the Foundation's flagship effort, National Endeavour for Student Transformation (NEST), which aims to serve children beyond the Mid-Day Meal Programme. This programme of the NGO acts as an added benefit to those girls who wish to pursue their higher education but often fail due to financial constraints.
The programme has helped thousands of students realise their aspirations by bridging the gap between them and organisations that provide scholarships.
In essence, Akshaya Patra serves as a facilitator, identifying chances for scholarships for worthy students among the many grants provided by the government and corporates.Each student is picked on the basis of merit and need. The AVSAR scholarship has influenced many students' lives and goals throughout the course of its six-year journey.
This financial independence creates a more supportive and all-encompassing environment for students to finish their education for many families.
• Anganwadi Feeding Programme: Akshaya Patra serves meals to pregnant and lactating women, and their children in Anganwadi Centres. This initiative is an effort to curb malnutrition in children in the long-term, by ensuring that these women have nutritious diets, especially through the maternal period, thus also protecting the health of mothers. For babies and toddlers, the nutrition received acts as a foundation for future development and learning.
• Feeding Homeless Mothers: Akshaya Patra feeds homeless and destitute mothers with three hot meals every day at Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh in order to ensure that they live with dignity and respect and also remain healthy. These meals give them a sense of independence and empowerment.
Through Akshaya Patra’s various programmes, the #NGO strives to extend nutrition, education and a dignified life to every woman from economically backward families.
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