06-11-2009A group of tribal women in eastern India has helped restore the neighbourhood forests. Carrying traditional weapons and humming folk warnings, these women go on routine patrolling to track timber mafia engaged in illegal felling of trees.
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Image: Adivasi women in Jharkhand protesting against deforestation/ Photo credit: Google
29-10-2009Patriarchal mindset in a western Indian state that denied women equal access to education is now changing with the development of residential schools for girls. Established under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, these schools have acted as a catalyst for social change by providing quality education.
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Image: Seema Bishnoi, the teacher and warden at the KGBV hostel is a role model for the girls/ Photo credit: World Bank
05-10-2009Decades ago four young women went to Gujarat, a state in western India, to infuse a new life in the government’s welfare schemes but failed in their attempt. They did not give up hopes and continued to engage with local communities to help them solve their water problems.
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27-09-2009Mehbullahpur locality in the city of Lucknow in northern India has a population of about 50,000, comprising largely poor Muslims. Shakila Begum, with her team of 10 volunteers, is trying to bring change in their lives.
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16-09-2009Using microfinance, women in southern India are running viable businesses and contributing to family income. Hundreds of thousands of women are opening up grocery shops, engaging in poultry and livestock, pappad or pickle making, pottery, vegetable vending, bangle or trinket shops, and beauty parlours.
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Image: Asiya Begum collects the weekly instalment from a group leader/ Photo credit: Business Line
31-08-2009For majority of women in Indian cities from poorer backgrounds, working as domestic help remains a chief source of regular but often underpaid employment. A local NGO in the national capital has taken an initiative to train women as cab drivers to help them augment their income and skills.
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Image: Saroj, a woman driver trained by Azad Foundation, drives a car in New Delhi/ Photo credit: AFP
21-08-2009A tree-planting project launched by an all-women local council in central Afghanistan is helping to build a green environment. With support from WFP, local women have planted around 2,500 saplings.
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Image: A women of Dara Azhdar planting a sapling/ Photo credit: WFP
18-08-2009Thousands of girls across Maharashtra in western India are escaping the oppression of their homes and gaining new confidence. They are attending meetings of the Adolescent Girls’ Group, which imparts professional training and equips them with basic knowledge about gender, health and nutrition.
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10-08-2009Empowerment of women is a regularly discussed subject among NGOs, bureaucrats, funding agencies and policymakers. Touring across Maharashtra in western India, OneWorld South Asia correspondent finds cases of true empowerment wherein women have struggled against the biggest odds to find their own feet and voice.
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Image: Women in a meeting/ Photo credit: Huned Contractor/ OWSA
05-08-2009Khabar Lahariya, a fortnightly newspaper in Hindi run by rural women in Uttar Pradesh has won the prestigious UNESCO Literacy Prize 2009. Innovative programmes in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and the Philippines have also been felicitated for teaching women and other marginalised populations.
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