The YWCA of India Trains Young Women
Hosted by the YWCA of Jaipur and attended by five of the seven associations in the Northern Region, the YWCA of India organised the first of a series of leadership training workshops for Young Women in the Northern Region in Jaipur on April 30 – May 1, 2011. The programme was a youth initiative and aimed to address key issues such as problems caused by violence against women, sexual and reproductive rights of women, through awareness and hands-on experience.
Challenging the YWCAs and young women:
After an opening worship session on the theme “Srishti” (Creation), Leila Passah, National General Secretary of the YWCA of India, held the first workshop during which she pointed out that young women were agents of social change and needed to carry the movement forward with a new vision. Passah told participants that the YWCA was a good platform to promote advocacy and initiate young women’s health programmes. She encouraged young women to work among their peers, using the in-house target of over 5,000 young women residents in the association’s hostels. The importance to develop challenging community based programmes addressing sexual and reproductive health rights, violence against women, substance abuse and human trafficking, was also evoked. Ms Passah emphasised the importance of ensuring that the Dalit and Adivasi communities were included in all programmes.
Status of Health vis-à-vis the Social & Economic Context:
A training session on social, cultural and economic factors affecting health in the community was then led by Chandrika Sahai, a consultant with the Dalit Foundation, who threw light on the marginalisation of the Dalit community and the discrimination they faced. She also highlighted that in India over 90% of manual scavengers are women - another form of discrimination and violence against women. Through group activities, participants brainstormed on programmes they could set up in their associations to fight these issues.
During a Young Women’s Leadership workshop convened by Meenakshi F. Paul, National Vice President-Northern Region and Leila Passah, team building exercises and games allowed the young women to highlight the various principles of leadership and discuss sexuality, institutional issues and the effective programmes that should be developed in local associations.
Addressing Adolescent Health:
The direct relationship between violence against women and its effects on adolescent health and the development of young women was the theme of Dr. Anita Prakash Nagori’s session. As a medical doctor she also advised on basic principles of health, hygiene and nutrition, with a focus on community needs in relation to sexual and reproductive health.
Health Camp, Katputli Colony:
A health camp was specially organised for 9-20 year old girls and young women in the community where the majority of families were Dalit. As a result, 100 people received medical treatment and free medicines.
Project Development:
The closing workshop was on project development and included proposal writing (based on programme ideas), budgeting, monitoring and evaluation.
At the end of the 2-day information-packed training, conscious that there is today a greater need than ever before to offer sustainable community based health programmes for adolescent girls, the participants enthusiastically committed to work on addressing these basic health, hygiene and nutritional needs in the future.
