_{A communications initiative for a bakanced, planned and stable population}

Bhopal hosts ULMAGS

The Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will present the awards to the winners of the UNFPA-Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity (ULMAGS) (North & East Regions) at Samanvay Bhavan in Bhopal on April 12, 2010. The winners were chosen by a jury comprising leading lights from the media, theatre, and social fields. We received over 300 entries from both the regions. Since the 'web' category was introduced this year, the scope of the media covered under the Awards has widened. Web articles, news, and features were received from all corners of the two regions including Ladakh and Kashmir.
All you readers in Bhopal do support the event by attending the same. See you there.

'Amcha Gaon, Amchi Shaan' campaign witnesses the power of women

Awards ceremony held for the village development campaign 2009-10

The prize distribution ceremony for the Amcha Gaon, Amchi Shaan (Our Village, Our Pride) campaign organized under the Amchi Project (Action for Mobilisation of Community Health and population Initiatives) of Population First (PF) was held on 2nd February 2010.

The campaign saw active participation of the stakeholders from all the participating villages especially women who accounted for 80 % of the total number of participants. More than 350 women and men present at the ceremony were as enthusiastic as the PF team. The villages were selected based on three main categories:

1.    Community Participation

2.    Community Initiative

3.    Innovative strategies at community level to spread the message.

Their excitement at winning the award was visible on their faces and so was their determination to work better in the next campaign.

The District Health Officer, Thane, Dr. R.V. Kadam, presided over the function whereas Mrs. Madhuri Kasture, Block Development Officer, Shahapur, Dr. M.D. Nagare, Taluka Health Officer, Dr. Nichat, Medical Officer, Dr. Madhav Waghmare, Medical Officer, Kasara PHC, Mr. Sarode, Extension Officer were present as Special Guests at the function.

Some enthusiastic responses from the people present at the programme:

Dr. R. V. Kadam, District Health Officer, Thane, who was the Chief Guest of the ceremony, said, “…after watching the spontaneous response of the women present at the programme, I could understand how well the campaign was conducted at field level. … Women could express their views well while receiving awards. Encouraging villages to work better using the idea of awards by Population First is commendable.”

Dr. M. D. Nagare, Taluka Medical Officer, Shahapur who was present as a Special Guest at the

award ceremony said, “… Population First’s work has been able to create an atmosphere of positive change related to health issues in Shahapur. The health department will support the organization in all its endeavours in future.”

While receiving award for “Swachha Gaon, Sundar Gaon” Mrs. Jayashree Gulab Chaudhary of Tembhurli village said, “All of us (women ) came together for working on cleanliness of the village for the first time. We had not done anything together for the village in the past. Next year we will do even better.”

The campaign has succeeded in attracting attention of people towards issues that are essential for village development but were so far ignored by many stakeholders. Last but not the least, government and NGOs have acknowledged and appreciated this innovative idea called the 'Amcha Gaon, Amchi Shaan' Village Development Campaign.

The Way Ahead

Having received enthusiastic and positive response to the 'Amcha Gaon, Amchi Shaan' Village Development Campaign, PF is considering if the campaign should be conducted for the third time. We also need to think about the format of the campaign as more villages are likely to participate in the next campaign, which are at varying levels of readiness to participate.

The campaign has achieved its objectives in terms of involvement of stakeholders in higher numbers in all participating villages. It has succeeded in attracting attention of people towards issues that are essential for village development but were so far ignored by many stakeholders. Another positive outcome has been the interest of the villages that did not take part in the current campaign in future campaign. Last but not the least, government and NGOs have acknowledged and appreciated this innovative idea called the 'Amcha Gaon, Amchi Shaan' village development campaign.

Breaking Gender Stereotypes

Madhyam goes to the youth to initiate change

Madhyam-Youth for Change is the youth initiative under Laadli, which aims to empower college youth with life skills to make the right decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive behavior as well as to encourage behavior that promotes gender equity and social justice in society.
The team of Population First (PF) organized a Discussion Forum on 'Breaking Gender Stereotypes' for a cross section of 1st year and 2nd year students of K.J. Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce, Vidyavihar. The team leader’s effort and the student’s participation were well appreciated and supported by the Principal Dr Sudha Vyas. The discussion forum designed by Bhavika and Nivedita of Population First was very innovative as it involved various games that brought about maximum interaction between the boys and the girls and helped them understand what actually Sex and Gender mean in today’s world.

The students gave interesting feedback that helped the team analyze the success of the activity. Most of them found the discussion useful as it helped them understand:
•    What is gender stereotyping
•    How gender stereotyping affects both men and women
•    and change the way boys think about girls and vice versa

The Madhyam team conducted many such activities during the month in the form of discussion forums, workshops, and competitions that have helped Population First (PF) reach out to the students and professors of four colleges across Mumbai.

The NSS unit of SIES College invited the team of Madhyam to conduct a discussion forum on ‘Breaking Gender stereotypes’ with their 1st and 2nd year students. Though not many students participated because of a Blood Donation Camp being conducted simultaneously, but the students that were present grasped the message well and had a clear understanding of the topic of stereotyping.  Based on the feedback from the college students the team also realized that different strategy will have to be adopted with different colleges to have a greater impact.

An innovative activity of conducting ppt competitions on the topic of “Role of youth in reversing the falling sex ratio in Mumbai” was organized By Population first in collaboration with the NSS Unit of K C College. The objective of creating awareness, motivating youth to think of solutions for the cause as well as encourage them to learn presentation skills.  13 colleges of Mumbai University participated in the competition and it was judged by Ms. Nandini Sardesai, eminent sociologist and also a professor, research associate and teacher in various educational institutes, Ms. Sagarika Damle, Professor, Life Science Dept of K.C.College and Mr. S.V.Sista, Founder and Executive Trustee of Population First. Though there were winners but many of the entries that were received were not very innovative which was learning in itself for the Madhyam team to focus towards strengthening the communication skills of the students.

A two day Self-Empowerment to Social Transformation (SEST) – Gender Sensitisation workshop was conducted for Kirti College students by the Madhyam team. The team used interesting games to bring about awareness among the students. The discussion and activities helped the students understand the difference between Sex and Gender and also that:

•    Gender changes from place to place and time to time because it is culturally defined, whereas it’s not the same with sex.
•    Gender is flexible, sex is not.
•    Conditioning starts even before sexual differences manifest.

Later the team also discussed about the status of women today and how and who is responsible for the process of gendering?  The participants exchanged views on the various roles played by family, religion, media, career and profession.  The medium of role play and quiz was also incorporated to be able to make the students experience the difference in the ways in which both the genders are analyzed in the society. It also helped to assess the knowledge of the students related to the PCPNDT ACT and women based issues. The two day session was a success, with everyone pledging to raise one’s voice against sex selection.

Contact Us

 
Population First
3rd floor, Shetty House, 101 M.G. Road, Mumbai 400 001, India
Tel:  91 22 2262 6672  / 76 Fax: 91 22 2270 2217

Email: info@populationfirst.org

Website: www.populationfirst.org