|
|
|
|
Oct-Nov-Dec 2005
by
edward
—
last modified
17-08-07 22:57
|
A communications initiative for a balanced, planned and stable population |
| E-NEWSLETTER |
Oct-Nov-Dec 2005 Newsletter |
|
| College youth disapprove of sex selection |
|
|
|
''The birth of a girl child in a hospital is followed by weak, apologetic glances and consoling statements like, "I will raise her as my son," reads the essay by Tolani College's Priyanka P. This is just an entry for the essay competition organised under the Laadli Youth Fest as part of Laadli - Mumbai's Girl Child campaign. But doesn't this happen often even in Mumbai homes, where the birth of a boy is celebrated and that of a girl considered a curse?
The prize winners of the Laadli Youth Fest were felicitated on December 13, 2005 by chief guest, author and columnist Ms. Shobhaa De and guest of honour, veteran actress Ms. Tanuja. Singer Ms. Suneeta Rao, theatre personality Ms. Dolly Thakore, Mr. Vinci Wadia of Wadia Movietones, Ms. Radhika Kundalia, who works with autistic children, and executive trustee - Population First, Mr. S.V. Sista were among the other dignitaries present. They viewed an exhibition of winning and some selected slogans, photographs and posters. The winning short films were screened and the best street play was performed.
Dr. A.L. Sharada welcomed all the guests and presented the activities undertaken involving the NSS unit and other college departments since Laadli was launched in June 2005. She appealed to the students to continue their unstinted support to the campaign and help achieve Laadli's goal of creating a positive image of the girl child.
In her address to the audience of over 400 college youth, Ms. Shobhaa urged them to get involved in not just the competitions but also to internalise the concept of gender sensitivity and gender equality.
Ms. Tanuja, who comes from a family of women achievers stressed that the birth of a child should be celebrated irrespective of whether it is a girl or boy.
Population First's own Laadli, Ms. Suneeta, spoke of her experience of being the third daughter, who was considered 'unwanted' by some family members. She emphasised the role of men in helping to solve the problem of sex selection when she described how it was her father who stood up for her and didn't discriminate against her.
In her presentation, Dr. Sharada pointed out her observations on the entries of the various competitions. The Laadli Youth Fest gave students from over 25 city colleges an opportunity to give creative expression to their perceptions and mindsets on the girl child issues. The theme was 'Images: The girl child' and eight competitions were organised including essay, short story and slogan writing, poster design, radio jingle making, short filmmaking, photography and street play. The entries were judged by renowned personalities in the respective categories. Click here to view the list of winners. (Box1).
From an analysis of the entries, it is obvious that the youth are aware of how women are subjected to various forms of violence and opine against it. The posters for example are quite vocal about the need to stop sex selection and female infanticide.
But it seems the city's youth still perceive girl and women's issues in terms of the women alone and not as issue of relations or equations between men and women. The entries, be it posters or essays or short stories talk of exceptional women like Indira Gandhi and Kalpana Chawla, but not of the common woman, her role or her life. Again, the gender roles of men are hardly ever discussed. Most essays, barring a select few, express stereotypical roles for women either as mothers, sisters and daughters or career-oriented women who must at all costs strike the perfect balance between work and home.
The idea behind organising the competitions was to give us an insight into how the youth perceive the issues relating to the girl child. The entries will help us devise youth-friendly communication material for the Laadli campaign.
|
|
|
|
| What is the state of our world's population? |
The UNFPA's report, The State of World Population 2005 has one simple, yet powerful message: Gender equality reduces poverty and saves and improves lives. This year's report stresses that gender equality and reproductive health are indispensable to the realisation of the promise of halving extreme poverty by 2015 as enshrined in the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were announced in the year 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit.
Establishing gender equality and equity, improving reproductive health and rights, expanding education for girls and women, providing economic opportunities and tapping the huge potential of the large youth population are the steps towards achieving the MDGs.
Lessons for India
The report highlights India's progress in giving women better representation in the Panchayati Raj institutions and the process of gender budgeting undertaken with support from UNIFEM. Yet the report points out the disturbing fact that India alone accounts for one in four maternal deaths worldwide. India's shameful sex ratio, skewed because of a strong male preference in society, finds mention in the report. Something to feel happy about is that birth spacing has reduced child mortality in India by almost 20 per cent, while India is also self-sufficient in condom production, which is crucial to handling the HIV/AIDS crisis and population issue.
|
|
|
Community steps in to curb falling sex ratio
A special story by Arif Nalabandh of the Gujarati Mid-day dated December 31, 2005 reports on a mass meeting organised in Surat to tackle the growing problem of 'missing girls' in the Leva Patil community.
The meeting was called by senior members of the community where over 12 lakh men and women attended. It was organised in lieu of the fact that boys of the Leva community of Gujarat and Maharashtra were finding it increasingly difficult to get female suitors because of an alarmingly skewed sex ratio. In these regions, girls are not valued and parents often get rid of unborn girls by illegally determining the sex of the foetus or commit female infanticide once a girl is born. The camp was held at a mandap covering 250 acres of land where the attendees took an oath that they will not resort to discrimination against the girl child by resorting to sex selection and female infanticide.
|
|
|
Copyright © 2005, POPULATION FIRST
|
|
|
|
Click here
