National Conclave on Gender Mainstreaming – Notes (not in any particular order)
Dipankar "Dada" Khasnabish
Trustee & Board Member - Heartcrafted Foundation & Heeya
I recently attended (online) several sessions on the National Conclave on Gender Mainstreaming, organized by the Ministry of Rural Development. I found the deliberations very interesting, and here are my top 10 takeaways:
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1.?????? Women's engagement is increasing, but when it enters financials men still call the shots.
2.?????? A lot of awareness has been created, but men have been missed out in gender discourse. This may cause huge dissonance going forward. Intergenerational awareness is needed.
3.?????? The integration of SHG and Panchayats is important – with the leading social and political dimensions respectively.
4.?????? Symbols matter – like in Gram Sabha men sit on chairs and women on the floor. One campaign can be women bringing their chairs.
5.?????? Changing social norms is the key – it has to be a combination of campaigns and changes in legislation.
6.?????? Only 3% of FPOs are all women and only 20% are women in all FPOs. This reflects that commercials are still with men while 80% of agricultural labor is by women. NRLM said all their initiatives are 100% led by women.
7.?????? Market and farm door and local processing with local marketing can empower women. There is merit in making women empowered in agriculture, FAO studies have shown that if women engaged in the sector have access to the same level of data, global GDP can increase by USD 1 Trillion.
8.?????? Women are more empowered in areas beyond agriculture – like livestock.
9.?????? Only 8% of loans are for women, and the maximum of that is sub INR 50K.
10.?? Gender Mainstreaming should not become rich in policies but poor in practice. Data as well as culture?is?important.
?The discussions can be caught up here: