Dr. Azad participates in the townhall meeting between the UN SG & CSOs.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.[1] Dr. Nandini Azad, Chairperson, ICA-AP Committee on Women represented ICA-AP as part of the ICA Delegation present at the 63rd UN CSW held at New York from March 9-15, 2019. Dr. Azad was able to make a successful intervention to the UN Secretary General (SG), António Guterres, during a Town Hall meeting between the SG and civil society organizations. Dr. Azad introduced the Working Women’s Forum and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women in South India, which has a mass base of 6,00,000 women co-operators. She highlighted the tremendous work being undertaken by them on reducing incidence of gender-based violence cases as well as provision of loans to members of co-operatives to the tune of US $ 50 Mn.
Dr. Azad further informed the SG about how co-operatives have proved their sustainability, especially, at a time when several other forms of civil society organizations are struggling due to lack of funds. Co-operatives can indeed help other organizations become more sustainable too. The UN SG responded saying, “Cooperatives are excellent mechanisms for organizing low income communities for economic and social resources but also are a strong political force for transformation.” Dr. Azad also made a presentation as part of the official Indian panel on the topic of ‘Khadi – the organic weave’, with the parameters of organising women weavers into cooperatives as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi. The full presentation can be accessed here
[1] http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw
