WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
(i) Gender Resource Center (GRC) in affiliation with the Govt. of NCT of Delhi
GRCs were envisaged as instruments for bringing about social, economic, and legal empowerment of women belonging to the underprivileged sections of society through interventions in the areas like legal rights, economic initiatives, skill-building, micro-enterprises, entrepreneurship development and health.
Our organization established and successfully run a GRC from 2008- 2014. Keeping in line with the vision the government had envisaged, JUS ran the following programs under the aegis of GRC:
01) Skill development training
(a)Vocational training for the marginalized and vulnerable group of women
(b)Facilitating placements post the completion of vocational training
This program focused on economically empowering the marginalized and the vulnerable, especially girls and women in order to render them financial independence which is essentially an effective tool of empowerment. Vocational training was imparted in various fields, in essence, Dress Making, Beauty Culture, Computer Education, to name a few. Through this initiative, a total of 1278 women received vocational training and were granted placement in their respective industries.
02) Self Help Groups
(a)Mutual support groups
(b)Moral, Professional and emotional support provided trough, such groups
(c)Group discussions and brainstorming, leading to solutions
(d)Employment provided
(e)Bank accounts were opened
Self Help Groups (SHGs), also known as mutual help, mutual aid and support groups, are groups of people who provide professional, moral, and sometimes emotional support to each other. In a self-help group, the members share a common problem, often a common disease or addiction, or sometimes share a common skill that eventually becomes a source of their livelihood. Their mutual goal is to help each other to deal with, if possible to heal or to recover from, this problem. The main objective of such groups is to help each other as well as promoting economic education and promotion saving of funds. We, at JUS, managed to form 43 GROUPS CONSISTING OF 698 WOMEN. Out of these 43 groups, 15 groups consisting of 209 women were employed at some shop or the other. We helped these groups opening a bank account and assisted them in earning 6-10 thousand per month.
03) Self Employment Program (SEP)
(a)Financial assistance for setting up self-employment ventures
(b)Marketing, technological education, and setting up of infrastructure
Self-Employment Programme (SEP) under National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) focuses on financial assistance to individuals/groups of urban poor for setting up gainful self-employment ventures/ micro-enterprises, suited to their skills, training, aptitude, and local conditions. In addition to financial assistance, knowledge of technology-specific to their industries, marketing of their products, and infrastructure for setting up the venture is also provided.
A total of 438 women were assisted by JUS under this program. Three SHG’s received revolving credit from the bank
(ii) Menstrual Hygiene awareness camps
(a)Busting myths and taboos through awareness camps
(b)Distribution of sanitary pads
Taboos, myths, and shame surrounding menstruation often lead to exclusion from daily activities, teasing, and shaming which often leads to poor management of menstruation and can interrupt daily life. A lack of adequate facilities and materials, restrictions on girls’ movements during their period, and feeling ashamed or ‘unclean’ also contribute to girls skipping school or women skipping work. Menstrual hygiene is an important part of the overall hygiene and health of women. Women from the marginalized communities usually use cloth instead of sanitary pads which leads to poor hygiene.
Through this project, we focus on imparting awareness amongst young women about the importance of menstrual hygiene and the importance of using sanitary pads instead of cloth. A low-cost sanitary pad was made available by the Govt. of NCT, Delhi through Jan Utthan Sangh. 10,231 WOMEN WERE CONVERTED FROM NON USER TO USERS.