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As an intrinsic
dimension of the Centre’s commitment to focus on issues of
discrimination and enhancing gender equality, members of the centre have
been active in the fields of advocacy, whether through lobbying with and
against the State and its policies, forming common platforms with other
organizations and civil society institutions, and assisting in campaigns to
bring about changes in public awareness. The Centre has been actively
developing many networks to carry forward these processes. Over the
last year, the faculty of the centre have been members of and initiators
among networks of women’s organizations and women’s studies associations
on a range of issues.
Declining Child
Sex Ratio and Preventing Sex Selection
Major initiatives
undertaken by the Centre both by its own faculty and through
collaborations in launching campaigns against the declining child sex
ratio and sex selective abortions have been brought to a successful
conclusion for the time being. The collaborative study on the declining
child sex ratio took this concern forward by focusing on a relatively
neglected dimension of the problem � the dynamic within families in
terms of their “choice� of the number and sex of their children, and the
factors structuring such choices. The findings of this study were
presented at a National Seminar in New Delhi supported by Action Aid
India and IDRC, Canada, December 13-14th 2007.
Participants at the seminar included representatives from the Ministry
of Women and Child Development; the National Commission of Women and the
Planning Commission, and it was well-covered in the national press.
Indian
Association of Women's Studies
[
http://www.iaws.org
]
The CWDS and its faculty
continue to be active members of the Indian
Association for Women’s Studies, the country’s
premier association with over 1500 members who are
drawn from diverse fields � scholars and teachers,
activists, policy makers and professio nals. As a follow-up to
the well attended Silver Jubilee Conference of the
IAWS held in Lucknow in February 2008, one of the
plenary panels of the Conference on Fields of
Knowledge was brought out in the form of a Special
Issue of the Economic and Political Weekly,
(Women’s Studies Special) in October 2008. It
contained feminist engagements with the fields of
history, development, literature, science and the
law.
While the term of the previous Secretariat (located
in CWDS since 2005) of the Indian Association for
Women’s Studies came to an end in October 2008, the
CWDS will be housing the financial base of the IAWS
as a long term arrangement, as was ratified in the
last General Body Meeting held in Lucknow in
February 2008. The CWDS will continue to be actively
involved in the future outreach and expansion of the
IAWS, especially in the northern region, will help
the IAWS in its efforts to build a Corpus Fund for
future financial sustainability, and assist in its
efforts to expand its membership among youth and
students. As ex officio member of the newly elected
Executive Committee for the period 2008-11, the
director will be participating in the evolving
agendas of the IAWS in the coming years.
FORCES
network [
for more information visit:
http://www.forces.org.in
]
The Centre is a founder member of the Forum for
Creches and Child Care Services (FORCES) network.
The core vision of FORCES is that every child has
the right to early childhood care and development
including crèches and childcare services and that it
is the state’s responsibility to ensure such
services for all children, especially those of women
working in the unorganized and informal sector.
Since April 2007 it is housed at CWDS. The present
coordinator is Savitri Ray and convenor Vasanthi
Raman.
Today FORCES is an All India network comprising 50
member organizations
(Trade unions, women’s organizations, NGOs and
academics, lawyers, medical doctors, etc),
individual members and eleven regional networks with
their own membership. Its activities include
grassroots mobilization, campaigns, policy
intervention and research.
Regional Networks:
Regional networks are actively engaged in advocating
the rights of the young child through the convening
organization and its members.
|
State |
Convenor Organisation |
|
Delhi |
Mobile Crèches |
|
Orissa |
Committee for Legal Aid to Poor (CLAP)
|
|
Gujarat |
Centre for Health Education Training
and Nutrition Awareness (CHETNA) |
|
Tamil Nadu |
Foundation for Rights of Young Child |
|
Rajasthan |
Vihaan / Seva Mandir |
|
Bihar |
Nidaan |
|
Jharkhand |
Association Social Health Institute (ASHI)
|
|
Uttar Pradesh |
Vigyan Foundation |
|
Uttarakhand |
HIMAD |
|
Haryana |
Adi Gram Samiti |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
Jan Abhiyan Sanstha |
|
Madhya Pradesh |
Mahila Chetna Manch |
Critical
Issues identified by FORCES
 Commitment
to address the four basic rights (survival,
protection, development and
participation) through ECCD services.
Declining
sex ratio in the context of high infant mortality of
the girl child and discrimination
against her.
Provision
of services like creches and ICDS/day care centres,
maternity benefits, etc.
Policies
affecting nutritional status leading to high
infant/child mortality rates.
Implementation
of universalisation of ICDS.
Education
for the under sixes.
Development
of a database
Empowering
PRIs to participate effectively in decision making
processes.
Capacity
building of regional networks for research and
monitoring.
Stakeholders with whom FORCES engages in advocacy and campaigning:
GOI
� Dept. of Women & Child development
State
level and district level government officials
involved in direct and indirect decision making of
ECCD services involving food security, nutrition,
health, education, day care and legal protection
Unicef,
PLAN, India Alliance for Child Rights, etc
Members
of PRIs and Mahila Mandal
Anganwadi
workers
Primary
Health Centre functionaries
Government
and Private day care centre functionaries
Family
members of the beneficiaries receiving public and
privatized ECCD Services with representation from
remote locations and nomadic tribes
Protectors
of PNDT Act
The Centre continues to be an active member of the
National network of women’s organisations composed
of nine member organisations. The recently held
March 8 International Women’s Day celebrations were
conducted in the Old City with a march and rally of
about 200 women. Common demands raised found an
echo among the public, including basic public
amenities, education and ICDS facilities for
children, against multiple forms of violence against
women, and for reservations for women in
Parliament. Special meetings and lobbying included
a Women’s Charter to all political parties in the
run up to the Lok Sabha Elections in 2009.
Issues related to the sex ratio continue to be a
critical area for policy related advocacy and
networking. The Report Planning Families,
Planning Gender is envisaged as a means to raise
public awareness around the issues involved,
including the limitations of existing government
policies and the need for further interventions by
the state. The Report can be freely accessed from
the CWDS website, while hard copies can be requested
from the IDRC South Asia office in New Delhi.
Issues arising from the study have been presented on
several occasions, including with the Ministry for
Women and Child Development, on civil society
platforms such as that of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan and
the Centre for Gender and Budget Allocations, in
advising new research initiatives such as the Study
on Policies related to the Girl Child in India and
China being undertaken by the International Centre
for Research on Women; and in initiatives to take
forward concerns around women’s access to safe
abortion.
The field of disability
is as much an area of research as it is one of
advocacy. The concerned faculty member is currently
involved in several initiatives. These include
joining the protest of the Disability Rights Group
against the assimilation of children with
disabilities within the broad rubric of
disadvantaged children, rather than giving them a
distinct place as a separate group in the Right to
Education Bill. She is also a member of a 17 member
core group to develop a model curriculum for
disability studies as an academic discipline
initiated by the Society for Disability Studies for
the University Grants Commission for Central
Universities.
Along with these, faculty members are further
involved in a range of other campaigns: In creating
public awareness around adoption rights for members
of minority communities, on the implementation of
the Domestic Violence Act, discussions on the
proposed Sexual Assault Bill, the campaign to
decriminalise same sex relationships in IPC Section
377, ongoing discussions on Social Security for the
Unorganised Sector, lobbying with the Planning
Commission on engendering the 11th Plan,
and so on.
A Three State Study on Status of Women and Children
under NREGA
Project coordinator-Savitri
Ray
The study was conducted in collaboration with
partners in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and
Haryana. The report addresses issues
ranging from the
social background of NREGA beneficiaries,
out-migration
patterns
the scheme’s impact on
quality of life,
the services (especially childcare) available at
worksites, levels of awareness regarding the
provisions of NREGA, the work experience
itself (wages, measurement of work, facilities) and
villagers� opinion of benefits accrued under the
NREGA, if any. Interviews with women further focused
on how the programme’s implementation or design
could be improved, and the ways in which it has
contributed to individual and household well being.
The findings of this study seek to solicit
intervention at the grassroots level and better
advocacy directed to spreading awareness about the
NREGA’s provisions especially with regard to
childcare, so as enable women to participate in the
programme without being forced to compromise on
their children’s health and well-being.
A Study on
Social Audit of ICDS
Project coordinator-Savitri
Ray
The study was undertaken in the states of Uttar
Pradesh and Jharkhand as a part of the strengthening
process of the state network. The findings of the
study were also shared in the respective districts
with various functionaries of the ICDS including
community members and other local level authority
like NRHM etc.
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