It began with a simple yet crucial
idea: Young women need to be involved in their own empowerment; and once
empowered, they can help other women do the same. The idea led to the formation
of ‘Empower’, recently in July. The inspiration of this Vasco-based NGO is
perhaps more to do with the fact that all seven members are women themselves
and all under the age of 25! Armed with a Masters Degree in Social Work, their
mission is clear.
“Empower is a voice of young women,
echoing the celebration of women’s rights. We have come together to ensure that
women are included in designing and managing the programmes meant for young
women,” explains Secretary, Bianca Shetty. “In the course of our work as social
workers, we found that young girls and women, especially those in marginalised
segments, were being discriminated against on all fronts. Our aim is to empower
them to live a life of quality and equal opportunity,” she adds.
With seven members on the governing
body – Deeksha Mahale (President), Ankita Sharma (Vice President), Bianca
Shetty (Secretary), Ashwini Naik (Treasurer), Andrea Rodrigues, Shamina
Dhakewale and Sofia Devi (Members) – associate members from different
professions have also joined the group to volunteer their services.
To kick-start, Empower is focusing
on three projects. “The first is to give women rag-pickers (Vasco) a unified
voice and involve them in the government’s waste collection and segregation
system. Next is the political and legal empowerment project to ensure that
women who are elected to power, particularly at Panchayat levels, have an
important voice in all decisions. We plan to achieve this by conducting
training workshops. In December, we will invite colleges to participate in an
All Goa Short Film Competition on the theme ‘Zero HIV Stigma and
Discrimination’ in collaboration with Human Touch,” elucidates Bianca. To
achieve their ends, the young group is networking with various national
organisations.
