| WOMAN IN SPORTS |
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| CEQUIN is actively promoting ¡®Women in Sports¡¯ as a tool for empowerment. CEQUIN is a pioneer in this area, as promoting women in sports hasn¡¯t been taken up at a project level before. The initiative aims to tap, nurture and unleash the sporting potential of women and girls, thereby enhancing their contribution to the nation, as well as their individual development. The ultimate objective is to develop women¡¯s leadership through the idiom of sport. Working in partnership with Sports organisations, UN agencies, corporates and prominent individuals, CEQUIN¡¯s approach to promoting Women in Sports is through five thematic areas namely, 1) Optimal health: promoting nutrition, health and wellness of women and girls; 2) Enhanced Capabilities: promoting holistic education and skill building amongst women and girls; 3) Violence-free life: addressing various forms violence against women and girls that perpetuate women¡¯s disempowerment; 4) Enhanced Access: promoting access of women and girls to opportunities, resources and services; and 5) Leadership and Agency: promoting women¡¯s agency through decision making and leadership roles at all levels |
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| Sub Committee on Women and Sports |
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In partnership with the UN agencies and the working committee of the Commonwealth Games 2010, CEQUIN initiated a high profile Sub Committee on Women and Sports. 27 members included eminent personalities like Mrs. Syeda Hamid (Member, Planning Commission), Air Marshall (Retd.) Padma Bandopadhyay, Jyoti Suri (President, Lalit Group), Indu Puri (Arjuna Awardee, Table Tennis Champion), Gul Panag (Actor and Social activist), Abha Sehgal (Principal, Sanskriti School), Shobhana Bhartia (Hindustan Times), Kalli Puri (India Today), Barkha Dutt (NDTV), Tanya Chaitanya (Editor, Femina), Nisha Agarwal (CEO, Oxfam), Ravi Verma (Regional Director, ICRW), Kanta Singh (Women Power Connect) and Ms. Sara Pilot and Ms. Lora Prabhu (Conveners of the Sub-Committee, CEQUIN).
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| The committee came together to discuss and deliberate upon various issues in the context of Indian women¡¯s participation in sports and the difficulties faced therein. The committee agreed that in order to encourage and nurture the role of women in Indian sports, equal opportunities need to be provided to women to help develop their potential. Proper infrastructure for training and skill development, safety provisions for the girls and motivation in terms of incentives and support should be provided in order to encourage more women to participate in sports at a professional level. |
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| Ms. Syeda Hamid shared with the committee that the 11th five year plan was aimed at a faster and equitable growth for the nation. And in fact, the 12th five year plan will be more focused on a concerted gender alliance for development. She stressed that at the end of the process, we should look at monitorable targets and set up time-bound deliverables in order to assess and build up on the efforts towards the initiative. Ms. Hamid also mentioned that she was hopeful that the cause will be taken up at the Planning Commission level. |
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| Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, President - Indian Olympic Association, commented on the occasion, ¡°I would like to congratulate CEQUIN on its noble effort to take up a cause that is indeed vital to the nation. The issues taken up by the sub-committee are indeed ones to be concerned about and I am happy that a concerted effort is now being made in this area. ¡± |
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| Ms. Gul Panag, Actor and Social Activist, shared, ¡°Talent has to be spotted at an early age in order to nurture them to professional levels. Our efforts should be to focus on holistic development of women from the early stages through a gradual growth process leading them to establish themselves in all walks of life.¡± |
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