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Our Story

CEQUIN works across a wide spectrum of areas affecting women and girls such as violence, leadership, education, economic empowerment and health. One of our key interventions along the way was setting up a Gender Resource Centre (GRC) in Jamia Nagar in 2009, a neglected urban slum area in Delhi. Since this time, we’ve made huge inroads in Jamia as well as Mewat-Haryana and Rajasthan, one of the most backward districts of India, working with vulnerable minority communities, especially the women, by way of establishing collectives, conducting training programmes, promoting football for girls, health camps, awareness programmes and so on.

CEQUIN has developed a unique two pronged approach to address gender based violence. Designing advocacy initiatives led by a cadre of gender sensitive men and boys, was one one of our earliest strategies to address gender based violence in public spaces. We initiated the ‘Respect Women, Respect Delhi’ campaign in partnership with the Delhi Daredevils cricket team in December 2009, which went on to take the shape of the on-going ‘Mardon Wali Baat’ campaign, engaging men and boys in schools and communities across geographies.

Another strategy has been building girls’ capacities to the extent that they can confidently claim public spaces and resist violence in the home and outside. This strategy is embodied in our football initiative, ‘Kickstart Equality,’ launched in Jamia in 2011. CEQUIN has been one of the early organisations in India to develop a sports for development programme through a gender lens. As the convener of the National Alliance for Women’s Football in India, we are also playing a vital role in building a women’s grassroots football movement across the country.

Growing from strength to strength in the last 15 years, both in terms of the depth of our impact as well as expanding outreach, we at CEQUIN, are more motivated than ever to demonstrate innovative strategies to disrupt violence and rebuild a gender equitable society for both women and men to live in peace, dignity and prosperity.

Our Mission

An idea of a world where there is gender equality, where both women and men can develop their full potential, and where gender relations are based on respect, nurturing and peace.

Our Goal

The empowerment of women and girls to enable them to lead a life of dignity, exercise their choices and develop their capacities.

Testimonials

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I first heard of CEQUIN through their Jamia Bazaar event page on facebook in 2015. I contacted CEQUIN and booked my stall at the Jamia Bazaar. It was a wonderful experience for me. I had excellent sales at the Bazaar. I appreciate CEQUIN and the work they are doing because they give a chance to women entrepreneurs both from an underprivileged background as well as the Muslim community such as myself to gain market exposure and helps to build our confidence. I am looking forward to taking part in CEQUIN’s next Jamia Bazar.

Nabi JahanaraEntrepreneur and participant at Jamia Bazaar
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CEQUIN has strived hard to make its place in Mewat by conducting a study of the literacy culture present in this rural district of Haryana. Their outreach to all the schools, interventions in the KGBVs and communities in Mewat is building towards a better future for the women and girls who have for so long been downtrodden; while also giving them an opportunity to open up, discover and explore more about themselves.

GianwatiDPC (Retired), District Commissioner's Office
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Whenever I asked my parents if I could step out, they would say - '' If a Maulana's daughter roams around freely outside, what will everyone think ? " Demoralized, I used to feel hesitant to interact with the community due to being confined in the house. One day I found out that my marriage had been fixed. I started working as a PE with CEQUIN, running mohalla paathshalas, while studying in 12th grade myself. I started stepping out in the community - went door to door to conduct surveys of drop out children, spoke to many parents about the importance of education for their children, involved the village panchayat members in the challenges faced. Today I feel confident. Today I feel that getting married is not the aim of my life. I want to become self-sufficient.

Irfana22 years, Peer Educator, Nuh-Haryana