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| Home » Charca » Update |
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| INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2006 |
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I stay at home when you wanted me to,
I gave a child when you wanted me to,
I said yes when you wanted me to,
…………………. Today, I want to decide, will you want me to? |
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| On the eve of the International Women’s Day, 7th March ‘06, more than two thousand men and women congregated at the Siri Fort Auditorium to raise awareness, launching a campaign to strengthen the Commitment to Protect the Young and Vulnerable, specially to reach out to the young women from socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society. The theme being WOMEN IN DECISION MAKING, the campaign encouraging women to TAKE CONTROL, MAKE DECISIONS was focussed on linking EQUALITY IN DECISION MAKING. |
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| With women constituting 28.73 percent of known AIDS cases in the country and 44.28 percent of them belonging to the 15-29 age group, it is clear that “by dedicating the International Women’s Day to the issue of reducing women’s growing vulnerability to HIV-AIDS, all of us are recognizing the enormity of the issue” stated Ms. Sujatha Rao, Director, National AIDS Control Organization in her statement for a press conference conducted on 3rd March ’06 as a curtain raiser where all the major press agencies were present. Enormous coverage was focussed on women and HIV, on the medium of music to create HIV/AIDS awareness to highlight the higher susceptibility to the disease among young women. |
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| Organized by CHARCA (Coordinated HIV/AIDS Response through Capacity-Building and Awareness) - a Joint United Nations Project in India on Reducing Women’s Vulnerability to HIV-AIDS, the National level event coincided with district-level celebrations at Bellary and Udaipur. “In partnership with a Youth organization called Space, we have been conducting week long activities across colleges of Delhi to involve the students and create a personal stake in the issue” stated Mr. Alankar Malviya, National Project Coordinator, CHARCA. |
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| He further added to say, " We look at this concert as an advocacy tool using the medium of music to put the issue of feminization of HIV AIDS on the priority agenda of the policy makers at the national and the state levels and underline the importance of mainstreaming the gender issues in all the programmes of the government and also to facilitate the replication of CHARCA issues and strategies in other states" |
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| The high point of the event was the live performance, one by the well-known group, “Euphoria” and another by a band from Aizawl called “Champuii and Krista Chhanchhuante” followed by a “pantomime play” by an NGO Jagran, anchored by the much-familiar television celebrity and icon, Mandira Bedi. The Aizawl band created by CHARCA peer educators, has successfully used music to wean off young men and women from drug use and instill in them newfound confidence and hope in Aizawl, Mizoram. This opportunity was also used to showcase success stories documented by CHARCA by putting up a photo exhibition at the venue. Key messages on the campaign were reiterated to the audience all throughout the evening. Focus of the messages were on equality between boys and girls, girl child education, domestic violence, respecting partners views in sexual relations, using condoms to protect oneself, most important on decision making and equality in decision making about |
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• Self
• Relationships
• Matters of sexuality
• Learning
• Education
• Rights
• Protecting oneself
• Saying no to unwanted and unprotected sex
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| Advocacy activities were initiated prior to the main event in which Media partner, Radio Mirchi using Euphoria covered issues of women and HIV focussing on the theme of the year by airing spots and conducting a week long contest on the campaign, giving few passes as incentives. Centre for Media and Advocacy (CFAR) involved the print and electronic media to highlight specific issues linked to women and HIV. |
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| Hosted by CHARCA Secretariat, UNAIDS, UNIFEM in partnership with Ministry of Women and Child Development and NACO, this event was the forerunner of a campaign of accelerating action advocacy against feminization of the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the six districts. Series of events at the State and district level will be conducted throughout the year in sequence in the six states of CHARCA. Activities such as policy dialogue with line departments of state governments, awareness building campaign in district and state head quarters including traveling photo exhibition on CHARCA, Quiz, debate, slogan competition workshops, seminars in colleges and local NGOs, publicity on the theme of the event through Local Media will be conducted. |
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| These events will be conducted, so as to sensitize youth (college going and out of college) with messages on “Women in Decision making”, highlighting the crucial linkages between gender and HIV/AIDS and spread the message of hope and empowerment where men and women can challenge and transform the socio-cultural barriers to move towards a just and equal society. |
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| “With as high as 96 % women in Aizawl and 93 % women in Kanpur harbouring at least one misconception on how HIV-AIDS spreads, the need of the hour is to reach out to young women living in extremely difficult and marginal circumstances” stated Dr. Denis Broun, Country Coordinator, UNAIDS at the inaugural ceremony. |
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