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The Sabrang (‘many-coloured’) cultural festival is now a
popular feature of the crafts bazaar. Visitors are treated to
presentations of music, dance, martial arts, yoga and a variety
of musical instruments. Thus the women’s craft bazaar
presents the rich legacy of art and culture.
AIWC has also funded the training of women elected to local
self-government bodies (Panchayats) in many states. In 1999,
training programmes by AIWC were sanctioned by the Ministry
of Rural Development with the collaboration of the UnitedNations
Children’s Fund.Womenwho had not stepped out of their homes,
shown their faces or spoken in public learned to participate in
governance, discuss and deal with local problems. Participatory
learning actionmethods brought out the innate intelligence, prac-
tical wisdom and leadership of women, with a widespread impact
on the education of girls and the status of women in society.
Rural/urban resource centres are set up in coordination
with branches and, after years of financial support, become
self-sustaining. Through them, the community is involved in
planning and organizing programmes. They deliver services
like health care, prevention of malnutrition and diseases,
maternal and infant care, senior citizens day care and coun-
selling. Computer classes, for which free computers are
provided, draw youth in large numbers.
AIWC’s adoption of villages in different parts of the country
has led to improvement in social parameters of growth as
well as the economic well-being of the community. Sadhrana
village, adopted by AIWC in 2002, is a success story of socio-
economic uplift for an entire village with widening impact
circles in nearby villages, especially on youth. In addition to
very popular condensed computer courses, training women in
processing, packaging of fruits and vegetables, making bags
and mats from jute, and other products based on local raw
materials, has led to sustainable income generation.
AIWC is also involved in the rescue and rehabilitation
of women. Hundreds of thousands of women traditionally
employed in the bidi (tobacco rolling) industry in seven
states were released from their endless toil and exploitation,
through the efforts of AIWC in collaboration with the World
Health Organization and the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare. After many months of intervention, women were
organized into self-help groups, trained in alternate vocations
and financed to start enterprises. These include sari weaving,
dairy, pottery, coir products, tailoring and embroidery, food
processing and catering. This led to a rapid rise in community
health and well-being.
SDG 7: affordable and clean energy
AIWC’s pioneering efforts in promoting renewable and clean
energy are aimed at reducing women’s drudgery and their
exposure to respiratory ailments caused by smoke. Since 1981
AIWC, in collaboration with government departments, has
taken up nationwide programmes creating awareness, demon-
strating and training women masons. Thanks to these efforts
improved, smoke-free wood stoves (chulhas) were accepted
in a big way, saving millions of women from smoke pollution.
In the late 1980s, AIWC was the leading non-governmental
organization (NGO) that popularized biogas technology for
fuel and organic manure. In the last decade, AIWC has been
involved in disseminating solar technology for domestic needs
and drying agriculture produce. The latter was taken up as a
means of livelihood for rural women, who solar-dry and pack
surplus produce for sale. AIWC’s clean energy programmes
have been recognized in international forums.
In 2013 the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change approved Observer status for AIWC. As part
of the Gender Constituency AIWC organizes awareness and
advocacy programmes and workshops with the help of its
branches, to make the masses aware of the causes and impact
of climate change and the importance of their role in mitigat-
ing and arresting it.
AIWC’s role over eight decades
In 1928, when Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy entered the Madras
Presidency Legislative Assembly, she was the first and only
woman legislator in the entire country. AIWC, led by the
redoubtable Margaret Cousins, had successfully fought and
changed the constitutional rules for electing legislators. That
was the start of a long journey, crossing several milestones
of women’s empowerment through education, legal rights,
political rights, health care and socioeconomic progress. The
common purpose behind these endeavours is to awaken both
government and civil society to the need for women to live
with happiness, dignity and security on equal footing with
men; to fulfil their own potential, and take responsibility for
a happy and sustainable society.
On the international scene, the early emergence of AIWC
was due to the efforts and assistance of the British women’s
movement and Annie Besant’s work for the Theosophical
Society, which found a congenial home in India. AIWC now
enjoys consultative status with several United Nations agen-
cies. Today, with over 500 branches grouped in nine zones
throughout the country, with widespread grass-roots outreach
and coordination with government and NGO networks, AIWC
is meeting new challenges, and marching towards new goals.
The learning curve in women’s training
Source: AIWC
GROUP FORMATION
10-15 women form a group
BUSINESS TRAINING
Learn basic business and accounting
SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Complete professsional training
over several months
MICROLOAN
Receive financial assistance
for business creation
SUSTAINABLE
INCOME GENERATION
Continue to expand
business and earn profit
A B
etter
W
orld