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Read more..."I believe the message of Islam is the dignity with which we must treat women in society...and I think it is correct that education dignifies women," His Highness Karim Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world's Shia Ismaili Muslims, explained to a BBC reporter at the turn of the century. Like his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, who was once President of the League of Nations, the Aga Khan has been an ardent supporter of educating women in the developing world for decades. Recently celebrating his 73rd birthday, the 49th hereditary Imam and direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad is still tireless in his effort, pragmatic in his approach, and strategic in his vision. As a religious leader, his moral obligation, rooted in the principles of Islam, holds him to both interpret the faith and improve the quality of life within the communities and societies in which his followers live. In his dual role, the Aga Khan is also founder and Chairman of one of the largest private development networks in the world, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), active in over 25 countries and employing over 70,000 people.
In an interview with Dr. Tom Kessinger, head of the Aga Khan Foundation and Deputy Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, he asserts that "mothers are the primary nurturers of the family, and our experience and data shows that the more education women have the more successfully they play that role." Furthermore, he notes, "the daughter of a literate mother is more likely to finish school than the daughter of an illiterate mother." Education, therefore, has been a strong pillar of the Aga Khan's development efforts around the world. By targeting critical professions that tend to be highly populated amongst women such as nursing, midwifery, and pre-collegiate education, AKDN's strategic investment in the education of women also results in the delivery of essential public goods.
In Pakistan, the Aga Khan University's School of Nursing (AKU-SON), one of the many schools of AKU, has redefined the occupation's entry-level qualification. Building on the British-style diploma, AKU-SON has professionalized the field of nursing by offering undergraduate and graduate training. Moreover, establishing a leading institute of academic excellence nearly 30 years ago has raised the status of the profession in both remuneration and respect, and as a result, steadily increased the status of women. Calculated, long-term investments that tackle multiple issues at once through, for example, the path of education, distinguish AKDN from many other development agencies.
Another example of matching the key needs of women to the most urgent needs of a population focuses on AKDN's strategic involvement in the Badakshan province of northeast Afghanistan. Attempting to address one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the world, AKDN has developed an initiative for young women--recruited by their villages--to attend midwifery training for 18 months. These and countless other ambitions realized by His Highness are progressively uplifting the status of women and providing them with access to social, economic and political opportunities otherwise unavailable in developing societies.
"The AKDN has integrated initiatives in each of these professions [nursing, midwifery, and pre-collegiate education], and with clear direction by His Highness, the focus is to not only build competence in these fields through teaching, but to also build confidence within the trainees. While competence is important, it is confidence that allows one to undertake a larger leadership role in these settings," continued Dr. Kessinger.
In a fundamental shift of consciousness within the international development framework, women and girls are finally viewed as propellers of progress, rather than as impediments to growth. And while firmly placed on today's global agenda of development, and fully integrated into world fora such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the World Economic Forum, the value of investing in the education of women and girls is far from a novel consideration: in 1945, the Aga Khan's grandfather stated that "Personally, if I had two children, and one was a boy and the other was a girl, and if I could afford to only educate one, I would have no hesitation in giving the higher education to the girl." As women place a much stronger emphasis on educating their children--boys and girls--than men do, and invest their income accordingly, it is no longer a secret that to educate a woman is to educate a nation.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that a divorced Muslim woman who has not remarried is entitled to maintenance from her ex-husband even after the iddat (three months) period.
An SC bench rejected husband Imran Khan's contention who cited the Muslim women (protection of rights on divorce) Act, 1986 and claimed that his divorced wife Shabana Bano was not entitled to any maintenance allowance after the 'iddat' period as held in the Shah Bano case. The SC held that under Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 even a Muslim woman can claim maintenance from her husband as long as she is not remarried. AGENCIES
More and more women are retaining their maiden surnames post marriage. Smita Roy explores this trend and asks whether roles can be reversedRemember the first time Shilpa Shetty introduced herself to Shiney Ahuja as 'Mrs... Ranjeet Kapoor' in Life in a Metro, and Shiney very slyly asked her that there must also be a name between 'Mrs' and 'Ranjeet Kapoor!' Most women would say today — what's wrong in what he asked? Just because a person is married, does it mean that her persona be lost? Women often tend to get into relationships and lose themselves. Does that mean that a relationship is an abyss that sucks your identity? The dictionary defines a relationship as 'a state of connectedness between people'. But does this 'connectedness' mean that you forget your individual self ? Maybe sometimes, the fear of this change, creates commitment phobia. Actress Perizaad Zorabian who had once claimed that she was commitment phobic, now says that she was "drugged on love" when she tied the knot. But, she says it's important to maintain a person's individual identity. "I'm Perizaad Zorabian Irani and Zorabian will always be a part of my identity. I'm not going to part with it no matter how much I love my husband! I think it's okay to retain both. As time passes, with my babies and responsibilities, there are times I do feel that I'm forgetting Perizaad. But then I keep reminding myself and make sure that I don't lose my identity somewhere along the way. This unfortunately happens with a lot of women. When you give up the 'I' in a relationship, all you become is a frustrated old nag. And that is definitely one avoidable thing!" But the question remains. Why is she Perizaad Zorabian-Irani? Why is her husband not Boman Irani-Zorabian?There are several women like Perizaad who opt to retain their individual identity along with being a part of someone else's life. But how many men we know are ready to do the same? Society may have improved with people in relationships recognising each other as individuals rather than being each other's 'property'. But the name tag still exists! Relationship expert Dr Minnu Bhonsle says, "The name-changing tradition has been here for ages. Mostly it is for documentation purposes whether in banks, insurance or passports. Also, for the cohesiveness of the family, in the eyes of the children as well as the society, this is done. But if the woman insists on retaining her maiden name there might be some deep-rooted fears in her, which the couple need to sit together and discuss before entering matrimony. Women may have seen their mothers being submissive. While some accept that it's awoman's duty to be so, some want to rebel. Hence today we have more and more women using both their maiden as well as marital surnames. If thewoman is in the limelight then retaining her maiden name might be a professional need." But then, can't the man do the same? According to Dr Bhonsle, a couple has to decide on everything when they tie the knot — the girl shouldn't be compelled to change her surname. "The name is just where it all starts, then moves on to graver problems and ultimately might lead to an unsuccessful marriage. Again there are some men who are submissive. However one cannot change the psyche of generations in one go." But there are also men like actor Karan Oberoi who agree that this namegame is actually an unfair one. "You fall in love with a person because of the way they are. So why would you expect to bring a change in this person and still be in love? Isn't it wrong and hypocritical to ask your spouse to change — be it simply their last name or their habits or lifestyles, and yet in the end, not change yourself!" he says.  NAME GAME: Arbaaz and Malaika Arora Khan, Ayesha Takia Azmi with hubby Farhan and Boman and Perizaad Zorabian Irani  NOT FOR ME: Maria Goretti and Arshad Warsi, Shamita Bhangargi and Ashish Choudhary and Goldie Behl and Sonali Bendre  |
Loses Uterus To Cervical Cancer, But Becomes Mother Through SurrogacyWhen 38-year-old US resident Joy held her baby Samuel for the first time in Lilavati Hospital on November 24, a mixture of emotions flooded her heart. She felt immensely proud of the small being in her arms born from a part of her own body, at the same time gratitude welled up in her eyes for Rekha, the surrogate mother who gave birth to Samuel.Joy underwent in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), but it was still a miracle of sorts that she got a baby of her own, especially since she suffered from cervical cancer at the age of 21 and had to undergo hysterectomy then. But when she and her husband Kelly were told it was possible for them to have a child of their own, they started looking for IVF facilities across the world and zeroed in on Mumbai."We came last December. We were not sure as the chances are less in IVF. Even so, we contacted Surrogacy India. Last December the embryo could not successfully make the surrogate mother pregnant. Then, we came back in March. My egg and my husband's sperm was taken and the embryo formed was planted in the surrogate. It was then that Rekha successfully concieved,'' said Joy. But doctors say Joy and Kelly are one lucky couple. "Since Joy's ovaries were shifted higher up in her abdominal cavity during the treatment of her cervical cancer, we could not take her eggs through the trans-vaginal technique. We had to retrieve the egg laproscopically from her abdomen,'' said Dr Hrishikesh Pai, infertility specialist attatched to Lilawati Hospital. But another reason doctors consider Joy and Kelly to be lucky is because when Joy underwent IVF, only one egg could be retrieved. "Normally, we target 10-15 eggs and two to three embryos are planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother. But Joy formed only one egg and that too we had to retrieve laproscopically from her abdomen. It was quite complicated. Only one embryo was formed and chances of the surrogate mother becoming pregnant with that embryo were quite slim. But everything turned out to be fine,'' said IVF specialist Dr Nandita Palshetkar, who along with Dr Pai performed the operation. The entire procedure cost them $23,000, but the couple are over the moon. "We are going back to Minnesota on Friday. Never in our wildest dreams did we think everything would go this smoothly,'' said Kelly, holding his blue-eyed son in his arms. "We have got quite attached to the doctors and the surrogate mother of our baby. It feels bad to leave this new family behind,'' added Joy.  JOY'S BUNDLE OF JOY What is Cervical Cancer Cervical cancer is an abnormal growth of cancer cells in the opening of the uterus connected to the upper vagina, known as the neck of the uterus The Problem Joy was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1992 at the age of 21, so her uterus had to be removed, but ovaries were pushed up into her abdominal cavityProcedure The Couple Underwent In December 2008, Joy and Kelly came to Mumbai, chose a surrogate mother, signed the papers and four eggs were taken from her and planted in the uterus of Rekha. But the procedure was not successful This March, the couple returned and repeated the procedure. This time, only one egg was formed, resulting in one embryo. This embryo was successfully planted and fertilised in Rekha's womb The couple returned to India on November 23 for the delivery. The baby was born on November 24 Surrogacy Guidelines Any information about clients and donors must be kept confidential, except with the person's (to whom the information is related) consent All relavant information must be given to the patient before the treatment is started No treatment should be given without the written consent of the couple to all the possible stages of the treatment People seeking registered treatment must be given counselling No more than three embryos must be placed in a woman in any one cycle Highest possible standards in the storage and handling of gamates and embryos in respect to their security, recording and identification, should be followed (Guidelines Of The Indian Council Of Medical Research)  What Is In Vitro Fertilisation In vitro fertilization is when the eggs from a woman and a sperm of a man are taken and infused together. An embryo thus formed, is planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother. The woman may or may not become pregnant with the embryo. Generally, 10-15 eggs of a woman are retrieved and 2-3 embryos are planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother  Baby Samuel |
Scholars discuss the most important challenges facing women in the 21st century
n the post-feminist era of the 21st century, are the aims and goals of feminism still relevant? Will feminism survive the rush to globalization? What universal lessons can we learn from the unique ways women around the world have advanced their concerns?
These are a few questions students and faculty of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at The University of Texas at Austin have confronted this year in a series of events focused on the issue of global feminism.
The highlight of the year was the residency of Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer, human rights activist and the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Ebadi visited campus in April 2009 to speak about democracy in Iran. Several months later, she was speaking out against her government’s crackdown of those who protested the results of the presidential elections.
To honor her visit, and to spotlight the diverse issues facing women around the world, we invited eight faculty members from the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies to answer the following question: What is the most important challenge facing women in the 21st century?
Each of our respondents cross international borders in their exploration of the struggles and achievements of women, examining issues such as gender equity in the workplace, women and political participation, and access to education and health care.
Mounira Maya Charrad
Associate Professor, Department of Soci ology, Department of Middle Eastern Studies
In the Middle East, women confront issues of legal rights and cultural discourse in a way that has become the stuff of high drama on the world stage. In Islamic countries, women’s rights as defined in family law are the crux of the matter. At stake is the set of legal rights and responsibilities men and women have in the family and, by extension, the society at large.
The central questions concern choice of marriage partner, age at marriage, rights and obligations of each spouse, polygamy, conditions for divorce, custody of children and inheritance for men and women. At issue is whether conservative interpretations of Islamic family law prevail, or whether legal reforms alter the balance of power the law gives to men and women in their roles—not only as spouses but also as members of larger kinship units and of communities.
The countries of the Middle East exhibit considerable diversity in regard to women’s rights. Some countries such as Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco have gone a long way in expanding women’s rights. In several countries, however, the law still deprives women of personal autonomy.
Women of the Middle East also face challenges that emerge from an acute tension between the local and the global. In the West, discourses on the Middle East are replete with images of victimized women hidden behind veils. In the Middle East, debates on women’s rights overflow with criticism of feminists importing Western ideas deemed inappropriate to the culture of the region.
Finding themselves at the center of this tension, women’s rights activists are framing their demands by reclaiming Islam and offering new readings of the Islamic tradition. They are also developing strategies that allow them to make connections to transnational networks concerned with gender equity, while retaining their cultural authenticity. How to navigate between the different discourses is likely to remain a daunting task for the foreseeable future.
Terri Givens
Associate Professor, Department
of Government
The most important challenge facing women in the 21st century is gaining access to leadership. Society needs more of the qualities women can bring to leadership positions. These are described in a 2005 study by Caliper, a workforce development company:
• Women leaders are more persuasive than their male counterparts.
• Women leaders learn from adversity and carry on with an “I’ll show you” attitude.
• Women leaders demonstrate an inclusive, team-building leadership style of problem-solving and decision-making.
• Women leaders are more likely to ignore rules and take risks.
In the United States, women leaders from my generation face the challenge of breaking through the barriers created by those of the older generation reluctant to release the reins of power to a new generation. Women need to take advantage of those who are willing to mentor the younger generation.
Talk about the “glass ceiling” is still relevant, but we need to move beyond the notion of a “ceiling” and think more carefully about how we develop women leaders, beginning with elementary school, and even into academia, where women are in the minority in the full professor ranks (as revealed in the university’s recent Gender Equity Report), and find limited options when it comes to running departments or colleges.
However, it’s important to note that women from my generation were some of the first to benefit from Title IX legislation that gave girls equal access to sports, particularly organized teams. There is a direct correlation between women’s involvement in these types of activities, and their confidence in working with men and taking on powerful leadership positions. We grew up during a time when women (and minorities) gained greater access to higher education. Although women and minorities are beginning to make headway in boardrooms, legislatures and even university hierarchies, there is a long way to go.
Women need to continue to make strides in balancing between their roles as caregivers and professionals. Studies show men are taking on more “second shift” duties but women still shoulder most of the family and household responsibilities. It is vital to our democracy that women’s voices carry equal weight in all aspects of society.
Susan Sage Heinzelman
Associate Professor, Department of English; Director, Center for Women’s and Gender Studies
All women live their lives under the threat of violence. Even those of us who appear to be the most privileged in terms of economic and social status can never be entirely free of the risk of sexual or physical assault, or other more subtle forms of harassment. For so many women and girls, that threat has been actualized in domestic abuse, rape, slave trafficking, forced prostitution, female genital mutilation and the many other ways in which women are reminded every day they are second-class citizens.
In Uganda, their faces are scarred by acid attacks because they are too “independent.” In Afghanistan, their schools are destroyed by religious fanatics because they wish to think for themselves. In Southeast Asia, their vaginas are sewn up repeatedly so they can be “sold” as virgins because they have been denied the right to own their own bodies.
International law proclaims the right of the individual to be safe from unprovoked violence and, yet, only occasionally, is there any outrage at the violence women and girls suffer every day and everywhere simply because they are female. Their lives are limited, their prospects dimmed and, as great as the loss is to those who are scarred for life, it is not confined to the victims. The loss to society of the potential for a productive and fulfilling life is immeasurable.
Women alone cannot solve this epidemic of violence against them. We must motivate the international community to take up the issue and recognize that gender-related violence is as serious a threat to the well-being of the world as the AIDS crisis or ethnic genocides. The international community must develop strategies to address violence against women through a combination of legal reforms and economic incentives.
Legal reform and laws that protect women and girls can do only so much, however, unless the state is willing to enforce these laws, especially in those areas of women’s and girls’ lives conventionally regarded as “private.” Moreover, the international community must make it economically disadvantageous to tolerate or promote violence against women and girls and make those who receive aid embrace the benefits in health care, economic empowerment and educational opportunities for women and girls in their society.
All of these strategies imply a level of interference in the affairs of others—whether those affairs are perceived as public or private, affairs of the state or family affairs. There seems no alternative, however, unless we are willing to concede that what goes on behind closed doors (or state borders) is none of our business.
Juliet Hooker
Assistant Professor, Department
of Government
As someone who was drawn to feminist theory by black, Latina and Third World feminism, my first answer to the question is there is no one most important challenge facing women in the 21st century, as these will be different depending on where you live in the world.
What this means is feminism’s central challenge is to recognize the variety of ways in which women (and men) experience sexism and gender oppression, and to find a way to link struggles for gender equity around the world. Otherwise, the risk is feminist movements across the globe will view one another with suspicion and distrust, and see their various struggles as incompatible.
Consider the controversies over women and veiling in the Middle East and in countries with immigrant Muslim populations. They could appear to be completely disconnected and directly opposed to women’s rights to sexual freedom and reproductive rights central to Western feminism.
Yet feminist arguments for veiling (or wearing hijab) that claim these prevent sexual harassment and harmful obsession with women’s appearance are connected to the concerns of feminists in the United States who are concerned about the exploitation of women as sexual objects.
One of the central tenets of feminism is that women should not only be free from the threat of sexual assault, rape and sexual harassment, but should also be able to freely express themselves as sexual beings. The key challenge for global feminism today is to recognize the links between such seemingly disparate elements of a global effort to make gender equity a reality.
Robert Jensen
Associate Professor, School of Journalism
Given the disastrous consequences of the human assault on the ecosystem that makes our lives possible, the most important 21st century challenge for women is the same as for men: Can we change the way we organize ourselves socially, politically and economically in time to reverse this ecological collapse? Can we learn to live in sustainable balance with the non-human world so that we might make it to the end of the 21st century with our humanity intact?
In facing these social, political and economic challenges, I believe women have a crucial contribution to make through feminism. My own intellectual and political development is rooted in the feminism I learned from women, both in the classroom and community. Much of my work has addressed men’s use and abuse of women and their sexuality in the sexual-exploitation industries: prostitution, stripping and pornography.
But from those women I also learned feminism was not merely a concern for “women’s issues” but also a way of understanding power and critiquing the domination/subordination dynamic that is central to so much of modern life. The roots of that dynamic are in patriarchy, the system of male dominance that arose only a few thousand years ago but has been so destructive to people and the Earth. Patriarchy is incompatible with justice and sustainability.
The challenge for feminism is to articulate an alternative to the illegitimate hierarchies that structure our lives: men over women, white over non-white, rich over poor, First World over Third. That isn’t “women’s work” but “feminism’s work,” which we all should undertake, in conjunction with the many other intellectual and political movements concerned with real justice. If we can change the way we treat each other, those new non-hierarchical social arrangements may help us solve the fundamental problem of the destruction inherent in human domination over the non-human world.
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Engaging women equally with men in all walks of life is necessary for a rapid and sustainable economic recovery from the financial slowdown and for prosperity. But India lags behind in empowering girls, finds Sudeshna Sen
o
VER the past few months, the City of London, often called the global financial capital of the world, has come under attack from yet another unexpected quarter – never mindbankers bonuses and bank bailouts, the City has been hauled up by the UK's Equality and man Rights Commission for paying its women almost 80% less than it pays its men, even at the starting level. It led to a parliamentary committee enquiry, loads of tabloid press, and some serious soul-searching in a country where workplace and anti-discrimination rules are set in stone. It also gave rise to a new kind of viewpoint – academics like Charles Goodheart, professor Emeritus of Banking and Economics at LSE, told the government that more women at the top levels in decision-making would have helped to stop sending the world into a financial crisis. The theory gaining credence in the highest levels these days, never mind touchy-feely issues like how women and men react differently to risk – is that sheer lack of diversity and multiple views in board-rooms across the world, generated a 'groupthink.' Too much yang, not enough yin and the view from the top was very male, homogenous, and in this case, disastrously incorrect. It is, naturally, a hotly contested and debated theory. Women's issues always give rise to acrimonious debate. That's where the World Economic Forum's gender gap report, now in its fourth edition comes in. "We rank countries with a simple index measuring the existing gender gap, based on hard data from organisations like ILO and UN, without any cultural parameters," says Saadia Zahidi, associate director, constituents at WEF, and one of the architects of the gender gap reports. The reports make for somewhat gloomy reading. Ms Zahidi's estimates are, that to achieve gender parity across the world, it will take to the year 4000. And India's relative performance makes for even gloomier reading. In the 2009 report, among 134 countries, India ranks 114, a notch above North Korea and a notch below Jordan. Ranked on parameters economic empowerment, education attainment, health and survival and political empowerment, India trails every BRIC country and lags in the bottom of the league tables with neighbours like Pakistan. The only parameter India does well on, is political empowerment, thanks to its long history of women at the top of the political spectrum. Before you shake your head and turn the page, there's hope. There isn't that much correlation between the size and resources of an economy and its existing gender gap. Besides the Nordic countries clustered at the top of the table, South Africa makes the top 10, Phillipines, Lesotho, and even Latvia perform better than UK, France, and Spain, while the US scrapes in at number 31. The 2009 Gender Gap Report concludes that engaging women equally with men in all aspects of life is imperative for economically competitive and prosperous societies, and in particular, for a rapid and sustainable economic recovery from the financial crisis, integrating women and girls is imperative. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that Nordic countries routinely top global league tables on happiness, wellbeing, and non-GDP focused league tables.Says Maria Eitel, President of the Nike Foundation, which runs programmes for girls around the world." "Investing in adolescent girls not only has the power to break intergeneration poverty, but it also builds opportunity and prosperity for all. Adolescent girls
are India's greatest untapped
resource for future prosperity and growth." While India
may still be a long way from the
kind of corporate debate about
equal pay and working conditions that's raging in the City of London, women's welfare has increasingly moved out of the 'poverty and welfare,' category into mainstream economic concerns, just like infrastructure and so on. The fact that the growing power of women, in the workplace, as consumers, and as almost half of India's human capital resources is not something that India Inc can ignore. Adds Zahidi, "In four years, the India score has been showing improvement." From the health and survival parameter, to the economic empowerment and education parameter. Says Shumeet Banerjee, CEO of Booz and Company, "One of the biggest concerns in India is about skills. And yes, while the private sector has a role, but it also requires attention to basic social indicators – welfare of women, primary education." That, by itself, is a long way, baby.
We're no longer talking only about life expectancy, healthcare, or child mortality rates, the Indian woman is emerging as an economic force to reckon with. Chanda Kochhar, ICICI, believes that Indian girls just need to be given a level playing field, a mindset of equal opportunities, starting from the family, in education, and by corporates in the workplace to rise above the past. The success of the microfinance revolution, driven mostly by rural women, consistently awes global financial bigwigs and economists.
Recently, Ian Mulder, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, after his visit to a microfinance programme in India, said that the micro finance model "deserves replication not only in India, but in the UK as well." Zahidi admits that it's still very hard to directly and quantitatively prove that reducing the gender gap delivers directly to say, company bottomlines. But, as she points out, the biggest opportunities for closing gender gaps happen during times of flux, and global upheaval. "The world wars pushed huge numbers of women into industry and the workplace in the west, for instance. In times of turmoil, there's also opportunity." Go grab it, girls.
with inputs from World Economic Forum
Social issues have never taken up so much corporate and CEO attention since the world wars. Income inequalities, public health, labour unrest, climate change, poverty, ethics, values, the role of business … all that kind of thing.
Suddenly, corporate social responsibility has come to acquire a brand new meaning. It's not about the Gates Foundation any more, it's about bankers bonuses. It's about climate change, green technology, social justice. Developmental and behavioural economics is edging out the discredited mathematical and pure market economics.
This post-modern, socially sensitive world order is something that global business is going to have to learn to live with, for a long while to come. We're all in it together, is no longer an ideology, but a brutal market truth. If the global recession proved that global finance is intricately interlinked, swine flu proved that pandemics don't, despite masks and quarantines, respect borders either.
Manmohan Singh and Madame Gandhi can take a few bows — their 'inclusive growth' mantra has now gone completely global – it's not just good politics, it's the key to global economic survival. Here's just a sample of the 'new' economic insights that are cropping up all over the place. The emerging market consumer, in China, India, Russia, with her high savings rates and increasing purchasing power will come to the rescue of global consumer companies even as their core consumers struggle with huge debts. And this has to be balanced without wiping out the world's environment. Sustainable consumption is the buzzword.
The prosperity and growth of even marginal and poor nations isn't just a matter for charity or social justice, it's an imperative if wealthy nations want to maintain their own populations in comfort.
In India, what we call youth power, and the rest of the world calls a demographic dividend is the buzzword. But there's a caveat to demographic dividends —- young people need food, education, training, housing, jobs, skills. They have aspirations, needs, demands. And when there are so many of them around, you can't just let them hang around the edges of economic activity getting bored and restive. Over the next two days, some seriously important international and domestic business bigwigs are going into a huddle in Delhi at the World Economic Forum India Summit. And guess what? Almost half the time, they're going to be discussing those old, boring, social sector things like women, children, affordable housing, public health and so on. To mix a few metaphors, you can take society out of mathematical business models, but you can't take business out of society. We look at some of the social issues in the spotlight, women, and health.
NINE GUIDING LIGHTS
On Wednesday, UNICEF appreciated the efforts of nine go-getters who, defying the system, have come up with outstanding contributions towards the empowerment of women in rural Maharashtra
GEETA DESAI
On Wednesday, in recognition of their efforts to spread awareness about education and health, hygiene and even the importance of small savings amongst women in rural Maharashtra, UNICEF felicitated nine go-getters in Mumbai. The girls – Manjula Madavi, Pragati Walvi, Sunita Pavra, Baby Saroja Mithkari, Swati Kharat, Runda Dhurve, Megha Sharma, Punyarath Aulre and Rasika Hazare – all hail from different parts of rural Maharashtra. But these 'Navjyoti', as aptly named by UNICEF, have a common thread: they have learnt the lessons of women empowerment, not in classrooms, but by virtue of sheer experience. And they braved all odds to not only become self-reliant, but are now helping other women of their hamlets to stand on their own feet.
Along the way, they faced stiff opposition, from villagers as well as their households. Only one of them made it to college; the rest couldn't due to money restraints. Besides, their families were against their education, and did not understand the work they wanted to do for other women in the village.
But consistent efforts resulted in realisation of their dreams – the dream to work for the betterment of women around them, those who actually believed that it was their fate to be born and die in a world of darkness.
Profiled here are five of the remarkable achievers. UNICEF AWARDS FOR 'NAVJYOTIS'
In acknowledgement of their outstanding contribution towards rural women, UNICEF felicitated all the nine girls on Wednesday. At the function at Doordarshan Centre, Worli, they were presented letters of appreciation, mementoes and cash awards. The other four girls are:
1 SAROJA MITHKARI, of Kajle Chincholi, Latur, who is studying in Std XI and works for the empowerment of women in her village.
2 SWATI KHARAT. Forced to give up education after SSC when her father died in an accident, she works as a social worker with an NGO at Kurla, creating awareness among pregnant women about AIDS.
3 PUNYARATH AULRE of Dighi Village, Nanded, who creates awareness about health, education and livelihood in her village
4 MEGHA SHARMA. A Std XI student in Mumbai, she works in the city's slums to spread awareness about health and hygiene.
5 SUNITA PAVRA
Sunita's stepmother did not want her to study as it would mean a loss of wages and affect housework. "I use to complete my chores and then go to school. But my parents said I would have to earn my fees if I wanted to study. I did that up to Std VIII. Then my brothers had to stop studying as my stepmother would not finance their education. So I left school, worked for two years, paid for their education, and then decided to complete SSC myself. I also won a Rs 1,000 scholarship," said Sunita.
"I was associated with an NGO who trained me to educate and motivate others. I also spread awareness among adolescents, educating them about health, and encourage them to save for their future. My father now realises the need for education but doesn't have money for my studies," said Sunita. 6 RUNDA DHURVE
Hailing from Movada village, Yavatmal, which has a population of 368 tribals, Runda wants every girl in her village to become a graduate. "Our villagers are all field labourers, they walk 2 km for daily-wage jobs. I studied up to Std XII, but want every girl in my community, including me, to get a degree. Till that day arrives, I will strive endlessly," said Runda.
7 MANJULA MADAVI
This brave lass who hails from the naxal infested area of Ambezari, Chandrapur, narrated her tale with a smile on her lips but tears in her eyes. She grew up watching villagers join naxals, leaving their families to their own fate.
"I wanted to be a prop for my community women and so took an interest in training given by NGOs. I joined school again without my father's knowledge. Once he saw me stepping out of school and thrashed me. Finally, he threw me out, and my uncle sheltered me. But I was determined to study, and my mother paid my fees from her meagre wages," said Manjula, a Std XII student.
In 2007, Manjula tried to stop a minor girl getting married. This enraged her community and her father was asked to get her married. But Manjula who worked with an NGO, was aware of her rights and told her father that, she was 18 and he could not raise his hand on her and she would not marry. "I was scared, but confident. I did not relent and finally my father gave in. He does not like what I do, but at least he doesn't bother now," she said.
8 RASIKA HAZARE
This 23-year-old feels that women in rural Maharashtra are deprived and abused. Even if education is free, they don't have money to commute to school, buy books, etc. They hardly earn a few tenners a day, and even that is snatched away by male family members for alcohol.
Rasika was backed by her mother when villagers objected to her education and working with an NGO. Her brothers got hold of four acres of land which is now their property, but she and her mother fend for themselves.
Rasika is a daily wage labourer but does not skip her routine of spreading awareness among pregnant mothers and adolescent girls. "When a girl attains adolescence, she is confused. She doesn't know how to react with men. She needs to be taught how to maintain a distance," she said.
9 PRAGATI WALVI
When her father abandoned them, Pragati was just three, and they had to live with her uncle in Badvinevadvi village, Nandurbar.
Pragati's mother wanted her to be educated, but villagers were so orthodox that they initially did not allow her to attend school. They tried to stop her by scaring her and even trying to molest her. She was also accused of being an 'outgoing' girl and village boys called her names. This frustrated Pragati and she attempted suicide. But having survived, she decided to fight back and began attending college.
A UNICEF worker then helped her, including her in promoting education and awareness. "Now I not only study, but also teach others the importance of education," said Pragati. 
Differently-abled Guj girl amazes with featSurat: Where there is a will, there is a way; most of us heard of it, but a few live it. Pooja Gupta, 12, lost her hands to polio when she was just 2. However, a decade later, she stands tall on her feet, which are, in fact, also her hands.From making rangoli to mehendi, painting to doing household chores, this enthusiastic kid insists on doing everything on her own using her feet. She has won many awards for her creative skills in rangoli, mehendi and painting. "I love doing things on my own. I eat with my feet and do my dishes too. However, what I really enjoy is making rangoli, mehendi and painting. I love colours and they make me happy,'' beams Pooja.Born in the slums of Pandesara, the catastrophe struck her family when Pooja was diagnosed with the disease. Her mother became mentally unstable soon after and her father shifted to Varanasi, deserting little Pooja. Learning about Pooja's ailment, Kanubhai Tailor, president and founder of the Disabled Welfare Trust of India, took her under his wings and slowly started to train her. Physically challenged himself, Tailor nurtured Pooja's talents. "She is a special child and is blessed with immense concentration and determination. Having won many competitions, she has brought a lot of pride to the school,'' Tailor said. With Diwali just a day away, Pooja is brimming with energy and spends most of her time in making rangolis. "I love doing flowerrangolis. Not only are they colorful, they are also fragrant and seem very welcoming.'' Her smile fades the moment you ask her what she is doing this Diwali. "All my friends are going home to their parents. I have nowhere to go. I'm planning to learn a few new things during the holidays and spend time with Tailor sir's family.''  PERFORMING FEATS: Physically-challenged Pooja Gupta makes rangoli using her feet in Surat |
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