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| Social Inclusion and Empowerment « Programmes |
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| Public Hearing on Cases of Atrocities against Dalits (Jan Sunvai)
July 22, 2011 at Jodhpur |
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In collaboration with local NGOs, UNNATI has been mobilising dalits and women on the issues of marginalisation, exclusion, social discrimination and atrocities since 1996. These efforts resulted in the local community raising their voice against discrimination and atrocities. To build common thrust and commitment against injustice a Jan Sunwai was organised to examine the selected cases of atrocities, discrimination and domestic violence. The objective was not to scrutinize the cases on technical grounds but to show solidarity to the victim’s families and local facilitators and CBOs. The honorable jury members for the Jansunwai were identified from various experts. The Jury comprised of the following: Mr. R. K. Akodia, Retd. Judge High Court Jodhpur and former member, Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission; Mr. Kishan Gurjar , Advocate; Mr. C M Naval, Retd. Additional SP Jodhpur: Mr. P.L. Mimroth, Center for Dalit Rights, Jaipur: Mr. Bhanwar Meghwanshi, Activist Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and; Ms. Varsha Ganguli, scholar researcher on women and labour issues. The cases examined during the Jan Sunwai were serious in nature like murder, rape, assault, sexual harassment and discrimination. 16 such cases were shared during the event. |
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| The Jan Sunwai enabled the jury to understand the victim’s perspective and pain behind the cases. The cases were examined by studying case documents and procedures of inquiry. This was an effort to examine details of case papers, provide feedback to activist and victims to work out strategies for legal prosecution and strengthen local mobilisation. This effort has brought the cases in the public domain and to reflect on the vindictive way of dealing with dalits by highly insensitive administration, police and even society. Around 300 persons mainly from the victim’s family members, relatives and activists participated in the event with the hope to regain the dignity of dalits as human beings through accessing justice. |
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| Consultation on Realising UNCRPD, July 8, 2011 |
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A ‘Regional Consultation on Realising UNCRPD: Learning from inclusive Practices,’ was held in partnership with Blind People’s Association (BPA). The case studies on inclusive practices on disability in education and employment were documented on a pilot basis and this report was circulated in English and Gujarati in accessible formats at the consultation. Five cases were documented from four organisations – BPA for both education and employment, ADAPT (Abled Disabled All People Together – formally the Spastic Society), Mumbai for education, Microsign Products, Bhavnagar and Bharat Petroleum Ltd for employment. There were 155 participants including resource persons for this consdtituting of multiple stakeholders. The resource persons comprised of the organisations for which the cases were documented. Besides this the Principal Secretary, Commissioner for Disabilities and lawyers like Dr. Amita Dhanda from NALSAR University (Consultant for preparing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2011), Mr. Rajive Raturi (Human Rights Law Network), New Delhi and member of the drafting committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2011. From Delhi University we had three professors: Dr. Anita Ghai who is the Chairperson of All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) and has taught psychology at the Jesus and Mary College, Mr. Jagdish Chander teaches Political Science at the Hindu College, both are persons with disability and have worked as activists in the disability movement and Dr. Tanmoy Bhattacharya, Coordinator of Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC), Delhi University that strives for inclusion of SC/ ST and disability in the 25 colleges under DU. From Christian Blind Mission the representative was Mr. Murali Padmanabham the officer for inclusion. |
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Book Release: History of Women’s Movement in 4 parts in Gujarati and Hindi
June 20, 2011
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The series of books on History of Women’s Movement published by UNNATI in collaboration with Sahiyar (Stree Sangathana) Vadodara, were released on June 20, 2011 at Ahmedabad. Reviewers were invited to talk about the relevance of the books in contemporary times. Ms. Deepa Sonpal from UNNATI gave a brief background of why and how the books were prepared. Ms. Swaroop Dhrvu spoke on the relevance of the songs sung by the women’s and included in the books, Ms Trupti Shah from Sahiyar and the author of the books talked about how the books were conceived and explained the style of writing in drama style; Mr Tarun Deep Girdher, Faculty of Graphic Design at the National Institute of Design, explained the design development aspects and Ms. Sophia Khan from SAFAR, Ahmedabad and Fr. Jimmy Dabhi from Behavioural Science Centre, Ahmedabad spoke on Intersectionality and its relevance. There were around 80 participants from various NGOs in Ahmedabad. |
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| Advisory Committee meeting of the SATCOM Programme |
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| An Advisory Committee meeting of the SATCOM Programme for English Language Teaching for students of standard VIII of schools in scheduled areas of Gujarat (supported by Tribal Development Department, Government of Gujarat) is being held on May 2, 2011 at Ahmedabad Management Association to discuss the status and chart out the future directions. |
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