'Women empowerment overlooked by govts'

Jaipur, Dec 22: Grassroot women movements have helped in empowerment of women but they are sometimes overlooked by the national government as well as international agencies, says UNICEF's State of the World's Children (SOWC) report 2007.

The annual SOWC 2007 report titled ''Women and Children: the Double Dividend of Gender Equality was presented here today by Dr Satish Kumar, state representative UNICEF Rajasthan to minister of women and child development Mr Kanak Mal Katara.

The SOWC 2007 report provides a roadmap for maximising gender equality through seven key modes education, financing, legislation, legislative quotas, women empowering women, engaging men and boys and improved research and data.

The report urges that women should be involved in the early stages of policy formulation to ensure that programmes are designed with the needs of women and children in mind.

In his address, Mr Katara said despite commitment to gender equality, millions of women and girls are facing discrimination, disempowerment and poverty. He urged for concrete action in gender equality- where women and girls have equal opportunities in education, government participation and greater influence in household decisions.

Mr Katara further, said the efforts of Rajasthan government in this direction have started reflecting in the improved status of women and children, like MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate) has reduced from 667 to 445 and the Infant Mortality Rate has come down from 75 to 67 and girl education has seen new light in the state.

Congress Kanwar, a girl child from Jhalawar, who participated on behalf of UNICEF in the launching ceremony of SOWC, 2007 report in Germany on 11th Dec this year, also shared her experiences on this occasion.

UNI