14-Year-old village girl represents nation in conference on gender

New Delhi, Feb 12 (UNI) Fourteen-year-old Rajni Bharti, a resident of a remote village in Uttar Pradesh, has just returned from a five-day visit to Germany where she represented India at an international youth conference on 'Gender and Development.

Teeming with confidence, the teenager is deftly fielding questions from the national media about the visit during a press conference.

But, a few years ago an overseas trip for her would have been impossible to even imagine. Even stepping off the premises of her two-room house or going to school was unthinkable.

A victim of gender discrimination, she and her three sisters were confined to the four walls of their home in one of Uttar Pradesh's most backward districts -- Maharajagunj-- with not much contact with the outside world.

They were denied education and treated as second class citizens in their own home.

But all that changed once Rajni and other boys and girls of their village became a part of the 'Babu Bahini Manch'-- a children's club-- which sensitised children about gender equality.

The Manch, created and supported by Gram Niyojan Kendra and assisted by Plan India, also trained them about role reversal among boys and girls. The children have now taken it upon themselves to eliminate gender discrimination from society.

Rajni and Mohammad Javed (15) her peer from the manch were selected as Indian ambassadors to the conference and share their experiences.

''We shared our experiences and also got to know about other similar projects where children are involved in other parts of the world,'' said Rajni who met representatives from several countries, including Egypt, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Paraguay, Norway and the UK at the Berlin Conference.

Javed and Rajni used drama, rallies and other advocacy tools to create awareness on gender equality.

''We have been able to bring some changes in the community. Girls never used to come out of their homes but now they rub shoulders with boys,'' said a proud Rajni.

''We never used to play cricket, now girl's cricket is popular in our area. More girls are pursuing higher studies than a few years ago and child marriages have also come down to some extent,'' she added.

The conference also discussed several issues including child rights, gender discrimination, illiteracy, poverty, health, child marriage and dowry.

UNI