Gender Equity

Gender Equity and Women Empowerment
Deepalaya strongly believes that women should have equal socio-economic, cultural and political opportunities as men. At the formal schools, a successful attempt was made to achieve an enrollment ratio of 50:50 for both genders.
Working in the Mewat region of Haryana where gender discrimination is rampant, Deepalaya started a comprehensive program on Self Help Groups in 1999. The program began with five villages and three groups consisting of 48 members. Until 2005 it has covered 308 groups with 3216 women in all 84 villages of the Tavru Block. The movement is also being implemented in the slum locations of Delhi.
Mission
Our mission is to work towards gender equity in which women have enhanced socio-cultural, economic and political opportunities, enabling them to take crucial decisions which affect them and their families.
Strategy
The following methodologies and approaches will be used in order to achieve the objectives of the Gender Equity sector:

• Continuation of the process to provide market oriented skill training to women and adolescent girls.
• Commitment to help mothers of children, who are attending educational classes, and involve them in saving, thrift and credit, skill training and income generation activities.
• Integration of adult literacy with skill training and income generation or making literacy a precondition for skill training and income generation activities.
• Development of leadership within the communities and linking them with government and non-government facilities.
• Generation of awareness among common people through involving women from project locations and using IEC materials.