United Nations / India prioritising gender parity in all walks of life: Smriti Irani at UN

New Delhi: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Friday said that India recognises the centrality of gender equality and women’s empowerment in all aspects of our developmental agenda. Addressing the 25th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, she said: We have moved from a paradigm of women’s development to women-led development.

"Women numerically constitute half of humanity but their influence transfuses all dimensions of society, polity, and economy. In India, we recognize the centrality of gender equality and women's empowerment in all aspects of our developmental journey, "she said.

The Minister went on to add that India attaches the highest priority of ensuring gender parity in all spheres of life and elimination of all forms of gender-based discrimination.

#WATCH In India,we recognise centrality of gender equality & women's empowerment in all aspects of our developmental agenda...We've moved from paradigm of women’s development to women-led development:Union Min Smriti Irani at UN meeting on 25th yr of 4th World Conference on Women pic.twitter.com/5Kw4uaHBSK

— ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2020

“Government of India took a series of measures for ensuring safety, security & wellbeing of women during COVID. It included one-stop crisis centres to provide medical, psychological, legal, police & shelter facilities to women under common roof,” Smriti Irani asserted.

"Heralding these changes under the leadership of our visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have moved from a paradigm of women's development to women-led development," she added.

On the issue of reservation for women, she said: "Reservation of seats for women in local governance in the situation has ensured that more than 1.3 million elected women representatives provide leadership in the formulation and implementing gender-sensitive public policies at the community level."

"More than 200 million women have been brought into the formal banking system through the Government's Financial Inclusion Initiative. Innovative use of digital technologies has provided equal opportunity for women to access insurance, loans, and social assistance," Ms Irani said.

On the issue of gender parity, she added: "India today is attaching the highest priority to ensuring gender parity in all spheres of life and elimination on of all forms of gender-based discrimination. Several of our legislations such as those pertaining to sexual harassment of women at the workplace, protection of women from domestic violence, protection of children from sexual offences, and our criminal laws' amendments, have been strong enablers of women empowerment and protection of children especially girls, over the past six years."

The government has taken a series of measures to ensure safety, security and well being of women during the coronavirus pandemic, including "One Stop Centres" which provide medical, psychological, legal, police and shelter facilities under a common roof, the minister said.

Ms Irani concluded her speech by reiterating India's commitment to full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

"What we achieved 25 years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women still remains the guiding light and source of inspiration for our actions nationally and in the international arena. India remains ready to work with all international partners to build a more just and equal post-COVlD world for us and our daughters," she said.

This comes at a time when the country many cases of brutal violence and rape against Dalit women are coming to light in India and the Modi government is facing backlash for having not been able to secure safety of the women.

A 22-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras succumbed to her injuries after she was gangraped and severely beaten by two men on Wednesday evening.