As an attempt towards creating a space for dialogue and discussion gender equality, UN Women has organised an interactive event in the city, called ‘Youth Leap for a Planet 50-50 by 2030: Connecting Generations to Achieve Gender Equality’. Tamil film director Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth Dhanush will be appointed as the UN Women’s Goodwill Advocate for South India today, joining the likes of Emma Watson and Sania Mirza, who are also gender equality advocates. Here is how UN Women believes that Chennai can contribute to gender equality at large.
“With the largest and most vibrant youth population in the world — almost equal to the total population of all 18 western Asian countries — the young women and men of India have tremendous potential for transforming gender relations amongst youth populations, and beyond. This event provides a space for young women and men to engage in a constructive dialogue on youth action to achieve gender equality. Dialogue and discussions create safe spaces to deliberate on issues and shape decisions that are critical in achieving gender equality. They are essential platforms to engage with key constituencies, across generations, and develop transformative perspectives and strategies to challenge patriarchal structures and mind-sets that are major obstacles in achieving gender equality,” Lakshmi Puri, assistant secretary general of the United Nations and deputy executive director of UN Women shares about the event.
“Engaging the youth in an action to achieve gender equality is absolutely essential. The youth can extensively participate in creating awareness in all citizens about gender equality, using both online, and offline methods. Young people and their youth leader organisations and networks can offer their participation by identifying solutions, innovative approaches. They can take action in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on gender equality and women’s empowerment and gender sensitive targets in other SDGs. They can play a critical role in becoming the eyes and the ears, which simply means becoming the monitors for the implementation of the SDGs and impact of SDGs to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind,” she elaborates.
“Young women and men represent a huge potential resource as agents of change. With approximately 600 million adolescent girls and young women empowered and educated today, we have the opportunity to create a huge wave of change which will impact how our world looks and functions in the future,” adds Lakshmi, who will be interacting with Chennai’s youth.
