Ministry of Rural Development: ‘Gender Samwaad’

March 14, 2022

The third edition of ‘Gender Samwaad’ was recently organized by the Ministry of Rural Development.

‘Gender Samwaad’ is a national virtual initiative under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
The objective of the ‘Gender Samwaad’ initiative is to generate awareness on the interventions of DAY-NRLM across India with a gender lens. The theme for the third edition of ‘Gender Samwaad’ was ‘Promotion of food and nutrition security through women’s collectives’.
Over 3000 staff of State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLM) and members of Self-Help Group (SHG) from 34 states participated in the third edition of ‘Gender Samwaad’.

‘Gender Samwaad’ event was organized as a part of Rural Development Ministry’s Iconic Week celebrations under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from 7th – 13th March 2022 during the week of International Women’s Day (8^th March 2022). The theme of Iconic Week celebrations is ‘Naye Bharat ki Naari’ (Women of New India) and the official hashtag is #NayeBharatKiNaari.
The objective of the Iconic week is to celebrate the contribution of rural women in India.

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the DAY-NRLM undertook many initiatives to fight malnutrition among their members. These initiatives include providing livelihood support to rural households, diversification of food crops, improving productivity, etc.
Women from SHGs play an important role in social and behavior change communication (SBCC). This includes promoting the education of girl children, fighting against child marriages, awareness regarding consumption of micronutrients, healthy diets, family planning, etc.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, women from SHGs played a key role in raising awareness among 5.5 crore rural households.