সুপ্রভাত!

ঊষা ই-বুলেটিন এর পক্ষ থেকে আন্তর্জাতিক মহিলা দিবস (International Woman Day) উপলক্ষ্যে বিশেষ এই সংখ্যাটিতে সমস্ত স্তরের মহিলা এবং অন্যান্য সহকর্মীদের শুভেচ্ছা জানাই।

আমি নুরাণী ইসলাম। আজ তৃতীয় বার আমরা E-bulletine প্রকাশ করতে চলেছি।

আজ আমি ৪ টি বিষয়ের উপর আলোচনা করবো।

১। যারা লিখছেন।

২। যারা পরিচালনা করছেন।

৩। যারা মন্তব্য বা সমলোচনা করছেন এবং মানদর্শণে সহযোগিতা করছেন।

৪। মহিলাদের ক্ষমতায়নে আমার মতামত।

প্রথমে আমি ধন্যবাদ জানাই যারা তাদের মহামূল্য মতামত তথ্য যুক্তি দ্বারা জন-সমুক্ষে তুলে ধরার একটা সুযোগ করে দিয়েছেন তাদেরকে। এবং আমি আশাবাদি তারা এই ভাবেই সাহায্যের হাত বাড়িয়ে যাবেন। তাই ধন্যবাদের সঙ্গে জানাই অগ্রিম আমন্ত্রণ সামনের মাসের জন্য।

এবার আসি যারা পরিচালনা করছেন। বিশেষ করে যে মানুষ গুলো আমাদের এই ছোট্ট উদ্যোগের মেন্টর।

A Mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor. A good mentor is willing to teach what he/she knows and encourage for professional development in sharing skill, knowledge and expertise.

আমাদের সৌভাগ্য যে আমরা পেয়েগেছি এমন কিছু গন্য মান্য বিজ্ঞ ও বিশ্বস্ত পরামর্শদাতাএবং আমাদের website  এ তাদের চিত্র সহ যোগ্যতার পরিচয় উত্থাপন করার অধিকার পেয়েছি। তাই আমরা ধন্য ও চির কৃতজ্ঞ তাদের কাছে যুগে যুগে।

এক জনের নাম এখানে বিশেষ করে না করলেই নয়, তিনি হলেন Mr. Manas Kumar Thakur, President (2016-2017), The institute of Cost Accountants of India. তাঁর উদ্যোগে আমাদের এই ই-বুলেটিন। তাঁরই মস্তিষ্ক প্রসূত এই ই-বুলেটিন। আজ আমাদের সংগঠনের অনেকেই এগিয়ে আসছেন তাদের লেখা দিতে, এ থেকে বোঝা যায় গুনীর জ্ঞানের পরিচয়, বিশেষ করে মানুষের গুণ থাকে তুষের আগুনে চাপা, একটু বাতাস দরকারতাহলেই জ্বলে উঠবে শিখা। আর এই বাতাসের কাজ করছে আমাদের এই ই-বুলেটিন।

এখানে আর এক জনের নাম না করলেই নয়, তিনি হলেন আমাদেরMr. D. P. Banerjee মহাশয়। জন্ম দেওয়া ও লালন পালন করা দুয়ের মধ্যে বিস্তর তারতম্য।সেই তারতম্যের সুর যাতে বেসুর না হয়ে যায়, তার দায়িত্ব ভার Mr. D. P. Banerjee মহায়শ নিয়েছেন এবং সেই দায়িত্ব নিরলস ভাবে পালন করে চলেছেন।আমরা তাঁর কাছে কৃতজ্ঞ। তিনি তাঁর অক্লান্ত বুদ্ধিমত্তার দ্বারা আমাদের ই-বুলেটিন এর দোষ গুণ সংশোধিত করে ত্রুটি মুক্ত একটি সংবাদ মুখপত্র সমাজে উপহার দিয়ে চলেছেন এবং আমরা আশা রাখবো আগামী দিন গুলো তিনি এই ভাবে আমাদের পাশে থাকবেন।

আমাদের সংগঠনের বয়স আজ ২৮ বছরে পৌঁছেগেছে,যার জন্ম ১৯৯২ এর ৭ই মার্চ,অনেকেই সেই শুরু থেকে আজও আমাদের সাথে জুড়ে আছেন। তাদের এত দিন মুখ চলতো, এখন তাদের কলম চলে।এটা সম্ভব হয়েছে এক মাত্র মানস কুমার ঠাকুর এবং ডি পি ব্যার্নাজী মহায়শের জন্য।

এবার আসি তৃ্তীয় পয়েন্টে।আমি ভীষণ ভাবে খুশি যে আমাদের ই-বুলেটিন সবার কাছে পৌঁছে যাচ্ছে। এবং শুধু যে পৌঁছে যাচ্ছে তা নয়, আমরা অনেক মন্তব্যও পাচ্ছি, এবার MSME  Ex. Director, Mr Ajoy Bandhyapadhya তার মতামত জানিয়েছেন। আমরা তার মতামতের গুরত্ব দেবো।তাই আমি বলবো আপনারা যারা আমাদের ই-বুলেটিন দেখছেন তারা শুধু দেখার মধ্যে না থেকে আমাদের সাহায্য করুন কি ভাবে আমদের এই ই-বুলেটিন ঘরেঘরে পৌছাবে।

চতুর্থ বিষয়টি হল মহিলাদের ক্ষমতায়ন।

আমার মতামতে, আমি ক্ষমতায়ণ কে দুই ভাগে ভাগ করি।

১। লেখা পড়া দ্বারা জ্ঞানের মাধ্যমে।

২। ব্যাবহারিক সফলতা।

প্রথম টা দেখা বা বোঝা যায় যেমন, ২+২= ৪।

দ্বিতীয় টি একটু আলাদা,যতক্ষণ না সে সফলতার শিখরে পৌঁছাবে ততক্ষণ মাপা যায় নাযে সে কি হতে চলেছে।তাই  অনেক ঘাত প্রতিঘাতের মধ্যে দিয়ে একটি মেয়ে সে তার স্বরুপ ধারণ করে। আর আমি বিশ্বাস করি, একটি মেয়ের সফলতা, একটি সমাজের অগ্রগতি । আমরা জানি Learning begins at  home।আমরা এটাও জানি যে একটি পরিবার থেকেই ভালো মানুষ খারাপ মানুষ তৈরি হয়। যেখানে মহিলাদের ভুমিকা অনেক গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। তাই যতমহিলার সফলতা, তত সমাজের অগ্রগতি।তাই আমরা মেয়েদের অগ্রগতির একটি মাপ কাঠি বানিয়েছি। তার পাঁচটি ধাপ্।

১। স্বনির্ভর করা(Capacity build up)।

২। জীবিকা তৈরী(Livelihood formation)

৩।জীবিকার স্থয়িত্ব করন(Livelihood sustainability)

৪।উদ্যোগ গঠন (Enterprise Formation)

৫।উদ্যোগের উন্নতি করন (Enterprise Development)

 

আমরা, মহিলা দ্বারা পরিচালিত একটি ক্ষুদ্র সংস্থা। আমরা অতি কমল, তবে দূর্বাঘাসের ন্যায় মজবুত,শিশির বিন্দু ধারণকরার ক্ষমতা রাখি।আর বিন্দুতে সিন্ধু গঠিত হয়।দূর্বা যেমন অতি ঝড় ঝঞ্জাতেও মাথা উঁচু করে থাকতে পারে,আমরাও এই ২৮(আটাশ)বছর ধরে টিকে আছি দূর্বাঘাসের ন্যায় ক্ষুদ্র বলে।

এখানে কাজী নজরুল ইসলামের কবিতার এক লাইন তুলে না ধরলেই নয়।

“কান্ডারী হুঁশিয়ার – দূর্গম গিরি কান্তার মরু দুস্তর পারাবার

লঙ্ঘিতে হবে রাত্রি নিশিতে যাত্রিরা হুশিয়ার।“

এই ভাবে আমাদের ‘ঊষা’ ই-বুলেটিন বিশাল অজানা জগতে জ্ঞানের পরিধির অন্বেষনের কান্ডারী ভূমিকা পালনের প্রয়াসী এবং সহযাত্রীদের এগিয়ে নিয়ে যাবার লক্ষ্যে নিরলস কর্ম্মদ্যোগ।আজ এ পর্যন্ত আমরা বহু নজির গড়তে সক্ষম হয়েছি।এবং এই কাজে নিয়জিত আছি ও থাকবো বলে অঙ্গীকার করছি।

ধন্যবাদ

_  নুরানি ইসলাম,

চিফ ফাংশানারী এ্যান্ড ফাউন্ডার, আটঘরা জ্যোতি মহিলা উদ্যোগ।

Greetings to all Readers and Well Wishers !!!!

At the outset of my addressing in this 3rd issue of ‘USHA – our in house monthly e-bulletin, let me express our warmth wishes to all Women and Girl Children across the Communities on this auspicious occasion of ‘International Women’s Day-2020’ being celebrated on 8^th  March in every year & technically this year happens to be the 109th International Women’s Day.

The idea of institutionalizing this Day was conceived in the mind of Clara Zetkin, a German theorist, activist and an advocate for women’s rights including for equal opportunities and women’s suffrage. Madam Zenkin, a prominent figure in workers movement in Germany spread her aggressive activities for the cause of women rights & social justice in the entire European States) initiated an International conference of Working women in the year 1910 at Copenhagen in presence of 100 working women from 17 Countries on this Day. Followed by said stream, United Nation (UN) started celebrating this Day with multifaceted activities from 1975 and from 1996 initiated theme based action plan (1st theme was “Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future”.)

In the perspective of  CY theme “I am Generation Equality, Realising women’s rights” which represents an unmissable opportunities to mobilise global action to achieve gender equality and human rights of all women including girl children, we must stay focused on all sorts of our activities to tune up with the  theme of UN.

Let us work together with mental acceptance and conviction that our NGO having a legacy of working for the cause of women since 1992 must come up as “icon of Excellence” in the unorganized sector by delivering our best & it’s possible as long as we keep on believing that “our promises to the trustees means performance for the betterment of society” ….

Happy Women’s day once again.

D P Banerjee

International Women’s Day is annually held on March 8 to celebrate women’s achievements throughout history and across nations. The early 20th century was a time when women were becoming more active in their protests against oppression and gender inequality, leading marches and campaigns to demand equal rights. According to the official IWD website, during the International Conference of Working Women in 1910, Clara Zetkin of Germany’s Social Democratic  Party proposed that a day be set aside every year across the world to celebrate women and reinforce their demands. The proposal was ultimately accepted and put into practice, starting in Germany and Europe and spreading across the globe over the years.

An equal world is an enabled world.  Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, each one of us can help create a gender equal world. The race is on for the gender equal boardroom, a gender equal government, gender equal media coverage, gender equal workplaces, gender equal sports coverage, more gender equality in health and wealth … so let’s make it happen. Let’s be EachforEqual.

International Women’s Day 2020 campaign theme is EachforEqual.

 Strike the EachforEqual pose

So put your arms out front and STRIKE THE EachforEqual POSE to motivate others and to make International Women’s Day YOUR day.

 

 

Purple is the internationally recognized color to symbolize women while the combination of the colors green,  Purple  and white is meant to represent women’s equality. Mimosa Flower is a Symbol for International Women’s Day.

HISTORY OF THE DAY

The earliest Women’s Day observance, called “National Woman’s Day, was held on February 28, 1909, in New York City, organized by the Socialist Party of America . In August 1910, an International Socialist Women’s Conference was organized to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. The following year on March 19, 1911, IWD (international women’s day) was marked for the first time, by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In 1913 Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Saturday in February. In 1914, International Women’s Day was held on March 8 in Germany, possibly because that day was a Sunday, and now it is always held on March 8 in all countries and also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

MISSION OF THE DAY:

• To increase the visibility of women creative’s and promote their work for commercial projects.
• To celebrate digital advancement and champion the women forging innovation through technology.
• To celebrate women athletes and applaud when equality is achieved in pay, sponsorship and visibility.
• To champion women of all backgrounds who dare to innovate, lead, and uplift others towards a more equal and inclusive workplace.
• To support women to earn and learn on their own terms and in their own way.
• To assist women to be in a position of power for making informed decisions about their health.

Progress toward Parity

As the campaign highlights, forging equality in these areas and more is crucial to a “healthier, wealthier and more harmonious” world.

Gender parity is highly regarded as a benchmark of progress, and has a direct bearing on whether or not economies and societies thrive. According to the Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020, Western Europe has taken the largest strides toward parity, currently at 76.7%, closely followed by North America at 72.9%. South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are at the lower end of the scale, with parity sitting between 60.5% and 66.1%.

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY

In today’s world, literacy has become a human right. Unfortunately, like many human rights, women proportionally have less access to it. In 2016, the global literacy rate of adult women was 83% compared to 90% for adult men. That 7% spread equates to a 263-million-person difference – that’s about the population size of Indonesia, the fourth largest country in the world. The better part is that the literacy rate globally has increased by 17.5% in 40 years, and the gender gap in literacy has decreased from 61% for women and 77% for men. However, we are still 13 percentage points away from global literacy and seven away from equality.

 

When You Educate a Man; you Educate a Man only……..

When You Educate a Women; you Educate a Generation………….

WOMEN’S DAY IN INDIA

Women’s Day in India is celebrated to make people aware of all the progresses that have been done till date and the work that still needs to be done.  Sarojini Naidu, a freedom fighter, started Women’s Day in India.

While the whole world celebrates March 08 as International Women’s Day ,demonstrations demanding  jobs for women, the right to hold public office, and an end to discrimination. India opts for February 13 to celebrate the women’s power. India Celebrates February 13 as national women’s day by remembering one of the most powerful and outspoken women Independence activists, Sarojini  Naidu.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Women’s economic empowerment refers to the ability for women to enjoy their right to control and benefit from the resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability to manage risk and improve their economic status and well being. The Possible way we can empower women globally  are ;

• Place women as leaders and give them decision making roles.
• More Job Opportunities for Women: …
• Invest in Women’s Entrepreneurial Ideas, Emotionally and Financially: …
• Taking Action against Unpaid Labour Work: …
• Mentoring Women Professionally and Personally.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR

Globally, 6.2% of women entrepreneurs has own established businesses i.e about two-thirds the rate of Men. In the past years, 163 million women worldwide started businesse out of which 111 million women currently operate established businesses. Women’s ownership of established businesses grew by 8 percent.

Kalpana Saroj , of Kamani industries is probably the first female corporate entrepreneur in post independence India. At the age of 16, she started working in a garment factory to support her family.

Employment To Population Ratio of India(year wise), 15+,Female

Employment to population ratio,15+, female (%) in India was reported at 22.58 % in 2019, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India – Employment to population ratio, 15+, female – actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2020

Employment to population ratio is the proportion of a country’s population that is employed. Ages 15 and older are generally considered the working-age population.

 

 

WOMEN LITERACY

According to a 2018 World Bank report, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) among females in India was 26.97 LFPR female . The world average stood at 48.47 percent in 2018. The rate for women in India has been falling since 2005, when it was at a high of 36.78 percent.

Working women have higher self esteem, are stronger emotionally and financially. The  20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women’s are.

• Secretaries and administrative assistants
• Registered nurses
• Elementary and middle school teachers

• Cashiers
• Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides
• Retail salespersons
• First-line supervisors/managersof retail sales workers
• Waiters and Waitresses
• Maids and housekeeping cleaners
• Customer service representatives
• Child-care workers
• Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks
• Receptionists and Information clerks
• First-line supervisors/managersof office and administrative suppor
• Managers, all others
• Accountants and auditors
• Teacher assistants
• Cooks
• Office clerks
• Personal and home care aides

CONCLUSION

Women’s Day  is dedicated to celebrate  women’s achievements in the social, economic, cultural, and political spheres. The day, collectively founded by women, also brings attention to gender parity and women’s rights. … It’s also an important tool for policymakers striving towards gender equality.

There has been a steady transformation in the status of the women in comparison to earlier periods. Women of today take part completely in areas such as politics, status, military sectors, economic, service, and technology sectors. Moreover, they have contributed wholly in sports too. Thus, they have occupied a dignified position in family and society.

However, ending crimes against women is still a challenge. We can prevent ills by ensuring women autonomy, also increased participation and decision making power in the family and public life both.

This yevar’s theme for International Women’s Day (8 March) is, “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. The Generation Equality campaign is bringing together people of every gender, age, ethnicity, race, religion and country, to drive actions that will create the gender-equal world we all deserve

You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women….. So lets come forward to give Women same Privilege, Prestige, Power, Position(4 P’s) so as to support the nation. So lets celebrate Women Day Each Day.

“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re Strongest when we cheer each other on”- Serena Willams

During an interactive meeting at office with our editorial Team very recently, one of our Team members casually approached me for a write up on Woman Empowerment for March’20 issue of USHA- our in-house monthly journal in electronics format as usual. Significantly we’ve planned to release this issue on the occasion of ‘International Women’s Day’ being observed 8^th  March in every year across the globe at the behest of UNO since 1975.

As I am to write a preface in every issue as Editor of this e-bulletin, so back home while a watching TV serial, I was pondering on what’s more to write in addition to editorial column but suddenly an idea clicked on some recent happenings to get my write up relevant to topic.

On the TV screen one ad for a coming serial ‘Kadambini’ (a Biopic) appeared as 1st woman physician in our country at the then very conservative society completed her medical degree in 1884 (or 1886) is bold enough to highlight as a living legend on woman empowerment.

Once again on same day (means my TV serial day) another news in the sports arena came up as India’s women cricket Team in get going with excellent winning sprees in T20 world cup while our National

cricket Team is in the scanner of media at New Zealand because of repeated match defeats.

One more sparkling news appeared very recently on women empowerment when our Supreme Court made a landmark ruling by granting Women the right to serve in the military on equal terms with men with the right to command.

Certainly, these instantaneous fact and pace setting examples would create a morale boosting effects in the female domain and would act as break even factor in our societies in days ahead. But still doubt remains in proper meaning of women empowerment which I would

like to summarise as a ‘ process of empowering women’ Empowering also clarifies that creates power in individuals over their own living, ,decision making and the ability to obtain an income for independent income growth and financial management either in family or society at large. Feeling entitled to make own decision without limitations and restrictions would be creating a sense of empowerment and boost up self esteemed and therefore Empowerment is a continuous process ,not a product.

While concluding my brief note on this topic ,I would like to suggest our avid reader to read a recent article captioned “2020- THE YEAR FOR WOMEN & Year for gender equality”  wherein  UNO has initiated a flagship programme to deepen it’s effect and achieve a transformative results.

আমি তো আবাক,বাপরে বাপ,

করোনার কি চাপ।

চারি দিকে ঘুরছে ভাইরাস।

নাক মুখ বন্ধে সবার  মাক্স।

এক জায়গায় হয়ো নাকো জড়ো।

সুযোগ পেলেই করোনা ,করে দেবে দরো

ভগবান কে সাক্ষী রেখে,বিজ্ঞান কে সাথী করো।

When there is a call for empowerment to any race, species, culture or language that suggests some sort of negligence, partiality happened to aforesaid individuals. In March, 2015 a commercial video featuring a leading bollywood actress irked some controversy on social media and then onwards the word ‘woman empowerment’ became a topic of the nation overnight. Basically empowering woman is a gradual process which is one of the important parameter that bridges the gap of a developing nation to a developed one. Even if we go through the history of so called first world countries it is observed that women were ill treated by the society in earlier periods. However things haven’t changed in modern era in our country as well as many others where women still have to go social, economic and much other discriminations. Although we have abolished social evil like ‘sati’ culture (1829) and endorsed widow marriage (1856) still parasites like child marriage, dowry exists in our country. In our India a menstruating deity is being worshipped in places and on other hand women having menstruation aren’t allowed into places of worship. The basic idea behind this is equality in terms of societal, economical, cultural and political in every aspect. It is the mindset & atmosphere that needs to be changed as well as the outlook towards women safety. The agenda should be that there is only biological discrimination prevails between a male and a female. Our country has produced a lot of golden girls who shines us into the outer world. How can we forget Indira Gandhi who is being considered as one of the best prime minister of India till date? From Kalpana Chawla to Mithali Raj, Lata Mangeshkar to Mary Kom there are numbers of example on which we can be cherished upon. It is more important to set a platform that assists women to get their social positions that they deserve rather than cheering on individual success. It is true that things are going in positive notion as central government as well as several state governments are working on this issue. Schemes like ‘ Beti padhao, beti bachao’, ‘One stop centre’, ‘Ujjwala’, ‘Mahila-e-haat’, ‘Kanyashree’ is being introduced to strengthen the social and economic position of women in India. Several film industries in India produced movies in present era that showcased problems created by patriarchal society and endorsed women empowerment in many aspects. These little efforts from all the corners will be beneficiary in elevation of social structure. We are hopeful that slowly but steadily changes will be happened that establish the phrase ‘women empowerment’ in a true sense one day.

We had the privilege to attend a seminar on caption subject at HHI (Hotel Hindustan International) on 27^th Feb 2020  at the initiative of ICC (Indian Chamber of Commerce) and graced by many invitees from  various forums of  our society and institutions .

The seminar was mind blowing on various aspects and tried to explore many significant road maps on “Women today”. The discussion part was really knowledge-savvy as the speakers from different organisation and professional experts highlighted on role of Women in our society from past to present and futuristic vision with the change of life style today.

From our organisation Mrs. Nisharun Rahman (Secretary) and Mrs. Mehnaaz Parveen represented the seminar and the inputs received from there will be delivered at an in-house discussion with our team members at next monthly meeting.

A set of photographs of (the then) ongoing seminar are posted in this issue for our viewers also.

Honourable President of India recently presented ‘Nari Shakti Puruskar’ to seven women achievers of the year 2019 on the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2020.

Also, on International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over his Twitter account to “seven women achievers” to share their life’s journeys on International Women’s Day to inspire everyone.

About the Seven Women Achievers:

Sneha Mohandoss:

She is a Chennai-based food activist and Founder of Food Bank India.

She works towards eradicating hunger and striving for a hunger-free planet.

Through her NGO, home-cooked food is made for the poor, packed in containers and assembled in one place, before a small team takes it in a car or autorickshaw and distributes it to the homeless.

Malvika Iyer:

Malvika Iyer is a bomb blast survivor, who lost her hands and damaged her legs in the grenade blast in her home in Bikaner in 2002, when she was 13 years old.

She has been a motivational speaker, a disability rights activist, and a model striving to make fashion accessible to all.

Arifa:

Arifa is a Kashmiri activist seeking to revive the traditional Namda crafts of the region.

Namda making is a rare and unique craft wherein splendid floor pieces are made from sheep wool by practice of felting the wool rather than weaving it.

Kalpana Ramesh:

Kalpana is a Hyderabad-based architect who runs a city-based project to conserve lakes and rivers.

The government and forest authorities have also been collaborating with her in the endeavour to conserve water.

Vijaya Pawar:

She is an artisan from the Banjara community of rural Maharashtra.

She works for promoting Gormati art and handicraft of banjara community.

Kalavati:

Kalavati is an activist who campaigns against open defecation.

She is on a mission to build toilets across the lower income households in the city.

Veena Devi:

She is an organic farmer, who has been growing mushrooms at home for several years now, through some unique farming-at-home techniques.

She is also training several other women to start mushroom cultivation at home.