NCW hosts a Roundtable Discussion on Women's Empowerment in India and the role of CSR as a Catalyst

By: WE Staff | Friday, 16 September 2022

A roundtable discussion on "Women Empowerment in India and CSR as a Catalyst" was convened in Mumbai by the National Commission for Women and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with participation from standard industrial bodies and the heads of significant corporate foundations. The consultation's goal was to comprehend and organise the use of CSR funding to ensure the total development of women. The discussion topics included, among others, the significance of CSR in attaining the SDGs, women's empowerment, and CSR: Creating Collaborative Spaces.

Ms. Rekha Sharma, Chairperson of the NCW, Mr. Ashank Desai, Co-Chairman of the CII National Committee on CSR, Ms. Meeta Rajivlochan, Member Secretary of the NCW, and Ms. Rumjhum, Co-Chairperson of the CII National Committee on CSR presided over the meeting. CSR directors from 32 corporate entities participated in the consultation.

Ms. Rekha Sharma touched on a number of aspects of women's empowerment in her inauguration speech, including those where business may become involved and work with it. These include rehabilitating victims of domestic violence, creating livelihoods for rescued women from human trafficking, providing skills training for disabled women, promoting girl education, and collecting research and data.

“CSR is a new means to tackle gender inequality. Women empowerment across all sectors can be enhanced if corporates can identify common priorities and work together collaboratively in order to bring about major change that can be seen,” said Ms Sharma.

The participants in a separate break-out session talked about the major obstacles to women's empowerment in areas including financial inclusion, child support services for working mothers, and shelters for trafficked women, as well as how industry can work together to overcome these obstacles. It was also discussed what the government should be doing to support women's empowerment and how CSR might help.

The Roundtable assisted in informing the NCW of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes aimed at empowering women. It sought to outline a course for coordinated efforts to advance women's empowerment.