Empowerment and Participation of Women and Children in South India

Sponsored by KARL-KÜBEL-STIFTUNG (Germany) PRAJNA organizes community-building and family orientated projects to empower women and children in distress.

The programme focuses the goal to improve the economic situation as well as the healthy well-being of families and communities and to accomplish the process of awareness building and association. The self-confident of women and marginalized groups gets empowered by promoting gender equality and by building comprehension of women’s and children’s rights in the society.

Empowerment of Children

Through the project PRAJNA improves the development of responsibility and the democratic understanding of children. With the support of KKS (Germany) PRAJNA has organized Child Right Clubs in 15 schools for children of different age groups. Children form opinions concerning community faced problems and societal issues and find possibilities and own conclusions through discussion meetings and creative activities. The sensitization for the suggestion box in schools improves, which breeds to an adequate learning atmosphere. Children get leadership and representation trainings for the autonomic organization of Child Right Clubs in the future.15 Child Rights Clubs for 750 school age children have been established in 15 schools.

PRAJNA sensitizes children in 30 villages around Mangalore for political processes. Through representation trainings and group discussions about problems in their living area, children get empowered for the Grama Sabha.

Different educational projects for economical unprivileged school-age-children have been established through this programme. PRAJNA offers tutions for school-age children to improve skills and talents in different subjects by individual trainings and group activities.

Through the programme “Empowerment and participation of Women and Children in South India”

PRAJNA has initiated 70 self-help groups for the increase of economical understanding and self-confidence of 1050  women.

The programme has taken place in 20 villages and 10 city corporation wards groups the democratic understanding of women improves. They learn to administrate and apply their income and to save future-oriented and gainful. Through trained self-monitoring and with the support of professional social workers women lent micro credits for future investments. They build their own entrepreneurship like tailor-shops or conduct home productions of ayurvedic medicine etc. During regular cluster federation meetings SHG-members share experiences, scrutinize loans and consolidate their association through group-activities. PRAJNA has organized different community-based activities and cultural competitions to invigorate self-confidence and make women and children rights understandable through creative methods and role plays.

Empowerment of communities

In the context of the programme “Empowerment and Participation of women and children in South-India” PRAJNA has successfully organized health camps for women and children in 15 villages to build the awareness of health and extend medical care to patients.

PRAJNA has initiated different awareness-projects for communities. Through organizing workshops for different target groups, for example political leaders and members of the Panchayath, PRAJNA enlightens the society about the importance and protection of Human Rights. Workshops for the prevention of school-drop-out and the establishment of child friendly schools have also taken part of the programme.