Durga India organizes NGAGE – the first of its kind, virtual youth forum on gender equity

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    Bangalore, 2020: For an equitable and sustainable future, it is imperative that India’s youth take cognizance of prevalent gender biases that limit our nation’s development and sensitize themselves about their rights and responsibilities while harnessing their collective potential for the greater good of their personal and wider circles.

    It is in lieu of the above that Durga India is proud to organize NGAGE (Next Gen Advocates for Gender Equity) —  a thought-provoking, the first and largest of its kind, virtual forum hosting over 3000 participants. NGAGE will serve as an interactive platform for young citizens to understand that they can bring about greater changes while they engage in meaningful conversations and make conscious efforts to bridge gender gaps.

    The initiative will bring forth key insights from distinguished thought-leaders who have dedicated their efforts for greater societal equity; enable the nation’s youngsters to think and act like tomorrow’s leaders, today. “We aim to reassure young minds that their concerns, opinions, and suggestions are being heard and that the guidance they seek in solving problems for the future is available to them”, says Priya Varadarajan, Founder of Durga — a citizen-sector organization focussing on women’s safety and creation of gender-equitable spaces since 2013 — and the organizer of NGAGE.

    “India’s youth population (15-29 years) is about 366 million. Young people are both the receivers and the reflectors of the violence in societies they inhabit. However, they have the potential to be tomorrow’s leaders and today’s stakeholders in driving changes that address issues resulting from inequity. These young minds need to come together to create a progressive, gender-equitable society.” she concludes.

    NGAGE will serve as a platform to collectively unlearn and relearn gender-based issues with insights from thought-leaders, who work towards rectifying gender equity gaps. This forum will dissect unequal gender representation, talk about the impact of gender disparity on wellbeing, implications of prevalent societal structures, patriarchy, constitutional framework and rights, youth initiatives and more.

    Designed to be an annual, national movement to promote gender equity in India, NGAGE will reinforce the spirit of 16-days of global activism against gender-based violence through a wide array of online and offline events, gender sensitization workshops for school and college students, incubation for social projects addressing gender inequity, corporate initiatives for amplifying gender-equitable workplaces, CSR aimed at enabling greater equity, amongst other interesting sessions.

    The forum will witness a gamut of distinguished experts such as Kamla Bhasin, Advisor, Sangat; Bharat, Co-Founder, Vishaka; Elsa Marie D’Silva, Founder, Red Dot Foundation; Manak Matiyani, Executive Director, The YP Foundation; Japleen Pasricha, Founder and Editor, Feminism In India, amongst other prominent personalities.