Keeping this critical need for accessibility of data Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), Gujarat had initiated the Gender Data Bank (GDB) for the compilation of available data from various government departments and NGOs through the Office of the Commissioner, Women and Child Development, Ahmedabad. This endeavor has been supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). An active partnership of NGOs working in this area has expedited the process.
Objectives of GDB Gender Data Bank
- To develop state-level capacities in the production of gender Statistic publications.
- To act as a guide to feed data from national statistical offices and gender programs interested in conducting a statistical analysis of women and men for wide dissemination to users of various backgrounds and statistical orientations.
- To provide data for generating indicators on the basis of critical gender issues and concerns.
- To Increase awareness about the status of women in relation to men.
- To provide an objective basis for evaluating progress towards gender equality and achievement of equal opportunity.
The 1990 series of United Nations Conferences began with the World Summit on Children in which heads of states including India participated and adopted a Declaration on the Rights of the Child. This conference recognized that improving the lives of children would require ameliorating the conditions of life of women at the same time. No child can be healthy if the mother is sick; no child can learn if the mother is illiterate and no child can be protected without at the same time offering physical and financial protection to the mother.
The subsequent cycle of conferences covered by the United Nations: The Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), and the Summit on Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) and the Habitat II World Conference reaffirmed women's right to an adequate shelter including land security and inheritance of rights to property and land.
A World Conference incorporated women's concerns as an integral part of their mandate and explicitly stated that women's rights need to be integrated into all other human rights activities at the country level, particularly those pertaining to economic, social, and cultural rights, and should be fully integrated gender equity and the empowerment of women through education, health, and nutrition.
These conferences also reaffirmed that women's attainment of all aspects of the right to an adequate habitat, including land security and inheritance of rights to property and land, access to credit facilities, and availability of housing services is critical for women's empowerment process. For this process, the conferences analyzed women's situation and introduced gender dimension on the agenda, and included special measures to the governments, NGOs, and the United Nations system.
The government of India (GOI) was also a signatory with other 184 countries United Nations (UN)) member countries to commit to gender equality in various areas. The GOI initiated the process at the State and National levels to integrate a gender perspective in all its existing development programs.
They have also initiated new programs for women's development such as 'Swashakti' (Self-power) for women's empowerment to achieve gender equality.
Another pioneering step taken by GOI was a declaration of The Year 2001' by the Honorable Prime Minister of India's Women's Empowerment Year. Various relevant activities were initiated and implemented at the State and National levels following this to make it a reality at the ground level.
The government of Gujarat (GOG) is equally committed to integrating gender development concepts in their relevant programs and projects and to creating need-based programs for gender equality.
Verification Code: CMSLO5000
As a part of their commitment, GOG has implemented the 'Swashakti Project' at the state level in partnership with field Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). Mahila Samakhya is being implemented for the last decade in some districts of Gujarat.
