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FAITH4SDGs: Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women (Goal 5)
Film Screening and Q&A with experts on gender equality

United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

As part of KAICIID's Faith4SDGs digital storytelling project, we will screen a short film highlighting the work of the Bodhichitta Foundation, an organization which works to empower women in India and combat child marriage. Operating on the basis of Buddhist principles, the Bodhichitta Foundation provides access to education and job training opportunities for girls in the Bihar province. The film will be followed by a Q&A session with members of the organization and experts in the field of gender equality. 

According to UNICEF, each year, at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 get married in India, which makes it home to the largest number of child brides in the world - accounting for a third of the global total. Child marriage is more common among lower income households, with many families marrying off their daughters to reduce their perceived economic burden. Child marriage means that young people lack the skills, knowledge and job prospects needed to lift their families out of poverty and contribute to their country’s social and economic growth.

However, ending child marriage is not the only target we have to strive toward. This webinar will discuss how faith communities can ensure the effective participation of women in society, undertaking structural reforms to give women equal access to education, jobs, leadership positions and financial resources. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. 

You are encouraged to submit questions and topics to be explored during our Q&A session!

SPEAKERS

Ayya Yeshe

Ayya Yeshe Bodhicitta was ordained as a nun in 2001. Having discovered Buddhism during her travels through Nepal and India at the age of 17, she spent a year of study and practice in several monasteries. Afterward, Venerable Yeshe returned to Australia to run a Buddhist Centre in Sydney, continuing to train with her teacher Khenpo Ngawang Dhamchoe for five years. Since then, she has taught Dharma in HIV hospices, schools, drug and alcohol rehab centres and trained as a yoga teacher. Returning to India in 2004, Venerable Yeshe felt a need to put her faith into action and become more socially engaged. Working with other Indian Buddhists, she founded The Bodhicitta Foundation, an NGO which works in India and other developing countries to empower women and children of all faiths and backgrounds, with education, job skills, human rights, health and wellbeing. Venerable Yeshe has learned from Sakya Trizen (the second highest Lama in Tibetan Buddhism) and Ven Thich Nhat Hanh, the nobel peace prize poet and peace activist. She is also the author of 'Everyday Enlightenment' published by Harper Collins and is featured in the documentaries 'Life beyond the Begging Bowl' and 'Through the Eastern Gate'. 

Prof. Ursula Cristina Basset

Prof. Ursula Cristina Basset is a lawyer, with a PhD in Juridical Sciences. Prof. Basset is a Professor and Researcher at Pontificia Universidad Católica and Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires. She is the Director of the Postgraduate Career in Family Law (Universidad Católica de Salta); a member of the Directive Board of the International Academy for the Study of the Jurisprudence of the Family; a member of the Executive Board of the International Society of Family Law; a member of the Institute of Bioethics of the National Academy of Moral and Political Sciences (Buenos Aires, Argentina); a member of the Subcomission of Reform of the Civil Code (Argentina); and is the author of several publications in Family Law and Bioethics.

Sohini Jana, Chapter President, India, Euphrates Institute
Sohini Jana

As Director of the Policy Institute of Jammu and Kashmir, Sohini Jana seeks to contribute to the focus areas of inter-community and intra-cultural peace processes in Kashmir through education, mainstreaming of interreligious and intercultural dialogue tools. She is also the acting India Chapter President for a non-profit organization based in the United States called the Euphrates Institute, which aims to equip and connect peacebuilders worldwide. Through her work, Sohini is leading the development of a strategy to engage women in community spaces for peace processes while empowering them to achieve gender equality goals in the development narrative. She is also contributing to bringing about a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the role and scope of identity dynamics as they play out in grassroots democratic processes.

Dr. Swati Chakraborty

Dr. Swati Chakraborty is an Assistant Professor of Human Rights at Schoolguru Eduserve Pvt. Ltd. and Vice President, South East Asia, of the Eurasian Doctoral Summer Academy (EDSA). She has earned her PhD in human rights from the University of Calcutta and worked with the National Human Rights Commission India as a research consultant.

Dr. Swati has been associated with various NGOs and development agencies from early stages for social inclusion, community networks, human rights activism, and advocacy for the education and empowerment of women.

Dr. Swati has authored more than 20 articles and is also the editor of several books and journals including “Tribal Development”, “Gender Identity and Roles in India: Issues and Challenges”, “Multidisciplinary Handbook of Social Exclusion and Human Rights”, and “Inclusive Development and Sustainability”.

MODERATOR(S)

Anja Piskur
Anja Piskur

Anja Piskur is the project manager for the #Faith4SDGs project. She currently works as a Programme Manager for the Peace Mapping Programme and Virtual Platforms at KAICIID, coordinating the Centre's Dialogue Knowledge Hub. She completed a BA in Cultural Studies, and an MA in Ethnography and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Ljubljana, and has studied in Slovenia, Denmark and Germany. She has vast experience in conducting research and field work in the Balkans, Uganda and Myanmar. Additionally, Anja is PMP certified and was trained in Social Innovation Management and Community Management. Anja has also taken courses in Visual Ethnography and her first ethnographic movie was presented at the Days of Ethnographic Film festival in Ljubljana in 2015. 

Where Online Zoom Application
Time Europe/Lisbon
Date
Speakers
Ayya Yeshe
Prof. Ursula Cristina Basset
Sohini Jana
Dr. Swati Chakraborty
Language English
Interpretation English
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