India strongly calls for end of gender-based inequalities

India today strongly called for an end of gender-based inequalities, discrimination and violence, stressing that to sustain in this world, equality has to be more than a slogan.
"How extraordinary that when the human species has only men and women and when neither can do without the other, yet there is no equality, and we need a movement spanning across centuries to fight for parity. What does it say about humankind," said Maneka Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development.
"If we cannot be fair and gentle with each other within the species, how can we protect any other species," Gandhi said at a global meet here in the Thai Capital.

"And herein will lie the seeds of the end of the world as we know it. To sustain the world, equality has to be more than a slogan!" she said at the Asian and Pacific Conference on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: Beijing +20 Review at the UNESCAP here.
Expressing confidence that this conference would help in moving in this direction, Gandhi said women would get all the other equalities if financial independence was assured, adding that for the first time a Ministry for Skill Development had been set up by the Modi government to ensure that the skills for women went beyond the stereotypes.

Referring to the issue of violence against women, Gandhi, clad in a pink printed saree, said among one of the many solutions found, was to increase the number of women in the Police force.

"Our Government is trying to achieve this. Having a regulatory force with 33 per cent women, means that the Police will be already sensitized and will be a strong deterrent mechanism against violence," she noted.
"I represent women who may have suffered gender inequality for centuries but are committed to claim their place in the society. I represent women who have seen poverty and illiteracy but are marching ahead rapidly to become equal contributors in the economic and social development of the nation," Gandhi told the UN gathering.

She said India had adopted enabling legislative and policy framework for empowerment and advancement of women, established institutional framework to oversee its implementation and undertaken elaborate outreach programmes to combat social prejudices and stereotypes that affect women.
Gandhi listed some of India's achievements including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), 'National Food Security Act, 2013 and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
She also referred to the government's commitment to improve quality, expansion of secondary and tertiary education, improving equity and improving accessibility for girls and women, and skills development for improved employability.