Indian social worker to be on UN panel on women's economic

Padma Shri awardee Renana Jhabvala, an Ahmedabad-based social worker has been invited to serve as a panelist on a UN panel on women's economic empowerment.
The United Nations has established the panel to provide recommendations on improving economic outcomes for women and promoting women's leadership in driving sustainable, inclusive and environmentally-sensitive economic growth in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
"I am convinced that gender equality and women's empowerment and specifically women's economic empowerment-are intrinsic to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, large gender gaps in economic opportunities and outcomes remain across all countries and regions," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in a communication to Renana inviting her to be on the panel.

Daughter of Booker-prize winning novelist and screen-writer, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and well-known architect Cyrus S H Jhabvala, Renana has been active for decades in organising women into organisations and trade unions in India and is extensively involved in policy issues relating to poor women and the informal economy.
Renana, a Harvard graduate, is the Nation Coordinator of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA), trade union for poor, self-employed women workers in India founded by noted Gandhian and civil rights leader Ela Bhatt.