UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment
In the fall of 2016, UNESCO conferred the UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (India) upon Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in the presence of Chancellor Sri Mata Amritanandamayi. The UNESCO Chair furthers goals of the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality and promotes international, inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities and collaborative work.
Prof. Bhavani Rao said, "understanding the vulnerabilities of women and the interplay between these vulnerabilities in a comprehensive way is the key to designing effective and optimal interventional strategies. Our research and projects focus on six key areas such as security, skill-development, social and cultural environment, health and sanitation, climate change and disaster risks to incorporate all the United Nation’s SDGs. By utilising science and technology for designing innovative methods and tools, enabling community’s active and inclusive participation in implementing technological solutions, the Chair strives to deliver effective interventional strategies towards strengthening gender equality and women’s empowerment."
The UNESCO Chair and the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality promote international, inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities and collaborative work. The UNESCO Chair and CWEGE support India’s progress towards achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“Universities such as Amrita have a guiding and strategic role to play. This UNESCO Chair will be at the crossroads of research and action, with the ambition to develop toolkits focusing on vital areas and better mapping of vulnerabilities.”
“This is certainly the first-ever UNESCO chair in this discipline. What is truly remarkable is the strategy, where it is proposed to map out vulnerabilities of women and girls at various levels and from different perspectives, and through research, study, training, and an exchange of best practices, to find the best possible solutions, replicable by others. My thanks to Amrita for the inspired idea and for the beautiful project. I am confident that through this chair, which is Amma’s and UNESCO’s gift, Amrita will make sure that both the ceiling and the floor for women will be raised.”
