Jammu:Underlining the role and importance of women in the changing world especially during the Covid pandemic, Prof Manoj K Dhar, the Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu today said that while covid has played havoc on all sections of the society and women have been its worst hit, there is urgent need to bring to light the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from COVID-19 pandemic. Prof Dhar was speaking at the inaugural function of a one day National Webinar titled “Gender and Evolution of Women in 21st Century” organised by the Department of Lifelong Learning, University of Jammu in collaboration with Coordination Cell, Higher Education Department, J&K. “A total of 54 per cent of the women who were working as global workforce lost their jobs by May 2020 out of the total 39 per cent of the women who were in the global workforce in pre-covid times, “said Prof Dhar while making a fervent plea for creating gender aware response to COVID-19 which requires greater support and social protection for women workers. Prof Manoj Dhar said that the International Women’s Day 2021 should be an inspiration to collectively work towards reversal of long-standing inequalities. These include the likes of unequal division of work at home, gender pay gap, and inescapable undervaluation of work done by women. During his speech, he shared the statistics of Global Gender Index report 2020 and provided the historical perspective of International Women’s day.
The technical speakers of the webinar were Prof. Neelofar Khan, founder Director of Women Studies, University of Kashmir, Prof. Priyamvada Srivastava, Associate Director, Centre for Women’s Studies, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Chattisgarh and Dr. Kavita Suri, Director, Department of Lifelong Learning, University of Jammu.
Prof. Neelofar in her presentation highlighted the different roles played by women and the problems faced by them in day-to-day life as well as in the professional environment. Prof. Priyamvada appreciated the role of women at the time of pandemic adding that some of the most efficient and successful responses to the COVID -19 pandemic were led by women. Dr. Kavita Suri discussed the theme and sensitized the students about gender. The students of MA Rural Development, Department of Lifelong Learning, University of Jammu actively participated in the discussion and shared their experiences with the speaker.
Dr. Kavita Suri, Director, Department of Lifelong Learning, University of Jammu and former member, Jammu and Kashmir State Commission for the protection of Women and Child Rights welcomed the participants. She said that International Women’s Day in 2021 should be seen as an opportunity to work towards gender parity. This year, International Women’s Day is being specially marked to highlight the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prof. Rashu Sharma, Member, Coordination Cell, who conducted the proceedings, introduced the theme of the seminar and the theme of International Women’s day 2021 which is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a CoVID-19 world”. She added that this year the It highlights how women can be equal partners in decision-making processes, especially those regarding policy making. Dr. Rewa Khajuria conducted the technical sessions.
Among others present in the webinar included faculty of the Department of Lifelong Learning Dr. Priyanka Sharma, Dr Vivek Sharma, Dr. Pallavi Sachdeva, Dr. Bharti Prabhakar, Dr. Sandeep Singh along with Dr Richa Gupta and Dr Muheet Ahmad Butt and other members of Coordination Cell of Higher Education Department.
Dr. Mohd. Zubair Sofi, Head, Department of Zoology, Govt. Degree College, Bijbehara and Member, Coordination Cell, Higher Education Department, J&K presented formal vote of thanks.