Five fisherwomen from Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore and Ramanathapuram districts and Puducherry’s Karaikal received tabs from Soumya Swaminathan, chairperson of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) during the launch of the Women Connect Challenge programme.
The MSSRF’s Fish for All Research and Training Centre at Poompuhar is one of the seven winning proposals out of 260 applications to bag the “Women Connect Challenge” Award for 2023 given by Reliance Foundation and USAID, a release from the MSSRF said.
The Poompuhar Centre is developing a range of information, communication, technologies (ICT) to reduce the gender digital divide among women by enhancing knowledge on digital literacy, post-harvest management, mobility in enterprise development that further contributes to gender equality and women empowerment in fisheries sector. Over 6,000 fisherwomen from 100 coastal villages will benefit from the programme.
The Women Connect Challenge is a global call for solutions to improve women’s participation in everyday life by meaningfully changing the way women access and use technology. It is aimed at bridging the gender digital divide and increase women’s economic empowerment through challenging social and cultural perceptions, developing skills and opportunities, building confidence, growing community advocates, and designing creative women-centric technologies.
Dr. Soumya also delivered her valedictory address at the three-day international conference on Mighty Millets for Food, Nutrition, and Health Security at MSSRF in Chennai.
“Although the International Year of Millets is declared for 2023, it should not hinder us from continuing to champion for ‘Mighty Millets’. The benefits to our nutritional health are enormous, and we must therefore be persistent in our goal to advocate for all millets beyond 2023,” she added.
