COVID 19 warriors
COVID 19 warriors – Girls take on the fight
Location: India (Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand)
SAHAYOG employs a human rights-based approach to increase awareness of adolescent girls on gender-based discrimination and violence, sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and their rights to public health and education entitlements. SAHAYOG has built and nurtured leadership skills in 5000 adolescent girls. Through our programs, we have empowered girls by increasing their mobility and access to education, met the demand for menstrual hygiene and management services in their schools, and have stopped early & forced marriages. SAHAYOG also enables adolescent girls to monitor the implementation of SRHR services and safe disposal mechanisms and to use monitoring data to advocate they with government officials service providers and elected representatives. SAHAYOG has plans for expanding our reporting capacity for violence against women and girls through legal/ paralegal outreach in government schools. Currently, SAHAYOG is working in 2 states (8 districts in Uttar Pradesh and 1 district in Uttarakhand) with more than 10,000 girls and 2,000 boys from marginalized communities. Under the COVID 19 warrior’s initiative – Girls take on the fight by:
Monitoring relief measures announced by the Union and State government and by registering cases of denial, or of being left out using government toll-free numbers.
Identifying the most vulnerable and marginalized who do not have required documentation which prevents them from availing the relief measures. These families are then connected to civil society organizations that are working round the clock to provide rations and essential drugs to the needy.
Making cloth masks and providing them to poor/ vulnerable families free of cost.
Communicating prevention strategies to fight COVID-19 through spreading awareness among their community on physical distancing, washing hands with soap several times a day, and staying at home.
Being vigilant about cases of domestic violence and violence against children and reporting them to the child and women helplines.
Support
We need to equip the girls we work for with smartphones and internet connectivity. For this, we require smartphones for at least 2,500 leaders worth Rupees 2,000 each (26.2 US Dollars). The overall cost will be $6,555.02 USD.
Equipping the girls under our programs with cellphones and internet connectivity gives them access to our training programs and information relating to COVID 19. They can stay connected with each other, share new ideas, videos, learning, etc. They can register laborers on the labor ministry portal; register people in need of social security in the relevant schemes, thus facilitating their access to relief and other benefits. They can also gather valuable information on the situation on the ground by filling in data collection forms that SAHAYOG has designed thereby playing the vital role of a community researcher. And finally, once the lockdown lifts, they can help with enrolling girls back in schools, identify and prevent early & force marriage and contribute to improving a girl's chances of a better life.
Other Needs: Space for online meetings (e.g. GoToMeeting)
See more:
https://www.facebook.com/sahayoglucknow
Instagram: sahayoglko
For more information contact covid19@unmgcy.org