Email introducing FOGSI Theme 2019
We for Stree: Safer Stronger Smarter to all FOGSIans

Dear FOGSIans,

My sincere thanks to every one of you for electing me as President of FOGSI!

FOGSI has been at the forefront of womens’ healthcare in India for almost a century. FOGSI is today the largest and foremost body that champions the cause of womens’ reproductive healthcare and rights in this country. It is an invited body on government panels and committees related to womens’ healthcare.

FOGSI has long been the custodian of women’s health and hygiene. But now, it is time that we take on the responsibility of going beyond healthcare and supporting women to achieve much more. Based on this, the FOGSI theme for the year 2019 is “We for Stree – Safer, Stronger, Smarter”.

The “We for Stree” campaign is targeted at women from all walks of life; be it women entrepreneurs to rural homemakers or aspiring young women, students and our girl child. At FOGSI, we wish to support women from various backgrounds by helping them to become safer, stronger and smarter.

FOGSI also believes it is the responsibility of every citizen, organisation and corporate today to help make each woman safer, stronger and smarter and we intend to do so by collaborating with companies’ small and big to achieve our goal.

Our campaign activities will be structured as follows:

Safer

More than 300 million women and girls in India do not have access to safe health and menstrual hygiene products, endangering their health, curtailing their education and putting their livelihoods at risk. Women groups will be imparted education via awareness camps to help keep them safe from diseases and safe from emergencies.

Our aim is to reduce illnesses related to infections in women and girls, training and habit formation to use correct products as preventable healthcare measures and eventually aim to reduce the chances of absenteeism from school and work with improved health. Once they are educated on the need for healthy living, we aim to teach them on how to be safe at home and their workplace, how to handle emergencies in their natural environment or while on the road, all to make them independent and tackle any hazard.

Stronger

Nutrition and fitness are vital if we have to focus on encouraging more women to explore different professions which they have traditionally stayed away from. Nutrient-rich foods provide energy for women’s busy lives and help to reduce the risk of disease. Women also have special nutrient needs and during each stage of a woman’s life, these needs change. It is important to educate women on how to fulfil the nutritional requirements not only for themselves, but also to help provide balanced and nutrient dense meals for their children and families.

Physical activity is an important part of a women’s health. Regular activity helps with weight control, muscle strength and stress management. Hence, we aim to impart knowledge via activities and camps on the importance of fitness and nutrition by collaborating with stalwarts from the sports industry to value the women of our nation as Vitamin Stree.

Smarter

Empowerment is giving someone the ability to “control their life and claim their rights”.  While there are many different approaches to empowerment, a common thread at the core of it all is financial independence. It gives women the credibility to participate in decision making for themselves and their families. When women earn for themselves, they are immediately more in control of their lives and also reinvest back into their families.

We wish to organise practical skill enhancement sessions and job placements so that they have a smooth journey without being pressed under domestic issues and can better handle their financial situations alone at some point of their lives.

The second important aspect to make women smarter is through wealth creation. Women need to realise that there is a value attached to their earnings which should be protected. They must be aware of the options available for making investments to create the real wealth. For this, training women on investment opportunities and different campaigns will run for the whole year by collaborating with corporates to help women gain independence and smartness in its true sense.

Through the We for Stree Campaign, the development of women will be the single most important factor when it comes to bringing about and sustaining long term social change. All the above listed initiatives focusing on dissemination of knowledge and activity based skill enhancement sessions will be executed in partnership with various organizations at local, regional and national levels to help women play their role in economic, social and political areas as a result of being safer, stronger and smarter.

We would like to encourage every single one of you to contribute to the social initiatives this year and to write to us about your activities. We will highlight as many as possible during the course of the year through the print and email newsletters. Please feel free to get in touch with us at [email protected]for any queries or clarifications regarding any of the FOGSI activities throughout this year.

 

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Dr Nandita Palshetkar

President, FOGSI.