How A Unique Initiative Will Empower 5 Mn Women in Bihar with Education & Opportunities
School of Hope and Empowerment (S.H.E.) is an impact communication initiative by Tata Communications and The Better India. As a digital medium, S.H.E. is working towards creating inspiration among girls aged 14 to 25 years in Bihar, through a series of inspirational real-life stories of self-made women from the state. By creating a digital representation for these young women, S.H.E. will forge a way for their successful futures.
This initiative is implemented in partnership with TATA Communications.
Kalawati Kumari, a 29-year-old Political Science graduate from Simdega College drew inspiration from project S.H.E.’s six-part series featuring the true story of a rural woman entrepreneur, Hasrat Bano, who overcame odds and established successful businesses.
After completing educational modules as part of the project, Kalawati pitched the idea of starting a flour mill for which she was awarded a grant of Rs 50,000. This was possible because of the power of increasing digital connectivity and how initiatives like project S.H.E. (School of Hope and Empowerment) are designing innovative ways to combine it with positive storytelling, on-ground partnerships and micro-communities of support to empower women from hard-to-reach geographies
Launched at the 2021 UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, the first phase of the project reached a million women who drew their inspiration from the web series and entrepreneurship education modules, released on social media platforms, via IVR and through messaging platforms.
This initiative is now ready to launch in Bihar with the ambition to:
· Inspire 5 Million young girls — aged 14 to 25, from low-income, and poor backgrounds in peri-urban areas of Bihar by creating and promoting multiple video series, inspired by true stories of relatable women achievers.
· Equip the women who have engaged with the inspirational series with digital representation, relevant knowledge and skill-sets through educational content, information sessions and community engagement. This will include sharing information on various available scholarships with the beneficiaries.
· Recognise women who have successfully consumed all modules of the educational content, with a digital learning certificate and a community engagement certificate.
· Inform project participants by connecting them to ecosystems along with mentoring support for career opportunities. To ensure sustenance of the engagement and to enable conversations and self-initiated mentorships, we will create micro-communities for each of the five interest groups, and will connect the participants to the communities via Facebook and WhatsApp. These communities will enable access to opportunities for young women, including but not restricted to; niche job openings, educational content, expert opinion articles/videos, and fellowship opportunities.
· Support selected project participants through extended hand-holding in the initial stages of their career paths. This will include creating an enabling environment which inspires and motivates girls to attend regular school.
How to be a part of the initiative:
· Those keen on registering for this programme can do so by clicking here.
· (The form requires you to fill out basic information, including name, age, place of residence and area of interest)
· Once registered, The Better India will contact you and assign you to a micro-community based on your area of interest.
Stay tuned to this page to stay updated and watch videos of self-made women from Bihar. Women who have fought all odds; socioeconomic barriers, family and sometimes their own insecurities to emerge as winners.
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