With an aim to prevent sex-determination and ensure that gender equality becomes a reality in all aspects of lives, a national level campaign against adverse sex ratio (ASR), called “Beti Zindabaad”, was organsied here in collaboration with the Odisha State unit of the Bharat Scouts and Guides and ActionAid India on Monday.
National Alliance of Women (NAWO) representative Pramila Mohapatra and Bharat Scouts and Guides State unit Chief Commissioner Kali Prasad Mishra graced the occasion.
“The sex ratio in Odisha is 978 for each 1,000 male and has increased from 972 per 1,000 males since the last census. The child sex ratio is 934 per 1,000 males and has decreased as compared to 979 in the last census. Hence, the goal of this campaign is to prevent sex-determination from happening in the districts. Towards that end, we are aiming to break the legitimacy the idea of sex-determination in urban and rural households,” said ActionAid programme officer Sudeshna Misra. “Beti Zindabaad” is our national campaign, brought to life with a vision to defeat patriarchy and reclaim social justice for women and girls,” said Misra.
“Between August 12 and October 2, we aim to generate a debate and deliberation on the importance of recognising women’s and girls’ rights as human rights in various panchayats in the country. This process of deliberation is aimed to culminate in institutionalisation of protecting women’s right for dignity at each of these panchayats, as their commitment to the idea of social justice for all,” added she.