1611
/ 2
Min Read
Consul General of Israel to South India (Bengaluru), Her Excellency, Dana Kursh inaugurated a new collaborative, research project ‘Women in Sustaining the Environment’ (WISE) at the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
The project, which will be funded by the Consulate of Israel to South India (Bengaluru), will be spearheaded by the Tel Aviv University and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. It aims at promoting women’s empowerment and sustainable water governance by supporting women’s participation in the choice, maintenance and management of natural resources along with other sustainable development practices. The WISE Project is the latest innovation in the goal of women’s empowerment of the Centre for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality (CWEGE) at Amrita.
Dana Kursh said, “It is such an honour to be speaking at the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and addressing so many wise women who are acquiring and sharing knowledge constantly endeavouring to make this world a better place. It is a real privilege to brainstorm together and to be a part of this wonderful forum where intellectuals have gathered to add to the profundity of this world specifically with regards to women’s empowerment.”
Amrita will be working with the UNESCO Chair on Technology, Internationalization, and Education at Tel Aviv University to pilot this program over the next few months in flood-affected regions of Kerala.
Bhavani Rao, UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, said, “The pilot phase will identify communities and select potential women Sustainable Development Officers and train them to maintain, monitor and replenish any one natural resource, using latest technologies. For example, if we talk about water, women will monitor water levels in their community, water usage as well as its quality. They will work with the government to build water harvesting systems; reduce water pollution at its source and at their homes and build awareness on water management within the community. These women would learn to perform water audits for their community and would be trained in using Geoprocessing (GIS) tools and other auditing methods as well as gain a comprehensive understanding of the water needs and sources for their communities. The research co-designed through this partnership will further the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) as well.”
