Empowering Vulnerable Women

Pledge Foundation empowers vulnerable women in India with a focus on menstrual health and hygiene, nutrition of women and adolescent girls.

Women empowerment is a critical aspect to achieving gender equality, where both men and women have equal power and opportunities for education, healthcare, economic participation and personal development.

Global standing on gender equality by India remains low. India has taken some measures on human development. India’s ranking in the Global Gender Gap Report, commissioned by the World Economic Forum, declined from 108th in 2018 to 112th in 2020.

Starting 1947 when India became a sovereign state, it’s journey on women empowerment and gender equality started. While visible gains have been made through legal reforms, human development and grassroots initiatives, New Delhi still has a long way to go in many areas of women empowerment. A more concerted effort is needed to close the urban-rural divide and ensure that women in rural areas enjoy the same access to education, employment, healthcare and decision-making as their urban counterparts.

The hardest challenge will be to change attitudes, given that many barriers to women empowerment are attributed to patriarchal and patrilineal traditions that are deeply entrenched in many South Asian societies.