THE Indian Consulate General in Vancouver celebrated International Women’s Day on March 15 in partnership with Simon Fraser University on the theme of India’s G20/W20 theme “Gender Inclusive Economic Growth” and discussed five priority areas: Grassroots Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Bridging the Gender Digital Divide, Education and Skill Development, and Climate Change.
About 80 people attended the event. They included a number of distinguished members from the Indian diaspora, the business community and the Consular Corps.
The inaugural session was addressed by Consul General Manish who highlighted India’s G20 agenda by supporting women’s digital and financial inclusion, making them equal stakeholders in the development, pushing for women’s leadership and investing in the collection of gender disaggregated data. He also gave a presentation on India’s W20 Engagement Group’s vision and mission, goals and activities, among other things. The Consul General in his keynote address highlighted the various initiatives of Government of India for women empowerment to effect meaningful society-wide transformation.
The inaugural session was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Sobhana Jaya-Mahadevan, Associate Vice President, External Relations, Simon Fraser University. The panelists included Dr. Joanne Curry, Vice President, External Relations, Simon Fraser University; Dr. Sujatha Ramdorai, Professor, University of British Columbia; Kerry Gibson, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, ZiphyCare; Sandeep Sidhu, CIO, IT Services, Emily Carr University of Art and Design; and Jessie Kaur Lehail, Found, Kaur Collective.
The panelists shared their experience and expertise connected to five priorities areas of W20 mentioned above. This was followed by a question-and-answer session.
The Consul General felicitated the panelists and presented each one of them with a copy of the book “Modi@20 Dreams meet Delivery”.
An Exhibition on Prominent Women of India told the stories of the unique lives of a cross-section of extraordinary women from different walks of life in India.
