Jammu and Kashmir: KU's CWSR organises online talk, community awareness camp

Professor Diana Fox, Chair of the Anthropology Department at Bridgewater State University New York delivered the talk titled “The importance of collaborations and partnerships in building global women’s movements.”

Sharing in detail her experiences of having worked in collaboration with women activists in Nepal, Jamaica and Japan, Prof Fox explained how women activists from these regions have developed partnerships to build a sense of feminism based on shared goals while focusing on issues of gender equality.

“Social movements for gender equality in Jamaica, Japan and Nepal exhibit cultural specificity, yet are linked through the international saliency of human rights,” she said, referring to her field experiences and the outcome of some of her studies on gender issues.

Prof Fox also talked at length about women’s social movement activism for ecological sustainability, women’s human rights and transnational feminisms and activism.

Coordinator CWSR Prof Tabassum Firdous said the online talk by Prof Fox is part of a series of events being organised by the Centre as part of the Women’s Day Celebrations at Kashmir University.

Dr Shazia Malik from CWSR hosted the talk, which, apart from students and faculty members from CWSR, was attended by scores of noted scholars from different parts of the country and abroad.

Dr Roshan Ara, Research Associate CWSR presented a vote of thanks. Meanwhile, the CWSR Tuesday held a community awareness camp on personal health and hygiene at Tral, Dedarpora, Souinard and Aripal areas.

The day-long camp, inaugurated by Vice-Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmad on Monday, educated people in these areas about the importance of maintaining personal hygiene for their wellbeing and also to lessen the risk of outbreak of diseases.

During the awareness camp, organised as part of a project being undertaken by the CWSR under RUSA, Prof Firdous led a team of her staff members and students to acquaint the people, especially women, on how they can create a daily personal hygiene routine.

“The main objective of this campaign was to look into issues of sanitation and hygiene amongst tribal women of sub-district Tral and educate them about the personal hygiene practices,” she said.

Speaking to scores of women participants, Dr Suraiya, Medical Officer at KU, who accompanied the CWSR team, underscored the importance of daily intake of calcium, iron and folic acid.

The team members also distributed calcium, iron, folic acid and vitamin-D supplements in these areas.

They gave tips to people to help them to keep Covid-19 out of their homes, including wearing masks in public places, maintaining social distancing, washing hands frequently, ensuring cleanliness around their homes and disinfecting surfaces.

Dr Roshan Ara and Dr Shazia also spoke on the occasion.