Indian youth lead positive change; take action on WASH and set sights on gender equality

Mumbai, October 7, 2016: The second Global Citizen India Action Journey has motivated over 3 lakh Indian youth to take action to encourage their leaders and their peers to improve Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) issues in India. Over 750,000 actions were taken to exert positive pressure on government, corporate, charity and faith leaders to break taboos and push the needle on sanitation for all.

In its first year, the Global Citizen movement in India is concentrating on three major issues for eradicating extreme poverty: WASH, Gender Equality and Quality Education. The next Action Journey, now live on www.globalcitizen.in, focuses on Gender Equality issues in India, setting out to redress the balance and ensure that women have equal opportunities to those of men. Those who earn 24 points by taking a range of actions will be eligible for the third free ticket draw for Global Citizen Festival India on 17 October.

The actions will focus on gender roles, women’s safety, gender budgeting, and women in the workplace; four issues central to the empowerment of women in India. Social structures, local traditions and religious norms create hurdles for women in Indian public life. Recent figures show the labour force participation rate for Indian women is falling[1], and furthermore, that the more educated a woman, the wider the pay gap she faces – that pay gap only grows even further as she advances in her career[2]. Women's safety in cities and rural communities is a critical issue for women’s participation in public life, but for this to change, Indian society must drive a perception change about the role a woman plays at home and at work. A UNICEF report published today highlights the stark reality of how far the global community has to go towards equality; it found that girls between 10 and 14 years old in South Asia spend nearly double the amount of time on household chores compared to boys.[3]

[1] International Labor Organization, Global Employment Trends 2013: Recovering from a Second Jobs Dip (2013)
[1] Paycheck India, Gender Pay Gap in the Formal Sector: 2006-2013 (2013)

Bhavya Bishnoi, Global Citizen India spokesperson, said: “We live in a world where half of the population does not have access to the same opportunities as the other half. Global Citizen India believes that gender empowerment is central to the progress of humanity and critical in expediting the process of development of our own country. In India, we have a unique set of challenges that stems from cultural, religious and social stereotypes that are a hurdle to development and the eradication of extreme poverty. Through our collective action we believe that we, the next generation of leaders, can make a difference.”

Partnering with Global Citizen India for the gender equality action journey is Oxfam India. CEO Nisha Agrawal said: “The widespread acceptance of gender stereotypes by society has serious implications for women and girls. These not only set unrealistic expectations from women, but in their most serious form result in discrimination and gender-based violence. Today, 4 out of 10 women in India suffer from violence. Through its programmes and outreach efforts, Oxfam India has been working for decades to end gender stereotypes that perpetuate violence against women and girls. Our ‘Why The Farq?’ campaign, which questioned social norms, was a significant step in this direction. By partnering with Global Citizen India, Oxfam India would like to reach out to the country’s youth so that they demand that the society values women and girls in the same way as men and boys.”

Farhan Akhtar, Global Citizen India Ambassador, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and Men Against Rape and Discrimination (MARD) founder, believes that men and boys have an important role to play in ending gender inequality: “Feminism is often disregarded by men as a ‘women’s thing’. That is not a constructive attitude. Men and boys need to stand up and realise the unconscious bias and the outright inequality that women in India face every day – whether they live in towns and cities or whether in rural areas – and commit to take action to redress the balance. When we believe that ‘Shuruaat Hoon Main’, we will begin to make that change for the better.”

Kareena Kapoor Khan said she is committed to being part of the solution for the gender roles imbalance: “India is a nation still grappling with serious issue of gender inequality where often, women’s capabilities are questioned. Empowering every Indian woman – rural or urban, child or adult, businesswoman or homemaker, will directly translate into supporting the nation for the greatness it has set out to achieve. At this special time in my life, I couldn’t be happier to be a part of the Global Citizen India movement in its efforts to address the issue of gender inequality in the country so that generations to come can benefit from a more equal society.”

[1] United Nations Children's Fund, Harnessing the Power of Data for Girls: Taking stock and looking ahead to 2030, UNICEF, New York, 2016

Arjun Kapoor said he’s become more aware of the issues since ‘Ki and Ka’ and is committed to being the start of the change: “I am very honoured to be associated with Global Citizen India and advocate for action that addresses the gender inequality, which is so deeply rooted in the cultural fabric of this country. The cause is particularly close to my heart and became even more palpable after my recent movie that highlighted serious gender stereotyping prevalent across all strata of society. My association with the Global Citizen India movement is not just limited to my character roles, I am pledging my commitment as an individual who believes every action – big or small creates a wave of change. Shuruaat hoon main. “

The inaugural Global Citizen Festival India will be held in Mumbai on 19 November 2016, and will be headlined by Coldplay, Jay Z, Aamir Khan, A.R. Rahman, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Arijit Singh, Dia Mirza, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, and Monali Thakur.

Eighty percent of the tickets to the festival will be given out to Global Citizens who earn them by taking action. For more information about the artists, schedules, and event, please visit www.globalcitizen.in and follow @glblctznIN on Twitter and Facebook, and on Instagram using #GlobalCitizenIndia.

The Global Citizen Festival India is being presented by Colors Viacom18 and powered by UPL. The festival, a collaboration between The Global Education and Leadership Foundation and Global Citizen, is being hosted in Mumbai by the Government of Maharashtra and event-produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd.