She Makes Change

On International Women's Day, 8 March 2020, IRC ran the City Pier City Loop Den Haag with the goal of raising €2,500 to facilitate women's capacity building workshops in Ganjam, our partner district in Odisha, India. The target was smashed. We raised a total €2,845! This was targeted to facilitate three women's capacity building workshops in Odisha, India, where IRC's Watershed programme has been strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations to represent marginalised groups, particularly women, and advocate for sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services for all. In Odisha, Watershed has been facilitating training and workshops to empower women with the right knowledge and skills to stand up, speak out and make decisions for themselves, by themselves.

We want to THANK YOU to all who supported #SheMakesChange. Even small donations have a big impact. Your generosity is greatly appreciated! With special thanks to our sponsor, Ask Roger BV!

Unfortunately COVID-19 forced the women in Odisha to postpone the workshops that IRC raised funds for during the 'She Makes Change' campaign. Meanwhile, in December 2020 IRC won a grant from the Waterloo Foundation to engage women in hygiene promotion and soap production in Ganjam district. To maximise impact it was decided to merge this initiative with She Makes Change to create a new combined project called Pragati. In February 2021, IRC launched a call for proposals to run the workshops, which was won by the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD). In April 2021, India was hit by the second wave of Covid-19 so that Pragati couldn't start until August 2021. And then, at last in November 2021 the first workshop was held!

In total the Pragati project delivered six training activities:

1. Capacity building training programmes for the identified women on their rights as citizens, Governance structure, key duty bearers and their functioning: Held in two batches – November 2021 and March 2022
2. Knowledge camps for the women leaders (on hygiene and leadership skills): Held in March 2022
3. Skill development training programme on soap making: Two rounds organised – in March and April 2022
4. Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) capacity building programme (enabling environment for participation and decision making space for women in PRIs) – held in April 2022

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#SheMakesChange #EachforEqual #Women4WASH

Special thanks to our sponsor, Ask Roger!

Because achieving clean water and sanitation for all by 2030 will not be possible without the full and meaningful participation of women in political and social decision making.