Location: Fairfield by Marriot , Address: New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal
Did you know? 4.6 lakh girls in India were missing annually at birth between 2013 and 2016, as a result of gender biased sex selection (according to Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2020)
On 10-11th May, we had a regional consultation about ‘Addressing Son Preference and Daughter Unwantedness’, in collaboration with‘Girls Count Coalition’ and ‘Swechha India’, and supported by ‘UNFPA’. This 2 day consultation was held at Fairfield by Marriot in New Town, Kolkata. 30 community based organisations (CBOs) from Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal came together to develop a strategy paper to address the decline in number of girls at birth in the mentioned districts.
The meeting was an opportunity to exchange ideas, share good practices and jointly devise programs for the mentioned topics including ‘Gender Biased Selection (GBSS) and women’s sexual and reproductive rights. The 2 days consisted of several speeches and presentations from the different organisations about topics such as government initiatives to address skewed sex ratios, discriminatory social norms, enhancing the value of women and girls through media engagement, experience sharing and more.
This consultation was extremely productive and helpful to unite our ideas and form a plan of action against son preference and daughter unwantedness in India. Many thanks to everyone who attended!
