Here Is How A Network Of Single Women In Rural India Is Working For A Sustainable Tomorrow

In many parts of India, especially in rural areas, widowed, divorced, abandoned and unmarried women are outcasted, deprived of basic rights and discriminated against based on their gender and marital status. To help secure their right to live with dignity and justice, a group of women in Rajasthan started a single women's network ‘Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan' (ENSS) in 1999.

The network has more than one lakh members and is operating in 10 states across India including Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Himachal Pradesh. Cultivating leadership qualities among rural single women is one of the main goals of ENSS.

Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan has a keen focus on sustainability as more than half of its members are farmers or farm workers who are heavily dependent on the climate. Hence members of Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan are raising awareness about organic farming. They are not only telling people about the harmful impacts of urea and other chemical fertilisers on the environment and humans but are also making organic fertilisers from animal waste, mud and worms and giving that to the farmers in their villages.

Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan has been able to bring about a change in the community by conducting exercises like meetings, group discussions in their respective villages, and using folk songs and art to raise awareness about sustainability among people.

Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan focuses on uplifting women from inequalities in rural areas through sensitization and collective action. The entire movement shows how gender equality and empowerment is important for combating climate change.