PATNA: It’s about time that the young citizens of India and planet earth wake up, smell the coffee, and become advocates for gender equality. This was the crux of the message delivered by a nun who is also a lawyer and advocate for human rights.

Sister Cynthia CJ, who has been doing advocacy at United Nations since 2017, called upon students of St Xavier’s College of Management and Technology (SXCMT), Patna, to join the global campaign for generation equality.

Delivering a talk on the relevance of the International Women’s Day, Sr Cynthia said the UN had launched the global campaign ‘Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future’ to mark the 25^th year of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995.

Developed at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing—known as the largest-ever gathering of gender equality advocates—the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted by 189 governments committed to taking strategic and bold action in 12 critical areas of concern, she said.

Stating that India was among the signatories to Beijing Declaration, she said the 12 critical areas identified by the participants were poverty, education and training, health, violence, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment and the girl child.

“The generation equality campaign demands equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to sexual harassment and all forms of violence against women and girls, health-care services that respond to their needs, and their equal participation in political life and decision-making in all areas of life,” she added.

Sr Cynthia, who has also practised law in the Buxar district court and the Patna High Court, sought student’s feedback on various issues related to women. The findings would be compiled during the UN General Assembly session in September this year, she said.

Earlier, Sr Cynthia was introduced to the gathering by Aditya Sagar, a first year media student in the Department of Mass Communication. Principal Fr T Nishaant SJ,  vice-principal Fr Martin Poras SJ and members of faculty were present on the occasion.

based on Press release

  citizen journalism, Gender, Jesuit education, St. Xavier’s College Patna