PVR NEST and VFS Global Launch India’s First Cohort of Empowered Women
500 Women in 23 Urban Slum Communities Across 11 Centers in Delhi NCR to be trained in Housekeeping, Grooming & Wellness, and Fashion Technology Skills
Driving Economic Independence and Social Empowerment; led by 10 Community Leaders at MCD & PVR NEST’s retrofitted Centres; Garima Grih and Pink Centers
New Delhi: PVR NEST, the CSR trust of PVR INOX Limited, and VFS Global, the world’s leading outsourcing and technology service specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, have come together to spearhead a unique initiative that aims at making urban slum communities, especially women, resilient and empowered economically.
PVR NEST has established especially-designed learning spaces for women in at-risk urban slum communities. Known as Garima Grih and Pink Centers, these spaces offer opportunities to first-generation earners to become financially independent. Located at some of the most vulnerable city slum settlements around areas such as Kirti Nagar, R.K.Puram, and Vikaspuri, these centers have emerged as high-impact rehabilitative spaces where thousands of women have received skill-based training and become economically independent.
The force behind these trained women are ten community trainers who have been groomed by PVR NEST over the last year and have emerged as a force of change. Belonging to distressed backgrounds, these trainers have become our strongest agents of change and are now ready to train 500 women and help them create dynamic women cohorts to inspire more women in the urban slum communities. These 500 women by the end of the program will be equipped with livelihood, communication, and outreach skills to create cohorts of thousands of women ready to transform their lives.
In a broader commitment through this program, both PVR NEST and VFS Global aim to lift urban slum communities out of poverty and transform traditional gender roles while taking steps to contribute to the GDP.
The program was launched by Shri Abhishek Kumar Mishra (IAS), Deputy Commissioner KBZ, Municipal Corporation of Delhi in the presence of the program partners and community members. It was inspiring to see selected women community members of Delhi’s migrant population share their stories of change. These women, including a single mother, and others who struggled with abject poverty and strict gender roles, shared how they are now more empowered and respected members of their families and societies and have broken the intergenerational cycles of poverty.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Abhishek Kumar Mishra, Deputy Commissioner, KBZ, Municipal Corporation of Delhi said “As one of the largest municipal bodies in the world, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is committed to making our city world-class. We strive to offer unified and unique solutions to address our persistent and inherent challenges. We are happy to partner with PVR NEST and VFS Global for the Power of One Program, which aims to transform the lives of lacs of women through innovative sanitation and upliftment solutions.”
“Skilling is a fundamental part of Education, one of the three key focus areas of the VFS Global CSR strategy. Partnering with PVR NEST in this endeavour is a promising opportunity to extend our vision of empowering communities. This initiative has the multiplier potential of building an ecosystem by individuals and touching several lives,” said Yummi Talwar, Chief Operating Officer – South Asia, VFS Global.
Speaking on the program launch, Ms Deepa Menon, Sr. Vice President – CSR, PVR INOX Limited, said “Through its Pink Centers and Garima Grih initiative, PVR NEST has created safe spaces to mainstream and normalize sustainability issues like breastfeeding, menstrual health management, skilling, and safe sanitation while actioning the sustainable development goals. Economic empowerment of women, especially those belonging to the migrant urban slum communities is very close to our hearts. We are happy to partner with VFS Global to carve a new stage to this program as ‘Power of One’ as we aim to equip our trainers with the required skills to develop cohorts and generations of empowered women.”