Abstract
India with its diversity and rich heritage has an ugly side to it. If women have been worshipped as Goddess, there has been “sati” too. A silent witness, the oppressed women have come a long way. Though the situation has improved some facts (education rate, sexual harassment among others) are daunting. Many women have broken the barriers and we would still witness a lot more. To help women is to help society. And through this journey of women empowerment our nation will achieve its dream. The dream of reviving its past glory. To become the “golden peacock” again. Since 1911, the March 8th is celebrated around the world as International Women’s Day. Many groups around the world choose different themes each year relevant to global and local gender issues. The UN declared an International Women’s Day theme for 2013 and it is “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women”. And this is very crucial for India. Women’s economic empowerment is a prerequisite for sustainable development and pro-poor growth. Achieving women’s economic empowerment requires sound public policies, a holistic approach and long-term commitment and gender-specific perspectives must be integrated at the design stage of policy and programming. Women must have more equitable access to assets and services; infrastructure programmes should be designed to benefit the poor, both men and women, and employment opportunities must be improved while increasing recognition of women’s vast unpaid work. Innovative approaches and partnerships include increased dialogue among development actors, improved co-ordination amongst donors and support for women organising at the national and global level.