International Day of Girl: Two Telangana students sent as envoys
HYDERABAD: In light of the #MeToo Campaign and several voices speaking for gender equality and women empowerment, 17 girls from across 10 States were selected to play the role of ambassadors and high commission officers of 17 countries to celebrate International Day of the Girl (IDG) in New Delhi on Thursday. Among the 17 girls selected were two bright students from Telangana, A Sai Sruthi and E Sravani from Siddhartha Institute of Technology and Gokaraju Ranjaraju Institute of Engineering respectively.
The 17 ‘Girl Changemakers’ as they are called, were chosen from 10 States namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Meghalaya, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Diplomatic missions that participated in this initiative included Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, EU, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
Assigned as the Ambassador to Sweden, Sai Sruthi (20) had been briefed and given training by Gautam Bhattacharyya, Minister Counsellor & Deputy Head of Mission, about her role as an ambassador for the day while E Sravani was assigned as Ambassador of Czech Republic.
All 17 girls chosen were flown to Delhi where they had to take diplomatic decisions and even hold the responsibilities of handling the ambassador’s Twitter handle for the day.
While taking decisions related to health and gender equality, out of the 17 goals assigned, both girls chose poverty, the safety of women, gender equality, health, peace and justice for topics they wanted as areas to be improved. “This has been an enriching experience overall. I’m very thankful to the authorities for having given me the opportunity” says Sai Sruthi over the phone. “They even told me a few of the suggestions I had given will be implemented,” said Sravani.
Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India speaking on behalf of all the 17 Diplomatic Missions, said: “Girls Takeovers are a call for a social and political change to tear down the barriers that continue to hold girls back. Girls, boys, men and women all have an important role to play in building a society.
The empowerment of women and girls is critical in achieving Sustainable Development Goals, and diplomatic missions in Delhi are proud to participate to this year’s takeover.”
City police commemorate the day
On the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child, Hyderabad city Additional Police Commissioner Shikha Goel on Thursday presented meritorious certificates to 60 women police officers for their service. A programme ‘We Can’ was held at Vishveshwaraiah auditorium in Khairtabad, where 60 women police officers of Hyderabad City Police were awarded certificates of appreciation by the commissioner.