CHANDIGARH:2020:The Centre for Human Rights and Duties, Panjab University, Chandigarh hosted a webinar on the topic “Human Rights, Gender Equality and Sustainable Development: Interventions Made by AMMACHI’s LAB”. The webinar was led by Dr. Bhavani Rao R. who serves as the UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri Kerala) which is India’s first-ever Chair on Women Empowerment and Gender Equality and is the Director of AMMACHI Labs, Amrita Multi Modal Applications Using Computer & Human Interaction Labs, at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. Under the UNESCO Chair, Bhavani Rao heads an academic Center dedicated to participatory action research, education and implementation that focuses on the mapping of vulnerabilities of women in underserved communities.
Dr. Rao stated that the overall aim at AMMACHI labs, Amrita University was a merger of technology and social sciences particularly using technology for skill development and social change. The core focus of AMMACHI labs was to find technological solutions for under-served communities keeping empathy and compassion as the underlying factor for achieving sustainable development.
Dr. Rao apprised the audience that in their quest for Promoting Women’s Empowerment over 200 women in villages across 16 States of India were trained to build and maintain their own toilets through our Computerized Vocational Education Training based “Rural Toilet Builder” course. They were also empowered to bring about behavior change in their villages through a Life Enrichment Education course designed around sanitation and women’s health and safety.
She also shared that In collaboration with Amrita SeRVe, another flagship programme of Amrita University, they are reaching out to 101 villages across India which were provided with sustainable development services including vocational training, life skills, health and welfare services, organic farming, drinking water & sanitation infrastructure, children & adult education, and women’s empowerment activities.
The Chairperson, Dr.Namita Gupta of the Centre for Human Rights informed that the objective of the webinar was to acquaint the audience particularly students with the working of AMMACHI Labs (Amrita Multi-Modal Applications and Human-Computer Interaction) and CWEGE (Center for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality) of Amrita University, Kerala and the interventions used by them for promotion of human rights, gender equality and sustainable development through action research and providing technological solutions to social problems. The major takeaway for the audience was the importance of action research and technology in reaching out to vulnerable groups, particularly women.
The talk was well attended by faculty, students and research scholars of the Centre for Human Rights and Duties as well as other allied departments from faculty of arts including ISSER, Social Work and Women Studies.