UIA presses for ‘women’s safety’, ‘women’s workforce participation’ ‘economic empowerment’ and more…

United Indian Associations Inc.’s (UIA) Women’s Steering Committee held its annual celebration of International Women’s Day on 17th March 2018 at Haveli Function Centre Blacktown.

International Women’s Day celebrated to acknowledge the progress we have made so far and stop and contemplate on the task still ahead of us.

This year’s IWD theme is #PressforProgress.

Sumati Advani, Chair of the Women’s Steering Committee said, “For real progress to be made much needs to be done in the key areas of ‘Women’s Safety’, ‘Women’s Workforce Participation’ and ‘Economic Empowerment’, government led projects that specifically and directly benefit women and ‘Increased Female Political Representation’. We need to create an environment within which women can progress and obtain gender justice. For a country to progress, it is essential that we empower both men and women and help them reach their full potential. It is very important that we all work actively to address the several issues women continue to face today and issues that hold us back. Equipping women with best opportunities which could break old barriers is the best way for us to realise our potential.”

The dress theme of black and white was the team’s way of bringing attention to the worldwide #MeToo and #TimesUp movements which highlight the need for gender justice. Key speakers on the day included Jodi McKay, Member for Strathfield, Julia Finn, Member for Granville, Akshay Raj of Project White Rakhi, Councillor Susai Benjamin who represented Mayor for Blacktown, Aisha Amjad who represented Michelle Rowland, Federal MP for Greenway.

Keynote speaker Nim Gholkar, Author and Success Coach, inspired attendees with a motivational talk. One of the many key tips she provided was to welcome constructive criticism, not to take it personally and to focus on the content and use the information provided to improve.

Ashritha Balaji and Viji Virasamy from Sydney Tamil Manram shared their life experiences and inspired women to keep motivated. Dr Nagamma Prakash and Dr Anju Aggarwal provided important women’s health information on Osteoporis and Cervical Cancer.

UIA President John Kennedy said: “UIA rejects all forms of violence and requested the women to come out of their shell and reach out to people in need.

This year UIA raised valuable funds for Project White Rakhi – which is working actively at the university level to address sexual harassment issues. We would like to thank Pritika Manocha of Ethniq Store, Raji Bala of Vichitrakala Sarees, Nanki Giananey and Haveli Function Centre for their support.”

The current members of UIA Steering Committee are: Sumati Advani (Chair), Shalini Ponnaiya, Dr Nagamma Prakash, Dr Anju Aggarwal, Sangeetha Eswarappa, Simran Suryavanshi and Aboorva Sundar.