WECAN – State-Level Review cum Staff Training

Bangalore Rural Educational and Development Society (BREADS) Bangalore organised a two-day review cum training for the programme staff of its Women Empowerment through Collective Action and Networks (WECAN) programme on 12 and 13 July 2022 at Don Bosco Provincial House, Bangalore.

The training commenced with the lighting of the lamp followed by the inaugural address and official welcome by Fr. Rubin Mathew SDB (Executive Director, BREADS). Fr K C Sebastian SDB (Rector, Don Bosco Provincial House, Bangalore), and Fr. Deepu Mathew SDB (Asst. Director, BREADS) graced the occasion with their presence.

The initial day of training sessions were led by Ms Santa Sylvia, Ms Feba Nisha and Sr Jeena V Chacko from Mishpath Law Associates, Bangalore. They presented an overview of the fundamental rights of women as per the Constitution and the Indian Penal Code. They also discussed laws related to women and women’s empowerment. Topics such as the right to freedom of expression, religion, right to constitutional remedies, cultural and constitutional rights, right against exploitation, and right to equality, the Indian Penal Code, the Nirbhaya Act, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013, human trafficking and its root causes were discussed during the training. The second day focused on the Karnataka State Child Protection Policy as well as the property law for women. Activities were conducted by Ms Karen and Ms Jincy from Child Development and Family Impact Network (CDFIN), Bangalore.
The trainees, who are in reality, grassroot advocates and points of reference for the local women of Bidar, Chitradurga, Vijayanagara and Yadagir, brought up different scenarios from their experience for clarification from the trainers. This training was an empowering experience for the 21 women who included four WECAN coordinators, ASHA workers, anganwadi staff, Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members, and SHG members.
The WECAN district coordinators presented the programme activities over the past months which helped them review their work, discuss flaws in implementation and share best practices to help each other improve strategies to meet programmatic goals effectively.