Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment
After the 2004 tsunami devastated Kerala’s fishing industry, Amma immediately understood that alternate forms of livelihood were necessary. Women could become proficient in a trade not dependent on the sea. Amma’s vision is a society where there are no barriers to the social, emotional and economic empowerment of women, which further leads to gender equality.
“Men and women are of equal value, like two wings of a bird. For without the two in perfect harmony, humanity cannot progress.”
– Amma
Why it Matters
Women comprise more than half of the world’s population.
Women are exponentially more vulnerable to discrimination, violence, climate change, food insecurity, illness, economic disadvantages, and political underrepresentation. Attaining gender equality is the only way to ensure sustainable communities moving forward.
Our Work
Women’s Self-Help Groups
250,000 women in 15,000 SHGs have become self-reliant
UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Education, research, and implementation for gender equality and women’s empowerment
Lifetime Pensions
Providing lifelong pensions for 100,000 widows, individuals with disabilities, and impoverished women
Police Force Gender Sensitivity Training
Training India’s largest police force in gender equality and mental wellbeing
Community Sanitation
Addressing the needs of sanitation in India
Skills Acquisition
Vocational training solutions for individual and community empowerment
Our Impact
100,000
Lifetime pensions for widows and poor women
200,000
Micro-financed women
60,000
Women trained in skill development
15,000
Self-help groups of women in India
Our Partners
We collaborate with leading humanitarian and environmental institutions worldwide.
Our Voices
I’m not embarrassed anymore, because I can sign my name on any documents. My children can see me signing my name, and this will make them feel encouraged about their lives.
Kanti Devi
A woman from Ratanpur who was taught to write at age 45
I feel so accomplished to have learned all these skills through the computer. We women are quick learners.
Renuka
A middle-aged woman from Gupatapada, Odisha
We have started a chapatti-making unit with money loaned from the self-help group. You can see our chapattis in many shops in the area now!
Sreeja
President of the Haripad group
Contribute to our global and local actions
What is truly remarkable is the strategy, where it is proposed to map out vulnerabilities of women and girls at various levels and from different perspectives, and through research, study, training, and an exchange of best practices, to find the best possible solutions, replicable by others. I am confident that Amrita University will make sure that both the ceiling and the floor for women will be raised.
– Dr. Ruchira Kamboj
Former Ambassador of India to UNESCO