Nayi Chetna: A national campaign against gender based violence towards wellbeing of women and children

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global pandemic that affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime. Nutrition and gender-based violence are intricately interlinked. Poor nutrition can make individuals, particularly women and girls, more vulnerable to violence1, while experiences of violence can also lead to poor nutrition adversely affecting their overall health and well-being. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) programme by the Government of India recognizes violence against women and girls as a major hindrance towards achieving their individual and social development. The programme has been making concerted efforts towards creating institutional mechanisms and mobilizing communities for responding to issues of violence faced by women and girls. In this issue of PoshanWeekly, we are happy to share about “Nayi Chetna – Pahel Badlav ki”, a national campaign which is a first step towards eliminating gender-based discrimination and violence driven by DAY-NRLM with support from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and civil society partners. This campaign has been implemented by all state governments in India and actively executed at all levels including the state, district and blocks in the following ways: It engaged on building a common understanding and recognition of gender disadvantage and discrimination amongst community institutions, larger communities, public places, workplaces through awareness raising. The campaign worked towards bringing together all line departments of state governments and respective stakeholders to create a concerted effort in acknowledging, identifying and addressing issues of violence. Stakeholders were sensitized towards ensuring that those who have experienced such violence access rights, entitlements and quality services, question and shift norms and behaviours that sanction gender discrimination and take collective action to amplify voices of girls, women and gender-diverse individuals. With its inception on the 25th November 2022, international day for the elimination of violence against women, the Nayi Chetna campaign is envisaged to take place every year to work towards deepening the understanding of gender and generating relevance and ownership in all government departments and verticals with a multi-sectoral approach. All the relevant materials related to the Nayi Chetna campaign are available in the resources. We must remember that to advance nutrition outcomes for women and children, it is of utmost importance to address gender-based violence.