By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, FEB 23: The maiden Tibetan Women’s Empowerment Conference concluded today with Tibetan Prime Minister Dr. Lobsang Sangay urging the Tibetan women to take more active part in activities and programs laid out for them.
“Since it was the first of its kind, we were expecting much more enthusiasm. However, we had to extend the registration window due to less number of participants. So I urge all of you to take these opportunities and use the platforms created for you,” said the Prime Minister.
As per the announcement made on the inaugural day, March 12 would be observed as Tibetan Women’s Day. Today, the PM said that they have requested His Holiness the Dalai Lama to grace the event and it is likely that he would be present at the event.
The participants earlier in the day had an audience with His Holiness at Gaden Phodrang. The Dalai Lama in the hour-long meeting told the participants that due to the inherent compassionate nature of women, they would make more compassionate leaders.
Emphasizing on Tibetan women’s emotional and intellectual capacity in contributing for a better and peaceful world through compassionate leadership, he said, “Time has come for Tibetan Women who have both the potential and the opportunity to express their leadership prowess to contribute to global peace and harmony.”
Pema Youdon, Shillong Tibetan Settlement Officer (TSO) and one of the few women TSOs said, “The conference was well-rounded. However, I felt that for women to be completely empowered we need the help to help ourselves and also need help from male counterpart as well.”
Organized by the Women’s Empowerment Desk of Department of Home, the conference (Feb 21-23) was participated by over 340 participants including students from various institutions. A Political Science student from MSU Baroda, Yeshi Dawa ,said that he has always maintained that the mother of the next Dalai Lama is evidently growing right now.
“So I feel that how the future ‘Gyalyum’ turns out depends on how we implement the empowerment policies today,” the student said.
