By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, December 28: The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA), the largest women’s association of Tibetan Diaspora on Sunday concluded its ‘6th Tibetan Women’s Advanced Leadership Training’ with a panel discussion at the Indian Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
Titled, ‘Beijing plus 20: Women’s Leadership Status in Asia’, the key speakers at the event were Mani Shankar Aiyar, Member of Parliament and Author, Dr. Ananya Vajpeyi, Historian and Professor, Lynda Lepcha, Author and Trainer, and Dr. Renuka Singh, Author and Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Moderated by Dhardon Sharling, Member of Tibetan Parliament in exile, the two-hour discussion mapped the status of women’s leadership in Asia in a Beijing-plus-20 scenario. “Twenty years on from the Beijing Conference on women, we reflected on the Beijing Platform for Action, its successes and setbacks, in theory and in practice, from the global to the local,” said Dhardon Sharling.
The training at the Gandhi Peace Foundation also included a seven day of morning yoga, a site visit to the exhibition on ‘Tibetan self immolations’ titled ‘Burning Against the Dying of Light’, a day-long outdoor project documenting a humanitarian project undertaken by the participants and a day of lobbying Indian member of the Parliament.
“On December 26, our trainees met and greeted sixteen members of parliamentarians from both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha as a part of the lobbying practice during the training said Dolma Yangchen, President of TWA.
Dhardon said that she hopes the discussion will affirm women’s active participation in all spheres of life through equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making.
The seven-day training that included building personal leadership and professional leadership, communication skills, documentary filmmaking and Citizen Journalism, was participated by 26 participants from different professional backgrounds.
“The training was tough and also stressful at times. Our schedule begins at 7 am in the morning and ends at 12 midnight. But we ended up learning a great deal. It was very effective and a lifetime experience for me.” Said Sonam Dolma, a participant from Nepal.
“TWA’s training truly lives up to its goal of empowering an entire generation of Tibetan female leaders.” said Tenzin Choezom participant from London.
The training also resulted in production of four films documenting a humanitarian project carried out by each group during the training. “This is a direct journalistic venture. The entire cluster of four films will be showcased at various international platforms and also will be sent to various human rights film festivals,” said Dolma Yangchen, President of TWA.
