KOZHIKODE:
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today announced the functional launch of The Gender Park campus in Kozhikode, noting that the Rs 200-crore endeavour will enable women and transgender individuals to become sustainable entrepreneurs.
“The Gender Park sets a model for not just the country, but the whole world,” the Chief Minister said, after declaring open a Gender Museum, Gender Library, Convention Centre and an amphitheatre that form the first phase of the pioneering project aimed at boosting gender equality in the subcontinent.
At the Gender Park campus in suburban Vellimadukunnu, he also laid the foundation of an International Women’s Trade and Research Centre (iWTC) that envisages a secure and sustained ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. He also unveiled a model of the multi-storey complex and a space for them to market products.
“The Gender Park should have happened long ago, but we should be happy we have realised it at least now,” Vijayan said at the Park, where a three-day International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE) by the state government concluded its second edition on Saturday evening.
“We had made moves for The Gender Park almost a decade ago,” he added, emphasising the need for an egalitarian society.
Minister for Health, Social Justice and Women and Child Development K K Shailaja, chairing the ceremony that adhered to the Covid-19 protocol, said the government will bring out a policy to promote social entrepreneurship among women and transgender individuals.
Also, the deliberations at ICGE-II are poised to make their way into a policy framework, which the Gender Park and UN Women will submit to the Kerala government as recommendations for social inclusiveness and sustainable social business. “We will collate the observations and opinions of the experts who addressed the three-day event,” she added, a day after the 16-session summit that featured 90 speakers from 20 countries. The hybrid conclave was organised by the state government’s Department of Women and Child Development in association with UN Women, a body by the United Nations.
Nishtha Satyam, Deputy Country Representative of UN Women (MCO – India, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka), hailed the opening of The Gender Park campus as a “historic step” towards the empowerment of women and transgender people. “We will go ahead to ensure that our association with the Kerala government brings out solid results in the years to come,” she added.
Other special addresses at the function were delivered by US Consul General (Chennai) Judith Ravin and Julie Ann Guivarra, Ambassador for Gender Equality, Australia.
The other speakers included legislators A Pradeepkumar and Purushan Kadalundy; Kozhikode Mayor Beena Philip; transgender activist Dr Akkai Padmashali and social worker Dr Mallika Sarabhai (Advisor, Gender Park).
The Gender Park CEO Dr P T M Sunish welcomed the gathering and Kerala State Planning Board Member Dr Mridul Eapen proposed thanks.
The upcoming iWTC will have ten sections. These include a women’s-only startup incubation centre, the world’s first of its kind. The other wings will be a business facilitator, space for rent and retail trade, a conference centre, performing arts centre, space for sustainable development, essential skillsets, women’s health and welfare centre, and residential facilities for the parents and children of the women workers at the Gender Park.
