Bhubaneswar: The Kenyan capital of Nairobi is hosting a three-day summit to mark 25 years since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
In the summit, 179 governments adopted a landmark programme of action which set out to empower women and girls for their sake, and for the benefit of their families, communities and nations.
This year the ICPD25 is co-convened by the Kenya and Denmark governments and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at Nairobi. The high-level conference is to mobilise the political will and financial commitments needed to finally and fully implement the ICPD ‘Programme of Action’.
The Summit aims to bring everyone together: Heads of state, ministers, parliamentarians, thought-leaders, technical experts, civil society organisations, grassroots organisations, young people, business and community leaders, faith-based organisations, indigenous peoples, international financial institutions, people with disabilities, academicians and many more.
In the summit, 19-year-old Odia girl Deepanjali Swain, a peer leader from Bhubaneswar, is representing her state and the country. Though she is from a city-based slum under the Bhubaneswar Town Centre District or Smart District, her leadership abilities have helped her reach greater heights.
Deepanjali is currently training to be an OT technician under para-medical disciplines for operation theatre professionals.
Meanwhile, in the summit an Africa-Asia Textile art exhibition titled ‘The Fabric of Being’ was also organised.
Fashion designer Pankaja Sethi of Odisha had presented her work, ‘The Flaming Womb’. Pankaja’s textile artwork examines the gap between the symbolic and power attributes of womanhood and the role and conditions of women as dictated by a patriarchal society.
