The Hindu Business Line : African youth, women’s groups in outreach programme

Hyderabad, April 1 Youth and women’s groups from some African nations got a glimpse of the Indian experience in capacity building and empowerment, which could be of use back home.

A structure programme to sensitise these groups has been put together by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) between March 27 and April 8.

The Hyderabad-based, Nimsme (National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) on Monday organised a special two-day session as part of the India-Africa Forum Summit - Outreach Programme for Women. Thirty-five delegates of women’s groups, from 25 African countries, participated.

Addressing them, Mrs C. Rama Lakshmi, Commissioner, Sericulture, Government of Andhra Pradesh, outlined the important aspects of self help groups (SHGs) as a movement in India and developing countries. There were other attempts striving to narrow down the gap between the urban and rural populace with schemes like adult education and literacy propagation, she explained to the participants, according to a press release from Nimsme.

The groups are expected to explore India’s initiatives and see to what extent they would be relevant in the African context. The main objective of the programme is to envisage exposure to both the grass root as well as the hi-tech face of India.

Earlier Prof N.V.N.S. Dev, Registrar, Nimsme welcomed the delegates. Mrs Sunita Narang, coordinator of the summit, from MEA, described the background of the summit and its ideology for the development of women.

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