Binalakshmi Nepram To Attend Largest Women’s Rights Forum in Brazil

Imphal & New Delhi, September 04, 2016 :  Manipur born, Ms Binalakshmi Nepram has been selected amongst few in world to attend the 13th International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development to be held in Brazil this week.

The forum is being convened by Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) from 8 to 11 September, 2016 in Costa do Sauípe in the State of Bahia, Brazil. AWID is an international membership organisation with thousands of individuals and institutional members in over 100 countries working towards gender equality worldwide. The AWID Forum is the largest on women’s rights in the world outside the United Nations and hosts 1,800-2,000 participants.

Ms Nepram will be attending the 13th international forum on women’s rights and development, “Feminist Futures: Building Collective Power for Rights and Justice”. Around 2,000 participants from a broad diversity of movements and sectors are expected to gather and to collectively strategize for feminist futures: from women’s rights and feminist movement to peace, economic justice, environmental, and human rights movements, among others. The goals of the 2016 forum include celebrating the gains of the past 20 years, analyzing the lessons learned and exploring strategies for mobilizing greater solidarity and collective power.

Ms Nepram is scheduled to speak on the theme of the current issue of women’s movement in Manipur and Northeast region of India, home to 272 beautiful indigenous communities belonging to 45 million people. She will highlight the extraordinary movement against weaponisation and militarisation of  which is happening and the movement to end gun and sexual violence in violence affected region of Northeast Region.

In a statement issued from Brazil on her selection for participation at the prestigious AWID Global Forum, Ms Nepram states, “We are living in times of violence not just in Manipur, Northeast India but in entire world. This has huge humanitarian consequences especially on the lives of women and children. Having grown up in Manipur, we have seen how violence destroys lives, communities, and our future. This must end. All efforts must be made to ensure feminist movements have in their core to end weaponisation of our lives and ensure that we have good governance to ensure our collective peace in our hearts, homes, communities and world”.

Recently Ms Nepram & her team successfully convened 2nd Northeast India Women Peace Congregation that brought together over several women leaders from all across 8 states of Northeast India.

At the AWID Global Forum, Ms Nepram also will be making a clarion call to address issues collectively including current demands of demilitarizing India’s Northeast region, repeal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958, ending sexual violence in conflict, protection of women human rights defenders in India’s Northeast, ending racial and gender discrimination and protection of indigenous people’s lands and rights.

In the words of Ms Nepram, “Efforts made by feminist movements will lead to deepening democracy, ensure prevalence of rule of law and address issues in an inclusive and just manner and advocate and fight for collective rights and justice which is missing in today’s world”

Ms Nepram will also be holding many bilateral and multi-lateral meetings with women leaders while in South America and is due to speak at a session on efforts made on women in the field of peace building and disarmament convened by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

PR sent from Control Arms Foundation of India/ Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network