National Women's Parliament in Vijayawada from tomorrow

In a first-of-its-kind event bringing 'women empowerment' at the centre stage of debate and deliberations, a National Women's Parliament (NWP) will be held near Vijayawada tomorrow.
With the main theme of 'Empowering Women-Strengthening Democracy', the three-day conclave will be held at Pavitra Sangamam on the outskirts of Vijayawada in the capital region and will be attended, among others, by Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly is organising the event and the state government is hosting it with support of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Inter-Parliamentary Union, among others.
Though the conclave was supposed to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference, it has now been cancelled because of his preoccupation, Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao said on the eve of the conclave.

Dalai Lama, who arrived in the state today, will attend the inaugural session along with a host of leaders from India and abroad.
The vision of NWP is to enable and encourage social, political and economic empowerment of women in all strata of the society and one of its objectives is to generate new ideas, theories and ideologies for women empowerment, Rao said.

As many as 91 women parliamentarians, 401 legislators, 300 social and corporate sector women leaders from India and abroad are expected to attend the NWP, while over 10,000 "socially and politically sensitive" girl students will be networked with the leaders.

"The conclave will be a common platform for women from diverse backgrounds like politics, arts and culture, sports, education, industry, media, cinema, judiciary and social sector to share their knowledge and research in the area of women's social, economic and political empowerment," he said.
The NWP would facilitate interaction among women from all backgrounds and girl students to sensitise the society on issues like malnutrition, social security, sexual harassment, sanitation, oppression and other gender-based problems.
"One of the objectives of NWP is to make young girls realise their potential and make them aware of the canvas where they can leave their footprints. Our endeavour is to enhance the network between eminent women and girl students to enable them to take leadership roles," the Speaker added.

"The NWP will come out with the Amaravati Declaration on women empowerment at the end of the three-day deliberations," he added.
Governor E S L Narasimhan, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, singer Lata Mangeshkar, Gandhian Ela Bhatt, actresses Juhi Chawla and Manisha Koirala, tennis star Sania Mirza and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, among others, will attend the event.