Celebrating role of grassroots women leaders during pandemic

Women who courageously supported their communities across India during the Covid-19 pandemic feature in a new book ‘The First Responders: Women Who Led India Through The Pandemic’ released at Raisina Dialogue 2022 on Wednesday.

The book, published by Reliance Foundation and Observer Research Foundation, celebrates the leading role of women in helping combat the challenges of the pandemic at the grassroots and shows the importance of supporting leadership capacity building for women. The book lists heroic stories gathered from across India in partnership with a range of partner organisations. The launch of the book at the event with international delegates from over 100 countries was followed by a panel discussion on the subject, ‘The First Responder: Women Leadership and the SDGs’.

The speakers included Smriti Irani, Minister for Women and Child Development; Kwati Candith, Deputy Minister, International Relations and Co-operation, South Africa; Waseqa Ayesha Khan, Member of Parliament, Bangladesh; Vanita Sharma, Advisor, Strategic Initiatives, Reliance Foundation; and Shombi Sharp, Resident Coordinator, India, United Nations.

The book, ‘The First Responders’, spotlights the work of 25 Indian women across governance, education and skilling, health and nutrition and entrepreneurship and livelihoods, and highlights their individual journeys to leadership over several years and how they were able to utilise those skills during the pandemic.

Each of the women featured rose up to the challenge of steering their communities forward at a time when physical contact was risky and the pandemic posed uncertainty on the way ahead, Reliance Foundation said in a statement.

From a water conservation advocate in Uttarakhand to a health worker in Madhya Pradesh and from a football coach in Manipur to a police officer in Telangana, the women leaders featured in the book are from varied walks of life.

These women do not know each other, but their stories of leadership have key similarities that represent the untold stories of many such women across the country who stepped forward to help during this time.

Their stories also illustrate the importance of creating a conducive environment to nurture a woman’s intrinsic ability to lead, promotion of sustainable livelihoods for women, promoting multi-level collaborations and communication, ways to reduce the burden on public healthcare system and recognising as well as ensuring a woman’s right to life with dignity.

The practices, methods and tools used by the ‘First Responders’ to steer their communities have learnings for policymakers and development practitioners, particularly regarding the importance of supporting capacity building for women leaders. The book exemplifies the outcomes envisaged in Goal 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals that calls upon the international community to ensure full and effective participation and equal opportunities for women.