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An agreement, worth $9 million, has been signed between the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the Norwegian government, which will enable the strengthening of women participation in the local governing bodies in India. UNIFEM executive director Ines Alberdi signed the agreement signed the deal with Ambassador of Norway to India Ann Ollestad.
"This signature is an initial step in working to promote women's participation in local governance and government in India," said Alberdi.
This deal will provide training for about 30,000 women from across 6 states of India for three years. The grant can be extended to a longer period," Alberdi added.
"The government-run National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) will be in-charge of training to the women. The training could in turn be conducted by the state institutes of rural development," said a UNIFEM South Asia official.
UNIFEM is already in talks with the ministry of women and child development (WCD), National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Planning Commission for endorsing and promoting the project.
“All the UN's millennium development goals (MDGs) are inter-linked with the third goal focusing on development of women and gender issues. Our proposal wants to relate this with the Indian government efforts," Alberdi stressed.
The women who will be provided training will be selected from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Karnataka as well as Kerala.
