95 Charity With Alibaba Philanthropy!

On the UN International Day of Charity in memory of Mother Teresa, the Alibaba Foundation, a private charity fund established by Alibaba Group, jointly with UCWeb (‘UC’), a business within Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, hosted the Global Forum of the XIN Philanthropy Conference 2018. It is the first conference of this kind to be held out of China.

Launched in 2016, the biennial conference is an important representation of Alibaba Group’s commitment to encouraging inclusive, universal and sustainable growth for businesses and communities alike – all for the greater benefit of people. The Global Forum held in Delhi under the theme of ‘Love and Infinity’ advocates for a wide public awareness and actions on Education, Children Protection and Women Empowerment. With global impacts and local insights, Alibaba Group regards India as a major part of its philanthropy roadmap, while UC’s philanthropic mission in India is to bridge the Digital Divide as much as possible.

Hosted by Indian actress and Founder of Col. Shamsher Singh Foundation Gul Panag, the Global Forum of Xin Philanthropy Conference has become a prominent gathering of Indian renowned philanthropists and public welfare advocates.

Popular Hindi film superstar Kangana Ranaut has joined the roundtable to share personal experience being a frontline advocate of women equality; outstanding speakers within the global welfare and business domains includes Robin Raina, the Chairman, CEO & President of Ebix Inc. and founder of the Robin Raina Foundation, Abha Singh, lawyer, social activist and founder of Rann-Samar Foundation, etc.

The current status of women equality and education, innovative solutions with “Internet plus philanthropy” model are discussed, given the trend that internet has brought disruptive change to every aspect of our lives. According to Alibaba’s philosophy of philanthropy, technology can help to lower the barrier for each individual to participate in philanthropy and unleash “The Power of Small” to drive big change for public welfare.

“As the world’s first Internet company that integrates philanthropy into its core strategy,” stated on the occasion by Shunyan Zhu, President of UC, Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, “Alibaba’s philanthropy is without a border. That’s why we take the XIN Philanthropy Conference out of China for the first time, here in India. It shows the importance of India for Alibaba. This is also the first time our Internet plus Philanthropy Model has set its foot on the global path.”

Arunima Sen, Programme Analyst for Governance, UN Women India MCO, Meagan Fallone, CEO of Barefoot College International, Soha Moitra, Regional Director of Child Rights and You, Saurabh Jain, Vice President of Paytm and Head of Paytm Build for India Initiative and Alex Li, Managing Director of Alibaba Cloud India, joined Shunyan to officially kick off the 5th September Philanthropy Week during which different business units of Alibaba Group will have multiple philanthropic programs for public participation on a global scale.

A business within Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, UC has rooted in India for 7 years, amplifying Alibaba’s charitable efforts with the global breadth and Indian depth along with its business influence and brand reputation. With its new mission of Bigger We-Media, Bigger You, UC Browser, a leading content platform with 130 million monthly active users, will work with Indian content creators to build a responsible content ecosystem.

“We will use Internet technology to bridge the inequality gap, and eliminate poverty with knowledge and information,” said Mr. Shunyan Zhu. 

In Order To Break Stereotypes...

Only 62% of women believe that working women have to face more judgements on their looks or their appearance or their clothes than housewives. Only 70% of women agree that the maximum number of judgements on women come from the men in their family or among friends rather than strangers. Hardly 64% of women agree that the judgements passed on them during their lifespan have affected their abilities to reach their real potential. And only 69% of men agree that their judgement of women is based on their looks, appearance and what they wear. These statistics conclude quite clearly that a majority of men and women agree that men and their judgemental outlook towards women based on their looks are not less than a crime. It is a crime because such things inhibit women to excel in their life. What right has someone, to do all this? Just because someone is born as a male, does he obtain a lifetime visa to be judgemental about a woman on how she appears to them?

Why do men not have the guts to see women equalling them? In fact, a woman is always far better than a man, in all respects. But in general, a woman never competes with a man. She never tries to boast about her talent, her capabilities and her real potential. Otherwise, a man also knows that a woman is always supreme because she is a mother, home maker and a true companion in life. It really hurts to see when a woman gets judged based on what she wears, what she looks like, how she talks, how she walks etc. Rather it hurts more when her work, capabilities and talent are ignored. It has been devastating to see why women bother about looking presentable to others rather than to live for themselves. Why is a woman always worried about how men around her will perceive her?

I had faced such a judgement for the first time in my childhood. It was one of my uncles who commented on my dress when I was too young. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t let in the concept on how someone else was getting affected by what I was wearing. I shared those remarks later with my mother. Thanks to her for giving me a lifetime advice. She gave me a valuable lesson. I understood it and after that I have never bothered about how I will be perceived by others based on what I wear. The valuable lesson that my mother gave me is that we have to live our life not to please someone especially men, but our own self by setting the bar for our aspirations.

“I’m breaking stereotypes based on appearance by sharing my experience for the #IAmCapable activity at BlogAdda in association with Nihar Naturals. 

#KnowYourRights And Raise Your Voice!

If God treats a man and a woman as equal, then what right does anybody on this earth have to treat a woman as being lesser than a man? Who is at fault for creating this difference? Why is our society male dominant? Why a woman is forced to bear being labelled as wrong even if she is right? And why a man is by default right, even if most of the times he is wrong? Why is education said to be more important for boys? Why are a boy and a girl not seen equally and given equal chances to grow in a family, in a society and in a nation? This chaotic scenario is no different in other countries. Everywhere, it is the same.

It is the high time for a woman to stand tall, stay confident and know her rights. It is time for every girl and woman to fight against sexual violence.  It is high time for a family, for a society, for a country and for the whole world to give support and confidence to the women of the world. Pick up the newspaper rendered in any language, being circulated in any country; you are bound to read about a number of stories revolving around sexual abuse. The number of cases related to sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual violence is at a rise everywhere. It is not always a stranger who commits this heinous act against a girl child or a woman. Most of the times it is a known individual indulging in such heinous crimes. The worst part is that the number of reported cases is far less than the actual. In India, hardly 1% of the sexual violence cases come into light.

Look at a recent case where a juvenile rapist is being released by the high court. Not only is this alarming but he also being given a substantial amount of money and a sewing machine to start his career, is unpardonable! And all this is happening in the middle of public upheaval with the Prime Minister, other ministers of the country, and other eminent personalities and celebrities voicing their disdain. Probably it is a cluster of loopholes in our books of law that allow all this trespassing right under the nose of judiciary. It also points out at the level of education that if not imparted at the right time, can cause havoc at a later stage in life.

Be it on either side of the gender, a proper education, knowledge and learning is important in the society. A boy is to be taught to be respectful towards a girl. He must learn to be a positive agent in the society rather than nurturing negativity in his persona and becoming a callous and unmindful individual.

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I’m writing this blog post to support Amnesty International’s #KnowYourRights campaign at BlogAdda. You can also contribute to the cause by donating or spreading the word.

The Monster Lies Within!

When will the day come when we will be able to completely eradicate the heinous abuse of sexual violence? The whole world is the victim and the whole world is the culprit. Male dominance might be considered to be one of the major reasons that the whole world has always turned a blind eye to the rights of women. If a woman becomes aware of her rights at the right time in her life, probably she can elevate her stature to a better height in terms of career, education and financial standing, which are considered pivotal to patriarchal mindset.

Probably the problem is within the house instead of elsewhere. The level of confidence that comes from within the house for a girl child, right from the time of her entry in the house, is the point of concern. Within a family itself we observe a big difference in the way a boy is treated from a girl. The kind of astounding attention a boy child gets in the house is demotivating enough for a girl child to feel herself as being sidelined. Leave alone the equal amount of privileges, a girl child is neglected to an extent to not equip with proper education and knowledge. And under these circumstances how do you expect her to feel equal, substantial and empowered enough to raise her voice against any kind of wrongdoing against her?

The society, nation and world come later. First and prime roles to build a strong woman begin within a family. Home is the place where it has to begin, at the right time in life. But a supportive family alone will not suffice the purpose. What if the society is obsessed with male dominance and suppresses anyone raising an alarm against sexual violence whereas at home it is taught not to accept it at any cost? Hence, the society and nation need to be aligned well with this thought process if there has to be change brought to the fore.

A woman has all the rights to raise an alarm against sexual violence or abuse. She has all the rights to see the culprit getting caught and being punished by the law. She has all the rights not to feel ashamed and suffer throughout her life just at no fault of hers. If someone else is at fault, it needs to be seen through appropriately. A strong message has to go the society that nothing of this sort is further going to be acceptable at any cost. Probably, that way, we can at least soon dream to have a fearless world with no cases of sexual abuse, harassment or violence.

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I’m writing this blog post to support Amnesty International’s #KnowYourRights campaign at BlogAdda. You can also contribute to the cause by donating or spreading the word.