“Involving so many people with different specializations paves the way for healthy discussion on delicate issues. It’s a wonderful experience being a part of this community"

Srabani Das, UNDP-Project, Government of Orissa, Bhubaneswar

“Collectively, it is wonderful to exchange experiences and knowledge and meet others in the visioning workshops. The effort of the community is commendable in taking up the issue of monitoring indicators for effective implementation of PWDVA.”

Aleyamma Vijayan, Sakhi, Trivandrum

“I work for the elderly and it was Bonani, the Gender Community Moderator, who introduced the Community of Practice. The issue of elderly women and women in disaster management had been very interesting. I would want to take up the cause of elderly women with the community.”

Indrani Rajadurai, Helpage India, Chennai

“The E-Discussion on the Domestic Violence Act implementation had been extremely rich with a large number of responses from members. We had jointly studied them from Delhi University and University of Warwick, UK, and have included a section under Implications for development under PWDVA on page 13 of the study on Strategies to operationalize Legislation on Domestic Violence Act Implementation.”

Manjeet Bhatia, University of Delhi, New Delhi

“The Gender Community has taken up burning issues including sexual harassment at workplace. We have been fascinated by the qualitative output…”

Julie Thekuddan, PRIA, New Delhi

“Working on legal issues on women is complex and we get tremendous support in building up our knowledge base through consultations on the Community. I find it an extremely efficient way of managing knowledge...”

Tenzing Choesang, Lawyers Collective, New Delhi

“It was my decision to join an on-line network [of development practioners], Solution Exchange [Gender Community]… has opened a wide world in front of me…Being a member of Gender Community has exposed me to a wide range of grassroots level experiences…”

Rahul Banerjee, Amity Humanity Foundation

“I raised a query and led the break away group during the Gender Visioning Workshop [November 30, 2006] and then a highly participatory e-discussion on sexual harassment at the workplace. On the basis of the recommendations, my Action Group is now involved in creating training modules for the Government of Maharashtra on eliminating sexual harassment and sensitizing on gender equality.”

Anagha Sarpotdar, India Centre for Human Rights and Law, Mumbai

“I am proud to be associated with the Gender Community. The dialogue has highlighted the effort in different parts of the country to empower women, identify issues and solutions adopted by different communities, studies conducted and the results of those studies. It is helping build a Virtual Resource Centre for practitioners in gender and social development processes.”

Sarala Gopalan, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, New Delhi

“Your initiative [Solution Exchange Gender Community] has helped in furthering gender goals in India by spreading awareness on gender-just practices and initiatives. As a member of the Delhi Commission for Women, Government of NCT of Delhi, I feel proud to be associated with the Gender Community of Practice.”

Reny Jacob, Delhi Commission for Women, New Delhi

“I am a new member and I am fascinated by the vast knowledgebase generated on the community’s platform. I raised the issue of financing problems in Girls’ higher education. On the basis of the responses, I approached the Policy makers, MPs and Banking sector professionals...”

Joy Banerjee, Sudarshan Overseas Ltd., New Delhi

“Membership of the Gender Community has increased my knowledge and understanding of problems facing women and the different approaches used to tackle them, the resources available. The debates between practitioners, analysts, and experts also suggest further measures that could be taken to help women…”

Anita Inder Singh, Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi

“I have been associated with the Gender Community for more than a year… I would want to create gender inclusive knowledge modules and perfect them with the Community’s consultation so that they are available for the training programmes.”

Areti Krishna Kumari, Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy, Mussorrie

“It has been extremely useful as one gets to know about the issue at hand – both what approaches have been used earlier to address the issue, what is being used now and the kind of resources that are available. This saves time and enables me to understand the various contexts and the specific approaches since there is no single recipe to address all issues. One meets both experts and grassroots practitioners and what is most useful; one is also able to respond and gives one's one perspective. I am indeed grateful and feel privileged to be part of this community of practice because it discusses real issues.”

Benita Sharma, Legal Consultant, New Delhi

“It had been a very fulfilling and fascinating experience for me to be a part of the community, which is generating so much knowledge crucial for increasing development effectiveness.”

Bhartendu K. Bartaria, Goodrich Management Consultants, Indore

“I see the tremendous utility of the Gender Community as a knowledge management initiative for furthering gender goals in India as we find this as a platform for virtual networking with people totally unknown as well as having made special contributions to the field of gender development and empowerment…”

Meenakshi Kathel, Gender Analyst, UNDP, New Delhi

“I am initiating an Action Group on Policy Change for creating more visibility of women in the cooperative sector with the help of the Gender Community. This will help us to take the issue and action to other countries in South Asia.”

Savitri Singh, Gender Programme, International Co-operative Alliance, Regional Office for Asia & The Pacific, New Delhi

“I work with the Bahai House of Worship in Delhi. We have been extremely benefited in building up knowledge through extensive consultation. This has been a very innovative and efficient way of understanding various issues affecting development of women.”

Nalina Jiwnani, Baha’I Office for the Advancement of Women, New Delhi

“The issue of thee girl child and mindset transformation have been discussed on the Gender Community. We took initiatives and organized a School Principal’s meet with Gender Community in our school on 8 September 2006. Members from UNIFEM and UNICEF contributed to the deliberations of the workshop.”

Nishi Mishra, Vidya Devi Jindal Girls Residential School, Hisar

“I have been a Guest Moderator to one of the most popular e-discussions on the Gender Community platform on the Domestic Violence Act. To take the recommendations of the members, we have taken up an Action Project with support from Gender Community and UNIFEM on Building up a Delhi Based Model to implement the Act effectively. It has been a very fascinating experience and I congratulate the moderation team for its efficiency and accuracy.”

Gauri Chowdhary, Action India, New Delhi

“I am the Gender Advisor for the Government of Andhra Pradesh on issues of Rural Poverty. I found a very high degree of perfection and professionalism in the Gender Community’s approach in knowledge management service delivery. I have consulted the community and held several meetings with the Moderator to find solutions to my satisfaction.”

P. Jamuna, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad