GPF India partners to host a Girls Peace Camp

Global Peace Foundation (GPF) partnered with the Peace Club of Carmel Convent School, Yuvsatta-NGO, Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management-CIHM, and the National Foundation for Communal Harmony under the Government of India to convene a three-day National Girls Youth Peace Camp at Carmel Convent School in December 2022. A unique campaign was launched during the camp called SAFE PUBLIC SPACES CHANDIGARH. Smt. Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, attended the launching ceremony with Ms. Caroline Rowett, British Deputy High Commissioner, presiding.

The program strives to protect girls and women against gender-based crime. Mr. Pramod Sharma, founder of Yuvsatta, said that as many as 108 cases of crime against women have been registered in Chandigarh from January 2022 through May 2022. The Chandigarh Police has a strength of around 6,000 cops, with 1,200 of them women. The initiative is promoting citizen involvement in community policing to strive for “zero percent crime” against women.

Sister Mary Supreeta, the Principal at Carmel Convent School, said that when empowered young women rise up together, “they break isolation, build solidarity, and strengthen movements that challenge the prevalent social, economic, and political barriers to their vision, voice, and agency.”

Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee presents awards to girls attending the India Peace Camp

Smt. Tara Gandhi shared her experience working for the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trusts across India, saying, “The women I work with are what inspire me to fight for women’s rights. I have seen women living through the worst, the best, and the hardest conditions. Their courage to work, their confidence, and their willingness to fight—that keeps me going.”

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