Gender Equality Festival 2021- A global event to make concrete and aspiring allegiance towards attaining gender equality by The French Institute in India

 23rd April 2021

New Delhi, India: The French Institute in India, along with the Embassy of France and the network of Alliances Françaises in India, has organized a series of events to encourage gender equality and women’s rights. The events have started from March 2021 and go on till June 2021 on the occasion of International Women’s day and Generation Equality Forum 2021.

The Generation Equality Forum 2021 began in Mexico City on 29th March is scheduled to conclude in Paris from 30th June 2021 - 2nd July 2021. The Generation Equality Forum, summoned by U.N. Women and co-hosted by the Mexico and France governments, is a global gathering providing opportunities for the world to make concrete and sustainable allegiance towards achieving gender equality. 

While announcing the activities of Gender Equality Festival 2021, H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, said, “Gender parity and diversity are the cornerstones of civil society and are vital criteria for economic growth. Gender equality is a priority for the French government and is taken into account with respect to all domains, including sustainable development, security, defence, environment, economic policy, and education. Gender parity drives our cultural engagement, our scholarship disbursements for higher education in France, and governs scientific research. I am proud of the rich and diverse set of initiatives that will be held in collaboration with our Indian partners until the Generation Equality Summit in Paris on 2nd July.”

Some of the key events and their agendas are listed below:

1. Short Movie Contest on ‘Fight Against Gender Discrimination’ (April 2021):

2. Students will perform in teams and compete for the best short film contest on gender discrimination. Winners will get a chance to study cinema in France.

3. Une Femme Dans La Ville - Exhibition featuring creations using AR/VR (April 2021): 

4. A visual narrative of a story developed from augmented reality material, and the series of 12 works by artist Beatrice de Fays, developed by Guillaume Evrard.

5. Students Against Discrimination - Interactive Engagement With Schools (April-June 2021): 

The event has 3 sections encouraging the theme’ fight against discrimination’

1. Poetry slam workshops - for teachers of French language

2. Comic contests - for students in French universities

3. Online dictations - for French language learners

1. Why Women Matter in Science - a series of online talks at www.ifindia.in/women-in-science (April-June 2021):

Astronomer and science historian Mr Pranav Sharma and other experts from scientific fields talk about unique perspectives women bring to the table in the field of science and STEM.

19 April 2021 – Dr. Archana Sharma, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland / Physicist

10 May 2021 – Dr. Shailaja Gupta, Senior Advisor, PSA - Govt. of India / Biologist

24 May 2021 – Dr. Rohini Godbole, Physicist, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

21 June 2021 – Dr. Isabelle Daniel, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon – Université Lyon 1,

ENS de Lyon, France / Minéralogist

1. Podcast Series on ‘Clearing the Haze - Making the Invisible Visible’ (April-June 2021):
2. The podcasts focus on women’s right topics like gender equality, allyship, micro-inequities using as tools against cultural nuances, violence, ability denial, assault, workplace bias, etc
3. 6. Slogan contest: Create an original slogan in a single phrase or sentence only. What does equality mean to you? How can just a set of words bring about transformation? Do words really have power?
4. 7. Training in Digital Literacy for Women Empowerment (Rajasthan).  The French Institute in India and its office in Jaipur will collaborate with Barefoot College around a digital literacy training programme for women located in the vicinity of the Institut Français office in Jaipur. The programme is supported by the social initiative arm of the Modi Shikshan Sansthan, “Tinker Sakhi”, a digital literacy initiative for women of Rajasthan.

1. Simone De Beauvoir - Book Launch and Cafe Philo (June 2021, New Delhi): The French Institute In India organized a debate on the impact of Simone De Beauvoir’s works through generations, including his adopted daughter, an Indian philosopher, a French historian and a Hindi translator.
2. Virtual Seminar on ‘Gender Studies in France’ (June 2021):
3. The French Institute In India organized a seminar for the students with an interactive session with French Institutions and the Indian alumni who graduated in France.
4. Persepolis - Book Launch and Movie Screening (June 2021) On the occasion of the Hindi translation of the movie ‘Persepolis’ - a graphic memoir of Marjane Satrapi, IFI is organizing an online screening of the movie.

About the IFI

The French Institute / IFI (Institut français India) is a part of the Embassy of France in India. IFI focuses on facilitating academic and scientific exchanges between India and French higher education institutes, enabling student mobility and promoting the French language.

For any queries contact:

Shaifali Jetli-Sury, Communications & Partnership, IFI

@sjs@ifiindia.in / +91-981121088