Jamia Millia Islamia organises workshop on safe cities for women

NEW DELHI: The Department of Architecture, Jamia Millia Islamia, (JMI) conducted a one-day workshop on 'Safe cities for women’ in collaboration with Gender Advancement for Transitioning Institutions (GATI) on August 1.

The inaugural session of the workshop was chaired by JMI Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar. The workshop was aimed as a capacity building measure for the young graduate, postgraduate and PhD students.

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Akhtar stressed on the importance of “safe campus and safe Jamia” through measures such as anti-ragging and zero tolerance policy. JMI is one of the five universities selected by the union government to launch the project of gender advancement in the form of GATI.

She emphasised that ensuring the safety of women is not solely a matter of law enforcement; it demands a comprehensive and collaborative approach involving all stakeholders - the government, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, civil society, and, most importantly, each one of us as responsible citizens.

Seemi Farhat Basir, dean faculty of natural sciences, JMI, who is also the nodal officer GATI, gave an overview of the projects that have been undertaken under it for gender sensitisation and how it has played an important role in increased awareness among the students.

Architect Kanak Tiwari, the programme director at NIUA of the urban strategy unit of G20 was the guest of honour. She stressed that with increased women participation in the workforce, it is imperative that we design our cities to be safe and inclusive for women and children, which is possible through adopting innovative measures in urban planning and design strategies.

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Hina Zia, dean faculty of architecture ad ekistics, JMI, talked about the working of internal complaints committee of the institute, which she heads, and its role in making JMI a safe campus for students and staff alike.

The inaugural address ended with a vote of thanks to all attending members by Qamar Irshad, head department of architecture and the convener of the event.

The workshop had components of talks addressing the design and gender segregating aspects and issues by field experts and academicians which were followed by a quiz and an interactive session.