A panel discussion was organised by the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in New Delhi to mark the International Women’s Day. Held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, it provided an opportunity for the invited speakers to share their reflections.

The event was a two panel discussion which had professionals from government, the humanitarian and development sectors, as well as academia and the media. Those on the first panel provided insights into the challenges they have faced in their fields of work over the years, how these sectors have evolved, and the implications of this for women professionals who serve today. The speakers on the second panel deliberated on issues related to representation of women, and addressed the challenges around visibility (or invisibility) of this gender relevant to policy initiatives, decision-making processes, disaster response, etc.

“If society is 50% women then the work we do impacts society”. “What is the kind of work-life balance that we demand as employees?” “I decided to use even tokenism to my advantage” “In our times we did not know how to network” were just some of the reflections from the very stimulating sessions.

Panel 1: Experiences and Reflections in Resilience

Chair: Pamela Philipose, Panelists: Amb (retd) Bhaswati Mukherjee, Dr.Stuti Kacker chairperson, Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, Ms.Yasuko Shimizu, Deputy Chief of Mission, UNHCR, Ms.Mary Werntz, Head of Regional Delegation, ICRC

Panel 2: Visible or Invisible: Are women adequately represented?

Chair: Dr.Vasanthi Raman, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Panelists: Dr.Anita Ghai, Disability Rights Activist and Academic, Ms. Deepa Venkatachalam, Sama Resource Centre for Women and Health, Prof.Satish B. Agnihotri, faculty IIT Bombay and former secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Ms. Amrita Tripathi, freelance journalist, novelist and editor-at-large She thepeople.TV, Ray Kancharla, National Humanitarian-DRR Manager, Save the Children India

PHOTO GALLERY (©ICRC, Ashish Bhatia)