Bengaluru : Amazon Cares, the CSR initiative of Amazon India, recognizes women as a significant community of individuals and works towards creating opportunities for their growth and empowerment. The primary tenets are to make a difference to women across the country and help achieve sustainable development through various initiatives.

“Keeping our vision in mind, we have created opportunities for women to realize their potential and in turn support the transformation of the local communities. We are committed to using our resources and infrastructure of innovation and technology to enable women in diverse communities succeed. We believe that through our sustained efforts, centered on vocational training and micro-entrepreneurship, we can help support India’s development” said Karuna Pande, Director, Customer Fulfilment, Amazon India.

Women Empowerment: Amazon Cares Community Centres have assisted more than 50 women to support their families financially by training them on vocational skills as part of their initiatives on women empowerment. Besides this, around 250 women were also introduced to micro-entrepreneurship and provided exposure visits to small industries and relevant entrepreneurial ventures for practical learning. To further strengthen the women, the centre also assists women from the surrounding villages with the formation of Self Help Groups (SHG). They are provided support in the form of facilitation for financial access from nationalized banks to undertake business initiatives too.

Education: Aligned with the National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM), the education support initiative enables access to quality education through digital literacy, and has positively affected the lives of about 60 women so far. The centres impart basic training sessions on computer skills, reading and writing workshops and career counselling sessions to women that enables them to secure better job opportunities.

There are also Community Libraries with more than 1000 books ranging from novels and biographies of various leaders, encyclopedias, English grammar and competitive examination reference books and so on. More than 30 women use these Community Libraries regularly to excel in competitive exams or improve their general knowledge for job opportunities and entrance tests.

Health and Hygiene:  Amazon India promotes preventive health care through partnerships with the local medical institution and government organizations. Some of the initiatives rolled out at the centres include awareness programs on cleanliness and household waste management, maternity care and menstrual hygiene. The programs were attended by more than 1,350 women.

In line with its constant efforts, Amazon India, rolled out a campaign across its Community and Resource centers to celebrate International Women’s Day 2019. Amazon Cares in partnership with its implementation partner Forum for Rural Development (FORD) organized a session on women empowerment and their rights in Bengaluru, Karnataka. They educated over 115 women from the local community regarding different opportunities available for them to be independent.

Commenting on the same, Munirathna, President, Taluka Panchayat, said, “We need to constantly create awareness and motivate action towards the empowerment of women. International Women’s Day gives us an opportunity to dedicate time and attention to do so. With the experience of Amazon India and the focus of our local community, I believe we can build a sustainable effort towards creating a better future for our women.”

 

Amazon Cares views gender equality as a focus area to prioritize on, as it has a direct impact on women’s health, education and the economic growth of the communities. The Women empowerment programs have, since launch, seen increased participation and generated interest among women of all age groups in the communities we operate. Amazon Cares demonstrates the philosophy of being ‘good neighbors’ through the activities undertaken in areas where Amazon India operates. At present, there are 2 Amazon Cares Community Centres in Ahmedabad, working with the objective of achieving sustainable development.