Jagori organized a National Gender and Development course from 24th April to 28th April 2012 at Sanskriti Kendra, Anandagram, Delhi. The five day course housed 31 women and men from 23 different non-governmental organizations across 8 Indian states and Nepal and incorporated various sessions covering Gender and Patriarchy, Violence Against Women, Women’s Health, Women’s Safety and their right to the city, State Repression, Women’s rights and empowerment and recent issues relevant to policy making for women.

The participants shared that a clear and holistic understanding of gender and related issues gained in this course via interactive group discussions, short plays and other creative methodologies, would help them develop a clear understanding on the issues, help them bring a change in their personal relations and behavior and devise ways to start an open and comfortable communication in their family, neighborhood and community.

Almost all the participants felt that the books shared in the reading kit were quite helpful to gain a basic knowledge of the issues and the compiled reader covered recent critical debates in a comprehensive manner. One of them said, “It is a beautiful combination of easy language and conceptual clarity and is thus a holistic package; it should reach a wider and diverse audience”. Another participant shared, “This is the best reading kit that I have ever received in all the training sessions that I have attended so far”. The participants stated that a strong network can be created through learning exercises such as this course, where there is mutual exchange of knowledge and diverse experiences across states and a platform to strengthen the relationship established between the participating organizations in taking forward each other’s initiatives.