Women on Wings has many reasons to mark 2020 as a very memorable year. Obviously the corona pandemic impacted our work and that of our business partners tremendously. Luckily, we soon found a new way of working and changed our model from offline to completely online. Our online community platform, which was launched in February 2020, certainly contributed to continuing to stand next to our partners. We are very proud of our business partners who proofed to be agile to adjust resources. Who had the courage to take risks to continue to provide an income to their women beneficiaries. Who used the lockdown to train artisans or their own teams. Who used technology to reach out to customers and who shared inspiring stories about women farmers, weavers and artisans.
Why a job is more important than ever
Despite the fact that we could not travel to our partners, we did 270 online sessions from April 1, till today December 24. We continue to work with our partners on realizing our mission; taking families in rural India out of poverty. Women who have a job spend their income on more nutritious food and educating their children. An income increases their self-esteem and is empowering. Reports show an alarming increase in violence against women during this pandemic. The answer to stop this violence, is to empower women. We are one of three partners united in a new consortium which is initiated by The Netherlands Embassy in India to stop inequalities and fight domestic violence against vulnerable women in India. So our work is more relevant than ever.
Naye sal ki shubh kamnaye!
Our committed team of professionals has done us proud. Our core team and 55 volunteer experts are the ones who daily work on realizing our ambitious goal. This year many of the experts contributed to our online sessions like workshops, webinars and CEO Summits. Thanks to them the work with the partners could continue the best we could within the restrictions caused by COVID-19. Thanks to all who continue to believe in our mission we look at the future with confidence.
On behalf of our team and board, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Naye sal ki shubh kamnaye!
We look forward to a healthy, inspiring and impactful 2021!
Ronald van het Hof and Shilpa Mittal Singh
MDs at Women on Wings
