Ms. Bishakha Bhanja, Regional Manager , Wateraid India delivered a talk on 11th July, 2019 on ‘SDG 6 from a gender lens’ to the students of MBA (RM) and PGDCD. She highlighted that how policies on women are made from men’s perspective since men are the ones who are involved in policy making affecting women. In her insightful talk she emphasized that we will miss the SDG target if women are not involved in the process be it participation in the decision making process or providing technical training rather than just using them for awareness generation. Ms. Bhanja concluded her talk by emphasizing that wherever the students work and whatever the work they are involved in, thinking from a women’s lens will not only help in better planning but also being a better human being.
Ms. Bishakha Bhanja was Regional Manager- East, Programmes and Policy at WaterAid India. She has been working in the field of development for 25 years. She completed her post-graduation in Political Science. After a short stint of lectureship she joined Oxfam as a Project Officer. She has worked for several international organizations and been associated with many women’s organizations, and the women’s movement, for many years. As an active member of National Alliance of Women Odisha chapter, her main forte was gender analysis. She is an advocate for transparent implementation of government grants for thousands of sanitation systems in Odisha.