About the Department
The Department of Women and Child was established in 2017 as per GO (MS) No.24/17/SJD 30.6.17 bifurcating The Social Justice Department. The Department of Women and Child starts functioning in 24/11/17 for ensuring the holistic, physical, psychological, cognitive and emotional developments of women and children and a gender sensitive family, community, programme and policy for the development and protection of women and children.
The Department of Women and Child Development provides policy guidance, designs targeted programs and projects for women and children, strengthens capacity development for gender and child rights mainstreaming, coordinates, monitors and evaluates effective service delivery, all for the empowerment of women and children
Vision
An inclusive state where all women are socially, politically and economically empowered, and all children are protected, nurtured, and encouraged to realize their full potential as well as participate appropriately in decisions that affect them.
Mission
Empowering women and children through policies, programs, and projects that tap interdepartmental synergies, build strong partnerships, and take a results based approach so that women and children enjoy their rights and live with dignity and without violence
Objectives
| Elimination of all forms of violence against women and children |
| Empowerment of women and children through implementation of laws aimed to strengthen and protect the rights of women and children. |
| Effective gender rights and child rights mainstreaming in all activities of the department and strengthen capacity of other departments do the same. |
| Coordination, planning and implementation of departmental gender action plans so as to ensure cohesive planning, tapping synergies and ensuring a result based approach. |
| Effective counseling for adolescent children on reproductive health and sex education , women and children in short stay homes, commercial sex workers, HIV/AIDS positive women and other deserted, destitute and marginalized women and children from vulnerable groups. |
| Strengthen through advocacy health education to girls, women in grass root level on personal hygiene, balanced nutrition, environmental cleaning, adopting to self managed drainage, toilets, girl- women friendly sanitation facilities and violence against women/girls. |
| Inform, educate and communicate particularly at the grass root level to change mindsets and stereotypes and redefine gender roles both at home and in the public space as well as raise awareness of child rights. |
| Strengthen capacity and livelihoods for marginalized and economically and socially marginalized women. |
| Support action research directly contributing to women’s mobility, capacity building ,leadership skills, entrepreneurship, empowerment, participation and other issues related to protection of children. |
| Impart a social responsibility and social consciousness among the various stakeholders in preserving the environment and other resources by consulting and involving women and children. |
Functions
| Oversee implementation of social legislations, policies and programmes for the empowerment of women and children. |
| Capacity building of the line departments for the preparation of gender action plan |
| Coordination and monitoring of gender action plans of line departments |
| Improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group of 0-6 years, and lay the foundation for their proper psychological, physical and social developments. |
| Institutionalize essential services and strengthen structures for emergency outreach, institutional care, family and community based care, counseling and support services of children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law. |
| Strengthen child protection at family and community level, create and promote preventive measures to protect children from situations of vulnerability, risk and abuse. |
| Protect women and children from sexual abuse and trafficking. |
| Provide for effective protection of women against domestic violence |
| Protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work. |
| Take legal action giving or taking dowry |
| Take stringent action to eliminate child marriage |
| Collection of gender disaggregated data |
| Design programmes and projects for increasing participation of women in economic and social spheres. |