The BBC 100 Women Challenge 2017 arrives in India next week as a team of female experts comes together to find ways to help women overcome illiteracy in a unique celebration of female talent.
‘BBC 100 Women Challenge: Change is Coming’ draws on the experience of women across all spheres of modern life – from engineering to the creative industries, from sport to business – as teams based around the world tackle everyday problems currently blighting female lives.
Starting on Monday (9th October) the Delhi based team will have a working week to invent, develop and deliver a prototype that tackles the issue of female illiteracy, whether a tech solution, product or campaign. The group, which will be based at Innov8, in Delhi’s Connaught Place, includes educationalists, activists, writers, tech experts and entrepreneurs plus women who have experienced the challenges poor literacy can bring.
They will then share their solution with an invited audience at the Katha Lab School, in Govindpuri, New Delhi and with the BBC’s global audience via BBC World Service Radio’s Outside Source programme on Friday 13th October from 2030IST. Outside Source will also be checking in on the team’s progress on Tuesday 10th October and coverage will run on BBC World News TV. Plus the team will be followed by a BBC World News TV documentary team as they work on their solution (to be broadcast in November).
The team will include: Dr. Urvashi Sahni social entrepreneur, women’s rights activist and educationist; Nitya Thummalachetty currently a business analyst at US firm CareCentra writer; yoga teacher and activist Ira Trivedi; Aditi Avasthi founder and CEO of edtech platform Embibe; and former journalist Tulika Kiran who now teaches young people in prison.
They will be joined by inspirational women and girls who will be sharing their experiences to help inspire the solution; including Mehroonisa Siddiqui mother of Indian actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who was not able to attend school and married at 14.
The team’s progress during the week will be shared on the BBC’s digital platforms including www.bbc.com/100women which will also play host to a wealth of video and written content exploring female literacy.
Audience participation will be a cornerstone of the BBC 100 Women Challenge. The team will want to hear directly from the BBC’s audiences around the world, particularly women affected by the issues they are tackling and anyone who is already seeking solutions. People will be able to get involved in the challenge via social media with @BBC100Women and #100Women, online at www.bbc.com/100women and through the live shows.
The Delhi 100 Women Challenge follows the announcement of part one of the 100 Women List 2017. Ten Indian women including the Delhi team and others such as cricketer Mithali Raj, were named in the first 60 – see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-41380265. The remaining 40 places will then be decided as the challenge progresses, drawn from those who have supported, inspired and helped the teams on the ground over the course of the four weeks.
The first BBC 100 Women Challenge launched in Silicon Valley, California this week (Oct 2 -6th) with a team looking at ways to smash the glass ceiling. After Delhi the focus will be on London and Nairobi as a group try to improve safety for female travellers using public transport (October 16th-21st); and finally for the fourth week women based in Rio de Janeiro will take on sexism in sport (October 23rd – 28th).