Bharat SainiLast Updated on April 18, 2019 by Bharat Saini
Web Wonder Women, online campaign aimed to recognise the fortitude of Indian women stalwarts from across the globe, who have used the power of social media to run positive and niche campaigns to steer a change in the society, which was launched on 9 January 2019 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) in collaboration with Twitter India and Breakthrough India, selected after an extensive research process – 30 women, who have been driving social reforms via social media. Indian-origin women, working or settled anywhere in the world, were eligible for nomination which were open till 31 January 2019. Smt. Maneka Gandhi Union Minister of WCD Ministry felicitated these 30 women stalwarts on Wednesday 6 March 2019 in New Delhi, and said:
“Women online, though niche, are a very powerful voice. #WebWonderWomen was a campaign to recognise honour and encourage such voices that have in their own capacity driven a positive impact on social media platforms”. “Indian women have always been enterprising and have created a positive impact on society with their hard work, experience, and knowledge”.
WCD Minister, along with a panel of 10 judges, from over 240 nominations received under the categories media, awareness, legal, health, governmental, food, environment, development, business and art, selected these 30 women who have impacted and influenced society through social media. Some of the awardees include:
- Adhunika Prakash: Founder and CEO of Breastfeeding Support for Indian Mothers
- Afreen Siddiqui Sherwani: A passionate development professional with over 11 years of working with the Gram Panchayats to policy makers and the United Nations.
- Chavi Vohra: A development professional, experienced in promoting children rights, women’s empowerment and youth development through programme development, advocacy, social media advocacy and capacity development.
- Angela Chaudhuri: B.D.S, M.P.H and P G Diploma in Journalism. With 18+ years of experience in Public Health, Angela’s expertise lies in country programme evaluations, research, capacity building, fundraising and knowledge management in HIV, TB, Malaria, Health Systems Strengthening.
- Sohini Chattopadhyay: An award winning reporter and writer, who has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the Hindu, Mint and the South China Morning Post. She has published ground breaking reportage on women’s health, particularly on maternal health and the predominance of women among living organ donors in India. Her writing on popular films is acclaimed, and known for its focus on women and sexual minorities.
- Saundarya Rajesh: One of India’s most impactful thought leaders on diversity.
Web Wonder Women is the third leg of the ‘Women Achievers’ campaign of the Ministry of Women and Child Development; after Nari Shakti Puruskar and First Ladies initiative – system of recognising women who have broken the glass ceiling and ventured into unusual fields. In 2018, the ministry hosted ‘First Ladies’, a first-of-its-kind government initiative to felicitate exceptional women who were the first to set a milestone in their respective fields
