India has a large youth population, including many young women who face challenges like lack of access to quality education and discrimination. The Azad Foundation was established in 2008 to provide livelihood training and empowerment for marginalized women. Their Women on Wheels program teaches young women to become professional drivers over 6-8 months through skills development and modules on personal growth and empowerment. More than 100 women graduates are now empowered breadwinners in their families who are socially visible and decision makers.

1. Youth & Inclusive Citizenship:
Opportunities and Challenges in
India
Azad Foundation

2. The context
• India is home to world’s second largest Population
( 1.2Billion)
• Population of women 614 million.
• Youthful nation with 0-25 of age makes 50% of total
population and 65% are below the age of 35.
• Close to 200 million women are subjected to violence.
• India has the lowest female participation rate, with
only 29% of women over the age of 15 working.
• The proportion of working women in urban areas has
increased from 11.9% in 2001 to 15.4% in 2011 (NSSO)

3. Challenges for Young Women
• Access to education, in particular quality
education.
• Invisibility and lack of identity in families and
society at large.
• Unequal access to information, limiting the
dreams and vision.
• Breaking class, caste and gender based
discrimination.

4. Azad Foundation: Livelihoods with
Dignity
• Azad Foundation was established in 2008 to work
on livelihoods with dignity for resource poor and
marginalized women.
• Azad Foundation works with young women to
train them to become professional chauffeurs
through our signature women on wheels (WoW)
programme.
• 6-8 month of training which include skills
development, Personal growth and Women’s
empowerment through 14 modules.

5. Azad works on
• Young women’s right to earn remunerative livelihoods
with dignity and breaking gender stereotypes.
• Equipping them not just with technical skills but self
development and empowerment as a women.
• Some of the key focus areas are enhancing leadership
, choice based identity and sense of collective.
• Enhanced socio-political consciousness and
challenging processes that are disempowering for
women.
• Helping women to understand sexuality and
relationships, dealing with its complexities.

6. Women
in
Action

7. What have been achieved
• More then 100 women are empowered
chauffer's and principal bread winners in their
families.
• Socially visible, creating their own identity and
key decision makers in their families.
• Strong collective of young women who are
ready to support each other.
• Women drivers in public transport -
Reclaiming public spaces and making them
safe for women.

8. The enablers for engaging with youth
for Inclusive citizenship
• Creating youth platforms where young women
can share views, seek information and be
exposed to a wide range of issues.
• Opportunities to connect with various other
networks , platforms, through learning journeys.
• Enabling community learning opportunities for
more women to engage with issues of citizenry
and rights.
• Active participation in various campaign such as
OBR , and 16 days activism and other social
movements.

9. Role Young Women can play ….
• Take initiative in participating in various
platform.
• Share ideas , taking responsibilities to
implement them.
• Organize themselves and creating learning
environment.
• Challenging and changing stereotypes

10. Role Young Women can play ….
• Take initiative in participating in various
platform.
• Share ideas , taking responsibilities to
implement them.
• Organize themselves and creating learning
environment.
• Challenging and changing stereotypes