Hornbill Festival 2025: Myki Fest kicks off with focus on women empowerment

KOHIMA — Commissioner and Secretary for Women Resources, Zhothisa Dawhuo, on Tuesday said that the Nagaland State Government is committed to empowering women and called for collective efforts towards this goal.

He was addressing the inaugural programme of Myki Fest at the Directorate of Women Resources Development, Bayavü, Kohima.

Dawhuo said that Myki Fest, organised by the Women Resources Development department, is held annually to celebrate the talents, achievements, and resilience of women, which he said they are uniquely gifted with more than men.

He observed that often men fail to recognise women's contributions and tend to discriminate based on gender. The Women Resources Development Department, however, has risen to the occasion to amplify talents and uplift women through the brand name Myki Fest.

Asserting the imperative for society to know and value the contributions of women—which extend beyond household work and raising children, but also as major contributors to society’s progress and growth—he noted that the narrative is changing over time through women empowerment.

The official stated that the department is committed in all totality to empower women and called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to uplift and empower the status of women in Naga society.

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Dawhuo informed that Myki Fest could not be organised this year at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, owing to space constraints, with the department not having its own land. However, he informed that from next year onwards there will be a permanent structure at the festival village, while adding that the department is in the process of procuring sites and that work is ongoing for the permanent structure in a big way.

He announced that once the permanent structure is in place, there will be bigger space for exhibitions and sales arenas, giving a fair chance to every deserving woman entrepreneur.

Furthermore, Dawhuo assured the government’s support for empowerment and called for the cooperation of women to build Naga society as one team.

Director of Women Resources Development, Vilone Sakhrie, informed that Myki Fest was introduced in 2018. The festival not only aims to celebrate the achievements of women but also their contributions every day in personal life, society, and the state as a whole.

Sakhrie informed that there will be a food court alongside a stage for live music every evening starting from 3 pm, besides stalls of jewellery, apparel, and other products of local women entrepreneurs, calling all well-wishers to come forward and support.