Kohima, April 10 (EMN): A Naga woman from Phek district was one of the three recipients of the CII Foundation Women Exemplar Award 2018.
The executive director of the Chakhesang Women Welfare Society (CWWS), Vechulou Kanuo received the award from the vice-president of India, M Venkaiah Naidu on April 8 at New Delhi. CWWS is an initiative of the Chakhesang Baptist Church Council.
The CII award aims to felicitate ‘grassroots women leaders’ in the fields of health, education and micro enterprise. Kanuo is the first person from Nagaland as well as the Northeast to receive the award, according to a press release received here.
She was given the award in micro-enterprise segment. Vechulou took over as the secretary of CWWS in 2000 when it was still a bankrupt organisation and led it to a vibrant social organisation that has transformed the lives of innumerable rural women and communities in Phek district, it stated.
The award recognises her unique contribution as a woman to “alleviate the lives of women in all sections of society, empowering them economically and socially”. For almost two decades, Vechulou’s work has introduced modern agriculture and animal husbandry to 10,586 women, farmers and youth, seeding thousands of small entrepreneurs in the deep rural interiors of Nagaland, it stated.
The two other recipients were Munni Begam in health segment, and Asha in education. The award was stated to part of the CII Foundation Women Exemplar Program (WEP) which focuses on promoting women empowerment at the community level by discovering and recognising those who choose to look beyond their limitations and contribute significantly to positively impact the community.
Since inception in 2005, it has ‘recognised and supported’ 41 women. Selected by a panel from the industry and social sector, the recipients were shortlisted from over 225 nominations received from NGOs across the country.
