Safecity Monthly Updates: August 2019

Safecity is growing exponentially and we’re constantly working hard to translate our vision to reality. Because we don’t want you to miss out on our work, we’ve decided to put together a monthly column to tell you about what we’ve been up to. You can sign up for our newsletter here.

Youth Innovation Challenge 2019 – Finalists

We announced the finalists for our Youth Innovation Design Challenge 2019. A special thank you to jury members for selecting the ten finalist teams from among 75 innovations that were submitted. We were honoured to have teams from all over India and one from South Africa send us their ideas to solve urban issues.

The Youth Design Innovation Challenge, a social incubator, is a derivative of the Urban Thinkers Campus seeking to involve future leaders of the city – the youth of India, to play a part in solving gender equality issues due to rapid urbanization. The theme this year is Safe Public Spaces.

UN SDG Action Campaign

We joined the global #ACT4SDGs movement powered by UN SDG Action Campaign! We will be taking actions to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in order to honour the Global Goals Week.

https://www.act4sdgs.org/partner/SAFECITY

Lit O Fest, Mumbai

Our Founder, Elsa Dsilva, spoke at the Lit-O-Fest in a panel discussion at SheThePeople – Women Writers Fest – “Women Reclaiming Urban Spaces” along with panelists Jane Borges, Prathima Manohar, Sameera Khan and moderated by Yamini Dand Shah.

Farewell- Renita Siqueira

We bade farewell to our Communications Officer, Renita Siqueira as she said goodbye to Safecity and embarked on a career path in creating e-learning solutions. We thank Renita for her contribution over the years as a founding team member and wish her all the best for her future endeavours. Along with that, we also welcome Karishma Jangid to the Safecity team. She will be taking over the role of  Communications Officer.

Finding Tech Solutions to fight Sexual Violence with Omdena through an AI Challenge

Safecity is partnering with Omdena to build a solution for creating more awareness to prevent violent acts, using satellite imagery to identify risk areas. Applications are now open for this IMPACT #AI Challenge.

Apply here  https://omdena.com/harassment/

Our first Global newsletter

Our International arm, Red Dot Foundation Global, issued its first newsletter catered to our international audience! We will be featuring our work across the globe in these newsletters.

Click here to read. Do subscribe if interested.

Updates from Patna

Naina Jha conducted a workshop for the male students of class 4th & 5th of DAV Public School, BSEB Colony, Patna on 1st August, 2019. It was attended by 350 boys. They were taught the PANTS rule of Safety. The boys also created their own Safety circles with Naina’s guidance. 

Updates from Delhi

In order to acquire knowledge and skills in delivering workshops on gender-based issues like Sexual Harassment, Safe sex and the likes, our Youth Outreach Officer from Delhi organised a 5-day training between 2nd August and 21st August. The 7 participants, the volunteers of Safecity, were given a range of topics to cover, discuss and deliver. Overall, seven topics were distributed to the seven volunteers; Sexual Harassment, Child Sexual Abuse, Consent, Domestic Violence, Gender and Sex, Menstrual Hygiene and Safe Sex. From creating the presentation to presenting it in front of the crowd, every participant showed wonderful enthusiasm.

Safecity Emerging Leaders

Safecity is celebrating the journey of people who have emerged as leaders as our campaigns progressed in their communities through our blog series “Safecity Emerging Leaders”. Read the inspiring stories of these individuals who are passionate about making their neighbourhoods safer with Safecity and have taken action in their own special ways.

Read this month’s Emerging Leader Anisha Mohanta’s story on our blog here.

When we asked about her experience doing an internship with Safecity, this is what Anisha had to say –

“By interning with Safecity, I did things that I had never done before. I learnt about different NGOs, how they work to address different causes. I learnt about different platforms like WorldPulse, Change. Org and the likes, where you can raise your voice. I learnt how to use various social media platforms. Interning with Safecity has helped me to explore myself. It has taught me teamwork and time management. It has given me a sense of punctuality and responsibility. When I faced hassles or obstacles, my mentors and team leaders helped me. They showed immense faith in me. The opportunity of contributing to Safecity (and society) has turned me a better version of myself.”

We have several opportunities for you to volunteer and take action. Do check our website.

Be Your Own Superhero

This campaign is to celebrate your story. It’s to celebrate the countless stories that collectively give us hope to #RiseTogether and fight against injustice. If you’re someone who has stood up for a friend who was being harassed, we would love to hear your heroic story too!

#BeYourOwnSuperhero today and share your story of action against harassment with us- bit.ly/BeYourOwnSuperhero

Girl Fund Campaign

We have been selected by Global Giving to be part of their Girl Fund Campaign. We appreciate every generous donation. Even $10 will go a long way.

You can use this link to donate- https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/training-10-youth-campus-ambassadors-on-safety/