Sudha Reddy
Thanks to Sudha Reddy's generous support, UNICEF promotes a rights-based approach to empowering adolescents and applying gender transformative approaches to gender-equitable communities
Aiming to empower adolescents, this Adolescent empowerment programme supports the agenda of adolescent empowerment by:
- Preventing child marriages
- Promoting life skills with and for adolescents
- Enhancing access to skills and training programmes enabling career readiness for adolescents
- Advocating for the involvement and participation of parents and the community
- Training young peer leaders to enhance their participation in communities and institutions
- Promoting Inter-departmental convergence and capacity building of government departments towards improved services and interventions for adolescent
The programme gives special attention to vulnerable adolescent girls and boys in urban and rural vulnerable communities with a particular reference to Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and other marginalised communities. The programme integrates gender transformative practices into its overall design and implementation towards addressing vulnerabilities among girls due to gender discriminatory practices. Community programmes that reach boys, parents, and community stakeholders are included in the design and implementation of a holistic approach.
Through this program, 100,000 adolescent boys and girls will be equipped with critical skills and will participate in community collectives that engage on issues affecting them. One hundred fifty adolescent girls will be trained as AdoLEADERS and act as mentors to adolescent collectives.
The program will reach out to 400,000 community members (parents, representatives of local governance institutions and frontline service workers) and contribute towards enhancing access to services for adolescents.
About:
Ms. Sudha Reddy is a distinguished Hyderabad-based philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Sudha Reddy Foundation. UNICEF welcomed her as a member of its International Council, a global community of philanthropic individuals who invest to accelerate results for children. Extending her philanthropic efforts, Ms. Reddy’s contribution over the next two-year partnership will support the empowerment of vulnerable adolescents aged 14-19 focusing on issues of child protection and employability, in UNICEF's ongoing work with the government, communities, and civil society.