How a new initiative aims to introduce young girls to the world of politics in India
How a new initiative aims to introduce young girls to the world of politics in India
In conversation with Shevika M, founder of Kuviraa
Earlier this year, Kuviraa, an initiative that works to improve political awareness among young girls, launched the first edition of the Kuviraa Ambassadors Program, a short program aimed at introducing young girls to the landscape of Indian politics and policy-making through an intersectional lens. It ran virtually for ten days with the aim of introducing the ambassadors – all young women aged 14 to 20 - to themes of politics, citizen engagement, storytelling and careers in politics and policy.
At #WomenLead, we interviewed Shevika M, the founder of Kuviraa, about why she felt the need to launch the Ambassadors program and how she went about it.
In a written interview, Shevika shares with us why she thinks we need to start discussing politics with adolescents and young adults from an early age, the hesitance of schools to discuss politics, and her fear that young people today know more about political movements in other parts of the world but little about politics in their own backyard. Read on:
What was your motivation/inspiration behind launching the Summer Ambassadors Program at Kuviraa?
Shevika M: In the past two years, we partnered with schools and NGOs to conduct workshops for young women but we faced resistance to discussing politics with young girls. Our partners would say that we could discuss “policy” but not “politics”.
This is, of course, not surprising. My experience has shown that schools avoid discussing politics, and so do many parents. This is something that keeps coming up time and again in all my work at Kuviraa.
In fact, we have just concluded a study in partnership with UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs - it shows a consistent disparity in political interest, engagement and career aspirations between young boys and girls in India.
We also find that as girls grew older, they became more likely to believe that there were fewer opportunities for them to be involved in politics.
This is where the idea really came from - I wanted to create a safe space for young girls to talk about politics without being judged or trolled (even “cancelled”). I envisioned the Ambassadors program as this space where young women have the opportunity to meet politicians, ask questions and discuss their point of view without fear. I believe that these spaces are very important for us to have a healthy democracy where young girls can engage with politics and exercise their rights as citizens.
Why is such a program/talking to young women about politics important? Why do we need an initiative like this?
We are seeing a generation of young Indians who grow up caring about Black Lives Matter more than local issues that impact the lives of fellow Indians in their city and country.
Indian schools through their civics curriculum and classroom activities restrict discussions to theoretical issues and children do not have the opportunities to interact with real politicians or talk about issues such as gender or disabilities in politics.
When I started Kuviraa two years ago, I approached several schools across the country and they were all hesitant to discuss politics, and barring a few exceptions, most were opposed to the idea of bringing politicians to speak to their students. Some of them were worried that the parents would have issues if we discussed politics. Others were worried that it might make them come across as partisan.
So, unless a child is from a political family, where do they get the exposure to what politics in practice looks like?
Unfortunately, we do not have too many organizations that create that space for young adults, and young girls in particular are sort of “shielded” from politics. I believe that we should start young to avoid building/reinforcing gendered stereotypes about politics.
What was the highlight of the program for you?
We ran a “campaign simulation” inspired by the high school program run by Running Start in the US, where participants were asked to form political parties, and design election campaigns for a mock district - this part of the program was the highlight for me.
Participants were divided into three groups and they came up with their party names, logos, fundraising pitches and campaign ads. We invited a few politicians to talk about how they design campaigns and share their learnings with the participants. The idea of 15-year-old girls thinking of running for elections and campaigning for what they thought was important was really powerful for me.
(For those who’d like, all the campaign ads from the Ambassador program are available here.)
What have been some of the biggest learning(s) for you from the Ambassadors program?
My biggest learning is that we need to keep doing more of this. The participants spoke about how before this program they did not have a platform to discuss politics in a peer group or talk about issues such as gender and disabilities in politics. This was the first time many of the participants were interacting with politicians and could ask them questions that had an impact on them.
One of the participants also spoke about how politics seems less complicated to her after the fellowship, which was a big win for me.
"After attending this fellowship, politics seems less complicated to me. I know how to organize a campaign, what things to keep in mind and what not to do. I also recognize the role of various stakeholders involved in an election campaign be it investors, community leaders, minorities etc. Stimulating a campaign is a creative process and we as a team put our creativity and marketing skills to test. From creating the fundraising pitch to campaign video, we thoroughly enjoyed each and every part of it.”
How do you plan to take this work forward?
India’s next general election is less than a year away – politics will be centrestage in many conversations: from campaign trails, newsrooms, social media to drawing rooms. My goal is a humble one - in the run-up to this election, I’d like Kuviraa to build a community of 100 Ambassadors, many of them will be first-time voters, to be politically aware, engaged and who can encourage their peers to discuss politics.
This interview is part of our ongoing series that aims to understand the work being done by different initiatives working to close the gender gaps in politics in different parts of the world. The interviews are not meant to be an endorsement of any individual, initiative or political viewpoint.