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BBC 100 Women 2017 Tackles Illiteracy

By October 13, 2017Literary Awards, News

What is BBC 100 Women?

BBC 100 Women is an annual, multi-format series examining the role of women in the 21st century. It began in 2013 by BBC Controller Liliane Landor and BBC editor Fiona Crack, to address the under-representation of women in the media.

A survey in 26 different languages was set out and gained responses from women all over the world. Participants of 100 women were chosen to attend a conference in which they discussed challenges they faced in their daily lives. Since the first series they have covered topics such as education, healthcare, equal pay, genital mutilation, domestic violence, and sexual abuse.

Each annual series provides women with a platform to examine every day sexism they face and discuss how to improve the world. Women from all over the globe, and diverse fields of expertise, are included on the BBC 100 Women list. The list includes some celebrities, and many unknown heroic champions of women.

BBC 100 Women




Credit: Article. BBC: 100 Women: Your ideas on tackling female illiteracy

This year the BBC 100 Women list is sectioned into four parts:

  • The glass ceiling
  • Female illiteracy
  • Street harassment
  • Sexism in sport

Throughout the series the 100 women will come together to discuss issues and challenges and find creative ways to tackle the global issues. It is a truly heartening look into how women can change the world for the better.

We have gathered the 5 women from the Female Illiteracy team (#TeamRead) in this blog for your interest; to see the full BBC 100 Women list visit the BBC website (here).

First on the list for #TeamRead is Aditi Avasthi from India.

Aditi is the founder and CEO at Embibe – an edtech platform revolutionising education through tech and data science.

“Running my own business and being able to breathe life into my vision of disrupting the education system using data science and technology makes me more determined to achieve my goals. Patience, persistence and being able to multitask come naturally to me as well as most women so that is a big advantage when starting from scratch.”

Next up is Huynh thi Xam from Vietnam.

The Vietnamese librarian was born with a disability but it has not allowed it to stop her from living her life and supporting others with disabilities. She learned to write using her feet when she was a child, and is currently learning braille in order to help blind readers with their learning.

“I think all disabled people share the same dreams. They want to go to school, to learn to read and write, to be educated like I was. When I was growing up I had those dreams too and I didn’t give up despite many difficulties. So my advice is to be resilient. Try your best and you’ll achieve your goals.”

Indira Rana Magar is a social worker from Nepal.

She gained a place on the BBC 100 Women list for her work with children of prisoners. For 27 years Indira has helped prisoners and their children ‘gain access to education, dignity and a safer childhood’. She is the founder of non-profit organisation Prisoner’s Assistance Nepal and in 2014 was honoured by the World’s Children’s Prize in 2014 for her work.

“I want to help others, especially those who are as poor as I once was. I was scared the first time I went into a prison, I thought the prisoners were dangerous, but I realised they were people, just like the rest of us. Most of them were extremely poor and couldn’t read or write. (The Prison is) a terrible place for children.”

“Every child has their unique light, like a firefly in the darkness.”

Ira Trivedi is an author columnist and yoga expert from India.

She writes both fiction and non fiction books, with her non-fiction and journalism concerning women and gender in India. Her works include India in Love: Marriage and Sexuality in the 21st century, and What Would You Do to Save the World?  among others.

Ira won the prestigious ‘Devi Award’ in 2015, for her dynamic and innovative work. Also in 2015 she was awarded the UK Media Award for the ‘best investigative article dealing with bride trafficking in India’.

“We are so much more than we think we are. Our souls are so very powerful. If only we looked inside ourselves rather than outside and tapped into our infinite potential – this world would be a very different place than it is right now.”

Mariéme Jamme is a Senegalese-born British businesswoman.

Mariéme taught herself to read and write at the age of 16 and is now a self-made businesswoman specialising in technology. Her consultancy company Spotone Global Solutions helps technology companies to set a foothold all over the world from Africa to Asia. Her company has supported organisations such as Google, Microsoft, UN Women, and HSBC Private Banking. She is a regular speaker at Women of the World (WOW), recently named as one of the 100 most influential Africans of 2014 by the Africa Business Magazine, and Forbes Magazine.

“When we invest in girls’ health, safety, education and rights for example- in times of peace and crisis — we empower them to reach for their dreams and build better lives for themselves and their communities. Only when investments in programs for women and girls on issues that particularly affect them — due to both their age and gender — are complemented with corresponding investments in data on girls, can we make real progress towards greater accountability in domains of critical importance to them.”




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