MUMBAI: EmpowHER India recently collaborated with Metro Brands Ltd, on a project to distribute quality footwear to young Adivasi adolescent girls in most rural parts of Karjat Taluka in Raigad District.
The Pandemic has severely impacted millions of Indians across the country, crippling our healthcare system, destroying livelihoods and caused an unprecedented loss of life. An important and ignored segment of the society is Young adolescent girls who were severely impacted too- both emotionally and financially. Social isolation added to domestic responsibility, loss of learning has had an unfathomable socio-emotional impact on this group.
As empowHER India closely works with young adolescent girls under their ‘Adolescent Girls Program’, they decided to partner with Metro Brands Ltd that has footwear brands like Mochi, Metro and Walkway under its umbrella. Together they distributed footwear to 700 girls who have to walk long distances to attend school, help the family in the agricultural fields and bear the burden of fetching drinking water every day across 34 villages in Karjat. This small but noble effort was warmly received by the girls and their parents.
Speaking about the initiative, Anamara Baig, CEO from empowHER said, “We realized the need to uplift the spirits of adolescent girls at a time when hope is scarce. At one time or the other, we have all felt the joy and excitement of receiving a new pair of shoes. However, for these girls, this small pleasure has never been part of their experience. Their footwear is always a hand-me-down, very often from their brothers. Having good footwear goes far beyond just appearing in the life of an adolescent girl who undertakes household responsibility from quite an early age.”
During monsoons, it became even more relevant to provide footwear to these not-so-fortunate girls between the age group of 10 to 19 years.
Aziz Fidai, Head CSR from Metro Brands Ltd added, “In this time of distress, we aim to provide relief to marginalized sections of our society. Footwear distribution for young girls is a small endeavor towards the same. It was heartwarming to see their smiles on receiving the footwear. We hope to continue extending our support, however big or small to similar causes or organizations.”
Established in 1947, Metro Brands Ltd. is a contemporary Indian fashion footwear and accessories brand, that provides a refreshed range for all occasions with great quality and comfort. Be it casuals, trendy footwear, workwear, or bling & embellished footwear for parties, festive or weddings, Metro Brands Ltd. provides a wide range of footwear for the entire family. In addition to men’s, women’s, and kids’ footwear, it also has a wide range of handbags, belts, wallets, etc. The Metro footwear range is specially curated based on regional sensitivity to cater to the needs of different regions.
As of March 2021, Metro shoes has a wide network of 219 stores across 119 cities. Metro Shoes is one of the flagship brands of Metro Brands Ltd. Metro Brands Ltd, which has a network of 586 stores, across over 135 cities. It houses brands like Metro Shoes, Mochi, Walkway and operates retail stores for Crocs.
empowHER India works for women’s empowerment in rural villages of Maharashtra. Women and young girls are the main beneficiaries of all our initiatives. As an organization, our theory of change is that by empowering women, we can positively transform communities. Over the past 28 years, we have worked in Panvel in the area of education, financial inclusion, access to sanitation facilities, and clean water for rural women. And most recently we introduced a program for the holistic development of rural adolescent girls at Karjat.
