The fifth Yamin Hazarika Women of Substance Award 2019 will be conferred on social activist Hasina Kharbhih at a function at NEF Law College, Guwahati on July 6.
Meghalaya-based Kharbhih has been working to provide sustainable livelihood in a safe environment for women and children for over 30 years. She is an Ashoka Fellow and Aspen ILI Fellow, founder and managing director of Impulse Social Enterprises and founder chair of Board of Impulse NGO Network.
Kharbhih’s work stands on two pillars: the first is Impulse NGO Network, which was conceptualized in 1987 and is a significant force against human trafficking today; the second pillar is Impulse Social Enterprises which aims to promote local artisans and create sustainable livelihood that helps prevent unsafe migration, which often leads to human trafficking.
Kharbhih has created the nationally and internationally acknowledged Impulse Model (formerly known as The Meghalaya Model) a holistic method to address human trafficking.
The award celebrates the life of Late Yamin Hazarika, a 1977 batch DANIPS (NCT of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Police Service) officer. Hazarika was born in Guwahati to late Sirajul Hussain Hazarika and Shameem Ara Hazarika. Hazarika was a recipient of Nirman and Mahila Shiromani awards.
Yamin Hazarika died on July 24, 1999. She was 43. It was in Bosnia, where she was posted as part of the UN peacekeeping force, that she was found to be suffering from leukaemia.
The earlier recipients of this prestigious award include author and journalist Indrani Raimedhi, athlete Tayabun Nisha, Assamese actor Moloya Goswami and environmental activist Purnima Devi Barman.
The highlight of the function is a panel discussion on a contemporary issue. This year too, a panel discussion on ‘challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in traditional and emerging sectors’ will also be held on the occasion.
