World YWCA Day was celebrated by YWCA of Shimla on the theme ‘Every Safe Space Has a Story’ on 24.04.2023 at 11:30 AM at YWCA, The Mall, Shimla. The General Secretary, Ms. Rohini Singh; welcomed all the participants and highlighted the power of the YWCA Safe Spaces in promoting mental health and emotional well-being practices. (World YWCA Day Celebrated On Safe Spaces And Mental Health by YWCA of Simla)
On this occasion, Mrs. Vidhupriya Chakravarty, President of the YWCA of Simla congratulated everyone present and spoke on how YWCAs around the world provide a safe space where women, young women and girls can openly share their experiences, challenges and traumas, and be assured of confidentiality and support.
A session on Mental Health was led by Ms. Muskan Sharma (Counselling Psychologist). She focussed on how talking openly about mental health can reduce the misconceptions and stigma, and can encourage those who are suffering to seek help and find a support network and how it’s important for caregivers, friends, and loved ones to understand the impact that mental health has on daily life.
This one-hour session on ‘Safe Spaces’ provided a social platform for people of all age groups to interact with each other, to share their views in a group and to take action or find solutions to common issues that they face. This also raised awareness on mental health continuum and promoted emotional well-being practices which inspired students to create a more inclusive environment reducing stigma surrounding mental health.
The programme concluded with an interactive discussion. Students of various schools and colleges including St. Thomas’ School, Auckland House School, DAV Lakkar Bazar, Govt. Sr. Sec. School for Girls (Lakkar bazar), Loreto Convent Tara Hall, Sambhota Tibetan School, Monal Public School, RKMV, Shimla also participated in the programme.
