Veerni: A Journey of Enlightenment and Empowerment

The young woman was weaving a shawl. Jacqueline offered to purchase this square of colourful fabric, a few coins jingled on the table. A man immediately appeared and took the money. In 1993 Jacqueline de Chollet founded The Veerni Project (Veer Ni, ’the brave woman’ in Hindi) which strives to uplift women and girls, to break the cycle of poverty and gender inequality, and provide them with essential skills and knowledge through the establishment of a program to attend good secondary schools - universal secondary education being a sustainable goal of the United Nations - as well as training centres and healthcare facilities. Secondary schooling is often unavailable in many rural settings particularly in the desert area of Rajasthan. By fostering self reliance and promoting women’s rights through education, this uplifting story sheds a light on how such endeavours aim to create a sustainable impact on the lives of women, fostering a brighter future for generations to come so that women’s voices can be heard in their communities and their countries. This cultural and sociological adventure takes on a global dimension on the role of women, their struggles, their future and their hopes. These brave women will make the world a better place for all.

Born in Paris, Jacqueline de Chollet spent her childhood in Fribourg, Switzerland where she discovered the contradictions of a Catholic and misogynistic society, but one open to the world. In the United States, under the leadership of a dynamic mother, she understood the scope of the feminist fight. She continues to fight everywhere to make women’s voices heard. Over the past forty years she has been active in the fields of women’s health, social justice, education, public housing and the arts, including founding the Global Foundation for Humanity and the Fondation Veerni, and as a board member of the International Rescue Committee UK, and a Commissioner for the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, New York.