Kshetri Tama represents Indian Women Hawkers at International Conference

Working President of the All India Women Hawkers Federation, Kshetri Tama from Manipur, is representing Indian women hawkers at the 2nd Asian Conference on Finance organized by the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development (AMPDD), which began today in Kathmandu, Nepal. The conference is being held at Dhuku Hall, Radisson Hotel, and will conclude on May 19.
Delegates from 10 Southeast Asian countries, including India, along with representatives from seven field-based organizations, are participating in the conference.
Key topics being discussed include: “Wealth Tax Now! For Economic Justice and Climate Action,” “System Change, Not Climate Change,” “No Climate Justice Without Gender Justice,” and “Climate Finance for 100% Renewable Energy.” The conference also addresses the context and current challenges in transforming international financial architecture as part of the broader struggle for economic and climate justice.
With global climate change impacting weather patterns across Southeast Asia, the conference also focuses on the roles that civil society organizations, women’s groups, hawkers, and trade unions can play in building resilience and driving grassroots climate action.
From Manipur, state departments such as the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, the Imphal Municipal Corporation (IMC), and local market (Keithel) organizations have initiated drives against single-use plastics, reflecting the Manipur government’s growing commitment to environmental sustainability.
Kshetri Tama, alongside market vendors, has played a crucial role in supporting the campaign to ban single-use plastics by promoting awareness, mobilizing community action, and pushing for effective implementation of the ban.
At the conference, Tama is scheduled to speak on the hardships faced by communities due to climate change, with a particular focus on the shifting weather patterns in Manipur and the challenges they pose to women hawkers and informal sector workers.