Leadership for social change means modeling behavior: UNICEF

Hyderabad: Leadership for social change means modelling behaviour. Persons leading the community must address resistance to immunisation, girl education and general health.

These were the views expressed by Siddhartha Shrestha, Chief of Communication for Development (C4D), UNICEF India on Wednesday in Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU).

Siddhartha and his colleagues from UNICEF addressed religious and social leaders from the Muslim community in a programme organised under 'Leadership for Social Change', a partnership project of UNICEF and MANUU. Prof. S. M. Rahmatullah, Registrar, MANUU presided over the programme and appreciated the initiative and thanked guests from UNICEF for choosing MANUU for the project. According to Project Director Prof. Mohammad Fariyad, the project is a pilot study in select GHMS wards of Hyderabad with the potential to be scaled up across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. He said, "We want to take religious scholars and leaders on board for the health awareness campaign in the community."

Addressing the programme as chief guest, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Telangana president Hamid Mohammad Khan remarked that misconceptions related to health is being spread on social media. He said that the problem of sanitation in Hyderabad in Muslim dominated areas has two layers: lack of awareness and bias of administration. He urged religious leaders and imams to use Friday sermons to bring awareness on health and hygiene.