From the ECWG Team

Evaluating the Effects of Interventions With Women’s Groups on Health Outcomes

Led by Sapna Desai, Lu Gram, Neha Kumar, and Audrey Prost, this document presents an ECWG guidance tool for evaluations of the effect of interventions with women’s groups on health outcomes. We complement existing tools for intervention design, evaluation, and reporting in public health with guidance and resources specific to women’s groups. The tool covers: choosing health outcome measures; identifying the appropriate scope of measurement; minimizing risk of bias; and process evaluation and reporting.

Working with Women’s Groups to Improve Nutrition in India

In this commentary piece, Sapna Desai and Kalyani Raghunathan discuss a comprehensive literature review that summarizes what is known about the implementation and effectiveness of women’s groups in improving nutrition outcomes, and highlights key areas that the next generation of studies could focus on, both from implementation and evaluation standpoints. They conclude that women’s groups are undoubtedly widespread; our focus now should be on building robust evidence on how to actualize their substantial potential.

©Gates Archive/Saumya Khandelwal

From Our Partners

Register 

Join LEAD at Krea University and IWWAGE for a webinar that presents emerging evidence on how digital solutions can empower women’s collectives and improve their access to livelihood opportunities.

Women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations hold the promise of being transformative change agents for their social and economic empowerment. Digital solutions have the potential to accelerate this progress by improving women’s access to social protection, markets, credit, and improving their book-keeping practices. This webinar will convene key stakeholders to share preliminary insights from the portfolio of research, implementation, and evaluation activities that the Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE) and LEAD at Krea University are implementing in Chhattisgarh in partnership with the State Rural Livelihoods Mission (Bihan). The program is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The event will provide an opportunity to discuss these findings with a curated audience.

Agenda

7:30 PM to 7:35 PM: Welcome and Introduction

7:35 PM to 7:50 PM: Introduction to the Haqdarshak Model - Aniket Doegar, Founder and CEO, Haqdarshak

7:50 PM to 8:05 PM: Early findings from Haqdarshak program evaluation - Fabrizio Valenti, Head-Financial Inclusion, LEAD at Krea University

8:05 PM to 8:20 PM: Insights from the Mor Awaz Use-case - Charity Troyer Moore, Director for South Asia Economics Research at Yale University's MacMillan Center

8:20 PM to 8:35 PM: Information flows among women collectives - Giorgia Barboni, Assistant Professor, Warwick University

8:35 PM to 9:00 PM: Moderated Question and Answer session

Impact of Covid-19 on Rural SHG Women in Odisha

This report presents findings from the study, ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Rural SHG Women in Odisha’, conducted by the Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE) and Project Concern International (PCI). The main objectives of this study were to (i) study the overall impacts on women’s well-being during and post the lockdown period, and (ii) understand SHG participation in COVID-19 response activities.

Read the Report 

Creating a Resilient New Normal for Savings Groups

World Vision shares how they are working to support community-level financial institutions and promote grassroots-level transformation of the financial system.

Read the blog here

© Gates Archive/Saumya Khandelwal

Recent research on women’s groups

Women’s Economic Empowerment in India: Policy Landscape on Collective Action

Studies have found that SHGs have a direct impact on issues such as maternal and child health, sanitation practices & financial outcomes of women members. This report explores the question of if policies can help leverage SHGs drive women's empowerment in India.

Women’s involvement in coffee agroforestry value chains

This study assesses Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) impacts and related training on gender equality and women’s access to coffee markets in an ongoing coffee project in northwest Vietnam. The study found significant improvements in decision-making power in categories with previously low participation and increased sharing of domestic responsibilities.

Exploring the impact of a community participatory intervention on women's capability: a qualitative study in Gulu Northern Uganda

Community participatory interventions mobilizing women of childbearing age are an effective strategy to promote maternal and child health. This study explored the perceived impact of this approach on women's capability in Gulu, Northern Uganda.

Empowering Marginalized Women Through Entrepreneurship: Breaking the Barrier

This chapter analyzes positive life changes that have happened through micro-finance-driven entrepreneurship development, including through self-help groups, among a sample of marginalized women in Bangladesh. The chapter is based on both primary and secondary data collected from two villages in Rajshahi district in Bangladesh. The author argues that when poverty is reduced, women are better able to meet their practical gender needs; however, they are not empowered unless they are also able to meet their strategic gender needs.

Financial Behaviour and Growth of Women Groups in Kenya - a Case Study of Joyful Women Organisation Registered Groups in Kajiado County

The objective of the study was to establish the influence of financial literacy on the growth of JOYWO registered women groups in Kajiado County, Kenya. Specific objectives were to investigate the influence of financial knowledge, financial behavior, financial attitude on the growth of JOYWO registered groups in Kajiado County, Kenya.

News and commentary on Women’s Groups

An e-MFP/FIF UK Webinar on ‘Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings’

The Financial Inclusion Forum UK (FIF UK) and the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) jointly hosted an open-to-all expert discussion on the state-of-the-art in savings behaviour and what different financial services providers are doing to innovate in the design and delivery of savings to low-income households and businesses.

Women locked out of sacco management, survey shows

Only six out of 165 chairpersons of deposit-taking savings and credit cooperative societies (DT-Saccos) in Kenya are women, underlining their marginalisation in the day-to-day decision making functions.

How SHGs are powering rural economies and making women independent

Read about how SHGs are empowering women and communities in rural India.

MP women SHG wins PM's praise in Mann ki Baat

Members of an SHG in Madhya Pradesh restarted a rice mill despite financial constraints faced due to the coronavirus induced-lockdown.

Exploring savings: A Short History of Its Origins and Transformation

Read Hans Dieter Seibel, professor emeritus at Cologne University and a former board member of the European Microfinance Platform, talk about the history of savings.

312 SACCOS in Uganda suffer fraud, poor governance

About 312 Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations-SAACOs in Uganda are victims of fraud and poor governance, a report by the Project of Financial Inclusion in Rural Areas-PROFIRA has revealed.