Newsletter
From the ECWG Team
WEBINAR: WOMEN'S GROUPS AND COVID-19: IMPACT CHALLENGES AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
In a policy brief released in the early stages of the COVID pandemic in June 2020, the Evidence Consortium on Women's Groups (ECWG) examined the implications of the pandemic and the lockdown for women's groups.
What have we learned since then? How has the COVID pandemic affected women's groups, and how have these groups helped mitigate the negative consequences of the health crisis?
The ECWG and SEEP on April 13 held a webinar for a discussion on women's groups and COVID, with the Africa Centre for Systematic Reviews, the American Institutes for Research, the Population Council, IWWAGE, and the World Bank.
The ECWG presented the findings of reports on the impacts of COVID on women's groups in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, followed by a panel discussion on the implications and policy recommendations for development organizations and governments.
ECWG WORKING PAPERS
Women's Groups, Covariate Shocks, and Resilience: An Evidence Synthesis of Past Shocks to Inform a Response to COVID-19
Interventions with women’s groups are increasingly seen as an important strategy for advancing women’s empowerment, health, and economic outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, with the potential to increase the resiliency of members and their communities during widespread covariate shocks, such as COVID-19. This evidence synthesis compiles evidence from past shocks on women’s group activities and the extent to which women’s groups mitigate the effects of shocks on members and communities. We reviewed 90 documents from academic databases, organizational reports, and additional gray literature, and included literature diverse in geography, type of women’s group, and shock. We found that covariate shocks tend to disrupt group activities and reduce group resources, but linkages to formal institutions can mitigate this impact by extending credit beyond the shock-affected resource pool. Evidence was largely supportive of women’s groups providing resilience to members and communities, though findings varied according to shock severity, group purpose and structure, and outcome measures. Actions to support individual resilience during a shock, such as increased payment flexibility, may run counter to group resilience, however. The findings of the evidence synthesis are largely consistent with emerging evidence about women’s groups and COVID-19 in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. We finalize the paper with a discussion on policy implications including the importance of sustainable access to financial resources for women’s group members; equity considerations surrounding the distribution of group benefits and burdens; and the potential for meaningful partnerships between women’s groups and local governments and/or NGOs to enhance community response amidst crises.
Adolescent Girls’ and Young Women’s Economic Empowerment Programs: Emerging Insights From a Review of Review
This review of reviews aimed to assess what interventions, especially group-based interventions, show promise in economically empowering adolescent girls and young women in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). In addition, we examined the promise of specific economic components, combinations of components, and core topics. We searched five databases as well as other sources and identified 2,467 citations, resulting in 17 reviews, 10 of which quantified their results. We found too little evidence to classify any of the examined interventions as clearly “effective.” None of the reviews found negative effects or harmful findings, however. Most intervention–outcome pairings were unknown; that is, they were not examined by reviews. While we identified some intervention approaches that were promising, the review findings suggest extensive research gaps in terms of program content, implementation, and measurement.
©Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Jane Hahn
Recent research on women’s groups
Potential of organizing unmarried adolescent girls and young women into self-help groups for a better transition to adulthood: Findings from a cross-sectional study in India
It is essential to equip adolescents with the right information and appropriate skills for a quality transition to their adulthood. This study examines the individual agency of unmarried adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) who were organized into self-help groups (SHG) as compared to those who were not in groups.
Influence of resource mobilization on economic empowerment of women groups of Moiben sub-county, Uasin Gishu county
Microfinance is increasingly being considered as one of the most effective tools of reducing poverty. Almost all micro-financial institutions give loans to their members, and many offer insurance, deposit and other services. However, the concept of microfinance with its potential to generate profits and improve the economic status of the poor is yet to be achieved. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to establish the influence of resource mobilization on the economic empowerment of women groups of Moiben sub-county, Uasin Gishu County.
Characteristics of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) Participants in Ghana: Evidence from Asunafo North Municipality of Ghana
This study investigates the characteristics of ROSCA participants in Ghana, evidence from Asunafo North Municipality of Ghana. Open and closed ended questionnaire were administered to 400 ROSCA participants. Both purposive and convenient sampling techniques were employed for the study. it was found that females, married individuals, people with no or low level of education, people who are not financially constraint, the poor and people who receives extra financial assistance are the main characteristics of ROSCA participants in Ghana
Effect of nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions with participatory videos and women's group meetings on maternal and child nutritional outcomes in rural Odisha, India (UPAVAN trial): a four-arm, observer-blind, cluster-randomised controlled trial
Almost a quarter of the world's undernourished people live in India. The study tested the effects of three nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) interventions on maternal and child nutrition in India through a a parallel, four-arm, observer-blind, cluster-randomised trial in Keonjhar district, Odisha, India.
©Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Sanjit Das
News and commentary on Women’s Groups
How Women's Self-Help Groups Are Negotiating For Jobs, Power & Space
MNREGS is going beyond its conventional role of acting as a source of rural employment for women to becoming a platform to place demands for village community work, to negotiate for space and power with gram panchayats and for networking.
Fighting Malnutrition: UP Govt To Engage 68,000 Women Self Help Groups To Implement Take Home Ration Scheme
To solve the problem of bad quality ration or no ration reaching the beneficiaries, the Uttar Pradesh government has roped in 68,000 self-help women group & given them the duty of tackling malnutrition in the state.
Egypt’s NCW launches new program for women’s financial empowerment in countryside
Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) launched the ‘Women’s Empowerment and Financial and Economic Inclusion in Rural Egypt: COVID-19 Response’ program, marking the celebrations of International Women’s Day. The newly launched project tackles obstacles to women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment by investing in the scale up and digitalization of a successful initiative, known as Village Savings and Loans Associations [VSLA] for women.
'Ranchi ki Roshni' to provide solar-powered lamps to NDRF men across India
Women-run self-help groups (SHG) in Ranchi is helping build portable solar-powered lamps for the personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), India's premier agency for rescue missions at the time of natural and manmade disasters.
Featured Event
Savings for Transformation (S4T) eWorkshop
Date: August 11-November 21, 2021
Location: Online
The S4T eWorkshop is a 14-week facilitated online learning programme. Designed to support practitioners whilst implementing their programmes, the workshop steps participants through the key phases of S4T using case studies, reflection on practice and group work, drawing on the experience of its participants and guided by leading S4T experts. In addition, the learning community provides “just in time” peer to peer support to practitioners implementing S4T.