Newsletter
SAVE THE DATE
21
October
2020, Wed
10 AM ET | 3 PM BST
| 7:30 PM IST
Mechanisms in
Women’s Groups
Interventions:
Findings from two
recent reviews
SPEAKERS:
- Lu Gram, University College London
- Seema Jayachandran, Northwestern University
- Lucia Diaz-Martin, J-PAL
In Discussion with:
- Agnes Quisumbing, International Food Policy Research Institute
- Nirmala Nair, EKJUT
- Ben Cislaghi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Moderated by:
- Amber Peterman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Hosted by: Evidence Consortium on Women's Groups [ECWG] | UCL Centre for the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents
Watch a webinar that ECWG co-PI, Dr Thomas de Hoop, recently spoke at
This session explores how community/women groups are coping up with COVID-19 and discusses strategies to support women's groups and collectives for the transition to economic institutions and longer-term local economic recovery.
Recent research on women’s groups
Community-based savings groups, women’s agency, and maternal health service utilisation: Evidence from Mozambique
This study, using data collected as part of an ongoing programme evaluation, investigates whether participation in Saving Groups (SGs)—a community-owned microfinance intervention focused on poor households – is associated with maternal health service utilisation, and whether this association is mediated by women’s agency – as measured by self-efficacy and decision-making autonomy.
Health management committee strengthening and community mobilisation through women’s groups to improve trained health worker attendance at birth in rural Nepal: a cluster randomised controlled trial
This study is a cluster randomised controlled trial to test the impact of strengthened health management committees (HMCs) and community mobilisation through women’s groups on institutional deliveries and deliveries by trained health workers in rural Nepal.
If Only I Knew: Nutrition Behavior Change Delivered by Women's Groups Has Impacts on Diet Quality That Are Mediated by Knowledge in Rural Bihar, India
This study looks at the effectiveness of SHGs being leveraged to integrate health and nutrition discussions into their activities by conducting a cluster randomized impact evaluation.
Child Labor and Schooling Decisions among Self-Help Groups Members in Rural India
This paper investigates the impact of informal microfinance groups (self-help groups, or SHGs) on children’s education and work in rural India.
Learning and savings groups in Bangladesh: an alternative model for transforming families and communities
This chapter describes Food for the Hungry’s "Family and Community Transformation" (FCT) programme as an alternative model to the traditional microcredit approach to development through its emphasis on internal savings, holistic training, and the build-up of community-wide social capital.
©Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Prashant Panjiar
News and commentary on Women’s Groups in a time of global pandemic
Savings groups can tackle financial precarity in Goma’s woman-headed households
AVECs are associations that provide credit and savings options for members to expand their small businesses or manage financial shocks. This blog recommends that AVECS formalise and expand across the Democratic Republic of Congo.
What Happens When We Take Women Seriously? How to Implement Savings Groups To Achieve Gender Equality
This blog shares key insights from CARE’s recent publication, "Assessing the Viability of Savings Groups as a Vehicle for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Africa" with findings from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia.
A New Mission for an Old Model: Unlocking Sustainable Water Through Savings Groups
Read about "The Water Trust" project training Village Savings and Loan Associations , adapting its methodology to enable saving for shared community water points in rural Uganda.
Kalagala Women's Group on their Maize Growing enterprise
Watch members of a women group talk about their experience with ActionAid International Uganda's program in Myanzi, Bagezza and Butoloogo sub counties, providing trainings on life skills and economic literacy, savings, credit, gender, rights and enterprise-tailored trainings for their respective group businesses.
Empowered milk: How 'swakrushi' milk is empowering India's women livestock keepers
This film tells the story of the Mulukanoor Women’s Cooperative Dairy in Telangana, India, which has evolved into one of India’s more successful dairy businesses, producing milk and milk products on a 24/7 basis.
©Gates Archive/Mansi Midha
Globally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person events are discouraged and are currently on hold. During this period, we will share information on online events.
Featured Events:
Online Webinar
October 26-October 30, 2020 - 11 am - 3 pm ET
The 2020 SEEP Annual Conference focuses on the theme "Disruptive Collaboration: navigating a radically uncertain world". The conference will be powered by four technical streams: Stream 1: The Nexus Imperative for Market-Based Programming Stream 2: Financial Inclusion: COVID-19 & Risks to Four Decades of Progress Stream 3: Savings Groups at the Frontlines of COVID-19 Stream 4: The Promise and Perils of Inclusion in a New World
The Gendered and Social Dynamics of Digital Savings Groups
Online Webinar
October 14, 2020 - 12:00 pm - 1 pm (ET)
This webinar will explore the gendered and social dynamics of digital Savings Groups, based on a six-month study by the International Center for Research on Women. In this webinar, project partners will present findings and key insights in three specific areas: 1) The gendered effects of digital Savings Group solutions 2) Rethinking key roles within digital Savings Groups 3) The different impacts of transitioning mature groups to digital vs. forming new digital Savings Groups