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IWWAGE-Institute for What Works to Advance Gender Equality

Research Process Documentation

The Gender Justice Program (GJP), implemented by ANANDI in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MPSRLM), aimed to empower rural women in the Sheopur and Karhal blocks of Madhya Pradesh from 2019 to 2021. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the SWAYAM initiative, with IWWAGE as the coordination and learning partner, GJP worked to ensure women’s access to rights and entitlements by strengthening community institutions like Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) and Village Organisations (VOs).

The program’s strategy focused on mainstreaming gender into MPSRLM systems, creating gender-responsive spaces within community institutions, and training a cadre of women leaders known as “Samta Sakhis”. These women facilitated social action on critical issues such as domestic violence, land rights, pensions, and healthcare, while also fostering connections between rural women and local governance.

Through capacity-building initiatives and continued support, the Samta Sakhis grew into confident community leaders. Their work during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond has been instrumental in securing entitlements for rural communities, showcasing their dedication to bringing lasting social change

Research Case Studies Hindi

यह प्रकाशन मध्य प्रदेश के श्योपुर और करहल ब्लॉकों में जेंडर जस्टिस कार्यक्रम (GJP) के तहत नियुक्त समता सखियों की परिवर्तनकारी यात्रा का वर्णन करता है। यह कार्यक्रम 2019 से 2021 तक CSO आनंदी द्वारा मध्य प्रदेश राज्य ग्रामीण आजीविका मिशन (MPSRLM) के साथ साझेदारी में और बिल एंड मेलिंडा गेट्स फाउंडेशन (BMGF) के समर्थन से SWAYAM पहल के अंतर्गत कार्यान्वित किया गया, जिसमें IWWAGE समन्वय और सीखने का भागीदार था।

जेंडर जस्टिस कार्यक्रम का उद्देश्य महिलाओं को सशक्त बनाना और सामुदायिक संस्थानों जैसे क्लस्टर स्तरीय महासंघ (CLF), ग्राम संगठन (VO) और स्वयं सहायता समूह (SHG) को सशक्त करना था, ताकि जेंडर प्रशिक्षण प्रदान किया जा सके और सामाजिक मुद्दों पर चर्चा को प्रोत्साहित किया जा सके। समता सखियों ने जमीनी स्तर पर इस प्रयास का नेतृत्व किया, इन सामुदायिक संस्थानों के साथ मिलकर जागरूकता फैलाने और सामाजिक परिवर्तन को प्रोत्साहित करने में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाई।

श्योपुर में पायलट कार्यक्रम की सफलता के बाद, MPSRLM ने GJP को 18 जिलों में, 19 ब्लॉकों और 60 CLF को कवर करते हुए, विस्तार करने का निर्णय लिया। यह रिपोर्ट पायलट चरण के दौरान, नवंबर 2019 से मार्च 2021 तक, समता सखियों के अनुभवों और परियोजना के विराम अवधि (अप्रैल–अगस्त 2021) के कुछ विचारों को दर्ज करती है।

चार समता सखियों और एक मास्टर ट्रेनर की व्यक्तिगत कहानियों के माध्यम से, प्रकाशन यह दर्शाता है कि उन्होंने अपने समुदायों में कितने महत्वपूर्ण बदलाव किए, उनके व्यक्तिगत संघर्षों की कहानी और ग्रामीण विकास में सामुदायिक संस्थानों की भूमिका। रिपोर्ट दो भागों में विभाजित है, जिसमें कार्यक्रम के प्रभाव का गहन विश्लेषण और परिवर्तन की सशक्त कहानियाँ प्रस्तुत की गई हैं, जो यह दर्शाती हैं कि ग्रामीण विकास में महिला नेताओं की कितनी महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका है।

Research Case Studies English

This publication chronicles the transformative journeys of Samta Sakhis, Community Resource Persons (CRPs) for Gender, appointed under the Gender Justice Programme (GJP) in Sheopur and Karhal blocks of Sheopur district, Madhya Pradesh. Implemented by the CSO ANANDI from 2019 to 2021, in partnership with the Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MPSRLM) and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) through the SWAYAM initiative, the programme was piloted with IWWAGE as the coordination and learning partner.

The Gender Justice Programme aimed to empower women and strengthen community institutions such as Cluster Level Federations (CLFs), Village Organisations (VOs), and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by providing gender training and facilitating discussions on social issues. Samta Sakhis led this effort at the grassroots level, working closely with these community institutions to foster awareness and drive social change.

The success of the pilot in Sheopur led to the GJP being scaled up by MPSRLM across 18 districts, covering 19 blocks and 60 CLFs. This report captures the experiences and impact of the Samta Sakhis during the pilot stage, from November 2019 to March 2021, along with reflections from the project break period (April–August 2021).

Through personal narratives of four Samta Sakhis and one Master Trainer, the publication highlights the significant changes they spearheaded in their communities, their personal struggles, and the role of community institutions in advancing gender justice. Divided into two sections, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the programme’s impact and presents powerful stories of change, demonstrating the critical role women leaders play in rural development.

Proof of concept

The Gender Justice Program (GJP), implemented by ANANDI in partnership with the Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MPSRLM), was a two-year initiative aimed at integrating gender into MPSRLM’s institutions to advance rural women’s rights and entitlements. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under the SWAYAM initiative, with IWWAGE serving as the coordination and learning partner, GJP was one of four gender pilots launched across India.

Focusing on Sheopur and Karhal blocks in Madhya Pradesh, the GJP embedded gender strategies within MPSRLM structures to empower rural women through community institutions. This Proof of Concept report outlines the pathways of change, strategies, and outcomes of the GJP from April 2019 to March 2021, drawing insights from process documentation conducted by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).

The report explores how the program fostered gender integration and presents a roadmap for scaling the GJP model across the State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs) in other states. It highlights the program’s successes and offers valuable recommendations for strengthening gender-responsive systems across rural livelihoods programmes.

Needs Assessment of Childcare Facilities

This report, conducted by IWWAGE in collaboration with SEWA, explores the critical need for childcare in remote tribal areas of India, covering districts in Gujarat, Odisha, Kerala, and Meghalaya. The study focuses on how the lack of quality childcare services impacts mothers’ ability to engage in paid employment, particularly following the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights the “double burden” that women face—managing domestic responsibilities while striving to earn a livelihood. Findings reveal significant gaps in childcare facilities, with many women relying on informal, unpaid care arrangements. The report stresses the urgent need for improved, accessible Early Childhood Development (ECD) services that not only support mothers’ workforce participation but also ensure the well-being and cognitive development of children. This study provides valuable insights into the barriers women in rural and tribal areas face and calls for targeted policy interventions to close the gap in childcare services.

SWAYAM Process Evaluation

The Strengthening Women’s Institutions for Agency and Empowerment (SWAYAM) programme is being implemented in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, aimed at empowering women by strengthening collectives. IWWAGE, an initiative of LEAD at Krea University, provides technical assistance to the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), with IDinsight conducting the evaluation.

This report presents IDinsight’s final evaluation findings, offering insights and recommendations for future rollout. The evaluation assessed whether SWAYAM’s activities were implemented as intended based on the Theory of Change (TOC). Two rounds of phone surveys (2021 and 2022) measured key indicators related to women’s empowerment, with the second round including qualitative surveys with stakeholders to understand the role of Gender Resource Centres (GRCs).

Key activities in Round 2 included updating the TOC, defining indicators, and revising survey instruments. Topics covered included SWAYAM training, gender-based violence, and economic and political empowerment. This report provides insights to improve SWAYAM’s implementation and increase its impact on women’s empowerment.

Why do women depend less on informal sources for job search than men?

The latest PLFS round reveals that job search methods differ between men and women with women relying more on formal sources of job searches than men. The formal job search methods include applying to prospective employers/places, answering job advertisements, checking at factories, and work sites, registering with employment exchanges, and registering with private employment centres. In contrast, informal sources comprise personal networks, including relatives and friends. According to PLFS 2021-22, 76% of unemployed men are looking for a job through formal channels, whereas 87% of unemployed women, a much higher share, are resorting to formal sources for the job search. 20% of unemployed men are using their informal networks to find a job, and the share comes down to a much lower 12% in case of women. The rest of the unemployed are either seeking finance for starting a business or applying for a permit to start a business. This blog explores the reasons behind women’s preference for formal sources for job search over informal ones.  

Informal networks, as a social resource in job search, provide access to more valuable information which are unavailable through formal means. As a result, informal networks are often more efficient to navigate individuals into better job matches with higher job satisfaction and earnings more quickly. PLFS data corroborates this view of network efficacy as it is observed that women searching for a job through informal sources face a shorter duration of unemployment than those depending on formal sources. Among the unemployed women currently looking for a job through a formal source, more than 30% women face a spell of unemployment of more than 2 years and for 18% women, the duration of the spell of unemployment has been more than 3 years at that time of survey. On the other hand, only 15% of the unemployed women who use the informal sources for job search, had a duration of a spell of unemployment of more than two years, and only 8% of them faced a spell of unemployment of more than three years.

Despite informal networks being more effective, women depending more on formal job search methods as compared to men, have several causes and implications. Informal networks are powerful for job-hunting when they can grant access to a more heterogeneous set of people, located in various sectoral and occupational positions. With the diversity of people in network, the non-redundancy of job information and the effectiveness of one’s network rises. Also, with higher socio-economic status of one’s informal contacts, the chances of receiving information about highly paid jobs, jobs in higher social stature, increase. However, the composition of women’s informal network is often found to differ from men. With a much higher share of family responsibilities and less participation in the workforce, women have limited exposure to diverse group of contacts. Marriage further limits their informal connections due to the cultural restrictions preventing freedom of interactions with outsiders. Also, with gender homophily i.e. the preference of interactions with persons of their own gender, the informal networks are often gender-segregated with women’s network being predominantly consisting of women only. Additionally, due to the existing gender-based segregation in the labour market, women’s presence is low in high-wage, high-skill sectors and occupations. Thus, in a gender-segregated network, women get limited access to information about the high-skill, highly-paid jobs. These factors together explain why fewer women in comparison to men, find their informal network to be effective for job search and majority follows the formal search methods. However, women who had worked previously tend to depend on their informal network more than those who never worked as often due to the exposure associated with their work experience they tend to have more diverse informal contacts and an effective source of information for job opportunities.

 

 As placements through informal routes often tend to reinforce the existing gender-based occupational and industrial segregation, women with higher education depend more on formal sources in an attempt to escape the trap of female ghettoization in low-paid jobs. The PLFS data reveal that among women without any literacy, 48% depended on informal sources, with the dependence coming down to 17% for women with primary and below primary level of education, 22% for women with middle to higher-secondary level of education, and only 8% for women with graduation and post-graduation level of education. For the urban areas, women with basic and intermediate level of education depends relatively more on informal networks as compared to their rural counterparts. This indicates that for the semi-skill occupations, women’s informal network is relatively more effective in urban areas than rural areas. But again, for women with education level of graduation, post-graduation and above, the dependence is very less on their informal network in both rural and urban areas. Although for men too, the reliance on the informal network gets reduced with increase in education level, the decline is starker for women. This diminishing dependence on informal network for more educated women aspiring for better paid white-collar jobs appropriate to their education levels, points towards their gender-segregated informal network as a less effective source of information. 

However, as revealed by the PLFS data, even among the highly educated women, expectedly looking for high-skill, highly-paid jobs, those who have dependable informal network and thus explore that, face a shorter spell of unemployment as compared to those who depend on formal sources. Among women with education level of graduation, post-graduation and above, around 30% women faced a spell of unemployment of more than two years and 17% are looking for a job for more than three years, as they depended on formal sources of job-hunting. On the other hand, only 16% faced a spell of unemployment for more two years and only 5% for more than three years when these highly qualified women looked for jobs though informal sources. This indicates that informal networks when can be depended on for high-skill jobs too, can be more effective as compared to formal sources.

The findings from PLFS indicate the need of recognition of the lack of social capital for women and their exclusion from male-dominated influential informal ties and networks. Women are not a homogeneous group and there exist many other cross-cutting socio-economic factors among them determining their reach to the informal contacts instrumental to gender-balanced jobs. Even after considering these factors, women across all sections are in a disadvantageous position. This is majorly due to the gendered nature of social network and women’s poorer structural location in the jobs market ladder. With the job search method often playing a crucial role in reinforcing the existing gender-based occupational and industrial segregation by leading to women’s concentration in women-dominated jobs, few measures on part of the government and Civil Society Organisations might prove helpful. For example, developing strategies to form networking groups that will help women establish the right connections by making ‘women in powerful positions’ a part of these groups; sensitisation about the often consciously created resistance to women’s integration to the influential network, might be undertaken to address these concerns at least partially.

 

Author: Bidisha Mondal is a Research Fellow at IWWAGE. 

Emerging Priorities in the Care Sector: Opportunities for Indias G20 Presidency

Care work-both paid and unpaid-plays a vital role in supporting economies and societies. However, it is predominantly shouldered by women, which limits their ability to participate in the formal workforce. As India assumes the G20 presidency, there is an opportunity to spotlight the care sector as a driver of gender-responsive development.

This brief explores the potential of the care economy, highlighting the need for investments in care infrastructure and care workers. By recognising care as a critical sector, and investing in childcare, elder care, and support for persons with disabilities, India can unlock new economic opportunities for women. Adequate investments in infrastructure and trained care workers can reduce the burden on women, enabling them to access employment and contribute to the economy.

The brief also calls for public and private sector collaboration to enhance social security, fair wages, and decent working conditions for care workers. Addressing the invisibility of unpaid care work through better measurement tools is key to acknowledging women’s contributions and integrating care work into economic policies.

Hybrid Work and its Effect on Womens Labour Force Participation

The COVID-19 pandemic redefined workspaces globally, with many organisations adopting hybrid work models that offer employees flexibility between working from home and in the office. In India, this shift holds potential to increase women’s participation in the workforce, as hybrid work can help women balance care responsibilities, safety concerns, and mobility challenges. However, it also presents unique challenges for women, including increased stress, burnout, and a heavier burden of unpaid care work.

This policy review highlights the need for gender-inclusive hybrid work policies, drawing on global best practices and insights from 60 countries. It reveals that while hybrid models are becoming the norm, there is a lack of specific provisions addressing women’s unique needs. In India, the absence of comprehensive remote work policies and gender-responsive guidelines further complicates the situation, despite some initiatives like the Maternity Benefit Act and the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act extending protection to remote work.

This publication calls for concerted efforts by both government and private sectors to develop gender-responsive hybrid work policies. Recommendations include transparent compensation policies, clear communication channels, flexible evaluation systems, childcare support, and training for managers to ensure a gender-inclusive work environment. By adopting these measures, organisations can minimise attrition, maximise retention, and create a more equitable hybrid workplace for women.