Data Collation, Process, Analysis and Data Digitisation

Founded by Ela Bhatt in 1972, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) works to empower poor women in India’s informal economy by equipping them with the personal confidence, community support, and practical tools necessary to fulfill their needs and exercise their rights. With over 2 million active members across fifteen states, SEWA is a nationwide movement, as well as one of India’s largest and oldest non-profit organizations. SEWA is set apart by its ability to integrate state- and national-level strategies with grassroots values and priorities. Through its close ties to an extensive, diverse, and multigenerational network of members, SEWA brings women together into a supportive network, tailors its wide range of large-scale development programmes to specific community needs at the local level, and provides both capacity building support and a national platform for women on the ground to voice their concerns and advocate for their rights at the highest levels of policy and industry. Through its philosophy of women’s empowerment, and its vision of securing self-reliance and full employment for one of India’s most vulnerable populations, SEWA unifies members across cultural, geographic, and linguistic lines to bring about sustainable, inclusive change from the ground up. Comprising a nationwide network of over 100 autonomous grassroots organizations, SEWA is coordinated by its national office, SEWA Bharat (www.sewabharat.org).

SEWA Bharat runs a microentrepreneurship programme that focuses on building resilient women micro entrepreneurs, to address the needs of women-owned collective social enterprises and women micro-entrepreneurs as part of COVID-19 preparedness and response. The COVID-19 pandemic has majorly impacted all businesses, especially women who run enterprises, who are either incurring income losses due to the recurring lockdowns, and/or are faced with the additional burden of domestic chores. With supply chains being affected, and demand dwindling, these enterprises continue to pay fixed costs like salaries and rents forcing grave losses. This programme aims to provide technical assistance to entrepreneurs to help them gain better access to markets, finance and assets. In particular, SEWA Bharat recognizes that the women will need extra resources to overcome the backsliding they faced during the lockdown. Training will assist women to use new tools and approaches for entrepreneurship through training in digital literacy and by linking women with e-commerce opportunities and digital market information.

The specific objectives of the programme are as follows:
• To help women nano and micro entrepreneurs identify opportunities to diversify or expand businesses in the current COVID-19 context, understand their rights and entitlements and access avenues to improve their lives.
• To strengthen social enterprises promoted by SEWA Bharat to help members prepare for and respond to COVID-19 through market-based approaches
• To support the creation of an enabling environment that allows microentrepreneurs and enterprises to thrive.

SEWA Bharat runs this programme in 10 states, such as Delhi, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Nagaland. SSKs are present in various forms and models across the states with the commission objective of outreach. The programme started in January 2021 and is slated to end in mid July 2023.

Click on this link to know about overall program targets, key outcomes and activities.

Email a proposal to manu@sewabharat.org with Subject line ‘RFP for SEWA Bharat – Data Collation, Process, Analysis and Data Digitisation ’ before 3rd March 2023.