S​EWA Samvaad 2020
Resilience and Women Micro-Entrepreneurs: COVID-19 and Beyond

Mahila (Women) Micropreneurs have existed in the fabric of society at every intersection. They are women who have taken charge of their situations and created meaningful livelihoods for themselves. There are 63.34 million micro-enterprises in India, employing approximately 111 million people . Women own 20% of these enterprises and approximately 90 per cent of such 1 enterprises are in the informal sector . Studies report that 79% of micro and small enterprises 2 have been impacted negatively due to the COVID-19 pandemic, due to which, many of these enterprises will shut down as the year progresses. In an effort to highlight the current realities of women’s micro-enterprises in the informal sector during COVID-19 and share stories of leadership from the ground, SEWA Bharat in partnership with UN Women recently organised a webinar titled “Resilience and Women Micro-Entrepreneurs: COVID-19 and Beyond” on November 2, 2020. This webinar focused on the theme of ‘survive and revive’ and how we can move our conversation from building back better to one on building forward stronger. The event brought together SEWA’s local leaders along with national and international experts from the World Bank Group, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME), and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO).