SEWA’s Vision and Mission

Mission

SEWA Bharat is a federation of membership-based organizations of women workers. It is committed to strengthening the movement of women in the informal economy by highlighting their issues at the national level and building its member organizations’ capacity to empower women workers.

Vision

Millions of workers in independent India are yet to enjoy Poorna Swaraj, meaning full freedom. Freedom is enjoying self-reliance both economic and mental, in thinking and in decision-making. In our experience, this is not possible without full employment.
Full-employment means that every household enjoys basic food security, has access to clean water, clothing and shelter. They should be able to afford these from their own earnings. They should also obtain social security, including health care, child care, insurance and pension. SEWA’s main focus will be to assist her members till they achieve full employment. SEWA members will work together to obtain full-employment by organising, and through non-violent struggle and constructive, collective action. SEWA’s core values are and will continue to be integrity, communal harmony, social justice and simplicity.

Through organising, women workers will have a voice and their work will be more visible. Their contribution to the nation’s economy will be valued.

Full freedom will be achieved when women workers lead their families and communities.

Frequently Asked Questions

The vision of SEWA is that women workers in the informal economy gain visibility and thereby access their rights as workers.

The mission envisages a two-pronged approach: sangarsh (struggle) – mobilising to achieve women workers’ rights and vikas (development) – building their collectives to sustain and enhance livelihoods. For the SEWA movement, empowerment of women workers is multi-pronged. It means self-empowerment:

1. In the family
2. In the community
3. In the market (includes her own enterprises)
4. In relation to the government institutions

Full employment refers to work that provides economic security, food security and social security, so that women workers can meet their household needs from their own earnings and have access to health, insurance, pension and other protections.

Our work is grounded in integrity, communal harmony, social justice and simplicity. Through mobilising, women workers gain visibility and voice and their contribution to the economy is recognised. By remaining focused on meeting the asks and needs of informal workers, specifically women, the movement can continuously deliver, catering to women working in the informal economy.

Self-reliance means that women are autonomous in their work and decision-making; they mobilise collectively, lead their own initiatives and control their livelihood, rather than being dependent.