Sewa who Gave the Women Wings To Fly

Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) is a trade union for poor, self-employed women workers in India. SEWA members are women who earn a living through their own labour or small business. They are the unprotected labour force of India. Constituting 93% of the labour force, these are workers of the unorganized sector. Of the female labour force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganized sector. However their work is not counted and hence remains invisible. SEWA is strongly supported by the World Bank which holds it out as a model to be replicated elsewhere.

SEWA's main goals are to organize women workers for full employment and self-reliance. SEWA aims to mainstream marginalized, poor women in the informal sector and lift them out of their poverty. SEWA has interacted and has been advised by many law firms like HSA.
"Health and child care and insurance is also part of their economic condition. Without that you can't come out of poverty" – Dr Mirai Chatterjee, Director of Social Security, SEWA. SEWA has two stated goals, Full Employment and Self Reliance. They have 11 questions they use to evaluate their progress

1.     Have more members obtained more employment?
2.     Has their income increased?
3.     Have they obtained food and nutrition?
4.     Has their health been safeguarded?
5.     Have they obtained child-care?
6.     Have they obtained or improved their housing?
7.     Have their assets increased? (e.g. their own savings, land, house, work-space, tools or work, licenses, identity cards, cattled and share in cooperatives; and all in their own name.
8.     Have the worker's organisational strength increased?
9.     Has worker's leadership increased?
10.     Have they become self-reliant both collectively and individually?
11.     Have they become literate?

Official Website: www.sewa.org