Analyzing the Role of Micro-Entrepreneurship and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Women Empowerment and Development

In India, societal development is a cynosure, and thus, it is not a truism but a reality. Women's entrepreneurship emerging through self-help groups (SHGs) contributes to the economic well-being, sustainability, and in poverty reduction. The growth of SHGs is evidence in itself. In the recent decade, micro enterprises and SHGs have come up as prominent solutions to the entrepreneurial crisis existing in the country, and their role in empowering women and their development needs to studied. This study uses a descriptive statistic, reliability, and correlation analysis through SPSS and structural equation modeling (SEM) as an analytical tool to explore linkages between empowerment effected by SHG and micro-entrepreneurship. The research study results show that the contributory role of women entrepreneurs to the society is considerably worth appreciation. The causal relationship has also surfaced demonstrating the connection between women empowerment and development brought about by SHG and micro-entrepreneurship from a bottom-of-pyramid perspective.

Role of Mother’s Group on Women Empowerment: A Case Study of Godawari Municipality, Lalitpur

Mother’s Group is one of the basic groups for women empowerment. It has been functioning for women’s empowerment and social development. Mothers group has managed many skill development programs, income generating programs, literacy programs etc which helped them to make independent. Mother’s group, self-help groups (SHG) and community-based organizations (CBO) play a vital role towards women empowerment by providing vocational trainings, training for self-employment, protection for women and self-awareness programs. Thus, they are mainly concerned with the upliftment of the women in the society. Empowerment of women has been a topic discussed at length in recent times and many strategies have been implemented to address enhance women’s condition. This paper seeks to explore some measure that should be adopted in order to position rural women as equal players in entrepreneurship and economic development. This paper discusses upon the empowerment of rural women by means of self-help group or mother’s group and the advantages of such groups among the rural women.

Refugees Adaptability on the Peaceful Coexistence with the Host Communities. A Case of Rwamwanja Refugee Camp- Uganda

This article looks at the possible ways for refugees to have peaceful coexistence of refugees with their hosts based on an understanding of the causes of conflict between refugees and host communities and how the existence of refugees impacts the lives of the host communities which also has a bearing on peaceful coexistence. Based on the descriptive design that employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches, the results are that there is a relationship between causes of conflicts and the peaceful coexistence of refugees in the Rwamwanja refugee settlement. The article also indicates that political incitement was the main cause of conflict, that illiberal and illiterate people within and outside the camp provided leeway for violence, and this affected peace negatively. The article further indicated that poverty, inequality, and marginalization or lack of respect were the major reasons for violence in the Rwamwanja refugee settlement. The article recommends that the government and the settlement management should initiate sustainable livelihoods through small-scale businesses among the people in the settlement to shock-absorb idleness and unemployed refugees and host community members who are blamed for violent inter-ethnic conflict. The article further recommends that Nongovernmental organizations and other religious societies, self-help groups, and Districts efforts should be strengthened by the government of Uganda and other stakeholders to aid in poverty reduction initiatives and promotion of peaceful coexistence among the refugees and host communities for socio-economic development in the area. Further at the policy level peaceful coexistence between refugee and host communities is possible if approaches like the degree that locals recognized their benefits from projects and services provided to refugees, clear guidelines for implementing local integration, including readily available information for refugees, guide how to distribute resources or implement programs, host governments should be clear towards local integration, meet their responsibilities to improve socio-economic conditions in areas affected by protracted refugee situations and support the full integration of refugees instead of confining them to camps.

Women's Voices in Civil Society Organizations: Evidence from a Civil Society Mapping Project in Mali

How does women's engagement in civil society organizations (CSOs) differ from that of men, and what factors predict women's willingness to hold the state accountable? We analyze these questions in the context of rural and urban Mali, leveraging face-to-face data collected as part of a civil society mapping project during February -- March 2020 and December 2020, and an in-depth survey conducted with leaders from a randomly-selected subset of these CSOs during January -- March 2021. First, we explore the characteristics of women's groups compared to other CSOs. Second, we explore their likelihood of sanctioning a hypothetical corrupt mayor. We use an embedded survey experiment to try to understand these groups' willingness to report on the mayor as well as the payments they expect to receive from the mayor in order to not share information about the mayor's corruption. We find that women in Mali are often highly organized at the local level---frequently in self-help groups or organizations related to gendered economic activities. However, these more economically-focused groupings of Malian women frequently do not translate into civic activity. They are not typically recognized by outside actors as viable CSOs that could incentivize better governance; their strong networks and group infrastructure represent untapped social capital. We also find that CSOs comprised of women have lower informational and technical capacity, especially due to lower levels of political knowledge, and incur a higher cost of sanctioning public officials---though they have greater mobilization capacity. Women's engagement in decision-making in the home also predicts one's CSO being more hierarchical and having greater technical capacity, as well as having higher expected transfers from the mayor---findings that do not vary with respondent or CSO gender. Turning to the extent to which women involved in CSOs are willing to sanction the state, we find that they are generally less willing than men to sanction, but become more likely when their CSO is less hierarchical, when their technical capacity is higher, and when their political knowledge is greater. However, priming their importance as a CSO (by telling them they were identified by well-connected citizens as being influential) actually reduces sanctioning---perhaps by making them fear that those recommending them will engage in reprisals. Overall, our findings provide useful evidence on the organizational capacity of women and how it is likely to affect the state.

LIVELIHOODS STATUS OF RURAL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SELF HELP GROUPS IN KEERAPALAYAM BLOCK, CUDDALORE DISTRICT

The most important social innovation to help the poor in recent years has been the success of the thrift and credit based self help groups (SHG), especially those formed by women. These groups assisted by NGOs have successfully developed a system of revolving credit for the benefit of group members based on their own savings. SHGs have successfully maintained in high rate if loan repayments and successfully generated additional income, jobs, and small enterprises for their members. The first national conference of women entrepreneurs held at New Delhi in November 1981 advocated the need for developing women entrepreneurs for the overall development of the country. It called for priority to women in allotment of Land. Sanction of power, Licensing etc… the second international conference of women entrepreneurs organized by the National Alliance of young entrepreneurs (NAYE) held in 1989 at New Delhi. Entrepreneurship development among women can be considered a possible approach to economic empowerment of women. Human resources and technology are the two important factors of growth in new economic order. To activate these two factors like livelihoods and require rural entrepreneurship development in a big way in an economy. Women’s entrepreneurship has become an important aspect of the changed Indian economic. The participation of women in different innovative business undertakings has empowered them in the social, economic and cultural arena specifically, economists, social workers and social scientists have studied rural women and entrepreneurship in India at various levels

Tackling Workplace Bullying for Minority Ethnic Doctors

Workplace bullying, undermining and microaggressions are a reality for many, and although the prevalence may vary, there is no environment that is free of such hostile interactions. The healthcare workforce is focussed on empathy, kindness and caring, yet the daily experiences of many are in stark contrast to this. Although awareness of these issues exist, incidents of bullying are still grossly under-reported. Bullying and undermining behaviours stem from a gradient of power and lack of appreciation of the societal advantages of diversity. In keeping with this, the experience of particular sub-populations are disproportionately worse, such as for women, minority ethnic groups, those with disability, LGBTQ+ and those from deprived backgrounds. There have been campaigns and initiatives to change workplace behaviours, with mixed successes. A less explored role is that of organisations whose declared mission is to stand up for equality, represent the voice of the minorities and the under-represented, akin to self-help groups and advocacy. This article explores workplace bullying from the perspective of the minority ethnic doctors and proposes the potential benefit of their representative organisations in helping to balance the inherent workplace disadvantages.

Effect of Agricultural Extension Services in Minimizing Post-Harvest Losses of Yam Produce in Benue State, Nigeria

The study assessed the effect of agricultural extension services in minimizing post-harvest losses of yam in Benue State. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 240 yam producers. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean and standard deviation, post-harvest management coefficient (PMC) and binary logistic regression (BLR) were used to analyse the data. Results on producers’ capabilities to manage PHLs revealed that 58.5% of the total yam produce (PMC = 0.585) was preserved while a sizeable proportion (41.5%) of losses were incurred after harvest. The availability of agricultural extension services showed that, the provision of agricultural information ( ̅ = 1.54), access to agricultural markets ( ̅ = 1.50) and facilitation of the formation of producers’ self-help groups ( ̅ = 1.50) were the prime extension services rendered in the study area. Empirical result on the effect of agricultural extension services on PHLs management revealed that the number of agricultural extension services (P ≤ 0.01) and access to agricultural credit (P ≤ 0.01) exerted positive and significant influence on PHLs management. Also, the level of producers’ education (P ≤ 0.1) enhanced significantly and consistently, their capabilities to minimize PHLs. Conversely, the number of agricultural information sources (P ≤ 0.1) exerted negative and significant influence on yam producers’ capabilities to manage post-harvest losses. The study concludes that agricultural extension services are potent in the management of post-harvest losses. The study thus recommends the provision of agricultural extension service by service agencies, given that the capacities of yam producers’ in minimizing post-harvest losses could be enhanced significantly and consistently with increase in the numbers of agricultural extension services at their disposal, and the enhancement of access to agricultural extension services by yam producers, individually and cooperatively, to curtail the incidences incidence of post-harvest losses on yam.

The Effect of self-efficacy education based on self-care behaviors of self-administered hypertension groups

Introduction: High blood pressure is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment; despite being asymptomatic, it leads to fatal complaints and complications. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of education based on self-efficacy theory on self-care behaviors of hypertensive self-help groups in comprehensive health service centers in Mashhad in2020. Methods: This study is a quasi-experimental study in which 80 female patients with hypertension were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The educational intervention was based on the theory of self-efficacy for the experimental group. Data collection tools were a three-part questionnaire including: demographic information and a standard questionnaire of self-efficacy and self-care of blood pressure. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, Mann-Whitney, Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, Friedman test and repeated measures and analysis of covariance by SPSS software version 20 with a significance level of 0.05 Results: There was a significant difference in self-efficacy (P <0.001) and self-care (P <0.001) scores and controlled blood pressure between the experimental and control groups. The self-care score increased by 0.84 which was also statistically significant (p <0.001) Conclusion: Intervention based on the theory of self-efficacy can be effective in promoting self-care and self-efficacy of blood pressure self-help groups. Therefore, it is suggested that this theory be used in educational planning for patients and blood pressure self-help groups.

Layering of a health, nutrition and sanitation programme onto microfinance-oriented self-help groups in rural India: results from a process evaluation

Background The state of Bihar has been lagging behind Indian national averages on indicators related to maternal and child health, primarily due to lack of knowledge among mothers of young children on lifesaving practices and on where to seek services when healthcare is needed. Hence, the JEEViKA Technical Support Programme was established in 101 blocks to support the state rural livelihood entity, JEEViKA, in order to increase demand for and link rural families to existing health, nutrition and sanitation services. Programme activities were geared to those engaged in JEEViKA’s microfinance-oriented self-help groups. These groups were facilitated by a village-based community mobilizer who was trained on health, nutrition and sanitation-related topics which she later shared in self-help group meetings monthly and during ad hoc home visits. Further, a block-level health, nutrition and sanitation integrator was introduced within JEEViKA to support community mobilizers. Also, indicators were added into the existing monitoring system to routinely capture the layering of health, nutrition and sanitation activities. Methods A process evaluation was conducted from August–November 2017 which comprised of conducting 594 quantitative surveys with community mobilizers, from program and non-programme intervention blocks. Linear and logistic regressions were done to capture the association of at least one training that the community mobilizers received on knowledge of the topics learned and related activities they carried out. Results Community mobilizers who had received at least one training were more likely to have higher levels of knowledge on the topics they learned and were also more likely to carry out related activities, such as interacting with block-level integrators for guidance and support, routinely collect data on health, nutrition and sanitation indicators and spend time weekly on related activities. Conclusions Successful integration of health, nutrition and sanitation programming within a non-health programme such as JEEViKA is possible through trainings provided to dedicated staff in decentralized positions, such as community mobilizers. The findings of this evaluation hold great promise for engaging existing non-health, nutrition and sanitation systems that are serving vulnerable communities to become partners in working towards ensuring stronger health, nutrition and sanitation outcomes for all.