Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme in the Mid-Gangetic Plains

The programme will operate in the Bahraich, Shravasti, Sultanpur and Rae Bareli districts of Uttar Pradesh and in the Madhubani and Sitamarhi districts of Bihar. The areas are part of the mid-Gangetic plains, where the largest concentration of poor people in India is found.

Women here are particularly disadvantaged because of strong patriarchal forces and rigid caste divisions. The programme has the aim of empowering women and adolescent girls by helping them establish sustainable grass-roots institutions and by ensuring that they have access to microfinance and business development services. It will promote diversification of women’s opportunities for livelihoods, both on-farm and off-farm, and it supports development of a sustainable livelihood base for women that will be integrated into the wider economy.

To achieve increased productivity and improve household incomes, the programme will:

• introduce market-linked enterprises
• form sustainable grass-roots institutions including self-help groups, producers’ groups and community service centres
• support increased participation by women in local government
• build the capacity of civil society organizations
• enhance the capacity of financial institutions and the private sector to operate in the targeted areas
   

Source: IFAD