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

The programme operates 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 aims to empower women and adolescent girls by helping them establish sustainable grass-roots institutions and by ensuring access to microfinance and business development services. It promotes diversification of women’s opportunities, both on- and off-farm, so that women can be sustainably integrated into the wider economy.

To achieve increased productivity and improve household incomes, the programme: promotes market-linked enterprises; helps women form sustainable grass-roots institutions, including self-help groups, producers’ groups and community service centres; supports increased participation by women in local government; and enhances the capacity of financial institutions and the private sector to operate in the targeted areas.
 

Source: IFAD