Impact

Impact of Arpana’s Women’s Empowerment

 2014

A.   Women’s Empowerment in Rural Haryana

Neighbours and peers saw the security, success and increasing prosperity of women in self help groups strengthened under Arpana’s guidance. Many of these women came forward, wishing to replicate the same achievements.

1.    137 new self help groups have been formed from January to December 2014 in 104 Haryana villages for a total of 800 groups

a. Total membership is 11,098 women.

b.  Total savings are Rs. 122.154.926 ($ 2,035,915).

2.    Over 1400 SHG women have been trained to conduct meeting

3.    Group Activities of SHG Member

a. 111 Domestic Hygiene Demonstrations in 80 villages, attended by 6,531 women

b. Street Plays on Water Born Diseases attracted an audience of 2,500.

                                              Impact Assessment of SHGs in Haryana

An impact assessment, conducted by Development Consultants, Chaturvedi and Joe, has revealed the profound transformation in the lives of SHG members. 646 women from 131 SHGs were interviewed. 8 focused group discussions and in-depth interviews with the Program Director and Coordinator were held. A few of the findings are below:

Savings & Loans: The womens are savings an average of Rs. 330 per month.

  • 96% women members have taken loans, of which 46% are to start business.
  • 75% of women entrepreneurs, previously ignored,are now part of decision making at home.

Improvement in Health Status: 99% say that maternal & child health is improved due to information from Arpana.

  • 85% utilize this information, counseling women in their neighborhood to use good health practices.
  • 96% experienced a decline in seasonal diseases,ascribed to information and training through their SHGs.

Improvement in Income: 91% women who have started enterprises said their family income increased.

  • 94% of increased monthly incomes was over Rs. 1000 and 31% said the increase has been more than Rs. 6000.

B.   Women’s Empowerment in Rural Himachal Pradesh

1.      105 self help groups (SHGs) with a membership of 858 and savings of Rs.1,751,052

2.      24 farmers SHGs with 310 members

3.      Training Sessions for women’s self help groups and farmers groups

a.  Knitting Chamba folk patterned woolen socks

b.  Pickles and Jams

c.  Two exposure visits to Agriculture Institutes for 40 farmers

d.  Workshop on seeds, crop diseases preventive measures and marketing methods.

e.  Workshop on financial literacy by banks, attended by farmers and SHG women.

f.  Intensive workshops for accounts training and maintaining books and records for 110 SHG members.

4.    Health Education in Government Schools

a.   687 students attend Arpana classes in 33 remote village schools

b.  They are taught about hygiene, cleanliness, environment, immunization etc.

c.  The children also take part in monthly cleanliness campaigns carried out in their villages.