Family Prosperity through Women s Collectives Thiruvananthapuram 24April 2015 An Introduction to Kudumbashree 1
Today, the bank officer calls me Madam A movement called Kudumbashree 2
Mission Statement To eradicate absolute poverty in ten years through concerted community action under the leadership of Local Governments, by facilitating organisation of poor for combining self help with demand led convergence of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions and manifestation of poverty, holistically 3
Evolution 2008 2015 2002 Unified bye-laws and organizational elections 1998 1995 Full coverage in the State Launch of Kudumbashree Mission 1992 1994 Poverty Reduction experiment in 7 wards of Alappuzha Municipality Expanded to all Urban areas Scaled up to entire Municipality; Tested in Rural areas of Malappuram District as Community Based Nutrition Programme 4
Autonomous Institution of women Three-tier organization of and by women is the foundation for change CDS Community Development Society Registered apex Federation at the Local Government level Covers 100% of local governments in the State ADS NHG Area Development Society Federation of NHG at the ward level Covers 98% of the State Neighbourhood Groups 10 to 20 women per group; one per family 261,000 NHG across Kerala 4.1 million members A movement called Kudumbashree 5
Working with local Governments Platforms for convergence between the women s organization and local governments make the three-tier model more effective Gram Panchayat Ward CDS ADS Gram Sabha NHG A movement called Kudumbashree 6
Synergies from Collective Action Women working and acting together not only empower women, but also strengthen their families socially and economically Social Economic Women Empowerment A movement called Kudumbashree 7
Institution Building & Capital Formation Women's own autonomous institutional network covering more than half of the families in the State Democratic election processs High levels of mainstream financial capital formation for meeting household credit needs, through the NHG Community Funds Amount Own Funds Bank Funds Internal Loans Rs. 2,073 crore Rs. 2,712 crore Rs. 8,540 crore A movement called Kudumbashree 8
Community Resources Low-cost model of community mobilization and development action Resource Persons and Resource Institutions developed from within the community Enterprise approach to service provision training, accounts and audit, business development services A movement called Kudumbashree 9
Enabling women to engage with markets from positions of strength What collectives of women can do 10
Economic Empowerment Self-help and micro-finance to meet family financial needs Food production through collective farming on leased land Off farm enterprises for milk, egg and meat production Non-farm enterprises in production and service sectors, including hitherto male preserves Value chain based interventions based on local natural, physical resources Community based market networks promoting local economic development A movement called Kudumbashree 11
Achievements Food and cash crop production in over 20,000 ha of leased land by more than 60,000 women from landless or very small landholding families Small businesses with turnover exceeding Rs.400 crores per annum benefitting 1,20,000 families Widely recognized and valued Kudumbashree brand in sectors as diverse as restaurants, food products, soaps & detergents, taxi services, construction services etc. A movement called Kudumbashree 12
Food Production Increase production of food crops, especially staples and nutrition providing crops Convert fallow land back into production Women as farmers What collectives of women can do 13
Garment making Garments home-based to apparel parks What collectives of women can do 14
Crafts Artisanal production to branded crafts What collectives of women can do 15
Tourism Responsible Tourism Partnership with Government & Industry for managing destinations: supply of inputs, restaurants, guideservices etc. What collectives of women can do 16
Transport Services Bus service run by women Taxi services for women, by women What collectives of women can do 17
Restaurants & Catering Café Kudumbashree - restaurants & food courts What collectives of women can do 18
Nutrition Amrutham Nutrimix Take home ration for Anganwadis under ICDS; 292 units with 2023 entrepreneurs What collectives of women can do 19
The Kudumbashree Brand Among the most popular brand in Kerala Food products, soaps & detergents, handicrafts What collectives of women can do 20
Enabling community managed social security for those in need What collectives of women can do 21
Social Empowerment Rehabilitation of destitute families through collaborative programmes of women's organization and local governments Special schools at the village level for children with mental challenges BUDS Rehabilitation Centres for rehabilitation of adults with mental challenges Collectives of children for co-curricular learning, citizenship education and ecological awareness Special initiatives for specially vulnerable (social, geographic) groups A movement called Kudumbashree 22
Achievements Over 100,000 extremely poor families supported through Asraya - community based rehabilitation programme, managed by women's collectives along with local governments Over 3,000 children with mental challenges from very poor families, supported for building new lives Over 9 lakh boys and girls part of Bala Sabha A movement called Kudumbashree 23
Rehabilitation of destitute families Family-wise planning for support; funds provided by Local Government; implementation support and monitoring by Kudumbashree network What collectives of women can do 24
Rehabilitation of persons with mental challenges BUDS Schools: Run by the local government; Supported by Kudumbashree BUDS Rehabilitation Centres for adults What collectives of women can do 25
Pain and Palliative care Palliative care provided by volunteers from Kudumbashree network; NHG members providing emotional support Supported by Gram Panchayats & Health Department What collectives of women can do 26
Holistic growth of children Enabling children to develop in a holistic manner providing for co-curricular learning and citizenship education What collectives of women can do 27
Women working together to make the neighbourhood, community and society safer for women and girl children What collectives of women can do 28
Women Empowerment Gender Self-Learning Programme awareness generation among women of their relative status in Society Collective efforts to address violence against women and children Crime Mapping; Nirbhaya Project Snehita Helpline; Gender Corner Learning platforms for political education; women in local politics and governance 56% of women elected representatives in the local governments are from the Kudumbashree community network A movement called Kudumbashree 29
Local Governments and Women s Collective working together What collectives of women can do 30
Convergence for MGNREGS Very high women s participation, irrespective of caste or class Women s access to public spaces, space for solidarity building and skill acquisition Great exposure for women - Self respect and confidence in doing physical labour, improved physical fitness Primary federation (ADS) as mates What collectives of women can do 31
Perambra Panchayat, Kozhikode district THEN NOW What collectives of women can do 32
Kudumbashree beyond Kerala Nationally, as part of National Rural Livelihoods Mission Model of women's institutions working together with local governments being adapted in other States Micro Enterprise Development approach through community based support eco-system being replicated nationally into a new Scheme And, internationally.. Government of Ethiopia preparing to sign MoU for taking up community institution building with Kudumbashree support A movement called Kudumbashree 33
Aajeevika National Rural Livelihoods Mission Kudumbashree Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission National Resource Organization Thank you! Kudumbashree-NRO, III Floor, Carmel Towers, Cotton Hill, Vazhuthacaud PO Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India 695014 keralanro@gmail.com 34