3ie at Livelihoods India Summit 2021
3ie and LEAD at Krea University led a track on Women-led Collective Enterprises at the virtual Livelihoods India Summit 2021.
Introduction to the 'Women-led Collective Enterprises' Track
Dr Yamini Atmavilas, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, gave the opening remarks for the Women-led Collective Enterprises track. Explaining the motivation behind the foundation’s interest in this work area, she said the declining labour force participation and low share of women’s entrepreneurship were matters of great concern.
Date: 17 December 2021
Time: 1.45pm-2.00pm IST
Speaker: Yamini Atmavilas, India Lead for Gender Equality, India Country Office, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Session 1: Building a Solutions Toolbox for Women’s Collective Enterprises
This panel discussion focused on how investing in women’s collective enterprises can enable their economic empowerment. Dr Bidisha Barooah talked about the approach of 3ie’s Swashakt program, which works with various types of women’s collective enterprises in nine states. Charanjit Singh (India’s ministry of rural development) shared the government’s experience of implementing the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, which works through self-help groups. Switha Grandhi (Chitrika) and Suvendu Rout (ACCESS Development Services), who are project partners on Swashakt, shared their experiences from the field, where they work directly with collective enterprises, and the challenges and opportunities for their sustainability.
Date: 17 December 2021
Time: 2.10pm-3.40pm IST
Moderator: Mridulya Narasimhan, Project Head - STREE, MSME & Entrepreneurship, LEAD at Krea University
Panellists:
Vijaya Switha Grandhi, CEO, Chitrika
Charanjit Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India
Suvendu Rout, Vice President, ACCESS Development Services
Bidisha Barooah, Senior Evaluation Specialist, 3ie
Session 2: The Importance of Partnerships for Women’s Empowerment Collectives
In this session, panellists spoke about the importance of leveraging partnerships and overcoming barriers to building strong partnerships for enhancing the success of women’s collective enterprises.
Date: 17 December 2021
Time: 3:50pm - 5:20pm IST
Moderator: Marie Gaarder, Executive Director, 3ie
Panellists:
Gayatri Rao, India Program Lead, IMAGO Global Grassroots;
Alkesh Wadhwani, Country Director, Poverty Alleviation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, India;
Anshul Ojha, Founder & Chief Executive, Desert Resource Centre;
Anjaneyulu (Anjan) Ballem, Vice President – FI & ME, BASIX Consulting and Technology Services Ltd
Sridhar Easwaran, Founding Member, Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Private Limited
About the event
The Livelihoods India Summit is an annual conference, organized by ACCESS Development Services, the focus of which is to understand and assess the challenges that the poor face in sustaining and strengthening their livelihoods. The Summit analyzes the policy environment, looks at the impact of large livelihoods programmes, assesses the aggregate poverty challenge and builds a constituency of stakeholders to design a vision for strengthened and sustainable livelihoods of the poor in India. Across the two days, over 70 thought leaders speak at this Summit in sessions on wide ranging themes and over 500 delegates (more than 1500 in virtual format) from across the country participate in the event. NITI Aayog continues to be the co-host to the Summit since 2018.