ABSTRACT
One of the oldest and best-known schemes aimed explicitly at women in the informal economy is Self-Employed Women's Association's (SEWA) integrated health insurance scheme. SEWA set up its own bank to provide savings and lending services to its members and quickly became aware that illness was a major reason why women could not repay their loans on time. This chapter examines the extent to which microfinance reaches women from low-income households and its role in protecting and promoting their livelihoods efforts. The Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) and Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) are two examples of NGOs that have, from the outset, designed their self-help group approach very explicitly to reach some of the poorest sections of the population in the poorest states of India. However, membership of these organisations led to discernible improvements in food security as well as other economic improvements.
