Promoting and Supporting Women-Owned and Women-Managed Cooperatives in India: Recommendations to the Ministry of Cooperation presents SEWA Cooperative Federation’s vision for strengthening the cooperative sector through a stronger focus on women’s leadership, enterprise development, and social security.
Drawing on decades of experience organizing informal women workers into cooperatives, the note outlines recommendations on cooperative autonomy, institutional support systems, access to finance, digitalisation, youth engagement, and social protection. It argues that women-owned cooperatives are not only vehicles for economic empowerment but also important institutions for advancing decent work, resilience, and community development.
The publication calls for dedicated investments, enabling policies, and enterprise support services that can help cooperatives grow sustainably while ensuring that women workers have greater voice, representation, and access to economic opportunities.
