Advancing Cooperation Among Women Workers in the Informal Economy: The SEWA Way explores how SEWA has used the cooperative model to strengthen the livelihoods, leadership, and economic security of informal women workers.P
ublished by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the report traces SEWA’s journey from organizing women workers through a union to building women-owned and women-managed cooperatives across sectors such as agriculture, dairy, finance, insurance, childcare, healthcare, handicrafts, and services. Through twelve case studies, it demonstrates how collective enterprise can improve access to markets, social protection, financial services, and decision-making power.
The report also examines the challenges faced by women’s cooperatives, the role of the Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Cooperative Federation in nurturing them, and key lessons for adapting and replicating similar models worldwide.
