Hillary Clinton visits EMpower grantee partner SEWA

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently showed her support for EMpower grantee partner Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) by visiting its headquarters in Mumbai, India. During her visit, Clinton met with some of SEWA's women artisans and volunteers and viewed their textile work, as shown in a picture and article in the July 19 New York Times. Clinton has been in touch with SEWA since an earlier visit in 1995.

During her press conference, Clinton emphasized the importance of continued progress in creating opportunities for Indian women. The Times of India reports that Secretary Clinton remarked, "I am very impressed with Indian women," and continued to say, "It is absolutely undeniable that the progress of women is directly linked to the progress of any country. The more women have the rights, education, employment opportunities, access to credit, role in decision making in family and community, the more development will take place. Progress that has been made is extraordinary. But much more needs to be done."1

Founded over thirty years ago as a union of self-employed women, the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) has grown into an organization comprised of 11,000 grassroots' producers groups, 200 cooperatives and 11 federations throughout India. The SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre was founded in 2003 as the marketing and commercial arm of SEWA with the aim of maximizing women producers' income by creating the most direct sale and distribution linkages between producers and consumers. Currently SEWA TFC has 3500 artisan shareholders in three districts of Gujarat. While SEWA has a long, distinguished tradition of empowering and improving the lives of rural women, it has only recently begun to address the needs of young women.

EMpower's current grant allows SEWA to provide a more comprehensive understanding of design, marketing, sales, and quality control so young women can take ownership beyond their piece-work embroidery. EMpower's previous grant to SEWA focused on training young women in two areas to allow them to enter more lucrative segments of the value chain: market-oriented product design and machine operation for mechanized production. 50 young women were trained in product development and 40 were trained in the operation of machines.

1 "Clinton meets women artisans in Mumbai." The Times of India. 18 July 2009. Available from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4792931.cms