Role of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in promoting Women Entrepreneurship

Civil Society Organisations (CSO) are becoming increasingly important in the field of development. They’re an important link between state and people at the grassroot level. They are diverse in terms of organisational structure and culture as well as in terms of the issues they cover. Their involvement is seen in the formulation of public policies, implementation of governmental programmes, dialogues and even in the enforcement of social legislation. They play a vital role in encouraging local initiatives in terms of mobilisation and environment building. The local persons or the stakeholders can bring about meaningful change.
The rapid rise of CSOs/Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) can be attributed to the rise of globalisation during 20th Century. CSOs have evolved to emphasize humanitarian issues, developmental aid and sustainable development. A prominent example of this is the ‘World Social Forum’ which is a rival convention of World Economic Forum. The fifth World Social Forum in 2005 held in Brazil was attended by more than 1000 CSOs including from India. CSOs in India are shaped and influenced by a variety of factors. They are nurtured and threatened in turns as the dominant political outlook oscillates between liberalism and statism. Diverse in their functions and purposes, they serve primarily a vast and assorted population of informal workers. A sizeable sum from public and foreign sources is expended by this sector.
Without the participation of women in the development process, society as a whole cannot be said to develop holistically. India is one of the developing countries where the societies are predominantly patriarchal in structure. Participation of women in economic activities is not even close
to desirable.
Over the last decade, the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in development has been widely recognized. CSOs play a crucial role in mobilizing the local human and physical resources and creating appropriate entrepreneurial environment, thereby generating new opportunities. Their contribution to the microenterprise sector has led many state and central governments and other agencies to seek the support of CSOs to hasten the process of economic development. The CSOs have a huge role in stimulating and nurturing the spirit of entrepreneurship among women. An integrated approach is necessary for making the movement of women entrepreneurship a success.
The Girl Power Project outreach activities witnessed active participation of local CSOs which are continuously helping and supporting the women beneficiaries. Many CSOs are establishing direct contact with the women who want to setup an enterprise and want to become a successful social entrepreneur.

Objectives

Girl Power Project, implemented by AIILSG in Jharkhand and funded by the European Union, is striving to strengthen the ability of the Indian civil society organizations to perform their role as independent agents of change, implementing actions that bring transformative change into the lives of women and girls.
The project will foster the overall development and empowerment of CSOs working on women empowerment in the state of Jharkhand. This project proposes to use a combination of training, skill building, network formation, policy dialogue and entrepreneurial support to achieve the objectives of the call. The project also meets the specific objectives in the order of priority. The project aims to provide women and girls with skill training and entrepreneurial support centres. Jharkhand Mahila Social Entrepreneurship Market Connect (JMSEMC) has been introduced under the project to act as a single point of contact for women and CSOs to connect them with prospective buyers in the marketplace.
This is how the Girl Power Project provides catalytic support of CSOs in promoting women entrepreneurship:
Conducting skill training programmes for the target beneficiaries with a view to create enterprising attitude among them.
Conducting entrepreneurship development programmes to support the women.
Offering counselling and advisory services is one of the major aspects of the project. Legal support is also provided to the ones who need it.
Assisting the target group in market linkage of their products and helping them get loans from financial institutions. Providing handholding support post the training is as important as quality skill training.
Girl Power Project is imparting training to women beneficiaries in specified subjects with the help of CSOs to create entrepreneurship among the beneficiaries. After combination of training, skill building, network formation, policy dialogue and entrepreneurial support, many women beneficiaries are establishing enterprises for their livelihood. Marketing support is also provided for showcasing and selling of their products in different occasions and platform.

Outcome

The Role of CSOs in entrepreneurship development cannot be undermined. Several CSOs in different parts of India have succeeded in imparting entrepreneurial skills among the marginalised section with special reference to women in India.
The training programmes conducted by the Girl Power Project will improve efficiency of women beneficiaries by educating them on how they make use of resources available to them in efficient and balanced way. Training programme will lead to skilled behaviour and pave the way for self-employment opportunity among the beneficiaries to promote women entrepreneurship.

Feedback assessment after training

Women in rural areas are at an enormous disadvantage, given their limited access to the resources available and male members of the family being the decision makers. These training programmes give an opportunity to them to become financially independent. Especially after the pandemic, rural population which largely survives on daily-wages was badly affected.
This has helped women to improve their socio-economic status. Further, starting their own venture becomes difficult in rural areas because of limited awareness and access especially to technology, but training programmes conducted under Girl Power Project have given them a hope to start their business or expand the venture which has helped them in not only enhancing their technical capacity as entrepreneurs but also improve their socio-economic status.