Content uploaded by Thomas De Hoop
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Thomas De Hoop on Jan 20, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Economic Self-Help Group Programs for Improving Women's Empowerment: A Systematic Review
Abstract and Figures
We conducted a systematic review of the effectiveness of women’s
economic SHG programs, incorporating evidence from quantitative and qualitative
studies. We systematically searched for published and unpublished literature, and
applied inclusion criteria based on the study protocol. We critically appraised all
included studies and used a combination of statistical meta-analysis and meta-ethnography to synthesize the findings based on a theory of change.
Our review suggests that economic SHGs have positive effects on various dimensions of women’s empowerment, including economic, social, and political empowerment. However, we did not find evidence for positive effects of SHGs on psychological empowerment.
Women’s perspectives on factors determining their participation in, and benefits from, SHGs suggest various pathways through which SHGs could achieve the identified positive impacts. Evidence suggested that the positive effects of SHGs on economic, social, and political empowerment run through the channels of familiarity with handling money and independence in financial decision making, solidarity, improved social networks, and respect from the household and other community members.
Figures - uploaded by Thomas De Hoop
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Thomas De Hoop
Content may be subject to copyright.
... Impact evaluations and systematic reviews indicate some positive effects of such groups on economic outcomes, such as on savings, credit, income, consumption, and asset ownership, but evidence is mixed Christian, Kandpal, Palaniswamy, and Rao, 2019;Kochar et al., 2020;Hoffmann et al., 2021). A systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that economic SHGs had moderate but positive impacts on women's economic, political, reproductive, and social empowerment (Brody et al., 2015). An impact evaluation of SHG interventions implemented at a national scale by India's National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) found that longer SHG membership had positive impacts on household income, in comparison to households who were SHG members for a shorter period of time (Kochar et al., 2020). ...
... For example, the impact evaluation of the NRLM showed that the program only had positive effects on household productive assets, and education and food expenditures after the set-up of federations of SHGs into village organizations (Kochar et al., 2020). In addition, a systematic review showed that economic SHGs had larger effects on women's economic and reproductive empowerment when groups included a training component (Brody et al., 2015). Despite the importance of implementation characteristics in influencing effectiveness, there is relatively little public information or operational guidance about how to design and implement effective women's groups programs. ...
... We focus specifically on women's groups that aim to improve women's economic empowerment in South Asia. Brody et al. (2015) define women's economic empowerment as "the ability of women to access, own, and control resources." Measures of economic empowerment may include women's income and asset ownership, women's labor force participation, expenditure patterns, division of domestic household labor across men and women, and women's control over financial decision-making in the household. ...
This study reviews women’s groups models that are implemented in South Asia to develop a typology and conceptual framework that accounts for implementation characteristics. Women’s groups models vary widely across contexts, but context-specific documentation related to design frameworks, implementation modalities,
and decision-making processes is limited. In fact, researchers, policy makers, and funders commonly use inconsistent terms to describe these implementation models, which hinders construct validity and accurate interpretation of evidence (Desai et al., 2020). We aim to guide researchers and implementers in moving away from umbrella terms of “women’s groups” with a typology specific to economic groups in South Asia. A typology will also help with accurate descriptions of program components, which can in turn support learning about which components contribute to effective programming as well as drive costs (Siwach et al., 2022). We
focus specifically on women’s groups that aim to improve women’s economic empowerment in South Asia. Brody et al. (2015) define women’s economic empowerment as “the ability of women to access, own, and control resources.” Measures of economic empowerment may include women’s income and asset ownership, women’s labor force participation, expenditure patterns, division of domestic household labor across men and women, and women’s control over financial decision-making in the household.
... Finally, we rated studies that relied on comparisons between students in the same classroom and studies that found major evidence of control group contamination as having a high risk of performance. Each of these assessments is aligned with risk of bias assessments conducted in previous systematic reviews conducted by Brody et al. (2015), Chinen et al. (2017) and Stone et al. (2020). ...
... Exhibit 12 presents the risk of selection bias and performance bias of the included experimental and quasiexperimental studies. The risk-of-bias assessment tool we used was similar to the RoB assessment tools used in various other published evidence syntheses (Brody et al., 2015;Chinen et al., 2017b;Kersten et al., 2017;Stone, de Hoop, Coombes, & Nakamura, 2019;Waddington et al., 2014). Exhibit 13 shows the distribution of low, medium, and high risk of bias across the included studies for the two risk-of-bias categories. ...
... Adapting the RoB assessment enabled the team to evaluate rigor in the time available for this rapid evidence synthesis in line with various other published systematic reviews (e.g., Brody et al., 2015;Chinen et al., 2017b;Kersten et al., 2017;Stone, de Hoop, Coombes, & Nakamura, 2019;Waddington et al., 2014). Specifically, we assessed the risk of the following biases: ...
The American Institutes for Research (AIR) and colleagues from New York University (NYU) are studying the implementation, impact, costs, and cost-effectiveness of education interventions for forcibly displaced populations and host communities. In the first phase, the research team systematically gathered, collated, and synthesized evidence on what works to support education for forcibly displaced people and to include them in national education systems. The evidence comes
from a wide range of displacement contexts, ranging from acute to protracted crises. To be included in the evidence synthesis, articles had to consist of primary
research; include relevant populations, interventions, comparisons, and outcomes (PICO criteria); and meet minimum thresholds for research quality.
Our synthesis included 32 experimental and quasi-experimental studies, 14 studies with information on costs, and 202 qualitative studies completed since
2015 that focus on education in forced displacement contexts. We excluded meta-analyses and other reviews but conducted our own meta-analyses based
on the individual studies.
... O modelo de funcionamento do grupo pode envolver poupança intragrupo, empréstimos, microsseguros, geração coletiva de renda e crédito em grupo. Os grupos possuem componentes de finanças coletivas, aspectos empresariais e/ou voltados para mecanismos de subsistência, como treinamentos em negócios, habilidades para vida e educação financeira [12]. ...
... • Elevar o empoderamento econômico, social e político das mulheres. Uma vez que contribui para a melhor gestão de recursos e independência na tomada de decisões financeiras, aumento do respeito dos membros da família e comunidade e ampliação da rede de networking (evidência de alta qualidade) [12]; ...
... • Afirmação psicológica das mulheres participantes dos grupos (evidência de alta qualidade) [12]. ...
Este documento integra um conjunto de quatro sínteses sobre políticas sociais elaboradas pela Codeplan, em parceria com o Instituto Veredas e com a Fundação Oswaldo Cruz – Brasília, entre julho de 2019 e maio de 2020. Entre as disparidades existentes nas questões de gênero em nossa sociedade, algumas das consequências mais relevantes são evidenciadas no campo profissional. Estudos mostram que as mulheres, mesmo tendo maiores níveis de instrução do que os homens, têm menores chances de conseguir emprego, possuem acesso restrito a cargos políticos eletivos, têm menor participação em cargos de direção e salários menores em relação ao sexo masculino. A participação das mulheres no mercado de trabalho assalariado, sobretudo, nos países de renda baixa e média, está muito aquém dos homens, além de ser altamente dissociada de setores econômicos de alto crescimento, como finanças, tecnologia da informação e construção civil. As opções de intervenções aqui levantadas revelam alternativas para enfrentar o problema da desigualdade de gênero por meio da promoção de melhores condições para a inserção das mulheres no mercado laboral.
... Despite the growing demand for microcredit, Chliova, Brinckmann, and Rosenbusch (2015) and Garikipati (2017) present that the empirical evidence detailing its impact on household welfare is plagued with several controversies. According to recent systematic reviews conducted by Van Rooyen, Stewart, and De Wet (2012), Brody et al. (2015), Duvendack et al. (2011), and Awaworyi (2014) the microcredit welfare impact is mixed and ranges from no impact, the negative impact and positive impact. This suggests that microcredit has a heterogeneous welfare effect; with its potential impact contingent on several institutional, household socioeconomic, and environmental contexts (Ganle, Afriyie, & Segbefia, 2015). ...
The literature is replete with studies suggesting that the microcredit market is expanding with varying degrees of impact on male and female clients. The paper investigates the extent to which differences in loan use behaviour and loan amount received contribute to differences in microcredit welfare impact among male and female clients. Using the sixth (2012/2013) and seventh (2016/2017) rounds of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, and applying the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique with the two-staged recentred influence functions, we find that the welfare disparity in microcredit delivery is due to a lower inequality and poverty rate among female clients relative to their male counterparts. Additionally, we find that gender welfare gaps in microcredit delivery are powered extensively by differences in the size of loans received and the loan use behaviour of clients. The findings lend support for policy reassessment on gender in the provision of credit; to improve portfolio quality and reinforce the returns of microcredit access among clients.
... This finding also indicates the importance of triangulating findings on SHGs from the economics and political science literature. Although economic studies have examined the effects of SHGs on women's intra-household decision making, income, asset ownership, and consumption (e.g., Brody et al., 2015;Hoffmann et al., 2021;Kochar et al., 2020), recent political science literature has emphasised the importance of SHGs for political participation (Prillaman, 2021). Combining these two distinct literatures can help increase our understanding of the mechanisms through which SHGs can achieve improvements in women's empowerment and economic outcomes. ...
... In addition to direct citations, the Special Issue's impact is cascaded through quotations of citations (like any article), but also through systematic reviews or meta-analyses, which build mostly on the Special Issue as their main body of evidence (Brody et al. 2015;Buera, Kaboski, and Shin 2015;Chernozhukov et al. 2018;Demirguc-Kunt, Klapper, and Singer 2017;Meager 2019). Special mention can be made of the article published in the prestigious Science review in 2015 (Banerjee et al. (2015a), cited 484 times).5 ...
In October 2019, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer jointly won the 51st Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty." But what is the exact scope of their experimental method, known as randomized control trials (RCTs)? Which sorts of questions are RCTs able to address and which do they fail to answer? This book provides answers to these questions, explaining how RCTs work, what they can achieve, why they sometimes fail, how they can be improved and why other methods are both useful and necessary. Chapters contributed by leading specialists in the field present a full and coherent picture of the main strengths and weaknesses of RCTs in the field of development. Looking beyond the epistemological, political, and ethical differences underlying many of the disagreements surrounding RCTs, it explores the implementation of RCTs on the ground, outside of their ideal theoretical conditions and reveals some unsuspected uses and effects, their disruptive potential, but also their political uses. The contributions uncover the implicit worldview that many RCTs draw on and disseminate, and probe the gap between the method's narrow scope and its success, while also proposing improvements and alternatives. This book warns against the potential dangers of their excessive use, arguing that the best use for RCTs is not necessarily that which immediately springs to mind, and offering opportunity to come to an informed and reasoned judgement on RCTs and what they can bring to development.
The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) has been applied widely in low-income settings, but rarely in middle-income settings such as Southern Brazil. This article explores the participation of women in agriculture in the western region of the state of Paraná, Brazil. We measured the empowerment of members of an agricultural cooperative operating in this region and analyzed whether this empowerment is related to participation in activities of the cooperative's Women's Leadership Development Program (WLDP). Women who participated in WLDP scored at the high level on the adapted WEAI, whereas women who did not participate had a medium score. To control for observable characteristics that might have varied between women who participated in WLDP and women who did not, we employ Propensity Score Matching Methods. The likelihood of women participating in the WLDP is associated with having a driver's license, age, farm size for agricultural production, having a farm successor, and participation in other non-gendered activities and training offered by the Cooperative. The training provided by the Cooperative might be an effective way to develop human and social capital, promote the empowerment of male and female participants, and bridge the gender gap.
Men and women negotiate differently, which might create gender inequality in earnings from bargaining. We study the role of gender and gender pairing in bilateral bargaining, using an artefactual field experiment in rural Uganda, in which pairs of participants bargain over the division of a fixed amount of resources. We vary the gender composition of the bargaining pairs as well as the disclosure of the participants’ identities. We find gender differences in earnings and agreements, but only when identities and, thus, genders are disclosed. Women in same-gender pairs obtain higher final earnings than men and women in mixed-gender pairs, which is due to the lower likelihood of disagreement among women-only pairs. We identify gender differences in demands and demand inconsistency--the money left on the table once demands are corrected for beliefs about the counterpart’s demand--as mechanisms behind the observed gender differences in bargaining outcomes. In addition, we find that gender differences in demand inconsistency are related to gender differences in education and a measure of expected generosity.
This chapter focuses on the success of microfinance as a tool to create opportunities for women and other deprived sections in the formal financial structure of India. It also aims at focusing on the role of various institutions which play a significant position in providing rural credit through various channels. The author contends that in this pandemic where economies at global level require resilience strategies, microfinance once again can prove to be an effective strategy to bounce back in terms of improving the economic conditions of poor and vulnerable who suffered the most due to lockdowns, especially in developing nations like India. Localization and promotion of local product can help boost entrepreneurial activities at various levels, which can improve the distorted global supply chain slowly and gradually but effectively.
Various support and self-help groups for people living with HIV and their families have developed in Viet Nam in recent years. This paper reports on a case study of Sunflowers, the first support group for HIV positive mothers in Hanoi, begun in 2004, and a sister group begun in 2005 in Thai Nguyen province. From April 2004 to early 2007, we carried out semi-structured interviews with 275 health care workers and 153 HIV-positive women and members of their families, as well as participant observation of group meetings and activities. Sunflowers have successfully organised themselves to access vital social, medical and economic support and services for themselves, their children and partners. They gained self-confidence, and learned to communicate with their peers and voice their needs to service providers. Based on personal development plans, they have accessed other state services, such as loans, job counselling and legal advice. They have also gained access to school and treatment for their children, who had previously been excluded. Although the women were vulnerable to HIV as wives and mothers, motherhood also provided them with social status and an identity they used to help build organisations and develop strategies to access the essential services that they and their families need.
Résumé
Ces dernières années, plusieurs groupes de soutien et d’auto-assistance pour les personnes vivant avec le VIH et leurs familles se sont développés au Viet Nam. Une étude de cas a porté sur Sunflowers, premier groupe de soutien des mères séropositives créé à Hanoi en 2004, et un groupe apparenté lancé en 2005 dans la province de Thai Nguyen. D’avril 2004 à début 2007, nous avons mené des entretiens semi-structurés avec 275 agents de santé et 153 femmes séropositives membres de Sunflowers et leurs familles, et observé les participants aux réunions et aux activités des groupes. Les membres de Sunflowers sont parvenues à s’organiser pour bénéficier des services sociaux, médicaux et d’aide économique vitaux pour elles-mêmes, leurs enfants et leurs partenaires. Elles ont acquis de l’assurance et appris à communiquer avec leurs pairs et à faire connaître leurs besoins aux prestataires de services. Sur la base de plans de développement personnel, elles ont obtenu l’accès à d’autres services étatiques, comme les prêts, l’orientation professionnelle et les conseils juridiques. Elles ont aussi pu scolariser et faire soigner leurs enfants, auparavant exclus de ces prestations. Bien que les femmes soient vulnérables au VIH en tant qu’épouses et mères, la maternité leur confère un statut social et une identité dont elles se servent pour construire des organisations et définir des stratégies donnant accès aux services essentiels dont elles et leurs familles ont besoin.
Resumen
En los últimos años han surgido en Vietnam diversos grupos de apoyo y autoayuda para las personas que viven con VIH. Este artículo informa sobre un estudio de caso de Sunflowers, el primer grupo para madres VIH-positivas en Hanoi, fundado en el año 2004, y un grupo asociado iniciado en 2005, en la provincia de Thai Nguyen. Desde abril de 2004 hasta principios del 2007, realizamos entrevistas semiestructuradas con 275 trabajadores de salud y 153 mujeres VIH-positivas, quienes eran miembros de Sunflowers, y con los miembros de sus familias, así como observación participante de las reuniones y actividades del grupo. Las mujeres de Sunflowers han logrado organizarse para acceder al apoyo y los servicios vitales sociales, médicos y económicos para sí mismas, sus hijos y sus parejas. Adquirieron confianza en sí mismas y aprendieron a comunicarse con sus pares y expresar sus necesidades a los prestadores de servicios. Basándose en sus planes de desarrollo personal, han accedido a otros servicios estatales, como préstamos, orientación profesional y asesoría jurídica. También obtuvieron acceso a la escuela y tratamiento para sus hijos, que anteriormente habían sido excluidos. Aunque las mujeres eran vulnerables al VIH como esposas y madres, la maternidad también les dio posición social y una identidad que utilizaron para ayudar a crear organizaciones y formular estrategias para acceder a los servicios esenciales que ellas y sus familias necesitan.
Self-Help Groups are formed for the women's empowerment. The participation of women in Self Help Groups (SHGs) made a significant impact on their empowerment both in personal and social aspects. The empowerment of women through Self Help Groups (SHGs) led to benefits not only to the individual woman, but also for the family and community as a whole through collective action for development. The women experienced feelings of freedom, strength, self identity and increas in levels of confidence and self-esteem. Besides, involvement in SHGs has enabled women to tackle problems and have gained power over decision making in the households. Thus, to investigate the personal and social empowerment of women through self help groups, this particular research was conducted with the specific objective to investigate the SHGs actively working under the Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hast Shilp Yojana (AHVY) in Haryana. A total of 300 respondents from four villages of two districts of Haryana formed the sample size of the study. Chi-square test was used to find whether the two attributes were associated or not. A number of income generating activities were undertaken by the members after joining SHGs. The results showed positive change in indicators in terms of personal and social empowerment of women after joining the SHGs.
Although the first AIDS cases were attributed to men having sex with men, over 70% of HIV infections worldwide are now estimated to occur through sex between women and men. In Men at Risk, Shari L. Dworkin argues that the centrality of heterosexual relationship dynamics to the transmission of HIV means that both women and men need to be taken into account in gender-specific HIV/AIDS prevention interventions. She looks at the “costs of masculinity” that shape men’s HIV risks, such as their initiation of sex and their increased status from sex with multiple partners. Engaging with the common paradigm in HIV research that portrays only women-and not heterosexually active men-as being “vulnerable” to HIV, Dworkin examines the gaps in public health knowledge that result in substandard treatment for HIV transmission and infection among heterosexual men both domestically and globally. She examines a vast array of structural factors that shape men’s HIV transmission risks and also focuses on a relatively new category of global health programs with men known as “gender-transformative” that seeks to move men in the direction of gender equality in the name of improved health. Dworkin makes suggestions for the next generation of gender-transformative health interventions by calling for masculinities-based and structurally driven HIV prevention programming. Thoroughly researched and theoretically grounded, Men at Risk presents a unique approach to HIV prevention at the intersection of sociological and public health research.
OBJECTIVE: To explore whether adding a gender and HIV training programme to microfinance initiatives can lead to health and social benefits beyond those achieved by microfinance alone. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were derived from three randomly selected matched clusters in rural South Africa: (i) four villages with 2-year exposure to the Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity (IMAGE), a combined microfinance-health training intervention; (ii) four villages with 2-year exposure to microfinance services alone; and (iii) four control villages not targeted by any intervention. Adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) employing village-level summaries compared associations between groups in relation to indicators of economic well-being, empowerment, intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV risk behaviour. The magnitude and consistency of aRRs allowed for an estimate of incremental effects. FINDINGS: A total of 1409 participants were enrolled, all female, with a median age of 45. After 2 years, both the microfinance-only group and the IMAGE group showed economic improvements relative to the control group. However, only the IMAGE group demonstrated consistent associations across all domains with regard to women's empowerment, intimate partner violence and HIV risk behaviour. CONCLUSION: The addition of a training component to group-based microfinance programmes may be critical for achieving broader health benefits. Donor agencies should encourage intersectoral partnerships that can foster synergy and broaden the health and social effects of economic interventions such as microfinance.