Reema Nanavaty: Women Empowerment
Executive Director, Self-Employed Women's Association of India
What started off as a trade union of poor self-employed women in 1972 in Ahmedabad has today grown to become a global movement with over 2 million members from across South Asia, South Africa and Latin America. Passion to empower women by providing them opportunities for livelihoods and uplifting them from penury made Reema Nanavati to quit Indian Administrative Service to join SEWA in 1986. She has pursued her goal with dedication and inspired women untiringly to organise them into SHGS and started a retail distribution network, Rudi, to provide forward linkages to bring sustainable economic empowerment and dignity to these women. 40,000 households benefitted from this. Nanavaty oversees nearly 5,000 SHGS, 160 co-operatives and 15 economic federations. SEWA remains world's largest association of women in the informal sector. Building women-led supply chains, introducing modern ICT-based tools, encouraging green energy initiatives, livelihoods and whatever it takes for women members to be self-reliant, have been her top priorities.