According to the World Bank estimates, the female labour force participation was 20.3% in 2019 in India, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. With women traditionally playing the role of primary caregivers in Indian households and employment opportunities severely curtailed as a result of the pandemic, the situation has only worsened since. These changes have a direct impact on the financial independence of women and their ability to contribute to socio-economic development.

To offset these detrimental factors, Humana People to People India and Yes Foundation recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for three years to implement Project Disha – a Women empowerment initiative through entrepreneurship development training – in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The Project aims to reach 36,000 women through entrepreneurship development training and promote vocational skills-based entrepreneurship development, bridge the demand-supply gap in access to social security, augment market access, and improve the overall quality of life of the women in the intervention districts.

Once the women are identified and have received Entrepreneurial training, the project will support 4,800 new Nano start-ups or expansion of existing income-generating activities. These enterprises can range from animal husbandry, agriculture and horticulture, tailoring and sewing, mobile repair shops etc.

Along with entrepreneurial training, HPPI will also link these women to Rural Self Employment Training Institutes for vocational skill training and provide Advanced Financial Literacy and Digital Literacy to the Women Entrepreneurs.

The Project will be implemented in Charkhi Dadri, Rewari, Mahendragarh and Gurugram districts in Haryana; Alwar, Sikar, Jaipur and Kota districts in Rajasthan and Bareilly and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.