Târâyana News

Her Majesty Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck visit the Hansiba at the Rajiv Gandhi Complex, New Delhi, to interact with the office bearers and artisans representing more than 1.2 million Indian rural women. The Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) is a trade union registered in 1972. It is an organisation of the poor, seld-employed women workers. These are women who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses. SEWA is considered both an organisation and a movement and is bringing opportunities to rural women who work together. The HANSIBA shop outlet is an example of the support being provided for mainstreaming the marketing of the rural products. The rural women office bearers and artisans came across as being very confident in what they were doing and aware of the need to keep working hard on behalf of the millions yet to be benefitted.

Her Majesty was inspired by the achievement of illiterate women working together to build better securities both at the household as well as at the community level. Tarayana also took the opportunity to study closer the activities of Home Net South Asia, a sub-regional network of women homebased workers promoted by UNIFEM and SEWA. Home Net Bangladesh, Home Net Nepal, Home Net India, Home Net Pakistan and Home Net Srilanka are some of the National Networks of homebased workers.