Millions of women work out of their homes producing
beedis, garments and agarbattis, or processing food
and preparing it for distribution and sale. For these
poor women workers, their homes are their workplaces
and constitute an important productive asset.
Over 25 years of SEWA Bank's functioning, the most loans granted
have been house-related—for repairing, renovating
and adding to the homes of the borrowers. Recently,
rural housing is also emerging as a growing need for
village women.
Poor women, on one hand, need access
to housing finance at long-term affordable rates.
On the other hand, they also need technical
expertise on durable building materials, design, and
space maximization. They need to insure their homes
as well. Moreover, they need access to basic civic
amenities including water, sanitation and toilets
in their neighborhoods.
The SEWA movement's housing, housing finance and
basic infrastructure needs are served by Mahila
Housing SEWA Trust, a technical organisation
developed by SEWA and its sister organisations.
These include Foundation for Public Interest (FPI)
and Friends of Women's World Banking (FWWB).
For more information kindly visit
www.sewahousing.org .
