Women in Leadership

Although both countries share the same overall objective – to promote gender equality and women’s rights and empower women to assume leadership roles – the approaches taken are slightly different, adapted to local context, needs and opportunities.

In India, the programme, also known as ‘Udayini’ (‘Women rising’), aims to nurture women leaders in the community with the skills and knowledge to take on leadership roles. The programme also looks to enhance knowledge and uptake of social protection schemes and promote financial inclusion.

In Sri Lanka, the programme works with women tea workers to develop their skills and knowledge to take on leadership roles, as well as ensuring that leaders and other key stakeholders in the tea sector (including men and youth) understand and promote gender equality.

In India, the programme used a cascading training model to intensively train women, youth and men on gender, leadership, social protection, digital literacy, and financial inclusion.

In Sri Lanka, the programme is implemented by a producer company, supporting accountability and sustainability. It also involves national, district and local government authorities for training support, community assistance and visibility.

Activities are ongoing in both countries. Below is an insight into progress to date:

In India:

• Discussions on women’s inequality as a social issue which impacts all of society have begun within targeted tea gardens.
• The perception of gender equality among the primary cohort has improved and there has been noticeable growth in their leadership skills.
• The primary cohort have been invited by the community to address issues of child marriage and violence, as well as facilitating discussions on health and nutrition and the gendered division of work.

In Sri Lanka:

• Provision of technical training and building soft skills among women tea harvesters.
• Engaging men through inclusion and awareness initiatives to mitigate and address issues that impact women and children.
• Children of workers are being given opportunities for ‘dignified’ jobs (as perceived by the workers) in tea through the ‘Empower U’ initiative.
• Capacity building with government authorities on gender grievance identification and handling.