Climate vulnerabilities and opportunities for India’s Informal women workers

Harvard Center for International Development

Welcome to the Harvard Center for International Development’s Road to GEM23 Climate & Development podcast. At CID, we work across a global network of researchers and practitioners to build, convene, and deploy talent to address the world’s most pressing challenges. On our Road to GEM23, we strive to elevate and learn from voices from the countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis and will feature learnings from leading researchers and practitioners working to combat climate change. In this episode, we are joined by Reema Nanavaty, Director, SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association) in India. SEWA is the single largest Central Trade union registered on 12th April, 1972 with a membership of over 2.5 million (2023) poor, self-employed women workers from the informal economy across 18 states in India. Reema is joined by CID Student Ambassador and Graduate School of Design alum Manasa Acharya to discuss the implications of climate change on the informal workforce of women in India. SEWA has been working for over 5 decades to improve the livelihoods of poor self-employed women workers from the informal economy, through various initiatives using technology, technical training, microfinance, market linkages, natural resource management etc. Learn more: https://www.sewa.org/about-us/