Women’s Groups and COVID-19: Challenges, Engagement, Opportunities
de Hoop et al. (2020) outline the implications of COVID-19 on women’s groups in India, Nigeria and Uganda and how the groups may help mitigate the effects of the pandemic for their communities. Groups were found to be affected by social distancing and the economic repercussions of the lockdowns. Social distancing may require groups to change their functioning such as limiting physical meetings or introducing virtual meetings and technology, and the economic shock may reduce income and viable market linkages which could lead to group dissolution due to lack of capital or investments.
However, women’s groups, particularly microfinance and livelihood groups, can strengthen members’ resilience to economic shocks through consumption smoothing, improved access to assets, and facilitating social protection benefits. Savings and group support can serve as insurance and social protection for their members. They are also crucial partners in community response. SHGs in India are working with the government to set up community kitchens, provide essentials through doorstep delivery and produce masks, PPE and hand sanitizer. SHGs have also been using their social networks for disseminating awareness messages.