Self Help Groups

A fundamental belief in the ability of people, working collectively, to revolutionize their communities.

Women’s collectives – or Self Help Groups – are a global phenomenon that have existed in many forms throughout space and time. These networks provide individual benefits – self-esteem, agency and confidence – as well as a platform for collective action. These groups ignite a spark: as women meet together, they work together, and as they work together, they build hope for themselves and for their communities. With the power of hope in their hands, women collectively design and create the change they want to see. 

Self Help Groups are voluntary groups, typically comprised of 10-25 people who meet every week to save, start small business activities, and create change both for themselves and their communities. SHGs are created with the underlying assumption that when individuals join together to take action toward overcoming obstacles and attaining social change, the result can be individual and/or collective empowerment. Empowerment, in turn, creates the bedrock for a wide range of positive outcomes, many of which provide the enabling environment for good governance, political change, and economic growth. As groups grow in maturity, SHG members begin to facilitate new groups, replicating organically and exponentially. Thematic content for groups can extend well beyond savings and business skills, with topics ranging from health practices to disaster risk prevention to human rights.  

How does it work?

Phase 1: Group Formation

Community members are invited to learn more about the Self Help Group approach and - if interested - to join an SHG. As individual groups start to meet, on a weekly basis, facilitators help the group members to name their group, agree on their by-laws, and begin to work collectively to support each other and members of their community. 

Phase 2: Group Strengthening

Over the course of many weeks, SHG members begin to save, start small businesses, and give each other micro-loans from their savings. As women work together, their confidence and their aspiration for change begins to grow. They activate to stop childhood marriage, advocate with government for access to services, and support vulnerable members of their community.

Phase 3: Maturity and Growth

As the SHG reaches maturity, it begins to seed and support new SHGs. As the SHG movement grows, groups start to create federated structures, with group members forming clusters and federal level structures that become formally recognized. This allows them to drive change at scale, from the bottom up. 

Partnering with Self Help Groups