NGOS as agents of change in women’s empowerment: fact or fiction? The case of Sewa

SEWA, The Self Help Women’s Association, an international non-governmental organization, is analyzed to determine its success in bringing about women’s empowerment in Gujarat, India. Using the World Bank’s empowerment framework, this paper examines: the extent to which SEWA provides access to information to its target population, the poorest women of Gujarat; how inclusive the organization is and how it promotes participation in its endeavours; the organization’s accountability to its stakeholders; and how it promotes local organizational capacity. SEWA’s efforts at empowerment are found to be successful at the local level. Changing macro level politics and institutions, however, remains outside of its control.