''Report on Study to Assess The Impact on Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being of Students Across Schools In Delhi Due to Closure of Schools on Account of Covid-19 and Shift to Online Educ
Prepared by - Institute of Social Studies Trust
Conducted by - Planning Department in collaboration with The Directorate of Education, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi
Year - 2022
Beyond the Norm: Scope of Non-Traditional Livelihood Skilling for Women in Achieving Women's Economic Empowerment - A Synthesis Report
By - Anweshaa Ghosh, Prama Mukhopadhyay & Sudeshna Sengupta
December 2022
Brief Description of the Report:
This qualitive research was conducted in partnership with selected member organisations of the Non-traditional livelihoods (NTL) Network. The qualitative study used a 360-degree case study method to understand the processes and challenges of NTL skilling and its impact on agency, aspirations and manifestations of empowerment or disempowerment in women's life. This study foregrounds itself in Kabeer’s (1999) framework of women’s economic empowerment which she envisages as a process of change which occurs through the three inter-related dimensions – resources, agency and achievement. This framework was useful for this research as NTL skilling for women entails a process of change with an aim to develop an agency for the women to have the ability of making choices which are essential for well-being. In addition, the study also makes use of the evaluation framework of “Small Wins”, in each of the case narrative, to look at the various levels of small wins that can over time be compounded to result in transformative change through non-linear processes (Termeer and Dewulf 2018) and feed into process of change as described by Kabeer (1999).
The case narratives were selected and analysed using a gender responsive and intersectional approach since these case studies were vastly different from each other in terms of the location, intersectional identity of the participant, types of skilling engaged in and the structure and motive of the skill imparting organisation. The case narratives were analysed vis-a-vis the impact felt from the interaction of the four institutional space (espoused in the Care Diamond (Razavi,2007) - family, community, market and state. This research, however, in addition looked at the role of the organisation (CSOs) in terms of availability of resources, the skilling process, building of aspiration and the eventual formation of agency and achievements of the individual journey towards empowerment via NTL skilling experience.
''Understanding Pastoral Women's Work: An Exploratory Study''
By - Gurpreet Kaur, Prateek, Saee Pawar & Pawna Kumari
August 2022
Brief Description of the Report:
'Understanding Pastoral Women's work' is an exploratory study, that has tried to unpack the complexity of invisibility- one of pastoralism at large and two, specifically of pastoral women from multiple discourses and also pastoralism itself. The attempt has been to understand pastoral women’s work in its multiple meanings, which has a direct link to their interactions with the ecosystems women move in and inhabit in ‘movement’. It has also been an effort to understand the role of ecological interactions of pastoral women (and pastoral community at large) in shaping the understanding of work. The conduits to understand this were two things- one the increased pressures of sedentarization within the pastoral community, due to the trajectories in development, tourism, ecological changes etc. and two the increased reliance on NTFP and relationship which women have with the ecosystem through Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP). The study was located in the Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh and we interacted with pastoralists belonging to Gaddi, Kanet (Rajput) and (Hindu) Gujjar pastoral communities.
The study builds on qualitative, collaborative and participatory methods to engage with not just pastoral women but also pastoral community at large (including older men and youth). The findings inform us how the understanding of a pastoral woman’s labour is intrinsically tied to the question of the body, which is also seeing changes because of a changing society as well as changes in the ecosystem. At the same time, changing bodies and changing notions of labour keep their identities in a continuous process of transition. This complexity of women’s work doesn’t find space in the counting of work. Therefore, the study pushes for a broader understanding of women's work beyond urban theoretical frameworks, through the complexity provided by pastoralism and pastoral women's lives.
''Locating the Processes of Non-State Relief Work During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Delhi'' - A Study Report
By - Mubashira Zaidi, Risha Ramachandran, Ayesha Datta, Sneha Jha &Ashmeet Kaur
August 2022
Brief Description of the Report:
‘Locating the Processes of Non-state Relief Work during the Covid-19 Lockdown in Delhi’, uses a gender-responsive intersectional framework to highlight the critical role played by communities and civil society in four slum areas of Delhi, in order to reduce human suffering during the Covid-19 lockdown. The study is also an effort to understand the various gendered and intersectional vulnerabilities that came to the fore, the mechanisms of relief work and care that were undertaken through local collective action, as well as the collaborations and networks that were locally built to respond to the crisis. Further, the study is centred on the concepts of social reproduction and care and aims to understand the critical role played by communities in extending care within the institutional framework represented by the ‘Care Diamond’. Thus, the study draws lessons from the experiences of local slum communities in responding to the care crisis during the lockdown and aims to throw light on the wider structural inequalities in society. The findings from the study respond to the policy needs of both the government and civil society in terms of averting a care crisis and/or addressing such a scenario.
Improving Access to Social Protection for Domestic Workers in South Asia: WIEGO Social Protection Programme
Policy Brief - ''Domestic Workers and Social Protection in Nagaland''
October 2021
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