Sheva Nari O Shishu Kallyan Kendra is an NGO founded in 1991 to advance women’s development. Sheva in Bangla means “service.” As an organization created by women, Sheva’s mission is to empower Bangladeshi women through grassroots mobilization, research, and advocacy. Sheva’s model is to engage with micro credit borrowers in various capacities that include micro lending, adult education, and women’s legal rights advocacy and training. A significant portion of Sheva’s grassroots mobilization is comprised of garment factory workers.

Sheva became registered with the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affair (MOWCA) in 1993. Later in 1995, Sheva was also registered with the Bureau of NGO Affairs. Sheva received certification of the Joint Stock Company and MRA in 2007. Sheva was certified by of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority in 2007.

Sheva began offering micro credit to women in the slums around Dhaka City. In 1995, Sheva received a grant from the Netherlands Embassy which expanded their capital and allowed them to service more urban women. Sheva steadily began building a network among urban poor women, and began bringing training and education to them. Since then, its work has expanded to include education among poor women, training for factory workers and management, women’s rights research and advocacy, and various specialized consultation projects. Sheva is no longer affiliated with their original catering operation, which is now independently servicing businesses throughout Dhaka City.

In Bangladesh, women face particularly high levels of discrimination. Gender discrimination, defective and discriminatory laws, as well as ingrained religious and cultural notions all blend together to create an environment where women are denied many basic rights. As an organization founded by women, Sheva’s efforts have been devoted to secure and protect women’s rights. Through the implementation of programs designed with these factors in mind, Sheva has supported women in creating avenues for them to enter the world of work independently. Lessons learnt from working with women at grassroots level have formed the basis of our program structure and keep adding meaningful dimensions to ongoing programs.

Objectives

• To aid in the poverty alleviation movement by providing women with micro-credit loans
• To guarantee the effectiveness of the micro-credit loans through supporting programs like adult education, training and business counseling.
• To undertake studies and develop programs to protect, promote and legitimize women’s rights at the work place thus in the broader society in Bangladesh.
• To promote socially responsible business practices
• To raise awareness among grassroots workers on their health needs
• Empower grassroots workers to lead a self-reliant, confident and honorable life.
• To secure and protect women’s rights in all walks of life.

Goals

Sheva’s principle, activities and efforts are directed towards one goal that is, achieving egalitarianism in the society in terms of gender distribution of labor (GDOL). With preferential advantage in certain sectors of employment and business ownership, Bangladeshi women can bridge the gap in the existing male hegemonic system of economy. Women are valuable part of the community, utilization of their labor and skills are imperative to a society’s sustainable development.  With equal opportunities and access to the world of work, women can bring in revenues to themselves and their families. This can contribute positively to the community they live in, thus strengthening the economy of the society.