‘Stories From the Field’ is a new podcast hosted by the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab that documents the experiences of key stakeholders and beneficiaries engaged in designing, implementing, and participating in women’s groups in South Asia. The podcast episodes feature researchers, task team leaders managing World Bank operations, local implementers working with women’s groups in South Asia, and women beneficiaries, endeavoring to uncover the multifaceted nature of women’s groups in South Asia. The
podcast goes beyond causal evidence to explore impact of women’s groups through a different lens —one where local voices and lived experience of impactful projects are at the center of inquiry. Stories from the field strive to bring the beneficiary voices from the periphery to the center while unearthing big questions around empowerment and mental wellbeing. Join us on this odyssey and come away empowered and inspired.
Hosts: Najaf Zahra and Ayesha Tahir
Producer: Serenat Kivilcim
Editor: Christopher Jeremy Cymbalak
Listen to the trailer
Our first two guest speakers Thomas de Hoop and Sapna Desai present their recent work to create a typology of women’s groups in South Asia. In addition, they shed light on the history of women’s groups in the region and their evolution into mainstream development practice. Together, they unpack the impacts these groups have had on women’s empowerment—economic and otherwise.
