Social Worker Interview

Empowerment should be a bottom-up process driven by a detailed understanding of how the disempowered sections of society view and respond to their own livelihood situations. The concept of social agency has brought a new perspective to the empowerment of women and other disempowered sections of society such as 'the' youth. This paper presents findings of a study which investigated how low-income 'young' women in Botswana exercise their social agency to improve their livelihood situations. The findings show that these 'young' women are indeed exercising their double social agency (both as women and as youth) to improve their livelihoods both in practical and strategic terms. They do not only demonstrate high sense of entrepreneurship but they are also becoming strategic in self-social positioning within their complex socio-cultural contexts. Although they are exercising their social agency in many different ways their main concern is to enhance livelihood situation of their families.

CSSGJ Working Paper Series, WP10, 2009

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in India relies on Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), as a key component of efforts to expand access to health. ASHA play an important role in increasing access to utilization of health care services. Around the country, they have been found to play a crucial role in promoting the health care services and work as a link between the health care system and community. Objectives: To find out the occupational role of ASHA. Methods:The present cross sectional descriptive study was carried out among 405 ASHAs between 2012-2015. Data were collected using pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule and analysed by using MS EXCEL. ANOVA and Chi-square test was used to determine associations between categorical variables. Results:The total family income of most of the ASHAs (58.51 per cent) is between 3000-4000 per month followed by 22.46 per cent 4000-6000 per month and 19.01 per cent less than 3000 per month. It shows the crucial condition of the ASHA's family that forces ASHA to do work only for incentives. Incentives for ASHAs are a strong motivating factor to work properly.

Social Work

2009

Thank you, it is a great honor to be here. I am deeply grateful to the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) for this opportunity to give the wrap-up speech at this 26 th Annual Social Work Day at the United Nations. I would like to give particular thanks to the organizers, Janice Wetzel of IASSW and Robin Mama of IFSW, for inviting me to be part of this great event. It is wonderful to be in a UN conference room full of social workers from around the world. Allow me to acknowledge just a few of many social workers who have influenced my international thinking directly: Shanti Khinduka, my dean for 25 years at Washington University in St. Louis; the late Dick Parvis, an early leader in international social work and social work education at

The framework for NRHM entails that as AWW has been engrossed in ICDS and has not been able to act as change agent on health ASHA would fill her role. However the major difference between an ASHA and AWW comes in terms of her identity of being from the community and being involved as a change agent for the community. She is supposed to play an immense role in village health plan along with PRI members and other stakeholders of the community. Although she is considered as the activist who would fill the void for creating a full-fledged community participation in health planning, the incentivised nature of the program, stringent monitoring for fulfilling coverage of vertical programs, the emphasis on skill building of ASHA in the training modules specifically for functioning as community mobiliser for JSY, immunization, family planning has restricted her role only to a health worker at periphery. This paper reads in to the aspect of activism in conceptualisation of ASHA vis-a vis the field reality

South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, 2021

Astitva was founded as a not-for-profit organization by Anamika Yaduvanshi, in 2013. The objective of the non-governmental organization (NGO) was to make a visible difference in the lives of disadvantaged sections of the society. Within a short period since its inception, the NGO had positively impacted the lives of individuals and families living in the Wazirpur area. The case helps to understand that even after venturing into vast philanthropic activities, Anamika could not create sustainable livelihoods for the disadvantaged sections of Wazirpur. Is it because of lack of focus on surplus management? The case also helps in understanding the challenges faced by NGOs at ground level. Research questions/Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the nuances of social entrepreneurship. It explores that there should be a balanced approach between social activities that are mostly provided free and generation of surplus to sustain them. The research questions answered are: Has Astit...

A Gender Assessment of Social Assistance in the Kingdom of Eswatini, 2025

In Eswatini, social assistance programmes play a critical role in addressing poverty and vulnerability across the life course. However, the extent to which these programmes account for gender- and age-specific needs remains limited. This report presents the findings and policy recommendations from a comprehensive assessment of the gender-responsiveness and age-sensitivity of social assistance in the country. Conducted under the Social Protection Technical Assistance, Advice and Resources (STAAR) Facility—funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and implemented by DAI Global UK, in collaboration with UNICEF, the assessment draws on national data, global evidence, and stakeholder consultations. The assessment offers a detailed analysis of how Eswatini’s current social assistance policies and programmes address- or fall short in addressing gender-specific and age-related vulnerabilities across the life course. Drawing on global best practices, stakeholder consultations, and national evidence, the reports identify systemic gaps, such as inadequate coverage, low benefit adequacy, limited gender-disaggregated data, and weak linkages between social assistance and gender-based violence response services.

The National Rural Health Mission has envisioned a change in the public health system marching towards an affordable and equitable health care system in the country. It has envisaged for community ownership in the program and volunteerism from amongst community members to attain their participation in the planning process. The framework for the same entails that AWW has been engrossed in ICDS and has not been able to act as change agent. Henceforth a woman volunteer from the community called ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) would fill her role. The major difference between an ASHA and AWW would come in terms of ASHA being a volunteer from the community,