The present study on Adult Education and Livelihood: Women as Agents of Change deliberates on the educational practices of NGOs towards empowering SHGs and on the impact of educational practices on women collectives from their vantage point. This impact study forms part of a study by the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (IIZ/DVV) on "Adult Education and Poverty Reduction: A Global Priority".
Out of an estimated 1.2 billion poor people in the world, over two-thirds are women. They face abject poverty in want of adequate food, clean water, sanitation, and health care. They often lack access to the critical resources of credit, land and inheritance. They are denied opportunities, choices; access to information, education, and skills. Without any sense of power whatsoever, their participation in decision-making is minimal, both at home and in the community.
