Thirty million women in India work at home, many making a living from sewing and hand embroidery. They face numerous problems such as poverty, exploitation/very low or late pay, a lack of training and proper equipment, and health problems from poor working conditions.

The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) organizes home based women workers in nine states of India. SEWA, is a trade union of informal sector workers founded in 1972. In 2006 SEWA established a groundbreaking embroidery centre in Delhi that supports embroidery home based women workers. This model removes the layers of middlemen and has enabled home based women workers to work directly with the suppliers of international brands such as GAP, Monsoon, NEXT etc. Through this unique initiative, SEWA has developed a model which ensures competitive rates, high quality products, timely delivery and ethical sourcing of products, including elimination of child labour.

The centre provides its members with a range of opportunities, services and support. This includes:

This innovative model has been supported by some international companies including the US based GAP. Since its inception, companies have realized its potential in improving the lives of home based women workers. They have acknowledged that recognition and engagement with home based women workers helps promote sound economic development by promoting productivity and protecting and improving labor standards. However the Center requires continuous work orders to operate. While UK based retailers are placing orders, GAP is the only US based retailer yet to do so.

Supporting this centre provides a unique opportunity for retailers to fulfill their corporate social responsibilities and ethical commitments. It also provides an organized, reliable workforce from which to outsource. It shows that positive and mutually beneficial working relationships can be developed by acknowledging and working constructively with home based women workers and the organizations that represent them.

Employment Generation for Home-Based Workers

Vision for the future: SEWA strives to make the members more competitive by constantly interacting with them about the importance of timely completion of the work, and by upgrading their skills from time to time. SEWA is presently working with 10 export houses, and it envisions making the enterprise self-sustainable by forming a cooperative that could be owned, managed and controlled by the women embroidery workers themselves.

Home based women workers add value to garments that are outsourced by international companies through traditional artistic embellishment work. Even though this vital work makes the garment beautiful, home based women workers are often the most vulnerable and economically deprived workers in the supply chain. They are often exploited by layers of middlemen, their existence is denied by the suppliers and they are not considered in ethical sourcing decisions. Homework in the supply chain is a reality that the enlightened corporate world cannot afford to ignore. Many US and European garment retailers outsource from South Asia, China and other third world countries, and companies maintain competition between countries to keep sourcing prices as low as possible. Having competition at each level and many options available, the entire garment business and sourcing is very competitive. While suppliers and contractors survive because of their capital influence, the home based women workers are unable to negotiate and hence are dependent on the decisions of the contractors.

•	Linking members directly to textile suppliers and exporters.
•	Providing members with regular work, at a fair price and ensuring members are paid on time. Income of home based women workers has increased by 100% as women themselves decide the piece-rate, negotiate with the suppliers and the income goes directly to them (A small proportion covers overheads).
•	Providing members with training, equipment and materials.
•	Facilitating and empowering members to negotiate contracts directly with export companies.
•	Providing members with other SEWA support services. These include a crèche and education centre for members children, financial services (savings, credit, insurance), provision of social security, health and safety training, and project management skills.

Linking members directly to textile suppliers and exporters.

Providing members with regular work, at a fair price and ensuring members are paid on time. Income of home based women workers has increased by 100% as women themselves decide the piece-rate, negotiate with the suppliers and the income goes directly to them (A small proportion covers overheads).

Providing members with training, equipment and materials.

Facilitating and empowering members to negotiate contracts directly with export companies.

Providing members with other SEWA support services. These include a crèche and education centre for members children, financial services (savings, credit, insurance), provision of social security, health and safety training, and project management skills.