Citation: Herlekar, Vanishree et al., (2021). Making home-based work environments safer, healthier and productive: Emergency relief in crisis and disaster situations; COVID-19 relief. Brief No. ER1. WIEGO
This brief is a part of WIEGO's documentation of Mahila Housing SEWA Trust’s (MHT) work to capture insights on their work that has had wide ranging impacts on the wellbeing and economic productivity of home-based workers. This is the ninth brief in the series added to capture MHT’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns have left the poor extremely vulnerable, leading to loss in income, inefficient healthcare, inability to access sanitary facilities and no option to self- isolate. Women home-based workers reported a sharp decline in work orders and an increase in domestic work and child and elderly care work.
MHT supported the most vulnerable families by immediately mobilizing funds to distribute health and food kits, and began training women leaders to be at the front lines of the response. They also leveraged digi-tech platforms to communicate with community leaders and spread awareness around the virus.