Vodafone Foundation in India

1. Rural Women’s Initiative for Self-Sustained Enterprises (RISE)

Small scale women entrepreneurs face several difficulties in growing their businesses due to small size of local market, unregulated prices, middlemen, lack of information on market trends and opportunities.

Vodafone Foundation, in partnership with the NGO Hand-in-Hand, initiated “Rural Women’s Initiative for Self-Sustained Enterprises (RISE)” project to address many of the challenges face by rural women entrepreneurs.

The initiative aims to build the capabilities of 50,000 women entrepreneurs by providing end-to-end business development support to manage their enterprises efficiently including enterprise development, marketing skills, improving quality parameters (products, services and processes) and using technology to enhance market access.

Vodafone Foundation developed a technology platform, a dedicated virtual marketplace exclusively for women entrepreneurs which can be accessed through a mobile app. The app enables women entrepreneurs working in diverse industries such as manufacturing, services, trade, agriculture, retail, handicraft, and garment to display their goods and avail products and services within their network using a mobile app. The programme is helping women expand their customer base and upscale their enterprises. The initiative targets the incremental income of 240 crores over the period of three years for women entrepreneurs enrolled in the programme.

2. SEWA RUDI Sandesha Vyavhar (RSV)

RUDI network is a rural distribution chain that procures farm produce from marginal farmers at market prices, processes and packages them at various processing centres run by grassroots women, and sells them to poor households in the villages at affordable prices through a network of grassroots saleswomen called RUDIbens.

Challenge for RUDI was to move away from paper-based management system and word-of-mouth stock orders and introduce a mobile-based management system to trace real time customer needs, inventory and stock management of 4,400 rudibens that reach out to a 1 million customers across 3000 villages.

Rudi Sandesha Vyavahar (RSV), an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform integrated with point of sales, is an initiative of Vodafone India Foundation in partnership with SEWA (Mahila Sewa Trust) in Gujarat to help the rural women within the RUDI network to sell farm produce within their local communities and generate more business opportunities. The platform covers all the stages of supply chain management and enables RUDIbens to place orders real time, record sales, receive messages from the RUDI team, and maintain daily sales reports, customer ledgers and financial updates. This has helped in efficient and effective management of all stages of the RUDI Network supply chain and has increased the income levels of RUDI women.

3. Digital literacy

India is the 2nd largest telecom market in the world and world’s 3rd largest Internet market. Despite the rapid spread of digital technologies, digital literacy in rural India is extremely low, with only 12% of women being active internet users. Providing access to key information and opportunities through connectivity not only empowers women but drives socio-economic development at scale.

In this context, Vodafone Foundation initiated the Digital Literacy programme in an attempt to bridge the digital divide amongst semi-urban and rural women and youth to enable them to access relevant and critical information for their social, economic empowerment.

The project aims to enable 100,000 rural women and youth in becoming skilled in internet usage through the effective use of smartphones. A well-structured modular approach enables the beneficiaries to use search engines and online services, access better livelihoods, get information on government schemes, entitlements, and other matters related to education and health – thereby improving their social and economic status in society.

4. Women of Wonder

Women of Wonder, a coffee table book, is Vodafone Foundation’s initiative aimed at celebrating the lives of ordinary women who have achieved extraordinary feats. It focuses on women who have boldly challenged stereotypes, overcome physical challenges, braved tremendous odds and have come out brilliant and glorious as an inspiration to many others.

Vodafone Foundation has recognized more than 200 outstanding women achievers for their contribution through Women of Wonder programme.

5. Sustainable model in Livelihood-linked Skills training in Hamirpur

Vodafone Foundation has initiated a pilot project in partnership with CAP Foundation to demonstrate a holistic and sustainable model for linking local youth to livelihoods in a viable way. The youth are being imparted vocational skills as per their interest and emerging labour market opportunities available locally and outside the district.

The training will also be aligned to the emerging National Occupational Standards and the National Skills Qualification Framework being actively promoted by the Ministry of Skills. Trainees who successfully complete the training will be facilitated to undergo certification under the NCVT (National Vocational Certification and Training) body and placed in jobs