MainLevel Consulting

Qualitative evaluation of programme targeted at advancing women and youth participation in trade unions

Partner/Client
Mainlevel Consulting AG

Sector
Development Consultancy

Location
Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Gujarat, and Bangladesh

Mainlevel Consulting AG was contracted by Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Bildungswerk Bund (DGB BW) to carry out an evaluation of the “Strengthening women and youth leadership within the trade union movement” project implemented across South and South-east Asia.
4th Wheel was commissioned to collect data and analyse sub-projects in South Asia, implemented by 3 partner organisations in Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, and Gujarat and Bangladesh. The sub-projects were intended at increasing union membership, building worker rights’ awareness, and advancing women and youth skills.
The beneficiaries of the projects were women and youth who were engaged in the construction, seafood, and other miscellaneous industries in these geographical contexts, and were either associated with unions or aspired to form unions.
Data collection and analysis occurred between September and October 2021.

APPROACH

The OECD DAC criterion underpinned the evaluation, while aspects such as adaptability and transferability of best practices were also tapped into.
This study was largely qualitative in nature, gleaning quantitative insights from respondents for specific questions.
Following a desk review of project documentation, virtual Key Informant Interviews were conducted to gauge insights from the leadership within the partner organisation. A combination of virtual interviews and in-person focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to interact with women union members and leaders.
134 respondents were interviewed via the data collection exercise across the 3 sub-projects.

Advocacy efforts, awareness raising sessions, and capacity building trainings by partner organisations led to an increase in the membership of women and youth in unions.
Women and youth developed awareness of worker rights such as fixed hours of work, overtime compensation, medical insurance, need to address violence against women in the workplace, and importance of a provident fund.
Women respondents also acknowledged that their confidence and self awareness had grown, and they had become vocal and active participants in their unions.
In certain contexts, government authorities acknowledged the sustained role played by the partners in upskilling women and youth, despite challenging socio-economic contexts.

Ensuring training-employment linkages and continued funding to sustain the momentum and activism generated by project activities emerged as factors that would contribute to sustainability of outcomes.
Avenues for interactions between projects and unions of different industries would enable cross-learning and provide a platform to organise and advocate for worker rights.