Battling barriers to employment 

In India, women face a number challenges when it comes to gaining employment and creating an income for themselves. Factors such as working conditions, employment security, wage disparity, discrimination, and family responsibilities hinder a woman's ability to earn her own living and see women’s employment rates hovering at around 21%, which is among the worst in the world.

Creating job opportunities and improving livelihoods

ACCESS Development Services, an NGO working across India to empower people from marginalised backgrounds with employment opportunities and sustainable incomes, is improving women's livelihoods and combatting pollution with their latest project: Holy City Rickshaws. The project has been developed off the back of their similar successful program in Jaipur: Pink City Rickshaw Co.

This latest project aims to provide training and job opportunities for women in the Holy City of Varanasi, India. The project provides training in e-rickshaw driving and maintenance, life skills, as well as financial and business literacy to ready them for work. The project employs women within the community, improving the livelihoods of them and their families. In addition to empowering women with training and income, their rickshaws are environmentally-friendly, offering travellers in Varanasi, an already over-polluted city, a more sustainable way of getting from A to B.