Women leaders emerged
4,200 participants from government departments and self-help groups completed the PRI–SHG training in Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli in 2020–21, after 2,200 groups and federations in Virudhunagar in 2018–19.
Social empowerment & leadership
Building confident leaders and empowering women for social transformation — leadership, legal awareness and governance training for women's groups across Tamil Nadu.
4,200
PRI & SHG training participants, 2020–21
2,200
Groups & federations trained, 2018–19
60
Women SHG leaders trained, 2023–24
11
Districts with Coodu Trust SHGs
Understanding
What social empowerment & leadership means
What is social empowerment & leadership?
Social empowerment and leadership development for women involves building their confidence, skills, and capacity to participate meaningfully in social, economic, and political processes — and creating platforms for women to voice their concerns and contribute to community development.
Our programmes focus on transforming women from beneficiaries to leaders, enabling them to take charge of their lives and communities. The trust’s 2002–03 report describes women's groups being trained regularly on legal awareness, income generation programmes, biodiversity conservation and rural development, and emerging as independent bodies in the village. That work continues: 2,200 self-help groups, panchayat level federations, village panchayat resource centres and community resource persons were trained across five blocks of Virudhunagar in 2018–19, and 4,200 participants from government departments and SHGs in Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli in 2020–21.
We enhance women's social role and status, particularly in the agricultural and environmental spheres where their contributions are often undervalued. The trust’s earlier website recorded 2,696 women benefiting from capacity building trainings; that total does not appear in any annual report, but the training itself is documented year after year — most recently 60 women SHG leaders trained in group management and enterprise development in Manur block in 2023–24.
- Leadership training
- Legal awareness
- Capacity building
- Social recognition
- Income generation
Why this work matters
The challenge on the ground — and our answer
The challenge
Women's farm work goes undervalued
In the agricultural and environmental spheres, women's contributions are often undervalued and unrecognized.
Our response
Strengthen women's role in agriculture
Our Feminization of Agriculture campaign treated rural women as the best environmental managers in any region. Women's groups in Madurai, Theni and Dindigul were trained to promote homestead herbal gardens, and whole villages in Dindigul district took up vermicompost preparation run by women alone.
The challenge
Rights that stay on paper
Without legal literacy, rural women cannot understand or exercise their rights, access legal support, or advocate for gender equality.
Our response
Legal awareness women can use
Women's groups are trained regularly on legal awareness alongside income generation, biodiversity conservation and rural development. At the 2008 World Women's Day gathering at Tharagampatti the groups themselves passed 18 resolutions on women's rights.
The challenge
Left out of decision-making
Without confidence and platforms, women stay excluded from decision-making at the household and community levels.
Our response
Train confident community leaders
Leadership training builds decision-making abilities and confidence. The PRI–SHG programme took 2,200 groups, federations and resource persons through village development planning and budgeting in Virudhunagar in 2018–19, and 4,200 participants across three districts in 2020–21.
The challenge
Empowerment without income fades
Leadership gains are hard to sustain when women lack pathways to economic independence.
Our response
Link leadership to livelihoods
Every leadership programme carries an income-generation component. The 2023–24 SHG leaders' training covered group management and enterprise development together, so that better-run groups convert directly into earnings.
At a glance
The essentials
- Active since
- 2002Part of twenty-five years of work with rural women, 2000–2025
- Coverage
- 11 districtsThe districts in which Coodu Trust has formed and supported self-help groups
- Groups mobilized
- 1,345 self-help groupsMen's and women's groups across 11 districts, as recorded in 2012–13 and 2013–14
- Project portfolio
- 4 programmesFoundation campaigns and governance training, 2002–2024
- Key delivery
- PRI–SHG trainingVillage development planning, government orders and budgeting for groups, federations and community resource persons
- Delivery model
- Training-led & SHG-basedLeadership, legal awareness and income generation training
Track record
Project portfolio, 2002–2024
| Programme | Period | Type | Highlights | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feminization of Agriculture | 2002–2003 | Foundation campaign | Women's groups in Madurai, Theni and Dindigul trained to promote homestead herbal gardens and lead tree planting | Completed |
| Capacity building for rural women groups | 2002–2003 | Training programme | Monthly group meetings with regular training on legal awareness, income generation, biodiversity conservation and rural development | Completed |
| PRI–SHG training | 2018–2021 | Governance training | 2,200 groups, federations and resource persons in five blocks of Virudhunagar; 4,200 participants in Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli | Completed |
| SHG leadership training, Manur block | 2023–2024 | CSR programme | 60 women SHG leaders trained in group management and enterprise development opportunities | Completed |
Impact
What social empowerment & leadership changes
Legal awareness
Groups trained on legal awareness took their own positions: 18 resolutions on women's rights were passed by the self-help groups at the 2008 World Women's Day gathering at Tharagampatti, attended by more than 3,000 members from 315 groups.
Agricultural recognition
Under the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Programme, 5,000 women farmers were identified and profiled across 37 villages of Thonthoni and Kadavur blocks, and 2,134 were trained in organic agriculture.
Economic empowerment
Linked leadership development with income generation opportunities — the trained groups went on to run community herbal nurseries, vermicomposting and mushroom production centres.
Get involved
Empower women leaders
Join us in building a generation of confident women leaders who can drive social transformation. Your support helps us reach more rural women, enhance their leadership capabilities, and create lasting change in communities.