Abstract:

The empowerment of women is one of the central issues in the process of development of countries all over the world. Tamil Nadu has a glorious tradition of recognizing the importance of empowering women over several centuries now. There is an acute need among the poor for credit, both for consumption and production, which often forms the declining line between survival and succumbing to poverty. Dr. Jaya Arunachalam initiated a social organization, Working Women’s Forum (India) in 1978 to develop the total human resource potential of very poor women workers in the informal sector. Working Women’s Forum (India) which provides an organized platform, access to credit, education, healthcare, training/orientation towards promoting social and financialindependence to fight poverty and gender discrimination, matching the Millennium Development Goals of the UN. The paper is based on annual reports and articles on WWF. The paper makes an attempt to understand the services of WWF that illustrates poor women to move out of poverty and dehumanization. This paper also attempts to analyze women’s role as leaders.

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