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SAFAL (Skills Advancement for Able Leadership) Phase I

Background

PCI India, in collaboration with JEEViKA, launched the SAFAL initiative (Skills Advancement for Able Leadership) to address gaps in advancing women’s leadership, agency, and life skills of SHG women leaders. SAFAL utilizes the PACE (Personality Advancement and Career Enhancement) curriculum—adapted to Bihar’s rural context—to build psychosocial competencies and promote collective community action. The objective was to enhance life skills of SHG leaders in Vaishali District, Bihar

Scope of Intervention

SHG women leaders often struggle with limited communication skills, low self-confidence, and inadequate problem-solving abilities, which restrict their participation in decision-making processes at household, community, and governance levels.

SAFAL I aimed to bridge these gaps by:

  • Developing a cadre of 300 trained SHG leaders to cascade life skills to 9,000 VO members.
  • Contextualizing the PACE curriculum for grassroots relevance.
  • Enhancing key competencies such as communication, financial literacy, time/stress management, and gender equity.
  • Strengthening community action on issues such as WASH, climate resilience, and entitlements.

Program Lead & Collaborators

  • PCI India – Program design, implementation, training, and monitoring.
  • JEEViKA (BRLPS) – Community mobilization, leadership identification, and local facilitation.
  • GAP Inc. (PACE Curriculum) – Curriculum content and initial trainer support.

What We Did

  1. Mobilization and Capacity Building
  • 18 Gender CRPs selected and certified as PACE Master Trainers.
  • 300 VO/CLF leaders identified across 9 CLFs in Vaishali, Lalganj, and Bhagwanpur blocks.
  • CRPs are oriented and supported monthly through state-level team handholding.
  • CRPs facilitated cascade trainings at VO level; each pair covered 30–35 VOs.
  1. Training Rollout
  • 17 sessions developed from 7 PACE modules and delivered monthly.
  • Sessions covered: Communication, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Time & Stress Management, Financial Literacy, Water & Sanitation.
  • Training infrastructure leveraged JEEViKA CLF offices.
  • Over 7,800 women VO members trained in Phase I.
  1. Baseline, Endline, and Quality Assurance
  • Mixed-method baseline study captured initial indicators (e.g., 66% lacked communication confidence).
  • Endline study showed significant improvement in self-efficacy and decision-making.
  • Tools developed for MIS, training calendar, QA checks, and pre-post session analysis.

Outcome

Key Baseline Findings (April–May 2022):

  • 66% lacked confidence in communication with community and male counterparts.
  • 80% had poor problem-solving skills.
  • 1/3rd lacked understanding of goal-setting.
  • 89% prioritized household duties over career aspirations.

Key Endline Findings (March 2023):

  • Communication confidence rose from 37% to 69%.
  • Gender-equitable attitudes increased from 60% to 81%.
  • Decision-making ability improved from 36% to 50%.
  • Problem-solving competency rose from 49% to 76%.
  • 69% reported higher resilience.

Expected Future Outcomes 

  • Expansion to reach 50,000+ community members through community theatre and awareness campaigns.
  • Strengthened grassroots leadership in addressing WASH, climate change, and local governance.
  • Integration of life skills into SHG ecosystem for long-term resilience and empowerment.
  • Documentation of Phase I learnings, success stories, and impact for future scaling.