By Sadia Afrin Suvra

The “Women’s Empowerment through Livelihoods, Skills and Economic Agency: A Qualitative Study of SWAPNO Beneficiaries in Cumilla” examines how the SWAPNO Project contributes to the economic and social empowerment of vulnerable women through an integrated combination of livelihood support, technical and vocational skills, savings and financial management, health and nutritional awareness, and confidence building. Drawing on field-level evidence from 27 key informant interviews with beneficiaries participating in formal sector training, the study explores changes in women’s economic participation, household decision-making, financial agency, social recognition, wellbeing, and future aspirations. The findings show that beneficiaries have used programme earnings and newly acquired skills to pursue income-generating activities, build productive assets, improve household wellbeing, and strengthen their control over financial resources. Individual experiences also demonstrate improvements in confidence, mobility, social participation, nutritional practices, and the ability to negotiate household and gender norms, while highlighting the continuing influence of unpaid care responsibilities and local social, cultural, and religious contexts on women’s economic participation. Overall, the study demonstrates that women’s empowerment is a gradual and multidimensional process in which access to income is most effective when complemented by skills, savings, knowledge, confidence, and greater decision-making space. The experience of SWAPNO in Cumilla therefore provides important insights for strengthening gender-responsive social protection approaches that enable vulnerable women to transform resources and opportunities into sustainable livelihoods, greater agency, and improved wellbeing for themselves and their families.