Thursday
04
September 2025
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM IST
Location
Room 136, GICT Building
Central Campus
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Adapting to Extreme Heat: Health, Livelihoods, and Social Security
Research Seminar Series
Yasminben Shaikh
Coordinator
Lok Swasthya SEWA Trust
Speaker
Vanita Parmar
Coordinator
National Insurance Vimo Co-operative
Ahmedabad City Team
Speaker
Ahmedabad and nearby regions regularly endure extreme summers, with temperatures soaring past 45°C. By the 2030s, heatwaves are expected to double in frequency, with severe events increasing up to seven times. Informal workers, vendors, farmers, and construction labourers are among the most vulnerable, as their livelihoods depend on working through dangerous heat. With 90% of India’s female workforce in the informal sector, inclusive and gender-responsive climate strategies are urgently needed.
This talk will explore community-led approaches to reducing heat stress, highlighting solutions that are practical, low-cost, and co-created with women workers. It will feature examples such as preventive health education and awareness campaigns, along with innovative tools like parametric heat insurance and livelihood insurance designed to provide compensation for missed workdays during extreme heat events. By integrating health, livelihood, and social security, the session will show how grassroots action can shape inclusive and participatory climate resilience in vulnerable urban contexts.
Speaker
Yasminben Shaikh
Yasminben Shaik is a 2nd generation SEWA member who has been with the movement for 28 years. She used to work as a crafts artisan, doing stitchwork and then was absorbed into SEWA's research team doing data collection on unorganised women's health needs. Over time she became a team leader and played active roles in capacity building and supervision of other agewans. She has served as a Secretary for SEWA for nine years and is now the state level coordinator for SEWA's health team- Lok Swasthya SEWA Trust.
Speaker
Vanita Parmar
Vanita Parmar is a 2nd generation SEWA member who has been with the movement for 25 years. She began her journey with SEWA in the Child Care Center before joining SEWA’s research team, where she worked on data collection related to women’s insurance needs in the informal sector. Over time, she became a team leader and played an active role in capacity building and supervision of other agewans. She has served as a Vice President of SEWA for two years and is now the city-level coordinator for Ahmedabad and Kalol with Vimo SEWA National Insurance Cooperative.
