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Formés surtout de villageoises, les Self-Help Groups ( SHG) sont des associations qui encouragent leurs membres à entreprendre des activités économiques afin d’aider leurs familles. Leur action est également supposée permettre aux femmes d’y être mieux respectées. La micro finance fournit aux SHG les moyens de leur développement. Après avoir décrit le contexte dans lequel ils ont émergé, cet article se propose de présenter les caractéristiques essentielles des SHG à travers les critères d’évaluation de la National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Il s’efforcera ensuite d’évaluer leurs performances économiques aussi bien que sociales.

Mainly formed by village women, Self-Help Groups (SHG) are associations that encourage their members to undertake economic activities in order to support their family. They are also supposed to bring better respect to women within their household. Microfinance provides means for SHG’s development. After describing their rise, this paper will explore their specificities especially as they are disclosed by the assessment criteria from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Then their economic achievements as well as their social ones will be investigated