Economic Growth Uganda Project #2349

1,000 Microloans for Rural Women in East Africa

by Women's Microfinance Initiative

1,000 Microloans for Rural Women in East Africa

Project Report | Jun 13, 2012
New video:Small Loan, Big Change

By Robyn Nietert | President

WMI New borrower training

The Women's Microfinance Initiative is continuing to expand its outreach to impoverished rural women in East Africa with loan, business skills training and support to get women started with income producing small enterprises. WMI's new video: Small Loan, Big Change gives the women in the loan program a chance to tell their story and thank all those donors around the world who have supported them. Take a few minutes to see how your wonderful support is helping WMI deliver a triple bottom line to combat povertyin sub-Saharan Africa:

1. The loan program gets capital into the hands of impoverished women so that they can start businesses and it provides them with the training that they need to help make those businesses a success.

2. It builds the human capacity of the women-focused, Community Based Organizations (CBO) that WMI partners with to operate the loan programs at the village level. These CBOs evolve into a resource for the entire community and can help families access the goods and services they want and need to improve their household living standards.

3. The WMI loan program is bringing about structural change in the way banks deal with poor, rural women.

In essence, WMI has engineered itself into the financial service value chain on the ground - networking village-level CBOs and local banks in a new configuration that had not been considered - and one that has resulted in benefits to its partners, its borrowers, and the greater community. It is a simple and flexible operating model that delivers a large and multi-faceted impact. Thank you so much for your ongoing generosity in supporting the WMI loan program.

Click here or past the link into your browser to view the newest video on WMI's You Tube page:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhtqg4MNgmA&list=UUqeFRTJeKHzOZiHd4SQ1WDw&index=1&feature=plcp

Links:

WMI's new You Tube video: Small Loan, Big Change

Permalink

Mar 19, 2012
KONY 2012: Status of Northern Uganda

By Robyn Nietert | President, WMI

Former child soldiers perform for WMI trainers

The KONY 2012 video has generated significant controvery involving Uganda.

On March 9, the Uganda Government responded in a press Release:

Misinterpretations of media content may lead some people to believe that the LRA is currently active in Uganda. It must be clarified that at present the LRA is not active in any part of Uganda. Successfully expelled by the Ugandan Peoples Defence Forces in mid-2006, the LRA has retreated to dense terrain within bordering countries in the Central African area. They are a diminished and weakened group with numbers not exceeding 300. The threat posed by the LRA in our neighboring countries is considerably reduced and we are hopeful that it will be altogether eliminated with the help of US logistical support.

The people of Uganda, especially those in the north of the country are on a path of rebuilding, reconciliation and reintegration and are now vibrant and prospering communities. To aid this prosperity the Government implemented a 10 Year Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda (PRDP).

This past January. WMI president, Robyn Nietert, assisted with training workshops for poor women in Gulu, Uganda, which was the epicenter of the LRA insurgency and subsequent IDP camps. She reported that the area was peaceful.

Over a million people were displaced in northern Uganda during the fighting and tens of thousands of children were abducted. There are currently many international NGOs and local Ugandans working on reconstruction and stabilizing the local economy, which was devastated.

WMI opened a loan hub in Gulu last October to give rural women in the area a chance to start businesses. In April, WMI will open another loan hub even further north in Atiak, the site of the largest massacre of civilians by LRA troops, which took place in 1995. Every April 20, Atiak commemorates those who died.

WMI is partnering with two local Ugandan community based organizations to launch these loan hubs: Childcare Development Organization - Uganda and Blessed Watoto (Children). These groups are working very hard, with limited resources, to bring economic opportunities to northern Uganda as it recovers from the impact of the 10 years of fighting. They are on the ground running small outreach initiatives on a daily basis. They provide services and support activities for orphaned children in the region. WMI believes that working at this grassroots level is the best way we can help the women and families of northern Uganda rebuild their lives. We appreciate your support as we bring more and more microfinance opportunities to women in East Africa who have been disenfrachised and marginalized. It is inspiring to see how they build assets to better lives with the small opportunity provided by a WMI loan.

Links:

WMI website

Permalink

Feb 21, 2012
WMI's January/February 2012 Trip to East Africa

By Robyn Nietert | President, WMI

‹ 1 ... 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.