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Program
in Bosnia-Herzegovina
With
a US $50,000 seed loan and a further US $ 50,000 in
scaling-up funds from Grameen Trust,
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In any conflict, it is
women who are the worst affected, and in
the days that follow, they are the most
pervasively underserved in reconstruction
efforts. In the early 1990s, newly-weds
Zainab Salbi and Amjad Atallah travelled
to Bosnia-Herzegovina following the ethnic
war, to distribute supplies and money. They
were deeply concerned by the plight of women
in the region, many of whom were war widows
and internally displaced refugees with families
to support. Ms. Salbi and Mr. Atallah failed
to locate any organization that addressed
the needs of these women who were marginalized
within the emerging post-war society. On
their return to the United States, they
established Women for Women International
(WWI), an organization that seeks to provide
women survivors of war and other conflicts
with tools and access to resources that
will help them move from "crisis and
poverty to self-sufficiency and stability".
Using their holistic grassroots approach,
WWI has benefited over 40,000 women worldwide
in seven countries including Nigeria, Kosovo,
Rwanda and Pakistan.
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WWI is implementing a microcredit delivery program in
war torn rural Bosnia-Herzegovina. It provides low-income
women with opportunities to create self-employment,
mostly in the agricultural sector. Up to January 2003,
WWI has disbursed over US $ 5.9 million amongst 2,298
members, managing to keep a repayment rate of 100% since
its establishment in 1997.
WWI
is reaching out to women in Sarajevo, Srednjebosanski
and Zenica-Doboj cantons. They were forced to become
the breadwinners for their family. One of the aims of
the program is to lead its members away from dependence
on humanitarian aid and become economically self-sufficient.
The women use their loans in four major categories of
income-generation: agricultural activities, re-sales,
trade and service provision. Over 63% of the beneficiaries
use their loans for animal husbandry and growing and
selling of fruits and vegetables in the local market.
Other women resell products bought at wholesale markets
for a profitable door-to-door retail business. Some
have opened small shops that sell textiles and shoes.
Finally, some women have gone into service provision
by setting up tailoring services, carpentry workshops
and beauty salons in their homes.
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Hava
Sisic of Centar Svrake-Vogosca Municipalty.
On the seventh cycle of load,she invested
her money in eggs and chicken production
and small trade. She was the first center
chief of WWI Bosnia.
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The microcredit supervisors at the field level of WWI
develop close relationships with the members providing
motivational and business planning support to help make
their projects successful.
The
program's solidarity group philosophy follows the Grameen
model, that stresses multi-ethnic
co-operation
by insisting that each group must include internally
displaced persons, refugees and members of the local
population. All group members sign for loans taken by
individual members once their business plan has been
approved that states their understanding of the loan
terms and their willingness to shoulder collective responsibility
for repayment. The loans are given with 18% annual interest,
and all money recovered from interest is re-invested
in the program. The program also provides training on
human rights awareness and leadership development. Through
these initiatives, WWI hopes to raise awareness in its
members about their contributions to society, as well
as their social, economic and political rights. The
program aims to create sustainable advocacy and support
groups amongst the women themselves.
Project
Impact in Bosnia
In
December 2002, WWI Bosnia expanded its membership
to 2,294. It had started with only 105 at the
end of December 1997. The loan disbursement
increased from US$ 57,077 in 1997 to US$ 5.5
million in December, 2002. From the beginning,
the project has been able to maintain repayment
rate between 98% to 100%.
During
its six years of operation, WWI Bosnia has made
a strong positive impact on the socio economic
life of the poor in Vogoska and Sarajevo. Till
December 2002, seventy percent of the poor households
had crossed the poverty line.
The
operational efficiency of WWI Bosnia was 144%
in September 2002. This was achieved due to efficient
field staff and by maximizing repayment rate by
ensuring close supervision of loans disbursed.
Each staff of WWI Bosnia is serving 450-460 borrowers,
with a loan portfolio of US$ 220,441.
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Afghanistan:
Beginnings of A Change
For over 23 years, women in Afghanistan have been trying
to cope with the effects of civil war and ethnic strife.
A majority of the nation's women have been denied their
basic human rights, as well as access to economic and
educational opportunities.
With
the help of seed funding from Grameen Trust, WWI plans
to implement a microcredit program in Kabul and its
surrounding areas. As of March, 2003, WWI is already
providing aid to 2,200 women. The funds for the microcredit
project came as a grant to Grameen Trust from Princess
Irene of Greece's Mundo en Armonia Foundation,
earmarked specifically for the rehabilitation of Afghani
victims of conflict. The project is targeting rural
and urban widows, single mothers, women heads of households,
as well as internally displaced refugees and returnees.
In addition to microcredit, and in line with WWI's holistic
approach, the project will also provide women with skills
training and rights education. As the only NGO focusing
exclusively on women, WWI is in a prime position to
help Afghani women reclaim their lives and nation.
The program will be established following the Grameen
Bank Approach. Target groups will be sensitized and
conscientised prior to loan disbursement. The support
of the male members of the community is seen as essential
to the success of this program, and to this end, there
will be community forum where dialogue and understanding
between project staff and community members will be
encouraged.
Keeping
their focus firmly on the poorest women in the communities
they serve and with an unwavering belief in the inherent
human rights, responsibilities and privileges of every
woman, WWI is creating change, and bringing hope to
thousands of women all over the world.
This report was compiled by Irum Ali, Grameen Trust
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