Location: Bessada sub-prefecture, Mandoul region, Chad
It has been proven that giving more space to women allows for better community development. For example, women reinvest 90% of their income in their family and community, compared to only 30 to 40% for men*. In addition, women are responsible for child-rearing, the more empowered and educated they are, the more they can help their children in their own development.
General objective: Improve the income of agricultural households by promoting local savings.
Specific objective: Improve the income and organizational capacities of women.
Duration of the project: 2016-2020
Beneficiaries: 387 members through savings and loan groups
Activities:
Saving for Change (SfC) is an innovative community savings group program. Facilitators form groups of women to save regularly, to borrow from these savings funds and to repay their loans with interest, all in a perspective of self-management of the group by its members.
SfC has shown an improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the beneficiaries: increase of the family income, small business start-up, improvement of hygiene knowledge, reinforcement of social cohesion.
* Phil Borges (2007), Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World page 13
