By Karen Sugar | Executive Director
In 2012 WGEF will continue to focus on providing microcredit loans and social capital building programs to women in post conflict northern Uganda. As the community rebuilds and recovers, meaningful development programs are essential.
Not only will we provide small loans to women in borrowing groups for traditional businesses, but we intend to build our Agricultural Loan program as well. For the north to have a healthy recovery, they must grow their own food. Northern Uganda is a perfect location for agriculture projects; temperate weather, short growing cycles, adequate rainfall, so irrigation is not needed and women with the knowledge and skills enabling them to have successful harvest, creating food security for their families and communities.
While climate change is an urgent issue, our clients are adjusting to the changes, shifting planting times, drought resistant crops, etc. They grow everything from sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, cassava, to lemons, mangoes and corn.
To date we have given over 3000 loans, over 180 ag loans; our average loan amount is $57 USD, and every loan has been repaid enabling us to recycle and continue to loan money; but we need to build capacity and that is where GG donors play an instrumental role! By donating to our program you are helping us reach more and more women with vital access to funds to create a business or ag project. These project provide women with the means to take care of themselves and their families, send their children to school, purchase medicines, and experience increased food and human security.
We have women who are creating small scale restaurants, lodges, food service, tailoring, child care, beauty salons, and many other entreprenuerial endeavors. In addition to economic activity, we focus on literacy, leadership development and health initiatives. WGEF believes that while microcredit can be an effective tool at alleviating extreme poverty, when bundled with social programs, it can be revolutionary. Please see the attached article about what is happening in northern Uganda!
Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to women's empowerment and social justice.
Peace
Links:
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 receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
