VSLA: Empowering women through savings

Majority of the households in rural areas and urban slums have difficulty accessing formal financial services, and cannot afford such services even if they were available due to high cost of transaction fee and substantial minimum requirements for savings balances or loan amounts.
One of the main interventions of Plan International Ethiopia within Household Economic Empowerment Program is improving the household income of target communities through accessing saving and credit services. Communities in Babo districts of Jimma Zone are learning the value of saving through small microfinance schemes to help them generate an income of their own.
Through the programme women and young people will get training and equipped with basic skills of saving, managing loan services, prudent financial management and group constitution. The programme emphasises on group participation, savings and investment to increase financial security and reduce the effects of poverty.
This documentary film highlights Plan International Ethiopia and its local partner named Hope for Children works in Babo Community.
This VSLA project is funded by Plan Canada National Office.
© Plan International Ethiopia - April 2015
SPECIAL THANKS
==============
Antje Buell:
Camerawoman/Editor/Narrator
Manoj Kumar:
Country Director, Plan International Ethiopia
Edom Fikru:
Act. Head of Communications and Marketing, Country Office
Girma Eshetu:
Communication Officer, Oromia Programme Area
Tadele Wakuma:
Economic Empowerment Coordinator, Country Office
Hayelegebreal Seyoum:
Web and Social Media Editor, Country Office

[@okulluogangdenis5244]

I am happy to see this initiative which has attracted women who seem very interested. what has further interested me is how they are establishing other Income generating activities to support their families form the benefits like the seep bought and bee keeping.........However, I have a concern after carefully looking at the video. I only saw one man which if he is the only person I can think may be he is in the group mainly to paly a role of recording the saving and calculation a role which most women do not like to take which to me is not good. My Idea would be having significant number of men in this kind of groups so that it is not viewed as a mere group for women yet at some point it has some effect on men and also do much better with inclusion of men. For example most women after saving they may want to invest their savings and this may require other support from the family in terms of labour , land incase it is agricultural in nature, human recourse .......etc. taking into consideration the perception where in most of our communities key resources are owned by men and even men have power over women,bringing men in this initiative will avoid a situation where those women may fail to invest their savings due to limitations their men may pose on them. like not allowing then to use land which could be a resource they may require to invest, not allowing them participate in different activities related to their saving group or even not supporting them at all. I think when we involve men ,there is a possibility that men will understand more clearly what their wives are doing in the saving groups and they benefit to them and their entire families. this will possibility increase on the level of their support to women but also attract them in to the saving culture which at the end will enabled the men share financial burden at the level of house. hence reducing the stress/ demand on the woman's savings