Case Study

Every week, hundreds of women meet in villages in Mali and Burkina Faso in groups of 10 or more people in what are known as Self Help Women’s Saving Groups (SHWSGs). Here, they each contribute group membership fees and bring their weekly savings to the group’s cash box.

These groups are the cornerstone of the West Africa Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative, a 3 year $2,148,092 investment that expands Norway-based Strømme Foundation West Africa’s (SFWA) existing women’s savings programs in Mali and Burkina Faso. The Initiative is expected to impact the lives of over 113,000 women and 523,687 additional family members as the women learn to save and borrow; become literate and get health education to prevent rampant diseases such as malaria through increased usage of mosquito nets.

In addition, the SHWSGs are implemented in villages where SFWA is hosting speed schools to enable them to address poverty, education and pertinent community issues (like malaria) in a single community at a time, creating impact at all levels of the community. This strategic approach leads to visible life change in the beneficiary household member’s health, economic condition, and education levels of their children.

On Track Initiative with High Performance

The three year objective of the Initiative is to organize and train 4,275 self help women’s savings groups in Mali and Burkina Faso and enable them to mobilize $470,019 in funds. During the first year (2007), SFWA assembled 2,016 new groups with 46,189 women. This represented 47 % of their three year objective, a remarkable achievement. These women mobilized $622,129 (exceeding their target of $169,156 in Year 1) and on average loaned out as much as 77% of the funds to group members.

In the second year (2008), SFWA organized another 31,761 women in 1,413 groups, leaving only 825 groups remaining to be mobilized during 2009 in order to meet original targets. In 2008, these women gathered $393,645 and lent out 80% of the funds to group members. Based on its performance in 2007 and 2008, the Initiative is on track to achieve and exceed the three year targets by over 100%.

Members of a Self Help Women Savings Group (SHWSG) during a regular meeting. In 2007 and 2008, over 3,400 such groups were formed. Through the SHWSG’s, women can borrow from the group’s savings to start small business or meet other needs, improving their family’s welfare. Groups also build community and provide a means to disseminate community health information on common issues, such as prevention of malaria.