The journal Stanford Social Innovation Review featured an article that highlights CARE’s model of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). The article—penned by CARE’s staffers Aisha Rahamatali, Vidhya Sriram, and Maria Liu—documents the steady growth of this successful bottom-up, community-led model to more than 76 countries while helping 21 million people access financial resources, especially in places not reached by traditional banks or other financial institutions. The authors share key lessons learned in scaling up a model that works and discuss the role of governments in this journey. A timely and thought proving essay.
Here is an excerpt:
“Public systems are uniquely positioned to take a good practice further. Governments have the infrastructure, policy tools, and staying power that NGOs alone do not. And for governments working to close the financial inclusion gap and reach the last mile, savings groups offer a rare entry point. They’re locally led, and thus already present, trusted, and delivering results for women, as well as for the broader communities and systems they’re part of. The women at the center of these groups are already building economic resilience and social cohesion at the community level, making them natural allies for public systems seeking to expand their reach.”
Read the full article here.