Savings Groups are one of the most widespread economic empowerment initiatives worldwide. Over the past 30 years, hundreds of NGOs and local civil society organizations have mobilized and trained Savings Groups across 75 countries, with an estimated 20 million active members. A growing body of evidence suggests that – across countries, organizations, and projects – Savings Groups have a consistently positive impact on savings, access and use of credit, investment in income-generating activities, food consumption and security, self-confidence, and market and social support networks. There is also mixed evidence that, in certain conditions, Savings Groups contribute to asset accumulation, income, investment in education, leadership, and women’s empowerment. Beyond financial inclusion, Savings Groups are now promoted as an economic strengthening strategy for diverse development objectives related to livelihoods, women’s economic empowerment, gender equality, health, social protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. Through the collaboration of 8 INGOs, learnings were gathered on Savings Groups in Emergency Contexts and compiled into the available documents.
At the 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, CARE, PEI (the World Bank’s Partnership for Economic Inclusion), the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, and the Government of Uganda brought together over 40 people from key governments & civil society organization leaders to discuss experiences and lessons learned from challenging gender inequality and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Savings Group models. The focus of the session was to explore how government-led Savings Groups (also known as Village Savings & Loan Associations or VSLAs) are a tool for gender norms transformation, women’s economic empowerment, poverty eradication and social protection. Read More
Within a localization project led by global women leaders, project partners in Afghanistan share lessons learned from having to suddenly shift to entirely online activities after the de facto authorities’ December 2021 decree barring women from working in NGOs. Read More
Within a localization project led by global women leaders, project partners share lessons learned from the implementation of the project across four countries, reflecting upon the key elements of successful project coordination across vastly different country contexts. Learnings include having productive spaces for collaboration, upholding feminist evaluation practices, and carrying out effective multi-level advocacy. Read More