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Helping families to cope with crisis, by providing access to three basic financial services – savings, credit and insurance. Mercy Corps is training community-managed Village Savings and Loans Associations to help families save for a rainy day and access credit to help them build for the future.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Situation
The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 159th out of 169 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index. 67% of the population lives on less than $1 per day and 84% lives on less than $2 per day. A severe lack of access to credit, lack of financial resources to cushion families against external shocks and a lack of secure places to save contribute significantly to these pervasive levels of poverty.
Solution
Mercy Corps is helping to provide access to three basic financial services - savings, credit and insurance - in the Central African Republic, by facilitating the creation of Village Savings and Loan Associations (a type of microfinance managed by communities). Members meet on a weekly basis to lodge their savings. After 5 weeks of saving, members can take out a loan of up to three times the value of their savings. Members then repay the association within three months.