This case study focuses on BRAC’s experience and learning over the past 15 years delivering financial services to primarily adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Through its Employment and Livelihood for Adolescents program (ELA), BRAC offers savings and credit facilities, livelihood training and issue discussion services to youth aged between 14-25 years. The case outlines the evolution of ELA into the ‘Social and Financial Empowerment of Adolescents’ (SOFEA) program (which continues to be known as ELA in Africa), the challenges of providing financial services to youth, and the lessons BRAC has learnt and embraced over time.
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This is the third of four case studies examinging social transfers to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Swaziland. Such social transfers began in the early 2000s as a response to rapidly rising numbers of AIDS orphans as well as rising vulnerability in the population at larget due to a combination of adverse trends and factors. The four policies are neighbourhood care points, shcool bursaries, chiefs' fields and farm input support to child-headed households, and while these have seperate origins in Swaziland government and institutional structures, as well as in partnerships with donors, they were brought together in 2006 in a single over-arching strategy called the National Plan of Action for OVC 2006 - 2010 (Swaziland, 2006).
This report outlines PEPFAR's approach to meeting the challenges of OVCs and provides an overview of guiding principles and core programming areas.
The Social and Financial Empowerment of Adolescents (SOFEA) project is a BRAC initiative aimed at providing adolescent girls with financial and social support to enable them to empower themselves.
There are 600 million teenage girls living in poverty in the developing world. The majority of these girls live under conditions characterized by prevalent inequalities due to subordination, early marriage, frequent pregnancy, abandonment, divorce, abduction, war, domestic violence, marginalization and exclusion from both financial and social systems. SOFEA evolved out of the need to serve these girls, aged 14-25 years. This group has remained vulnerable and highly underrated in terms of its potential to bring about immense positive change. These girls can change not only their lives but also that of the communities in which they live through their impact on future generations: their children.
The SOFEA program comprises of the following vital components:
- A secure place for adolescent girls to socialize
- Life-skills training
- Livelihood training
- Financial literacy
- Savings and credit facilities
- Community sensitization
The components complement each other and create the complete support structure needed by an adolescent girl. The secure place provides a much-needed socialization space creating social cohesion. Life skills training raises girls’ level of social awareness, allowing them to make informed decisions. Livelihood training equips girls with the skills they need to engage in income generating activities, starting them off on the path towards financial independence. The financial literacy course provides insight into the financial aspects of managing a small business. The credit and savings facilities are a source for seed capital for the girls to start small businesses. To garner support from their families and the community, the program engages in community sensitization to ensure that even after BRAC leaves, these girls will continue enjoying their rights, as well as receive the attention and support that they deserve from their family and community.
The project aims at empowering girls to make more informed decisions about issues that affect their lives. Over time, these girls become more confident and independent through social and financial empowerment. By educating them, the girls will lead a healthy life and be informed mothers bringing up healthy families in the future.
The project is also active in Tanzania and Uganda, where it is known as Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA)
Farzana Kashfi
Head of SOFEA Program
BRAC Centre
75 Mohakhali
Dhaka 1212
Bangladesh
farzana.kashfi@gmail.com
Location
Children who grow up in poverty are at risk of growing up poor and passing poverty on to their own children. Action to improve the quality and accessibility of education, healthcare and social protection programmes and to prevent nutritional problems would drastically reduce these poverty cycles. To be truly effective and sustainable, investment in these areas must be part of integrated strategies that boost poor families' livelihoods and prioritise children as an important cohort of the population rather than a marginal group. They must also go hand in hand with concerted action to promote accountability, reduce inequality and address discrimination and aid which supports, rather than undermines, these changes.
The Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) is a BRAC initiative aimed at providing adolescent girls with financial and social support to enable them to empower themselves.
There are 600 million teenage girls living in poverty in the developing world. The majority of these girls live under conditions characterized by prevalent inequalities due to subordination, early marriage, frequent pregnancy, abandonment, divorce, abduction, war, domestic violence, marginalization and exclusion from both financial and social systems. ELA evolved out of the need to serve these girls, aged 14-25 years. This group has remained vulnerable and highly underrated in terms of its potential to bring about immense positive change. These girls can change not only their lives but also that of the communities in which they live through their impact on future generations: their children.
The ELA program comprises of the following vital components:
- A secure place for adolescent girls to socialize
- Life-skills training
- Livelihood training
- Financial literacy
- Savings and credit facilities
- Community sensitization
The components complement each other and create the complete support structure needed by an adolescent girl. The secure place provides a much-needed socialization space creating social cohesion. Life skills training raises girls’ level of social awareness, allowing them to make informed decisions. Livelihood training equips girls with the skills they need to engage in income generating activities, starting them off on the path towards financial independence. The financial literacy course provides insight into the financial aspects of managing a small business. The credit and savings facilities are a source for seed capital for the girls to start small businesses. To garner support from their families and the community, the program engages in community sensitization to ensure that even after BRAC leaves, these girls will continue enjoying their rights, as well as receive the attention and support that they deserve from their family and community.
The project aims at empowering girls to make more informed decisions about issues that affect their lives. Over time, these girls become more confident and independent through social and financial empowerment. By educating them, the girls will lead a healthy life and be informed mothers bringing up healthy families in the future.
The project is also active in Tanzania
Social and Financial Empowerment of Adolescents (SOFEA), Bangladesh
Farzana Kashfi
Head of SOFEA Program
BRAC Centre
75 Mohakhali
Dhaka 1212
Bangladesh
farzana.kashfi@gmail.com
Location
The Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) is a BRAC initiative aimed at providing adolescent girls with financial and social support to enable them to empower themselves.
There are 600 million teenage girls living in poverty in the developing world. The majority of these girls live under conditions characterized by prevalent inequalities due to subordination, early marriage, frequent pregnancy, abandonment, divorce, abduction, war, domestic violence, marginalization and exclusion from both financial and social systems. ELA evolved out of the need to serve these girls, aged 14-25 years. This group has remained vulnerable and highly underrated in terms of its potential to bring about immense positive change. These girls can change not only their lives but also that of the communities in which they live through their impact on future generations: their children.
The ELA program is comprised of the following vital components:
- A secure place for adolescent girls to socialize
- Life-skills training
- Livelihood training
- Financial literacy
- Savings and credit facilities
- Community sensitization
The project aims at empowering girls to make more informed decisions about issues that affect their lives. Over time, these girls become more confident and independent through social and financial empowerment. By educating them, the girls will lead a healthy life and be informed mothers bringing up healthy families in the future.
Location
The Local Links project is aimed at improving the well-being of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their caretakers in three locations in Africa—Kibera, Kenya; and Limpopo and Free State, South Africa. The major objectives of the project are:
- Strengthen the economic coping mechanisms of OVC families and communities
- Strengthen the capacity of local organizations to meet the needs and rights of orphans and vulnerable children
- (Kenya) Reduce stigma and discrimination experienced by orphans and vulnerable children and their families
- (South Africa) Improve advocacy efforts with and on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children
In both countries, a group savings and loan model is used to strengthen economic security for vulnerable families and community members. The model does not require external infusion of cash, but rather relies on group member contributions. Loans are made from the pooled funds to group members based on individual emergency need. CARE provides training for the Voluntary Savings and Loan (VSL) groups in South Africa (or Group Savings and Loan (GS&L) in Kenya) and regular monitoring. Under the Local Links project, CARE provides initial training for establishing income-generating activities (IGA), followed by ongoing mentoring. Combining VSL/GS&L and IGA improves group members’ livelihood sustainability by greatly reducing reliance on external money lenders with high interest rates.
To improve sustainable outcomes of the project, CARE contracts community and faith-based organizations to implement Local Links project activities with OVC and families. CARE helps these organizations build capacity in:
- organizational development
- project management
- resource mobilization and management
- lobbying and advocacy
- VSL and IGA approaches
- provision of care, psychosocial support and counseling to OVC.
In addition, CARE provides training for community health workers on providing home-based care and on caring for OVC. Where necessary, volunteers and paid staff are placed at institutions and facilities to improve access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment services.
Strengthening social ties is important to supporting OVC households and communities. Reducing barriers and stigma and discrimination through advocacy efforts improves community responsiveness and support for vulnerable families and children. Local Links employs participatory theater with youth and other community members to address issues such as social protection, stigma and discrimination, social protection, rights of the child, and obstacles to accessing essential HIV/AIDS services. Youth groups are engaged to develop information, education and communication (IEC) materials to help increase understanding, compassion and reduce barriers. The project also trains and mobilizes traditional and mainstream church leaders to raise these issues with their congregations and encourage support for OVC and families. This integration of economic strengthening with social and health activities is critical to holistic support of OVC needs.
Bill Philbrick
bphilbrick@care.org
The Local Links project is aimed at improving the well-being of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their caretakers in three locations in Africa—Kibera, Kenya; and Limpopo and Free State, South Africa. The major objectives of the project are:
- Strengthen the economic coping mechanisms of OVC families and communities
- Strengthen the capacity of local organizations to meet the needs and rights of orphans and vulnerable children
- (Kenya) Reduce stigma and discrimination experienced by orphans and vulnerable children and their families
- (South Africa) Improve advocacy efforts with and on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children
In both countries, a group savings and loan model is used to strengthen economic security for vulnerable families and community members. The model does not require external infusion of cash, but rather relies on group member contributions. Loans are made from the pooled funds to group members based on individual emergency need. CARE provides training for the Voluntary Savings and Loan (VSL) groups in South Africa (or Group Savings and Loan (GS&L) in Kenya) and regular monitoring. Under the Local Links project, CARE provides initial training for establishing income-generating activities (IGA), followed by ongoing mentoring. Combining VSL/GS&L and IGA improves group members’ livelihood sustainability by greatly reducing reliance on external money lenders with high interest rates.
To improve sustainable outcomes of the project, CARE contracts community and faith-based organizations to implement Local Links project activities with OVC and families. CARE helps these organizations build capacity in:
- organizational development
- project management
- resource mobilization and management
- lobbying and advocacy
- VSL and IGA approaches
- provision of care, psychosocial support and counseling to OVC.
In addition, CARE provides training for community health workers on providing home-based care and on caring for OVC. Where necessary, volunteers and paid staff are placed at institutions and facilities to improve access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment services.
Strengthening social ties is important to supporting OVC households and communities. Reducing barriers and stigma and discrimination through advocacy efforts improves community responsiveness and support for vulnerable families and children. Local Links employs participatory theater with youth and other community members to address issues such as social protection, stigma and discrimination, social protection, rights of the child, and obstacles to accessing essential HIV/AIDS services. Youth groups are engaged to develop information, education and communication (IEC) materials to help increase understanding, compassion and reduce barriers. The project also trains and mobilizes traditional and mainstream church leaders to raise these issues with their congregations and encourage support for OVC and families. This integration of economic strengthening with social and health activities is critical to holistic support of OVC needs.
Bill Philbrick
bphilbrick@care.org
Young people between the ages of 14-25 make up 20% of Latin America’s population. These youth face significant limitations in finding decent employment or accessing financing to start a business. The stresses of young adulthood, combined with the need to generate income, expose young people to a series of risks including sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies, alcoholism and drug addition.
Pro Mujer determined that its integrated services methodology of credit, savings, training and health could be adapted to help young people mitigate these risks, finish their studies and build livelihoods for themselves. A grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports the development of the Youth Solidarity Group product in Bolivia.
The Youth Solidarity Group consists of 4-6 young people who receive one week of specialized pre-credit training. Once the group completes its training and all loan applications are approved, the group is then inserted into a Pro Mujer adult Communal Association (Village Bank) and functions within the existing Pro Mujer branch infrastructure. This is done to ensure efficiency, since folding the youth solidarity group into a larger group allows loan officers to increase their client capacity and productivity; and to allow the youth to learn from older, more experienced clients. In return the youth, who have had better access to education than many of their elders, bring these skills to the Communal Association.
Pro Mujer places special emphasis on savings in all of its products. When research showed that many young people are reluctant to take out a loan, Pro Mujer worked to incorporate those youth who demonstrate interest and potential but lack the experience and confidence to take out a loan. Of the six members of a youth solidarity group, two are permitted to be “savers only.” These members must go through the pre-credit training with the rest of their group, but are allowed a bit more experience prior to taking out a loan in order to build their confidence and capacity to manage a loan.
In addition to credit and savings, the youth product includes specialized pre-credit training covering a range of topics including cash flow analysis, business planning and a practicum. Youth receive ongoing training services related to business management and health and social development topics focused on common issues faced by young people such as un-planned pregnancy, malnutrition and puberty. Pro Mujer also provides its young clients with mentor services from staff members and adult clients. Finally, youth clients may access primary health care services via medical consultations at branch offices. This combination of financial, skills building, mentoring and health services helps young people create stronger economic and social foundations on which to build their futures.
Lara Storm-Swire
ldstorm@promujer.org
August 2006 to Present
Recognizing that the majority of orphans are cared for by family members, Project HOPE focuses on strengthening the capacity of caregivers to provide comprehensive care and support to improve the well-being of children. To address the increased economic needs of orphans and vulnerable children’s (OVC) households and assist in providing the means for sustainable, long term program impact, Project HOPE provides micro-loans and conducts savings mobilization for OVC caregivers to engage in small-scale income generation activities.
The project also uses the vehicle of these loan & savings groups to promote parenting training on the important domains of OVC care and support. Project HOPE developed an OVC-targeted educational curriculum covering essential OVC care and support. The training provides OVC caregivers with education and access to information and resources to help them support the needs of all children under their care, including orphans. This education encompasses a variety of domains including household nutrition, health, parenting skills, HIV prevention, appropriate protection, legal rights, and psycho-social support.
The economic strengthening activities are complemented by community outreach mobilization to further support the needs of OVC providers/caretakers and OVC. Project HOPE mobilizes a network of community based volunteers who are trained through a training of trainers (TOT) methodology on the specialized OVC educational curriculum. These volunteers will in turn identify OVC providers/caretakers within their community and provide home visits, training, counseling, and referral services for them to better improve the well-being of OVC under their support.,
Monitoring and evaluation are critical components of Project HOPE’s approach. Socio-economic profiles are collected on participants in economic strengthening activities to document changes in economic status. Project HOPE has also initiated low-literacy data collection tools that can be managed by the caregivers to empower them in knowing both current status and desired outcomes for the children under their care – referred to as a “parenting map”.
Project HOPE has documented increased income and improved financial resources for OVC caretakers, allowing them to better purchase school uniforms, pay school fees, buy an increased quality and quantity of food, and improve access to medical care. When combined with the increased knowledge about parenting and child-care issues across multiple domains of need, orphans and vulnerable children are shown to receive provide better care and support, and an improvement in their overall well-being.
The project is also active in Mozambique and Namibia.
John Bronson
Director, Economic Strengthening Programs
jbronson@projecthope.org
April 2005 to April 2010
Recognizing that the majority of orphans are cared for by family members, Project HOPE focuses on strengthening the capacity of caregivers to provide comprehensive care and support to improve the well-being of children. To address the increased economic needs of orphans and vulnerable children’s (OVC) households and assist in providing the means for sustainable, long term program impact, Project HOPE provides micro-loans and conducts savings mobilization for OVC caregivers to engage in small-scale income generation activities.
The project also uses the vehicle of these loan & savings groups to promote parenting training on the important domains of OVC care and support. Project HOPE developed an OVC-targeted educational curriculum covering essential OVC care and support. The training provides OVC caregivers with education and access to information and resources to help them support the needs of all children under their care, including orphans. This education encompasses a variety of domains including household nutrition, health, parenting skills, HIV prevention, appropriate protection, legal rights, and psycho-social support.
The economic strengthening activities are complemented by community outreach mobilization to further support the needs of OVC providers/caretakers and OVC. Project HOPE mobilizes a network of community based volunteers who are trained through a training of trainers (TOT) methodology on the specialized OVC educational curriculum. These volunteers will in turn identify OVC providers/caretakers within their community and provide home visits, training, counseling, and referral services for them to better improve the well-being of OVC under their support.,
Monitoring and evaluation are critical components of Project HOPE’s approach. Socio-economic profiles are collected on participants in economic strengthening activities to document changes in economic status. Project HOPE has also initiated low-literacy data collection tools that can be managed by the caregivers to empower them in knowing both current status and desired outcomes for the children under their care – referred to as a “parenting map”.
Project HOPE has documented increased income and improved financial resources for OVC caretakers, allowing them to better purchase school uniforms, pay school fees, buy an increased quality and quantity of food, and improve access to medical care. When combined with the increased knowledge about parenting and child-care issues across multiple domains of need, orphans and vulnerable children are shown to receive provide better care and support, and an improvement in their overall well-being.
The project is also active in Mozambique and South Africa
John Bronson
Director, Economic Strengthening Programs
jbronson@projecthope.org
April 2005 to April 2010
