“Now my family listens to me,” said Ekyoci, a 34 year-old Congolese woman. “Especially my husband, every time when I have some suggestions, like when to rebuild the house and how to spend our money, he listens to me. It was not the same in the past.”
Ekyoci is a refugee living in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, a place first opened in 1996 to host people fleeing from civil wars in Democratic Republic of Congo. 22 years have passed, and Ekyoci has grown from a little girl to a mother of three, yet there are still no signs of peace back in Congo and nowhere else, except for the camp, to call home. “Many people are like me [in Nyarugusu], we spent our whole life here.”
Ekyoci now runs her micro-business, buying sugarcane, palm oil, and vegetables from the host communities and selling them at the common market in the camp. The business generates around 10,000-15,000 TZS (~$4-5 USD) profit per month, which she saves in her savings group. “Before joining the savings group 7 months ago, I was not saving at all. I spent whatever little money I had,” said Ekyoci. Lack of know-how hindered her from planning and managing her money. “What else has changed is the attitude of my family—now they respect my views, because I run a business and I contribute to the household.”
While every crisis-affected person suffers, women and girls usually face greater obstacles to leading safe and healthy lives due to structural gender inequalities. With restricted accesses to services, it is even more difficult for women and girls to realize their full potential. Ekyoci sets a strong example of how savings groups can promote positive saving behaviours, build confidence, and empower women on a personal and community level.
Like Ekyoci, Giria, a 37-year-old Congolese woman, also runs her business in the Camp. She owns a small food stand on the common market selling meat and cassava bread. She has received two loans from her savings group: the first one to start her business and the second to one to expand it. “Capital is very important for running businesses. I rented this stand for half a year for 20,00 TZS a month. If I don’t get enough customers, like during rainy season when the roads were flooded, then I don’t earn enough money to cover the costs. But I know I can turn to the savings group to borrow money to cover the losses, so that I can continue the business and wait until it gets better.”
Savings groups are the most viable option for women like Giria to start and growth their enterprises.
Financial inclusion “allows low-income households to build assets; mitigate shocks related to emergencies, illness, or injury; and make productive investments.”[1]
In complex and protracted crises, such as in eastern DRC, peace and safety remain a mirage, let alone functioning national services. What follows the construction of shelters and distribution of food, which are meant to be short-term solutions? The question is galvanizing both humanitarian and development actors. For refugees like Ekyoci and Giria, starting a microbusiness, be it selling sugarcane or opening a food stand, allows them to make economic progress in a proactive manner, and more importantly, to live with dignity.
“Women are especially benefiting from the savings groups, there are so many women who were very shy in the beginning now can speak about their views confidently in public thanks to the savings groups meetings they have participated,” Hassan*, a Burundian refugee and an incentive worker with Good Neighbours Tanzania (GNTZ), observed. Hassan is supporting the formation and operation of eight savings groups under the program run by UNCDF in Nyarugusu. With increased self-confidence, refugee women can speak up not only at the meeting, but also within their families and communities. “It also gets them to see the future. Now they start to see things in a long-term perspective, which helps to improve their current situation, and gives them hope.”
The urgent need for safety, food, or shelter displace people face does not diminish their hopes and aspirations in life. Development efforts such as strengthening savings groups in refugee camps encourage us to see a broader view, and think about long-term and sustainable solutions. They also reshape our understanding of the people whose hands have reached out for the food rations— if provided the right tools and opportunities, these hands are capable of carving out a resilient path and fulfil the potential that have once been stifled by conflicts and displacement.
Changes don’t happen overnight, but for the thousands of women savings groups members supported by UNCDF, one loan can kickstart a future, providing a window to a life with vision, planning, and hope.
[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2018/05/18/gains-in-financial-inclusion-gains-for-a-sustainable-world
Ekyoci is a refugee living in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, a place first opened in 1996 to host people fleeing from civil wars in Democratic Republic of Congo. 22 years have passed, and Ekyoci has grown from a little girl to a mother of three, yet there are still no signs of peace back in Congo and nowhere else, except for the camp, to call home. “Many people are like me [in Nyarugusu], we spent our whole life here.”
Ekyoci now runs her micro-business, buying sugarcane, palm oil, and vegetables from the host communities and selling them at the common market in the camp. The business generates around 10,000-15,000 TZS (~$4-5 USD) profit per month, which she saves in her savings group. “Before joining the savings group 7 months ago, I was not saving at all. I spent whatever little money I had,” said Ekyoci. Lack of know-how hindered her from planning and managing her money. “What else has changed is the attitude of my family—now they respect my views, because I run a business and I contribute to the household.”
While every crisis-affected person suffers, women and girls usually face greater obstacles to leading safe and healthy lives due to structural gender inequalities. With restricted accesses to services, it is even more difficult for women and girls to realize their full potential. Ekyoci sets a strong example of how savings groups can promote positive saving behaviours, build confidence, and empower women on a personal and community level.
Like Ekyoci, Giria, a 37-year-old Congolese woman, also runs her business in the Camp. She owns a small food stand on the common market selling meat and cassava bread. She has received two loans from her savings group: the first one to start her business and the second to one to expand it. “Capital is very important for running businesses. I rented this stand for half a year for 20,00 TZS a month. If I don’t get enough customers, like during rainy season when the roads were flooded, then I don’t earn enough money to cover the costs. But I know I can turn to the savings group to borrow money to cover the losses, so that I can continue the business and wait until it gets better.”
Savings groups are the most viable option for women like Giria to start and growth their enterprises.
Financial inclusion “allows low-income households to build assets; mitigate shocks related to emergencies, illness, or injury; and make productive investments.”[1]
In complex and protracted crises, such as in eastern DRC, peace and safety remain a mirage, let alone functioning national services. What follows the construction of shelters and distribution of food, which are meant to be short-term solutions? The question is galvanizing both humanitarian and development actors. For refugees like Ekyoci and Giria, starting a microbusiness, be it selling sugarcane or opening a food stand, allows them to make economic progress in a proactive manner, and more importantly, to live with dignity.
“Women are especially benefiting from the savings groups, there are so many women who were very shy in the beginning now can speak about their views confidently in public thanks to the savings groups meetings they have participated,” Hassan*, a Burundian refugee and an incentive worker with Good Neighbours Tanzania (GNTZ), observed. Hassan is supporting the formation and operation of eight savings groups under the program run by UNCDF in Nyarugusu. With increased self-confidence, refugee women can speak up not only at the meeting, but also within their families and communities. “It also gets them to see the future. Now they start to see things in a long-term perspective, which helps to improve their current situation, and gives them hope.”
The urgent need for safety, food, or shelter displace people face does not diminish their hopes and aspirations in life. Development efforts such as strengthening savings groups in refugee camps encourage us to see a broader view, and think about long-term and sustainable solutions. They also reshape our understanding of the people whose hands have reached out for the food rations— if provided the right tools and opportunities, these hands are capable of carving out a resilient path and fulfil the potential that have once been stifled by conflicts and displacement.
Changes don’t happen overnight, but for the thousands of women savings groups members supported by UNCDF, one loan can kickstart a future, providing a window to a life with vision, planning, and hope.
[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2018/05/18/gains-in-financial-inclusion-gains-for-a-sustainable-world