EDIF OLC Project Findings Promoting Womens Empowerment Through Training and Transformation' SEEP Net

1
EDIF OLC
Project Findings Promoting Womens Empowerment
Through Training and Transformation. SEEP
Network Annual Meeting,Washington DC. 20th 24th
October,2003. Prepared by Fernando Alvira,
Oportunidad Latinoamérica Colombia - OLC.
2
Challenges

• Breaking out of the Banking box
• How to adjust our services to increase the
  percentage of women able to access large loans
• Opening minds

3
Responses

• Institutional
• Methodological
• Diversification

4
Institutional

• Formalization of policies and procedures
• Legal and financial standardization
• Organizational climate
• From feel good culture to result oriented
• Demand higher standards of efficiency to reduce
  cost for clients

5
Methodological

• Refocusing in the mission
• Women still not in individual credit
• Closing advanced products to outside entry to
  focus on graduating clients from within
• Break dependence on collateral-based lending and
  focus on lending based on relationship, credit
  history, and business prospects

6
Diversification

• Housing
• Business site development
• Training not only in what they need but what they
  want
• More technical training (dressmaking, etc.)
• Child care

7
Research

• 2 rounds of research
• 1st using PRA and in-depth interviews to
  understand client business goals, obstacles, and
  satisfaction with current products.
• 2nd using an asset-based community development
  approach

8
Findings

• Women and especially women displaced by civil war
  generally lacked fixed locations for their
  businesses
• This makes them vulnerable under Bogotas new
  laws against street vending
• Limits their ability to purchase in bulk
• Working on the streets creates a dangerous
  environment for children
• But it does give women flexibility to stay home
  and take care of children when no child care is
  available

9
Findings

• Womens childcare responsibilities and concerns
  for their children are significantly affecting
  their businesses.
• Many women reported missing days or work or
  staying home often for part of day because they
  could not find someone to watch their children
• Many women returned home to pick up children from
  school or prepare food in the middle of the
  dayin many cases the best time for them to be
  selling

10
Findings

• Business locations and childcare are urgent
  issues in vulnerable communities.
• People in these communities are willing and able
  to mobilize to address the issue.
• Trust Banks provide a good vehicle for this
  mobilization.

11
Project Focus

• Decided to focus on childcare first because
• Was an urgent concern of clients
• Has the potential to be both an
  incoming-generating activity and a social service
• Empowering at the community level
• Removes an important non-financial constraint to
  womens businesses

12
Two approaches

• Mobile child care businesses
• Target clients have seasonal and mobile
  businesses
• Transportation costs of dropping their children
  at a center too high
• Need childcare option that can move with them
• Large childcare and community center

13
Mobile Childcare Businesses

• Women interested in business trained by OLC and
  Red Viva
• Government registration facilitated by OLC
• OLC lends money to providers to purchase minimum
  equipment required by government
• Women rent places to care for child on
  monthly-basis according to where demand is
• Trust Bank members pay fees to have children
  cared for

14
Community Center

• Longer term project to provide for community
  development in communities with large numbers of
  displaced persons
• Will include a training center for childcare
  providers
• Large central childcare facility run by women of
  the community

15
OLC-EDIF Project Steps

• Consultation with Trust Banks
• Identification of needs, talents, and
  opportunities
• Establishment of community leadership and women
  willing and ready to take on new childcare
  businesses
• Development of business models
• Training in childcare and business models
• Loans for home improvements for childcare
• Launch of projects
• Monitoring and quality control