Over the past 34 years, CARE International Rwanda has lifted up women and girls in rural areas, helping them overcome poverty and live dignified lives. CARE focuses on women and girls because they are disproportionally affected by poverty even though women have been identified as possible catalysts for change.

CARE believes that empowering women economically can promote gender equality and individual opportunity. Through CARE’s flagship Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) methodology, the organization has used this simple, low-cost approach to provide hundreds of thousands of Rwandan women with the opportunity to harness their potential and transform the lives of their families.

“We are VSLA members and use a bank accounts to make sure the profit from extensive list of our business is safe. We’re highly regarded business women in the community, as village agents we works with financial institution to sensitize women and girls on their rights to financial services and how to start from joining a VSLA and later qualify to be a bank client.” Savings Week, 2017

Since the organization developed this approach more than 20 years ago, CARE has supported the creation of over 18,500 VSLA groups in Rwanda, with more than 75% of members being women. VSLA groups are an innovative way of ensuring financial inclusion for one of the most vulnerable populations, while also providing an impactful foundation on which to build further programming. CARE VSLA groups consist of 25-30 people, 70% at least being women, who come together voluntarily to save small amounts of money, often as little as one or two hundred Rwandan Francs (less than 0.25 USD) every week.

CARE's Financial Inclusion Ladder

CARE's VSLA methodology has been recognized as a key part of the financial inclusion strategy in Rwanda and a vital economic development driver, since Savings Groups have accumulated more than $15.3 million USD in savings to date.

CARE’s Economic Empowerment programming follows a Market Driven Value Chains approach, undertaking needs assessments, and using findings to support VSLA members entering profitable value chains. This process links groups and individual members to formal financing and strengthens the capacity of individuals to interact with the market through increased knowledge, confidence, and negotiation experience. Also, the provision of Entrepreneurship and Business Mentorship to VSLA members helps strengthen their capacity to develop and maintain profitable, sustainable, and competitive businesses.

What to Expect During SEEP’s SG2018: The Power of Savings Groups

By joining CARE International Rwanda during their SG2018 Peer Exchange, you will gain insight into the contributions of Savings Groups have in Rwanda’s economic development. You will see how our integration of gender and gender-based violence prevention activities in Saving Groups benefits women, and also how Savings Groups and their members access appropriate and affordable formal financial services in Rwanda’s most remote areas.

Why Register for SG2018

Joining this Peer Exchange at SG2018 is an exciting opportunity to discover how CARE International Rwanda’s ‘Her Dignity, Our Pride’ program aims to uplift 800,000 vulnerable women and girls from the 1st and 2nd categories of Rwanda’s Ubudehe poverty ranking in order to attain and sustain ‘above basic’ livelihood status by 2025.