JOB CREATION

Background

We believe in help to self-help. We do not want to give people fish, but rather train them to use a fishing rod and lend them the money to buy one. That is the crux of our enterprise creation programme, which can be divided into two broad areas: training and motivation, and microfinance.

Strategy

Training: One of the first things we do when we enter a project area is to motivate and mobilise village women to create and join self-help groups. These groups work as democratic business and savings partnerships. Under Hand in Hand’s supervision, the women learn about saving and borrowing, social skills, and women’s and children’s rights.

Often, such self-help group meetings are the first time these women have entered a public forum. The meetings are a powerful tool for them to gain self-confidence and acceptance. They then get basic literacy training and entrepreneurial training, which helps them learn how to run a micro-enterprise. We also organise vocational and soft skills training programmes. The women first begin to lend within their group, after which Hand in Hand facilitates the next step, which is a loan either through bank linkages or from Hand in Hand itself.

Microfinance: We only lend to women, and we ensure that loans only are used for investment and not for consumption. We believe that microfinance given to women for asset creation and income generation improves their social and economic status, enabling them to migrate from poorly paid work or unpaid household work to self-employment and entrepreneurship. It turns women into agents of change who are able to recognise and safeguard their own and their children’s rights.

Our lending interest rates are among the lowest in the sector. We now partner with Indian banks and we have set up our own non-banking financial company (NBFC) to enable us to expand our microfinance operations in line with our development work.