CRS RwandaEmpowering Rwanda youth through savings-led microfinance

Global Youth Enterprise Conference, Focus on Finance September 30, 2009

CRS Rwanda and OVC

• There are 220,000 children orphaned by AIDS in Rwanda

• A child is considered vulnerable if they have lost one of their parents

• Rwanda has a unique challenge with child headed households (CHH)

CRS Rwanda and OVC • CRS has been operating in

Rwanda since 1963

• Under the PEPHAR program, CRS supports OVC

• CRS Rwanda provides a comprehensive package of services to over 3,151 OVC including micro-enterprise

• Support is provided to vulnerable children and youth between the ages of 12-18, though some services extend to youth up to age 22

Rwanda: Youth Inclusive Financial Services

Why Youth-Inclusive Financial Services?

– Youth in Rwanda, especially OVC have little or no access to formal credit to start or expand micro-businesses.

– Many child-headed households are responsible for the wellbeing of their siblings

– Vulnerable youth are already engaged in building their livelihood and need financial resources to grow their businesses

– OVC are responsible financial managers once they are taught basic financial literacy skills

Introducing Financial Services to OVC in Rwanda (the SILC Model)

• In 2008, CRS Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) methodology was introduced to the CRS OVC program

•The program was designed to complement the financial needs of OVC participating in vocational training and apprenticeship program

SILC Methodology• Self-selected groups of no more than 25 individuals• Groups operate for a cycle of 8-12 months • Members save weekly and borrow from each other• After the end of the cycle a share-out takes place of savings and

dividend• Groups are made up of both youth and adults to allow for mentoring

and transfer of life skills• Some groups are made up primarily of youth which helps to

strengthen their social networks• No special adaptations were made for OVC participating in SILC

however a more structured financial literacy curriculum is beingtargeted for trainings

SILC Outcomes• OVC learn basic financial literacy and financial

management skills• Through SILC, OVC have built trust among group

members which has led to greater social cohesion• While OVC receive mentoring support from adults in their

SILC groups, they are able to assist adult participants with complex bookkeeping

• Improved access to financial services has resulted in:– 90% of participants being able to contribute to the national

insurance scheme– Improvements in nutrition whereby 81% of participants are able to

eat at least two meals, up from 60.9%.– Decrease in school drop-outs from 20.7% to 14.8%

Integrating SILC and Vocational training

• OVC youth undertake vocational training courses where they learn practical skills for self- employment and gain basic financial literacy skills through participation in SILC

• Formal apprenticeship opportunities follow the vocational training

• CRS provides start-up kits, business skills training and basic accounting

• Costs: – SILC alone: $50.00– SILC with integrated vocational training:

$318.00

Targeting and Delivery Channels

• CRS and Caritas Rwanda invests in large-scale community awareness events to target youths and caretakers

• Once the youth show interest and are ready to self-select into groups, CRS provides training on the SILC

The Result• 23% of the current 27,233 SILC

group are OVC participants

• The majority of participating OVC are child heads of households and OVC enrolled in vocational training

• Repayment rate for all other SILC groups was 99.9%

Monitoring and evaluation considerations for youth-inclusive financial services

• CRS has developed an OVC Wellbeing Tool (OWT)

• The OWT provides insight on the holistic “wellbeing” of adolescent children

• The OWT is a self assessing tool from the child’s vantage point

• It is used for monitoring change in the wellbeing of a child over a period of time

• Another combined M&E tool to help understand the impact of SILC on participating OVC and their caregivers is currently being developed and will be tested in early 2010.

• All tools are shareable!

Thank You!Murakoze Cyane!