De Rotary Club Emmen voert al vele jaren projecten uit in The Gambia in West Africa. De projecten worden uitgevoerd in samenwerking met de twee Rotary Clubs in het land RC Fajara en RC Banjul. Projecten in de gezondheidszorg zijn uitgevoerd voor de afdeling fysiotherapie van het Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in de hoofdstad Banjul en de unit voor het maken van protheses.
Samen met het bedrijf AquaAero WaterSystems zijn de zogenaamde waterpiramides gerealiseerd in Mandinari en Sibanor. Zie www.aaws.nl.
Met de organisatie Aqua 4 All is de schone drinkwater installatie operationeel gemaakt bij het ziekenhuis in Brikama,
zie www.rotaryclub.gm ,Banjul, News 2007.
Steeds is gekozen voor het realiseren van projecten die lokaal werden aangedragen en werden uitgevoerd door lokale organisaties met ondersteuning van de Rotary Clubs in het land. Jaarlijks worden de projecten bezocht door Onno en Thea te Nuyl.

Voor de komende tijd is door de Rotary Club Emmen gekozen om via micro credit bij te dragen aan de ontwikkeling van de bevolking en het land.

Onderstaand is de projectomschrijving opgenomen zoals deze gemaakt is door de BAFROW-organisatie. In februari 2008 wordt het project opnieuw bezocht om de resultaten in ogenschouw te nemen. Gelijksoortige projecten voor micro credit zijn in voorbereiding.

Project Title: Economic Empowerment of Women for Better Life

Project Duration: One year

Project Budget: 1000 Euros


Organisational Background

The Foundation for Research on women?s health Productivity and the Environment (BAFROW) was founded in July 1991 and incorporated as an independent charitable trust in 1992. It is financed by income generated from work undertaken by its founders and it programs are supported by grants and donations. Other sources of income are derived from research work carried out by the organization. Its activities are directed by a ten member board of trustees who are the Founders and are also life members. The program of BAFROW are planned by a ten member board of directors who are appointed every two years while the day to day running of the organization is by the administrative department headed by a Director. Each project component activity is planned and monitored by a technical and monitoring committee. Each technical and monitoring committee is headed by a chairperson. The Chairperson of each of the various technical committee meet regularly to discuss and share their work activities to ensure complimentarity. This meetings of the chairpersons is called the Program Coordinating Committee (PCC).

At the recipient level, local based committees are formed headed by community based mobilizers. These committees are formed to ensure grass-roots participation in all planning and decision making processes.

Objectives of BAFROW

- To Provide empirical data and gender analysis on women and issues related to their socio-economic empowerment, based on action research, case studies and pilot projects
- To identify empowerment strategies and to ensure that women have access to power and an improved quality of life for everyone
- to facilitate and develop the capacity and capability of the Foundation and to expand inter-agency co-operation.

Functions and activities of BAFROW

o To empower women by providing them with information, knowledge and skills through women?s organization, women?s group, on pertinent, critical and emerging issues relating to their health, their economy, their rights and their environment.
o Create awareness and sensitivity on socio-economic and political issues, facilitate groups to define issues collectively and to strategize and carry out action plans around those issues.
o Develop action research projects based on emerging issues, identifying, documenting and preserving practices and systems that have in the past maintained healthy and conducive environment for peace, human development and for productive activities.
o Lobby for Women?s rights and the rights of children



The Project Justification, Aim and objectives


In The Gambia 60% of the population are living below the poverty line (Less than 1$ per day) and the burden of proving for children is increasingly carried by rural women in particular. Such women are the focus of BAFROW?s economic development work and will be the sole beneficiaries of this pilot project. Although micro-credit schemes have been very successful in increasing women?s economic abilities, thereby increasing their productivity and lifting them out of poverty, rural women in the Gambia generally lack access to current micro-credit schemes because they cannot provide surety or collaterals to banks. Lessons from other micro-credits schemes in the Gambia and elsewhere show that women are also most likely to succeed if they are in smaller groups where they can learn from each other, complement each others? skills and abilities and influence each other in maintaining their commitment to the investment goals.

This new initiative which is the economic empowerment of women for better life project is in line with BAFROW?s broader strategy and approach under the BAFROW Indigenous Lending and Saving Scheme (BLISS) which aims at improving the quality of life of women, their families, communities and society. This pilot project will provide rural women with training in relevant indigenous trades and enable them to access micro-credit to realise their investment potentials.


Aim and Objectives

The aim of this pilot project is to increase the economic abilities of 25 rural women in 5 villages and strengthen their active participation in the lives of their families, communities and broader society. It will also indirectly touch the lives of over two thousand people in the community. This will be achieved through:
- establishing five micro-cooperatives of five women each
- providing them with relevant training in indigenous skills (e.g. food processing and preservation) and supportive skills such as sales, marketing, and financial management
- providing them with accessible, low interest micro-credits of up to 5000 Dalasis per group
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Outcomes

By the end of the pilot project, it is hoped that the project will contribute to empowering these women. It will increase their economic and social status in their villages and within their families. It will also increase their quality of life and that of their families through their ability to pay for their children?s education, health care, feeding and improved shelter. At a community level, the project will strengthen women?s social responsibility by enabling them to provide support to other women in the village to establish and run their micro-cooperatives.


Project Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation


The project will be directly implemented by the staff of BAFROW in 4 villages namely; Mandinaba, Berefet, Omorto, Bambako. At the beginning of the project, five women from BAFROw?s literacy support group in each village will be identified by BAFROW in consultation with village women committees. BAFROW staff will work with them to form their micro-cooperative and help them identify a viable investment of their choice. Following their training, the groups will be supported to develop their business plans and given a micro-credit to kick-start their investments. BAFROW staff will provide ongoing monitoring to ensure that the groups remain on track. Regular project meetings will be conducted to review progress, capture lessons and re-plan as necessary. The women will also be supported at village levels by a range of staff (community mobilizers, literacy coordinators, health workers and health promoters).

Following the successful establishment of this pilot project and using the lessons learnt, BAFROW will establish a Balu-Nima Advisory and Training Scheme (BATS) that will provide ongoing support and training to other women and organisations in micro-cooperative schemes management.

Sustainability and Scaling up

The BAFROW Balu-Nima Indigenous Lending and Savings Scheme (BILSS) at Mandinaba will be responsible for administering the micro-credit scheme. It will ensure continuity and sustainability, help monitor the groups? income and expenditures and ensure that regular