Founded in 1993, Women for Women International (WfWI) invests in the social and economic empowerment of marginalized women in countries affected by conflict. The organization’s work is based on the belief that every woman, regardless of her economic, ethnic, religious, or other circumstance, has the right to determine the course of her life and reach her full potential.
WfWI provides women living at the intersection of poverty, conflict, and gender inequality with the skills, knowledge, and resources to rebuild their lives. In its history, WfWI has reached over 495,000 women in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, Iraq, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan.
UNFCU Foundation is supporting WfWI’s Digitalizing VSLA (Village Savings and Loan Association) Groups & Federations project in Plateau State, Nigeria. The project aims to strengthen ultra-poor women’s resilience to health, economic, and social shocks through a digital group savings solution.
The program will provide 100–150 VSLA members with access to and training on DreamStart Lab’s DreamSave application technology. This will enable VSLA members in northern Nigeria to shift from difficult manual record-keeping to a solution that is digital, transparent, and accessible in pandemic settings. This project targets post-pandemic economic recovery and resilience for women in northern Nigeria by facilitating highly marginalized women’s long-term access to the formal financial sector.