Highlights of the Month, November 2015
- 117 (88 female & 29 male) new members were mobilized in to groups under the 1)Sustainable Livelihood Program III in Keshindeh and Shortepa districts of Balkh province, 2)reducing poverty and gender inequality by improving household income and financial resilience through enterprise and job creation Project in Gosfandi and Sancharak districts of Sarepul province.
- 231 female members were trained in Group Management package.
- 1283 members (1129 female) were trained in Microfinance package, while the Business Development Services training is ongoing.
- 1778 new microenterprises (1536 female & 242 male) established in projects’ coverage areas in Samangan, Jawzjan, Balkh and Sarepul provinces. Furthermore, 119 (91 female & 28 male) microenterprises which already been economically engaged in the market, expanded their enterprises in the above mentioned districts. All above resulted to creation of 2655 jobs in which 86 % of them are female.
- 2,140 illiterate group members (1,711 female & 429 male) are completing Life Skills Trainings under projects of 1) Supporting rural entrepreneurship and promoting women’s socio-economic empowerment in Dara-e-suf districts of Samangan province 2) Sustainable Livelihood Program in Shortepa and Keshendeh districts of Balkh province and 3) Improving lives through creation of microenterprises and Jobs in Aqcha district of Jawzjan province and Sarepul provinces.
- Sum of AFN 2,560,580 recollected as repayments of EIF loan from groups during the month which has increased the repayment rate to 92 %.
- Sum of AFN 5,863,545 saved within the groups by members in Dara-e-Suf Bala and Dar-e-Payan districts of Samangan province, Aqcha district of Jawzjan province, Shortepa and Keshendeh districts of Balkh province and Balkhab, Sancharak and Gosfandi districts of Sar-e-pul province.
- 304 internal loans took place among the group members with a total value of AFN 1,840,575 in Dara-e-Suf Bala and Dar-e-Suf Payan districts of Samangan province, Aqcha district of Jawzjan province, Shortepa and Keshendeh districts of Balkh province and Balkhab, Gosfandi and Sancharak districts of Sar-e-pul province. The purpose of Internal Loans is to utilize group savings accumulated by members for creation and expansion of microenterprises.
- Hand in Hand Afghanistan conducted a two-day planning workshop in Mazar-e-Sharif and invited all HiH-AF district officers and project staff from the Sar-e-Pul, Samangan,Jawzjan, Baklh and Kabul offices to discuss on current projects, review achievements and challenges and draw up Work Plan for 2016. During the two day workshop, participants briefed the management and colleagues on the achievements and planned which milestones to be achieved during 2016. They also reviewed HiH- AF Strategy Plan for 2016-2020 and provided suggestions and recommendations based on knowledge of the field.
- HIH staff attended workshop on Participation of Women Agriculture Value Chain held by RADP North project of DAI organization at Mazar-e-Sharif
- Business Development Services Training of Trainers (ToT) conducted for the project staff of Balkhab district. The training conducted for 8 days at Balkhab district office of HiH-Af. There were 21 participants (13 female & 8 male) including VEFs, district officer and district assistant.
- Market linkage and Value Addition training (ToT) conducted for 21 participants (13 female & 8 male) including VEFs, district officer and district assistant in Balkhab district under the GPAF project. The training aimed to increase knowledge of participants on technical market linkage and value addition of members’ products, quality improvement, linking of products to local markets and value addition of products.
