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Gargaar works to advance the economic, social and political status of women in Somaliland. The Self Help Groups project is targeted at women from the poorest communities in Somaliland and is currently being implemented in Hargeisa and Burao where SHGs are in operation. This pro-poor approach has been particularly targeted at the women of these communities so to bring about sustainable livelihoods development.
SHGs by nature are a highly sustainable civil society structure. It empowers people from the poorest sections in society to come together with the common goal of socio-economic sustainable development, discussing their problems and concerns, resolving it through appropriate participatory and democratic decision making process.
Groups come together once a week in a group meeting where they make a weekly saving towards a group saving account. No external funding is provided into the groups established who have been empowered to manage their own affairs and solve problems as required. Groups are run by their members, who choose their own leaders and bank account signatories through rotational leadership. They decide on group bylaws, compulsory savings amounts and lending norms. Books and accounts are maintained by literate members with the support of Gargaar staff where necessary.
Currently loans provided to members are funded by group savings and revenues (administration fees, penalties). Many SHGs are already providing small loans to members for income generating purposes after just one year of establishment and over time as SHGs mobilize more savings and retain earnings they will be able to provide larger loans for business purposes. This will be further enhanced once external loans from banks and microfinance institutions become available in Somaliland.
Existing groups have been supported to take the lead in their socio-economic development through the provision of capacity building trainings (including literacy and civic education), monitoring and other support services. Once Cluster Level Associations become well established these institutions will help SHGs with governance, financial monitoring, develop links to social and external financial resources whilst promoting new groups where needed. This will sustain the future development and replication of SHGs.
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