Theme: Financial Inclusion

This study was conducted was implemented by PADRI Researchers in collaboration with Centre for Basic Research (CBR). It was funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and implemented in Kenya, Burundi and Uganda. This project set out to evaluate the impact of innovative savings schemes and the ways in which they have economically empowered women in the 3 countries and enabled them to cope with shocks and vulnerability.

The project used a quasi-experimental survey design involving three categories of households: (1) women who belong to an innovative savings group network (World Concern (WC) in Kenya and Uganda; and Five Talents (5T) in Burundi), (2) women who belong to other savings group; and (3) women do not belong to any savings group.

The impact of savings groups on women’s welfare was assessed through a comparison of the women’s circumstances at baseline and at endline, 12 months after the baseline. A documentary of success stories covered testimonies of 5 women from the World Concern network in Zombo district in Uganda is found on this link (https://youtu.be/5cL0J1PvWBo).