Microcredit project for 10,000 women

observatorioumofc
Jun 25
2 min read

*Example of an income-generating activity thanks to microcredit*

By Sr. Agnès Daba - Senegal

Ambassador of the World Women Observatory

"Dialki dieg o wagane xokhof".

This Serer expression is inspired by the parable of the talents (Mt 25, 14-30). Its aim is to encourage female entrepreneurship and combat the social precariousness that affects a large amount of women in rural and peri-urban areas.

At a time when the logic of economic liberalism is invading all spheres of social life, where human beings and nature are often reduced to instrumental functions, leading to the destruction of the human and natural environment, the sisters of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception have pooled their human and material resources. Their synergy aims to join forces with other groups and individuals who want life to emerge where it is most fragile and threatened.

Microcredit: a new way of doing things

Just as the bell of synodality is ringing today, inviting us to a conversion in our ways of being and doing Church, the call for a much more inclusive economy has given rise to new ways for the sisters of the Immaculate to live their 4th vow by being subjects of actions that transform reality. Given the transformations that the project is bringing about in the lives of women in particular and families in general, French partners have decided to commit to long-term involvement in this initiative. The aim is to reach 10,000 women in business and to create two financed banks per year.

*Handover of savings and end of project*

For their part, the women help to organise the network by: setting up management committees and supervising certain geographical areas. In this way, they become relays who put into practice the following slogan: "You are helped, you must help others".

By 31 December 2024, the "10,000 Women" project already had 8,688 active beneficiaries. They were spread across 34 banks in the regions of : Thiès, Fatick, Kaolack, Diourbel, Dakar and Sédhiou.

Through this innovative project and in all our actions in all areas of the congregation's mission, we want to BE the Bell of Refuge, echoing the situations that threaten life. We want to awaken ecological awareness and promote a paradigm shift based on the formula: "Walk with."