In Central Asia formed by transition economies, employment does not guarantee protection from poverty, as wages are often unpaid or greatly delayed, or paid in-kind. Poor households are larger and have both more children (four or more) and adults.
The risk of poverty for the household increases when the head is illiterate or has primary education only and substantially increases when the household is headed by a woman.
JDA is helping the poorest and most unfortunate people with its micro credit programs. It is providing business ideas and training with small loans or in-kind credit as a means to help families run businesses, to unlock human dreams, so that they begin making choices that were not available to them before. Over 70% of our program clients are women.
Imagine a place where there used to be plenty of jobs and trade - where it was easy to make a living. Imagine that most of the jobs have gone, and many who have jobs have not been paid. Imagine that the climate used quite temperate, but since the sea has receded, it now reaches 45-50 degrees in summer and -40 degrees in winter. Imagine that you cannot grow vegetables you used to grow in your garden. Imagine the levels of poverty in the town increasing to the point where the only things you can buy in the local bazaar are cabbage, potatoes and onions, and imagine having to travel one and half hours each way by bus to the nearest town where supplies are more plentiful.
Imagine what you feel like when someone expresses faith in you. They back that faith with training and then with a loan. They stand by you as you start your own business. They rejoice with you as your life begins to improve. Now you can begin to make choices that were not available to you before. Imagine the difference the JDA micro credit program makes!
JDA
- Established a successful micro credit programs in several locations in Uzbekistan and Karakalpakstan.
- Ongoing since 1997 the program has trained experts in micro credit, in Cambodia , Kenya , and Kazakhstan.
- Dispersed over 1000 small loans to clients, 85% given to women.
- Conducted monthly seminars to manage current capital.
- Established new products of micro credit to meet the special needs or the rural population with goats, cows, chickens, and planting soy beans.
- Established special credit programs for plaster manufacturing.
- Specific credit products are designed to help women with young children to stay and work from their home.
- Special emphasis is placed to help the very poor women headed households that have no means to help themselves.
More Information:
Transformation Profiles:
Success Stories:
Before and After:
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