Country Updates:

Uganda. New prioritization rules adopted by the World Food Program are expected to result in significant reductions in humanitarian resources provided to refugees in Uganda beginning this summer. After implementation, 82 percent of the refugee population will receive monthly rations that only meet 30 percent of their minimum daily caloric needs. Uganda has the largest camps in Africa, hosting 1.5 million refugees in a country with a population of 45 million. It is expected that this shortfall in food assistance will put additional strain on local food supplies, farmland and water sources.

Kenya. Opposition party protests have rocked Kenya this summer causing widespread disruptions and confrontations with police that have resulted in the deaths of more than two dozen people. In the past day, the government and opposition party leaders have announced a committee to resolve their differences and end the protests. The announcement was welcomed by small business owners.

Tanzania. This past week Tanzania's Ministry of Health launched the Research on Productive Health Rights for Urban and Rural Women through the Media organized by Tanzania Media Women's Association (TAMWA) and announced that Tanzania has entered a number of international and regional agreements to improve maternal, mother and child health. All of the outreach efforts are coordinated through the National Plan for Maternal, Mother, Child and Nutrition Health. The Health Minister, Ummy Mwalimu, said, "The Ministry has continued to ensure that reproductive health rights are available throughout the country, including purchasing and distributing contraceptive products."

New Headquarters Building Now Sports Windows and Doors

Despite the heavy rainfall, which slowed transport and caused power outages, WMI’s contractor, Sam Wesamoyo, kept moving forward on construction of WMI’s new two-story headquarters in Buyobo. The building now sports newly installed doors and windows. Finish work on the floors and walls is up next. Completion of the project is slated for the end of September. Our leadership team, as well as a multitude of borrowers, peruse the site daily and offer advice on everything from color schemes to floor tile patterns!

Cindy Matsiko recently graduated from University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she majored in Psychology and minored in Africana Studies and Social Welfare. She was in Buyobo with her mom, board member June Kyakobye, when the loan program launched in 2008 and is delighted to be back in the village.

Elizabeth Grace Mwebaze is 21 years old and from Buyobo, Uganda. She will be joining Medicare health professionals Mengo in Kampala this summer, where she plans to pursue clinical medicine. Liz is our first college intern who grew up witnessing the loan program in action in her hometown.

Sarah Kate ElHamahmy is a rising junior at Georgetown University, pursuing a major in Political Economy. She has a passion for feminist advocacy and economic empowerment which is what brought her to WMI!

Fatima Shamim is a junior majoring in Economics at Wellesley College, where she is Co-Fundraising and Co-Outreach Chair for UNICEF. She is excited to work with WMI and looking forward to learning more about the role of microfinance in economic development and the advancement of women.

This summer's team is led by Cindy Matsiko, who has been managing WMI’s internship program for the past three years, and who also handles social media for us. The interns are working on data analysis and creating the annual Factbook documenting loan program impact, as well as visiting borrowers’ businesses and their stalls at the marketplace, conducting interviews, taking photos and videos, and teaching at Buyobo Primary School. They are enormously popular with the students and brought along some sports equipment and academic supplies for the teachers.

WMI Borrower’s Daughter Facing Cancer Head-On

Our loan hub in Buseesa in Southwest Uganda relayed the experience of a WMI borrower whose daughter is fighting cancer. We are working with our local leadership to identify what type of support WMI can provide to the family.

"On Sunday we had a very touching young girl speak in church. She is called Mary. Last year she was in primary grade 7 and felt some pain in one of her legs. In June, she was diagnosed with cancer. She stayed in hospital up to November and sat for her exams. She passed with a second grade despite the painful challenges she was going through, and is now qualified to go on to senior level classes.

Two days after her exams, her leg was removed. Her mother had a business through a WMI loan and the parents sold most of whatever they had to save the girl's life. Mary is now coping with medication but needs more medical attention. She is supposed to go back to Mulago hospital for further diagnosis.

Her plan is to go back to school next year since all the family funds currently go for her medication. What was very touching was she said that when she finally makes it back to school, she will fight for those living with cancer because she has gone through the pain and she now knows what it means.

The family lives about 5 km away WMI’s loan hub center in Buseesa. The community, especially those living within their village, have been very helpful in supporting her at Mulago hospital. Last Sunday she was given an opportunity to talk to the people at church and the congregation donated the funds to cover a critical diagnostic test."

One of the ancillary impacts of the loan program is that reliable business income means neighbors have sufficient funds to help one another when a crisis like this arises. WMI is staying apprised of the situation to figure out the best way we can lend support.

WMI Embodies Localization Protocols That Elude International Outreach Organizations

Devex, one of the leading news organizations covering global development, recently reported that leading international development organizations, including USAID, have not met their goal of localizing at least 25% of their outreach, a target set by the U.N. in 2016. The localization of services is now a driving force in the international development community yet, as Devex reports, in 2020 only 3.4% of international aid was localized and by 2022 that percentage had dropped even further to a woeful 1.8%. https://www.devex.com/news/devex-newswire-usaid-s-not-the-only-one-struggling-with-localization-105904.

The reluctance to effectively collaborate with local partners stands in stark contrast to best practices as summarized on USAID’s web site: There is now widespread consensus that development and humanitarian assistance needs to be more responsive to the needs and priorities of local actors and communities and embrace their ideas for how to address them. "The world’s development and humanitarian challenges are vast and complex, but they are also inherently local. The same is true of the many opportunities to address these challenges. Experience has shown that local leadership over where, how, and why we collaborate is the route to greater equity, effectiveness, and sustainability." https://www.usaid.gov/localization.

The concept of localization is the centerpiece of WMI’s loan program platform. WMI has always been a community-driven organization. Only through a true partnership with our local leadership teams, who manage every single WMI loan hub, have we been able to implement a successful village-level loan program. All our loan program contractors, auditors, lawyers, banking partners and suppliers are based in-country. As we look back over the past sixteen years, we see that our vision has sharpened in its focus, as we work to develop an inclusive and just financial system, because of the invaluable input and guidance of our in-county colleagues. We follow a demand-driven approach to setting priorities, strengthening capacity, and expanding operations. WMI develops its framework from the bottom up, not the top down, so that it is tailored to meet the needs of rural African women.