Humanitarian and community development worker| Inclusion enthusiast| Project management| Monitoring and evaluation| Leadership mentee and life skills coach
Promoting financial inclusion for refugee and host community households, male participation and inclusivity! As FRC, we had the opportunity to once again observe lessons during the financial digital Literacy trainings for refugees and host communities under the Self Reliance Model (SRM) project funded by World Food Programme. This time, we visited a group in the host community village of Kasambya village, Lori Sub County in Yumbe District. The lessons are being delivered by our trained Community Based Trainers using the Bank of Uganda and UNCDF developed curriculum. The SRM approach brings together partners targeting the same beneficiaries but with different components to provide a holistic intervention as a way of increasing self reliance as we progressively shift away from the usual in-kind assistance through boosting household incomes for both refugees and host communities. This time around, we had a great interaction with lots of lessons learnt, a mixed feeling of enthusiasm and scepticism expressed by some participants when probed on achieving their financial goals. In one of the groups where majority of learners are women, a participant expressed her concern about low male participation as evident in the picture, citing that their husbands are not interested in attending lessons because they are too busy catching up with friends at the local trading centers while others are preoccupied with lots of unproductive activity. Some pass time chewing Khat which is commonly referred to as "mairungi" in the local language. Another lady was quick to comment that "that is why it is hard for many of us women to trust our husbands with the money we make. We have been taught here that while developing financial goals and drafting budgets for the home, we need to sit together with our spouses and children however, we sometimes make plans together and even agree to give our husbands the money as our contribution but in the end, they (husbands) use the money to chew mairungi." While it is true that some of these cases are happening in the communities, we have equally received positive responses from some men through our continuous sensitization strategy, using peer to peer role models and closely working with local leaders to further encourage their community members to enroll for the financial and digital Literacy trainings held within their communities. It is important to note that male participation plays a pivotal role in transforming homesteads to achieve the desired financial goals while considerably not leaving behind their children, and Persons with Disability. Finnish Refugee Council - Suomen Pakolaisapu
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
7moWell done Aguta Robert for the FL Training to the marginalized Community deep in the Villages