Impact Evaluation - PACT's Women's Empowerment Program in Nepal: A Savings and Literacy Led Alternative to Financial Institution Building

A study was done on the impact of PACT’s Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP) in rural Nepal due to seeming success of the program. In just one year, 6500 savings and credit programs (catering to 130,000 women) had been established; this is over twice the expected number for new organizations. Other achievements include recruitment, training, and enlistment of 240 Nepali organizations as WEP partners, spontaneous replication of existing groups without financial aid from WEP, and groups mobilizing over a million dollars for use for credit. Others are increased woman empowerment and literacy. WEP has thus shown that even in impoverished rural Nepal, the poor can save enough to make important investments in their businesses in less than two years and may be able to meet most of their needs for credit in four to six years. The reasons behind this success are investigated, comparing financial models, goals, and strategies to achieve these goals.

Author:

Jeffrey Ashe and Lisa Parrott

Year:

2001

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