YOWE in Ghana
YOWE.
The Youth and Women Empowerment (YOWE) is local NGO based in Odumase, the district centre of Manya Krobo. Since 2000, YOWE have been working with Village Aid to provide literacy, credit, and enterprise development services to over 500 vulnerable young people in 25 communities, equipping them with the knowledge and resources they need to forge productive and valued roles for themselves. With a highly skilled staff team, YOWE have shown tremendous commitment to bringing sustainable rights-based development to the communities in which they work.
YOWE has established a highly successful local savings and credit fund with its current network of 21 communities in Manya and Yilo Krobo. The locally-owned fund is revolving more than £12,000 within 40 enterprise groups, and has been built up from member-savings and contributions from previous projects. Participants from each learning circle self-select smaller groups of four or five, taking into consideration their chosen vocations. The group is collectively responsible for moneys disbursed to people within their own group, and repayment rate is 94%.