PARWAZ


Project Title: PARWAZ

Location: Afghanistan

Grant Amount: $2,981

Grantee Website: www.parwaz.org/

Areas of Impact: Economic Sustainability

Mission of PARWAZ
To empower the women of Afghanistan to rise from poverty by enabling them to build micro businesses, increase their income, reduce their vulnerability, and to become economic agents of change in their families, communities and country.

Summary
PARWAZ Microfinance Institution is a grass-roots microfinance organization established in Afghanistan for Afghan women by Afghan women. Based on the belief that women’s long-term success in society is dependent upon self-reliance and economic empowerment, PARWAZ provides financial services in the form of credit and savings to disadvantaged and poor women to start micro businesses and thus take a step towards empowerment. PARWAZ mobilizes clients into solidarity groups of 10-12 members each, all living in a neighborhood. Dining for Women donations will be directed to microloans for women through the Group Solidarity Loan program.

Why We Love This
With PARWAZ, shared poverty, shared oppression and especially, gender issues bring the women together to form a group. The solidarity groups have other important functions, along with savings/loan activity, which include serving as a forum for women to voice their opinions/views, interact with one another, share their experiences, exchange ideas on various issues and initiate collective action on a wide range of social, personal and economic issues. PARWAZ has instituted a mandatory savings program. The benefits of a savings account are many fold. First, the client gets into the habit of saving. Second, clients are provided a safe place to save their money; and third, in the absence of any sort of collateral for PARWAZ, savings serve as collateral for the borrower.


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