Uganda
Background
Five Talents has been working in Uganda since 2001, and to date three microfinance programs have been established in Kabale, Kasese and Kampala. During 2011 these three existing branches became operationally sustainable – which means that the funding we send contributes to their ability to provide more loans. This also enables Five Talents Uganda to fulfill its mission of reaching the poorest and most excluded communities, by expanding to new areas of the country. During 2012 Five Talents Uganda, led by Esther Nakamatte, is expanding in the south (into the district of Kisoro, on the border with DRC and Rwanda), and into Kitgum in the north.
Northern Uganda expansion
Communities in Northern Uganda have suffered the effects of a long-running conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda, which lasted over twenty years. Five Talents conducted a feasibility study in 2007 in Kitgum, when many communities were still displaced, but at the time funding was not available for this expansion. In June 2011 a team from Five Talents Uganda and FTUK returned to the Diocese of Kitgum (which covers the northern districts of Kitgum, Pader, Lamwo and Agago) to assess the needs and feasibility of establishing a new Five Talents office in the north (see trip report here). The team found that after years of displacement the majority of the population have returned home, the displacement camps leveled and aid agencies had left. Plans were then put in place to expand into northern Uganda during 2012. Five Talents Uganda began working in Kitgum in February 2012, with an initial focus on training in business and financial management skills. In the early recovery stages of post-conflict reconstruction, the key issues that need to be addressed are the rebuilding of skills and revitalizing of the local and regional economy. Five Talents Uganda will therefore pick up from where aid agencies have left (many established successful savings groups), by providing additional training and responding to the need for loan capital among the groups which will enable them to build on, or start, small businesses.
Goals of Five Talents Uganda
- To alleviate poverty among those who are marginalized but are economically active by improving their access to credit facilities.
- To create job opportunities by enabling the entrepreneurial poor to be job creators.
- To develop business knowledge and skills.
- To encourage a culture of savings.
Invitation
Our target in 2012 is to raise £90,000 for to establish the work of Five Talents Uganda in Kitgum; and a further £60,000 to continue to support the work and expansion in the south. Click here to find out how you can donate.
