The Women Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund (WEDTF) empowers women in Zanzibar, Tanzania through microcredit and business training, enabling them to create job opportunities for themselves, their families and communities.
The challenges WEDTF is addressing:
Poverty remains the biggest development challenge facing Tanzania, one of the world’s 10 poorest countries, where around 68% of the population lives with less than $1.25 per day. Receiving no proper education and often forced to marry at a very early age, women and girls are particularly disadvantaged.
Child marriage, child pregnancy and domestic violence, which are still widespread, put girls’ and women’s health at risk and as a consequence, tragically lower their chances to break the cycle of poverty.
How can we implement positive change and stimulate economic growth in this context?
W4’s field partner WEDTF has developed its own solution: an innovative microcredit program based on the Grameen Bank model, providing small loans to poor women entrepreneurs on the islands of Unguja and Pemba. In addition to gaining access to credit, women receive entrepreneurial and technical training, which enables them to implement long-term, sustainable business practices.
You can be a change maker!
WEDTF was founded in 1995 and today counts over 4,000 members – 95% of whom are women – who are divided into 77 self-managed lending centers. Now, in 2013, most of these members have been able to send their children to school and have benefited from greater access to healthcare. Within targeted communities, people living with HIV have seen significant improvement in their quality of life and more local job opportunities.
This microfinance model has proven its efficiency. Thanks to loans ranging from $34 to $1,400, underprivileged women are able to secure a reliable source of income to the benefit of their families and communities. But many women entrepreneurs still need capital.
By funding a microloan, you can empower these women and their families, giving them a fighting chance to break the cycle of poverty.
You can also support the women of WEDTF by raising awareness within your own circles about the crucial initiatives that are improving their living conditions.
The difference you can make: the impact of your giving
By supporting women entrepreneurs in Tanzania through microfinance and entrepreneurship training, you can enable them to become empowered individuals, to send their children to school, and to create job opportunities within their communities.
Relevant country data:
Capital : Dodoma
Population : 46,218,486
GDP per capita: $1,600
Population living below $1.25 PPP per day: 68%
Adult literacy rate, both sexes (aged 15 and above): 73%
Infant mortality rate (probability of dying between birth and age 1 per 1,000 live births): 45
Maternal mortality ratio (deaths of women per 100,000 live births): 450
