333904
Ownership and Sustainability of Savings and Internal Lending Communities in Haiti
Monday, November 2, 2015
: 8:40 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.
Toni Cela, MA,
Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development, Port au Prince, Haiti
USAID/Haiti funded a Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) activity from 2009-2013. The implementing partner worked through community-based organizations (CBOs) that employed community mobilizers to set up and mentor self-selected SILC groups. After the program ended, USAID commissioned an external retrospective qualitative assessment to assess whether SILC met members’ needs; had an impact on individual, child and household well-being; and whether SILC groups continued after donor support ended, and why or why not. The study was approved by a local ethics review board. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews (IDI) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with SILC group members (n=56 IDIs, n=14 FGD), community mobilizers (n=14 IDIs), CBO staff (n=9 IDIs), and implementing partner staff (n=9 IDIs). Interviews and discussions were conducted in Creole, transcribed, and translated verbatim into English. Transcripts were uploaded and analyzed in Atlas-TI. The majority of respondents felt that the SILC access to flexible community-adapted savings and loans was highly successful; filled an important needs gap; and had a positive impact on community small businesses, households, and children. Many groups remain active and new groups were created after donor support ended. However, others disbanded when the stipends for community mobilizers ceased, due to lack of support, motivation, or the economic situation. The key factor ensuring success and sustainability was groups’ sense of ownership over their capital and the SILC methodology. These findings suggest the need for continued training and support for SILC groups in Haiti and other similar contexts.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Learning Objectives:
List the study questions for the retrospective assessment of SILC groups in Haiti.
Describe participants’ perceptions of the SILC group program.
Describe the impact of the SILC group on participants’ small businesses, households, and children.
Explain why many SILC groups within this program were successful and sustained beyond the end of the program and why other groups disbanded.
Describe recommendations for future implementation of SILC groups in Haiti and other similar contexts.
Keyword(s): Evaluation, Vulnerable Populations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was the Principal Investigator for this study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
