Family World International (FAWOI) trained Internally Displaced Women on Financial Literacy and empower them with seed Funds to start their businesses
3 min read
Family World International (FAWOI) have successfully train over 10 Internally Displaced Women on Financial Literacy and empower them with seed funds to start small businesses. Under the project “Sustainable Emergency Assistance to in-distressed Female Internally Displaced Persons in Fako Division of the South West Region of Cameroon funded by LUKMEF and Canadian High Commission-Yaoundé, this project aims to strengthen the capacity of selected vulnerable women in financial management to be able to keep up with their daily life. The event took place on 4 January 2023 in Mile 17-Buea, the South West Region of Cameroon.
According Ms. Takoh Marceline, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Family World International, this project was initiated to reinforce the economic autonomy of Internally Displaced Women in Fako Division of the South West Region of Cameroon. She further reiterated that the economic situation of especially women within the Fako Division have been horrifying and that there is need for more efforts to be put in place by the national and international stakeholders to help women in crisis regions of Cameroon.
Presenting on Financial Literacy, Mr. Vifansi Emmanuel traced that financial literacy is primary in every business idea for every potential profitable initiative. While speaking to the participants, He insisted on the fact that before starting any business, they should carry out research about the product or the services they want to invest in and whether the product or services is a necessity or prestigious. He gave some case studies which generated questions from the participants based on the failures and successes identified in the sample case study. During the discussions he advised the participants to always pay themselves out of any profit they make in the course of their businesses. Advising the participants, Mr Vifansi told the participants that if they want to start any business and there is not enough capital, then they should better go in for the business with small capital so that as the capital grows, they can go in for their intended business.
After the Presentation on Financial Literacy, the participants were engaged on group work wherein they discussed about their business ideas, the sources of their capital, their profits, the challenges they faced and how they have managed these challenges. The aim of this group discussion was for these women to learn from each other and to empower themselves. During the group discussions, participants were ask to write about their businesses, amount or help they need to expand or start their business, the challenges they faced and how they have or are planning to overcome these challenges. According to the coordinator, Ms. Takoh, the written facts about their business ideas, the challenges they faced and how they have overcome these challenges will help other women to learned from them in future.
The majority women expressed their intent to start with petit businesses like roasting of corn, provision store, selling of fruits, etc
At the end of the event, Ms Takoh, concluded that Family World International was going to create a Community Saving Initiative Group for these women who have gained knowledge on business management skills, financial literacy and seed funded to be saving their money every month. She revealed that the lowest that the Community Saving Initiative Group will be receiving as savings is 3,500 FCFA and Maximum will be 8,750. The members will be saving these profits during the monthly meetings to be organized by Family World International. This is to ensure the sustainability of the project.
While thanking LUKMEF and Canadian High Commission-Yaoundé, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Family World International promised to continue empowering vulnerable women and girls especially within crisis situation to be economically independent.
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
