2007 Programme Highlights
The overall development policy and principles of Strømme Foundation (SF) was approved by the Board. Gender equality, environmental sustainability and cultural freedom together with any other important issues that are considered crucial in a given region will henceforth form the cross-cutting issues (e.g. HIV/ AIDS). The policy also outlines criteria for choice of partner organizations, countries and focus areas for quality management. The next five-year SF plan will be anchored on the development policy and principles as well as on agreed thematic goals and interventions. The Framework Agreement with NORAD was to have come to an end by the end of 2007, and the Regional Offices and the Programme Department therefore began preparation for an organisational review as well as the next five-year plan for the Framework Agreement. However, with the postponement of the review to early 2008, the existing agreement was extended by another year, i.e. 2008. During the year much emphasis was given to cross-fertilization within and between regions as well as to building up capacity. Accordingly, an education annual meeting was arranged in Bangladesh and a microfinance annual meeting was arranged in Norway. In Bangladesh, the Regional Directors, Education Coordinators, staff from the Programme Department as well as the Communication Director participated in the meeting, besides undertaking field visits. This was followed by training in MYRADA in India to strengthen our competence in formation of self-help groups’ methodology and documentation of results even at the endusers level. Similarly MYRADA trainers visited East Africa to train partners’ representatives. Exposure visits were also arranged for the staff and partners from East Africa to West Africa to study the accelerated learning programme and Self-Help Women’s Savings Groups programme. The Microfinance annual meeting was a two-day conference, which was organised in cooperation with the University of Agder. Microfinance staff members of SF present at the conference, were able to use their expertise while at the same time avail of such expertise from elsewhere. The conference aimed at learning from each other both from within and outside SF. The partnership with Geneva Global, an institutional donor, resulted in scaling up projects focusing on adolescent girls/mothers, out of school boys and girls, and women centred self-help savings groups. In the education sector focus was on ensuring quality education for vulnerable children with access, retention and completion
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Asia
of primary education as the desired results. Additionally, the focus was on enabling out of school boys and girls with accelerated learning programme, so that they could become eligible to pursue primary education. In adult education, various forms of interventions promoted awareness, life skills, and community empowerment with a view to strengthening civil society. SF’s interventions in Sri Lanka, in particular, aimed at promoting peace and harmony among various faith-based communities. In the Microfinance sector, this has been a year with increased focus on forward looking strategies with the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Dr. Muhammad Yunus in December 2006. Interest in MF was augmented with media, back donors as well as private sectors have become increasingly interested in the activities and results of SF’s involvement. Consequently, this is a real challenge for Strømme Foundation in finding more efficient means of interventions, in addition to continuing to build inclusive financial systems. This provides services to the unbanked, driven by the fact that access to sustainable financial services will help the poor improve their lives. SF is also happy with the private-public initiative: Norwegian Microfinance Initiative, where private investors have joined hands with the government with a view to increasing the investments in Microfinance. SF represents the NGOs in the Steering Committee and is looking forward to the launching of this initiative in 2008. During the year, SF supported 144 partners with 177 projects in 17 countries in the four regions reaching out directly to more than 650,000 people. The focus of our activities was to undertake interventions that would eventually bring durable life changes in the lives of the people.
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East Africa
The year 2007 has been a challenging year for Strømme Foundation (SF) in Asia given the expansion of programmes in Sri Lanka with funds from the Norwegian Embassy and scaling up of operations in Bangladesh with institutional funding from Geneva Global. SF continued to focus on integrating interventions in education and microfinance sectors targeting the same community through the following means: • Improved access to financial and non-financial services through strengthened community institutions • Increased access to basic education and other services as a result of increased awareness of households and communities with regard to children’s rights to education • Improved gender and ethnic relationship as a result of jointly owned collective actions • Strengthening civil society with good governance, gender equality and peace building. A total of 250,000 people were reached with SF’s interventions, of whom 170,000 were assisted in the microfinance sector and another 70,000 in the education sector. Quality education for vulnerable children continues to improve academic performance of the children in addition to reducing dropout rates. For example, in Bangladesh, the dropout rate in 2007 was 8 percent as against the national average of 33 percent with average attendance in schools being 89 percent. A total of 807 children appeared in the national scholarship examination, and 56 students received scholarships. The Shonglap (dialogue) programme in Bangladesh has created a tremendous effect on the lives of adolescent girls, parents, communities and local government authorities. SF has created a special MF entity in Sri Lanka, namely SMAGL, and functions as a MF APEX body focusing its operations in Sri Lanka to promote access to financial services among the poor. In Bangladesh, SF and INFAI have initiated on a trial basis microfinance insurance. SF’s focus is to facilitate the process with the new entity – Microfinance Insurance Mutual Entity. During the year, emphasis was also placed on establishing a quality assurance system in education as well as microfinance sectors. Capacity building had been the main focus in both sectors as a strategy for consolidation and quality assurance.
The year 2007 was another successful year for Strømme Foundation (SF) in East Africa. Strømme Microfinance East Africa Ltd, a wholesale lending and shareholding company to microfinance institutions in the region established in 2004, was able to break even. The company portfolio grew by an appreciable 41 percent, spread out among 37 partner organisations. The number of poor people reached directly through the services of the company was 145,000. Through Focus Group Discussions held throughout the year with the end users of the money, it was observed that the loans are contributing to alleviating the plight of the poor people, 65 percent of whom are women. In a bid to extend financial services to even poorer strata of the people who could not be reached by formal Microfinance Institutions, a Community Managed Microfinance portfolio using the Self Help Group was supported. The approach uses participatory community development where the members of the community are organised to form groups of 15 to 20 people. Groups are facilitated to save together and then lend to each other. Group projects as well as individual income generating projects are undertaken. Training is imparted in various skills. These projects have demonstrated an important role in alleviating poverty among the hard core poor in addition to strengthening civil society institutions. In the second half of 2007, three such projects in very marginal areas of Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan were started and by the end of the year more than 3,800 people, 90 percent of whom are women, were assisted. In the education sector, SF has continued to focus on strengthening basic education for vulnerable children. Through 23 education partner organisations, there has been an increase in pupils’ enrolment in primary schools and decrease in drop out rates. This has been possible through various interventions geared to address issues that have been causing low enrolment and high school dropout rates. Basic education in the poor and marginalised communities has been strengthened using a community based education approach. Broadly, the concept incorporates community sensitisation, soliciting community participation in planning and monitoring. In effect, the importance of education is viewed through the eyes of the poor by creating community awareness in problem solving. In 2007, the number of children enrolled for primary education had increased from 56,714 in 2006 to 81,769. This is an appreciable increase of 44 percent. Moreover, there had been greater increase in girl enrolment, reduction in school dropouts as well as very good academic performance compared to the previous years. In 2007, SF established a liaison office in Juba, South Sudan, and another one in Renk in Northern Upper Nile.
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