In Sierra Leone, poor women face extreme hardship. Many women are married young and denied education, over 60% of women are illiterate. Unable to secure limited job opportunities, running small, informal businesses is their only option for survival. These businesses often fail, as women lack basic business skills and safe and secure ways to manage limited incomes to meet household needs, invest in a business and save to create a safety net. Women struggle to lift themselves out of poverty.

We empower marginalised women to build better futures through: i) Image-based business skills training, accessible regardless of literacy level and ii) set-up of community savings banks that use an easy-to-use symbol and tally management system, so that women can save and borrow securely. With increased business skills women are better able to take advantage of local opportunities and increase incomes. Our savings banks support better money management and increase financial resilience.