KABUL (Pajhwok): UNHCR has announced the launch of a new microfinance scheme to assist internally-displaced people, returnees, and residents of host communities engaged in small business activities.
The UN refugee agency said the initiative had been launched in partnership with the Aga Khan Development Network’s First Micro Finance Bank-Afghanistan.
The Grants and Microfinance (GRAM) scheme, Sharia financing-compliant, is a UNHCR + FMFB-A joint initiative to help small businesses, particularly women-run enterprises.
In a statement, UNHCR said the scheme was based around the Awdat Murabaha model to support financial inclusion and help shift returnees from humanitarian assistance and into productive economic activities.
This is UNHCR’s first microfinance initiative in Afghanistan aiming to benefit the most vulnerable people as they move into productive economic activities.
The scheme is initially being rolled out by First Micro Finance Bank in Balkh, Bamyan, Herat, Kabul, and Nangarhar provinces. It will expand to other locations where FMFB-A maintains branches.
Under the UNHCR + FMFB-A scheme, Afghan returnees and IDPs aged from 18 to 60 who possess a valid identity card and have prepared a rational business plan can apply for the Awdat Murabaha financing.
On November 15, the statement said, the first beneficiaries of the programme — three women and two men — received their loans.
Loans under the scheme range between 25,000 afghanis ($280) and a maximum of 300,000 afs ($3,370), with repayments set at equal monthly installments.
The boosted income facilitated by the loans is expected to help support more than 3,500 immediate family members through 2022.
Through the end of 2022, the new scheme aims to provide some 34 million afs ($386,891) to 500 recipients.
“Afghans, particularly women, are striving to support their households with very marketable skills and abilities,” said UNHCR Representative Leonard Zulu.
“This initiative will help individuals get a firm foothold on the business ladder and establish themselves, while delivering more economic vitality to their communities.”
The GRAM initiative is part of UNHCR’s area-based work in 80 Priority Areas of Return and Reintegration (PARRs) to enhance access to essential services and enhance self-reliance to mitigate further displacement and build community resilience.
“Financial exclusion in Afghanistan is amongst the highest in the world,” said Ziauddin Haidari, FMFB-A chief executive officer.
“As part of our business mandate, we believe that financing small entrepreneurs improves access to finance and financial inclusion and will help project beneficiaries to become financially sustainable.”
Starting next year, the United Nations Development Programme will contribute an additional $5 million to the initiative.
GRAM complements UNDP’s Area-Based Approach to Development Emergency Initiative (ABADEI) programme, FAO’s community resilience scheme supporting farmers, and the joint FAO-UNHCR-UNWomen “Women’s Access, Dignity and Advancement (AWADA) initiative.
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