World Renew provides initial funding and training so that communities can create their own local economic and financial solutions. Through economic development programming with World Renew, communities ensure their long-term goals by boosting incomes and creating new job opportunities. World Renew also invests in literacy and livelihood training programs, so that community members can start their own businesses and improve their quality of life.
See how World Renew helped Nvou in Nigeria find the key to economic opportunity
COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Help shape a community’s economic development from within
Community economic development drives social, environment and economic change.
The purpose of community economic development is:
Revitalize communities
Develop affordable housing
Promote sustainability
Attract investment
Build wealth
Encourage financial independence
World Renew’s approach to economic development recognizes what links need to be made within a community in order for them to make the most out of their existing resources and economic opportunities. We help communities generate their own solutions to ensure long term goals will be met.
Village Savings and Loan Association
A Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) is a group of community members who regularly meet to save money together and take small loans from those savings. VSLAs provide important financial services to lower-income communities that do not have access to banks or other financial institutions. Loans given through the VSLAs, can be used for members to start their own business, purchase essential household items, obtain health services, educate their children, and more.
Livelihood and Skills Training
Livelihood and skills training programs are incredibly powerful tools that help people improve their livelihoods and foster hope for the future. Our training programs aim to empower individuals by giving them new skills and improving their incomes—and to help communities develop strong local economies. From beekeeping to sewing to selling tortillas, families are creating new opportunities for themselves and their communities.
People have benefited through World Renew’s economic programming in the last 10 years.
The Impact of Economic Development
How economic development can be the tide of change
Economic development can create jobs and increase investment within a community when done well.
Here are some other benefits improved economic development can bring:
Boost Income
When communities have the opportunity to focus on their own development, opportunities for work and higher income can arise. This often saves many families from the threat of poverty, and greatly improves the quality of life for the generations ahead.
Protect the Environment
As communities develop economically, there can be a better understanding of the roots of many community issues. There can be more focus on the health of the environment, and more resources can be allocated to promoting sustainability, which will help keep communities healthier and happier in the long-term.
New Opportunities with Every Stitch
Reigniting hope & enacting change from within communities
Mafusa learned to sew from her mother, Diwilara. Now, they are business partners, working together to run a shop where they create the most exquisite saris and kurtas in Bangladesh. For Diwilara, sewing is a source of pride: “I provide these garments for my community, so they must be of the highest quality.”
But, the work is also about so much more than that. Diwilara’s shop brings dignity and hope to both mother and daughter. Diwilara gained her sewing skills through a class with World Renew’s local partner and found a way to provide for her family. She then taught Mafusa herself, and together, Diwilara and Mafusa are teaching Mafusa’s daughter. Today, their family is benefiting from new economic opportunities—and Mafusa is instilling in her daughter the same skills and love of beauty passed down to her.
Through World Renew, women like Mafusa and Dwilara are learning that a single sewing class can stitch a new future of opportunity. With every gift, you can help to sew these beautiful stories of change.