Social Performance
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Projects
Kiva is an international nonprofit organisation founded in 2005, with a mission to connect people through lending and alleviate poverty. Kiva aims to provide opportunities for borrowers around the world, particularly in developing countries, including Albania.
Kiva’s vision is a financially inclusive world where everyone has the power to improve their lives.
Kiva uses crowdfunding through a digital platform to connect clients of lending institutions with banks, improving the quality and cost of financial services and reducing barriers to access to finance worldwide. Through Kiva’s work, students can pay for education, women can start businesses, farmers can invest in equipment and families can cover essential expenses. Kiva provides funding for borrowers through cooperation with local institutions.
The partnership between Agro Social Fund and Kiva began in April 2012, when ASF was known as Vision Fund Albania. During this period, Agro Social Fund has disbursed USD 55.5 million in Kiva funds on behalf of its clients.
Swisscontact is a Swiss foundation focused on international development cooperation. It has been active in Albania since 1993, with projects in vocational training, labour market integration and economic development.
Swisscontact launched the C4EE project to help young people aged 15–30 from marginalised groups enter sustainable employment and establish new businesses through training support and access to employment. Training participants gain skills to earn an income and participate actively in society. Swisscontact aims to support entrepreneurship. The project was planned to run until 2020, with a Memorandum of Understanding signed to finance self-employment initiatives.
Objectives of the cooperation between Agro Social Fund and Swisscontact:
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Develop one or more products tailored to marginalised groups and increase financial inclusion for these groups.
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Enable small entrepreneurs, including young people who have received training, to apply for loans across different sectors.
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Increase the overall turnover of successful small businesses, leading to higher incomes and improved living conditions for entrepreneurs, as well as job creation.
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Create a market platform that brings together the private sector and entrepreneurs.
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Through cooperation with Swisscontact’s local offices in most Albanian cities and their established links with Agro Social Fund, the target group will be introduced to financial resources and products designed specifically for them.
Target group / potential clients
New businesses
Existing businesses seeking to expand their activities, create new jobs and improve living conditions.
Diakonia Agapes is the social development and emergency office of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. It expresses God’s love for humanity and works with all people in the Republic of Albania and the region to nurture hope, integrity, trust and initiative through integrated development, social and educational programmes.
Agro Social Fund and Diakonia Agapes
In November 2019, Agro Social Fund shpk (ASF) and the “Fryma e Dashurisë” Foundation – Diakonia Agapes signed an agreement entitled “Promoting Entrepreneurship in the Elbasan Region through Lending”. Its purpose is to facilitate and establish a system that gives residents of the Gjinar, Shushicë and Tregan administrative units in the Municipality of Elbasan greater access to microcredit for investment in tourism, agriculture, services and other activities. The programme’s overall objective is to improve the social and economic conditions of local communities in the Shushicë, Gjinar and Tregan administrative units of the Municipality of Elbasan.
Expected results:
Cooperation between farmers and tourism service providers to increase income through better market access, based on consumer demand.
Farmers and tourism service providers establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships within a functioning local market.
Institutions provide appropriate public services for local stakeholders.
Women are empowered economically and socially.
Dorcas Aid International Foundation (DAI) is a nonprofit foundation carrying out charitable activities in Albania, seeking to create lasting change for people living in poverty, exclusion or crisis.
Agro Social Fund and DAI
The three-year programme “Promoting Entrepreneurship in the Tropojë Region through Lending” began implementation in April 2018 in the Municipality of Tropojë.
The target group includes people living in poverty and families in urban and rural areas affected by internal migration, with a focus on young people and women. Other partners include DORCAS Albania, Agro Social Fund and the “Rruga e Re” Association. The programme aims to increase rural and urban families’ access to microcredit in Tropojë for investment in tourism, agriculture and livestock farming, trade, services and other activities.
This project followed an assessment of the social and economic situation of families in urban and rural areas of the Municipality of Tropojë, identifying constraints and tools that could alleviate poverty and encourage development.
The project aims to bring change at three levels:
At the individual level
Strengthen families’ capacities and support their access to basic economic, social and spiritual services for families living in poverty, or help them put their development efforts into practice for families that have already started a small business.
At the community level
Increase household income through participation in community activities, safety initiatives and advocacy for appropriate public services. The project also aims to establish and promote cooperation between families working in different sectors, such as farming and tourism, for their mutual benefit.
At the social level
Strengthen the capacity of public institutions, particularly the Municipality, to provide social services, while increasing awareness and responsibility for developing policies and secondary legislation that reflect local needs.
Promoting women’s economic role, gender equality, empowerment and advocacy for appropriate public services will be a priority across all areas of intervention.
