Millennium Promise - Extreme Poverty Ends Here
Millennium Promise
Our vision is to end extreme poverty in our lifetime through innovative and holistic solutions that empower communities to escape extreme poverty. The Millennium Villages Project, our flagship initiative, is underway in 80 villages across ten countries reaching close to 500,000 people. In a fully integrated approach we support agriculture, education, health, business development and infrastructure.
We are currently running 5 projects on GoodAdds, all from the region of Ruhiira, Uganda. Please visit our website to learn more about Millennium Promise, including the other regions in which we are currently active.
Teach Isolated Households about Banking
- Topic: Business Development
- Region: Ruhiira, Uganda
For a woman like this mother in Ruhiira, a single blighted harvest or serious illness may be all that stands between her family and catastrophe, because they have no savings cushion. This project will help more community members participate in microfinance. Very poor, isolated households may not understand the value of banking services or the rules. If they do participate, their lack of knowledge can lead to defaulting on loans, a loss of collateral, and a decrease in social connections. But accumulating enough savings to weather calamities and shortfalls is a true key to climbing out of extreme poverty. And micro-loans enable people to purchase livestock and equipment, so they can invest in tomorrow.
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Where is Ruhiira, Uganda?
A group of 8 Millennium Villages with about 50,000 people in the Isingiro district of Southwestern Uganda, near Rwanda. Extremely poor roads make travel difficult. Severe deforestation has wreaked havoc on the environment, leading to lack of fuel and wood for construction, poor water quality, and poor soil for agriculture. More than 100,000 people in the surrounding area request services since villagers joined the Millennium Villages project in 2006.
Ruhiira is a highland region with 8 Millennium Villages in the Isingiro district of Southwestern Uganda, near Rwanda. Steep hillsides drain into valley bottoms to create a stream system. Extremely poor roads make travel difficult.
Population: 50,000
Poverty level: 40-50% of people in extreme poverty, with average per capita income of $250.
History: Settled by clearing a forest reserve in the early 1950s. Continued migration, increased population, and clearing for banana farms left 5% of the land under tree cover, a scarcity of wood for fuel and construction, and contaminated streams. The district is Uganda’s largest banana producer, but the community became trapped in crushing poverty.
Millennium Village Project: Village residents formed oversight committees and joined in 2006. In 3 years, the holistic interventions supported by Millennium Promise and led by the community are lifting the villages around Ruhiira out of extreme poverty.
Educate 1 household
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