Despite a sustained and strong commitment by the Albanian government to reduce poverty and provide assistance to the most vulnerable groups, poverty is on the rise.

Islamic Relief (IR) has been working with widows to develop sound business plans and simple feasibility studies that will make them eligible for small loans from IR. These loans will help them to establish household-based income generation projects, allowing them to legally provide and care for themselves and their families.

There are many risks with credit programmes in the Balkans and Albania specifically. Credit is meant to help and not to harm borrowers and their families. In the first phase of selecting potential borrowers, only widows (who are already well-known to IR through other programmes) who have the capacity and discipline to repay and save, are able to absorb and use the credit for the intended purposes and who have basic management skills and a sense of responsibility are eligible for the next selection phase.

Widows who best met the previously-mentioned qualities have been selected to complete business plans and feasibility studies that looked into widow’s experience in the field, potential location to exercise the activity, accessibility to customers to sell their products, appropriateness of the activity for their family situation and lastly the background of the widow and her family.

Over the life of this three-year project, credit, provided in the form of materials and equipment, will be provided for up to 70 borrowers for income generating activities such as home-based sewing and tailoring; animal husbandry; trade and small shops; and even nurseries. As required, loan recipients will receive additional training and on-the-job business support.

Project Objectives

• To provide seventy interest-free loans to Albanian widows;
  

• To develop a sense of financial independence for widows;

• To provide technical/vocational training (as needed) and credit to initiate well-researched income generating activities;

• To increase incomes of participating widows so that their families will have a better standard of living.

Project Activities

• Preparation of staff and establishment of credit programme policies;

• Receipt of loan applications from potential clients;

• Preparation of preparation business plans and feasibility studies by the potential borrowers with the assistance of Islamic Relief staff;

• Presentation of completed applications, business plans and feasibility studies;

• Signing the contracts with the beneficiaries;

• Beneficiaries receive additional training (if needed);

• Materials/equipment are purchased, transported and distributed;

• Monitoring borrower’s income generation activity.

"Islamic Relief is striving for a fairer world. Our mission is to help the poor and needy to live sustainable, self-reliant lives within safe and caring communities. Our work is guided and shaped by the core values of accountability, humanitarianism, neutrality and impartiality, inclusiveness, integrity and co-operation, all of which are also integral to the Islamic faith."
Dr Hany El Banna - Founder of Islamic Relief

Islamic Relief was established in 1984 and our unique approach is the result of these many years of hands-on experience.

1. Where possible we adopt a community partnership-based approach; encouraging community involvement, understanding and ownership of projects.
2. We run the majority of our field projects ourselves, giving us direct insight into the problems faced and how best to solve them.
3. We aim to empower those we help in order to achieve sustainable results.
4. Though our emergency response teams are quick to respond to emergencies around the world, we continue to support communities long after the initial media interest has died down.
5. We recruit staff locally to benefit from their local knowledge. This ensures that we are culturally sensitive and allows us to reach communities and areas other organisations cannot.
6. Where necessary we coordinate our work with other reputable aid agencies, local organisations and governments.

Millennium Development Goals

Islamic Relief is committed to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which have been agreed by the world’s leading development institutions in an effort to meet the needs of the world’s poorest by the year 2015. 

The goals:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

For more information about the MDGs, please visit: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/