Pro Mujer in Peru
Providing credit, healthcare and business training for poor women entrepreneurs
Pro Mujer in Peru works through alliances with public and private health providers to promote integrated healthcare for women and children. Pro Mujer also provides counselling and other care for women and families dealing with alcoholism and domestic violence.
The charity runs a wide range of programmes, including loans, access to saving accounts, business and empowerment training and access to healthcare.
The Anglo American Group Foundation is supporting a project in the region of Moquegua in Peru. The project will provide over $1m in loans and credit to around 10,000 women entrepreneurs who sell products varying from commercial goods to potatoes and bread.
As well as helping the women to access primary healthcare, Pro Mujer works with them to grow their small enterprises and increase their income. The donation from the Foundation will be self-sustaining: the income generated through interest on the loans will enable Pro Mujer to expand to other underserved regions of the country.
Pro Mujer tracks growth in communal banks – groups of women who apply for loans as a group and make repayments – plus client savings and average loan amounts. The increased availability of credit, health services and training will help to improve the health and overall wellbeing of clients and their families. Pro Mujer believes that this kind of intervention can be very effective in alleviating poverty in developing countries such as Peru.
To find out more please visit www.promujer.org/
