Microfinance

In the difficult economic conditions that exist in Gaza and post-war Lebanon, micro-enterprise – small, often home-based business – does well because it provides affordable alternatives to more expensive products in the regular market. These small businesses generate income for the borrowers' families which in turn stimulates the local economy.

Gaza Women’s Loan Fund (GWLF)

In 1995, ANERA established the GWLF in partnership with the Culture and Free Thought Association, a leading women's organization in Gaza. The fund supports women who are heads of households and those who work to supplement their family's earnings. Since it was launched, this program has provided over 2,500 borrowers access to small affordable loans to start or expand their small businesses.

With loans ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 (to be repaid over one to two years), women rent a shop and purchase equipment or stock for a variety of businesses – a sewing and knitting workshop or a grocery store. They purchase livestock for dairy production or invest in home-based agriculture. Many borrowers sell food, clothing or household items at reasonable prices from their homes or mobile stands.

Rehabilitation and Development Project

For many years, ANERA has been instrumental in assisting farmers to adopt improved technologies to more effectively generate income. Through our Rehabilitation and Development Project, funded by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), ANERA extended credit to poor farmers, enabling them to introduce those new technologies. We also give loans to fishermen and rural women for set-up or expansion of their small businesses.

Since the inception of the program in Gaza and Jericho, we awarded 1,776 loans, directly benefiting some 16,000 Palestinians. The repayment rate is 96% for the agricultural loans, 99% for the fisheries and 97% for the women’s loans. Read about ANERA's IFAD-funded success stories >>