Problem / Project Background
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 throughout Albania.

Islamic Relief staff have been working with widows to develop sound business plans and simple feasibility studies that will make them eligible for small loans from Islamic Relief to establish household-based income generation projects that will allow them to legally and lawfully earn money needed to better 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 Islamic Relief 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.

After analysing all the data the best widow applicants are presented to an Islamic Relief Credit Committee.

This committee will make the final decisions to provide credit or not based on accordance with project guidelines and directives with sound business planning and feasibility studies by which to best ensure success.

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 to the Credit Committee

• Credit Committee makes its lending decision

• Signing the contracts with the beneficiaries

• Beneficiaries receive additional training (if needed)

• Materials/equipment (in reality the loans) are purchased, transported and distributed

• Monitoring of the borrower’s income generation activity.

• Loan repayments made to Islamic Relief

• Islamic Relief troubleshooting of any problems

Beneficiaries
30 widows will take out loans during the initial year of this programme to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families

Other Activities In Country

• Quick Impact Projects – Tirana, Shkodra, Kukes and Korçe Prefectures

• Food for Work – Shkodra, Kukes and Dibra Prefectures

• Emergency Flood Relief – Shkodra Prefecture

• Food for Assets (Food Distribution) – Shkodra and Kukes Prefectures

• Hajj Shamia Madrassah – Shkodra City

• Ebu Bekr Community-Training Centre (CTC) – Pogradec City

• Daut Borici Community-Training Centre (CTC) – Shkodra City

• Orphans’ Sponsorship – Shkodra, Kukes and Korçe Prefectures