TODAY

The European Union, AFD, PlaNet Finance and Myanmar NGO Community Development Assistance (CDA) partner to improve access to finance in Kayin State

 PlaNet Finance, the lead implementing agency for the EU-funded project ‘Supporting Financial Access via Cooperative Upgrading and Enterprise and Farm Development in Kayin State’, will hold a week-long training on “Effective Training and Facilitation Skills”ending this Friday 6 June.

The project will establish three savings and credit cooperatives to provide financial inclusion to at least 2000 households in 30 villages in Hlaingbwe Township where currently no financial service provider operates. With these cooperatives in place, it is expected that farmers will have a safe place to save in order to increase income and build wealth in this post-conflict area of Myanmar. In this context, the training will provide technical support on farm and enterprise management which will enable beneficiaries to use financial services to invest in upgrading their income generating activities.

To deliver this innovative project, PlaNet Finance’s has partnered with the Community Development Association (CDA), a Myanmar NGO. CDA has worked on humanitarian assistance programs with UN Agencies and INGOs in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare, Department of Health and with various government-directed local NGOs.

‘Supporting Financial Access’ is a project that addresses the underlying need for technical assistance in this field. Course participants will include CDA staff and representatives of the Cooperative Department and Small-Scale Industries Department at the national and local levels and the Union Cooperative Syndicate of Kayin State. The objectives of the training are two-fold: 1) to familiarize participants with the methodologies and technologies that will be used in the project; and 2) to train staff on the project and other stakeholders through experience-based training (EBT) and enhance their facilitation skills.

The 3-year project budget is 965,509 euros (1.25 billion kyat), of which the European Union has provided 82% (795,509 euros or 1 billion kyat) with the remainder being provided by Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the French bilateral development agency.