Afghanistan Microfinance for Employment Programme

23 years of war have left Afghanistan without financial infrastructure, which severely limits the opportunities for people to pursue business and income-generating activities. Whereas some non-governmental organisations (NGO) continued to offer credit during the years of Taliban control, their credit schemes were low-profile and limited in scale.For Afghans to re-establish themselves in the communities and for the communities to sustain the influx of returnees, there is a need to improve the access to microfinance services, especially for the low-income majority in the rural areas.

The AMEP project aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability among Afghans through improved access to financial services. These services assist Afghans to engage in income-generating activities, and to reduce their vulnerability against income shocks resulting from droughts or other external disasters. The ILO aims to achieve this goal by improving the capacity of NGOs in Afghanistan to provide financial services. The programme focuses on NGOs that are either new to the microfinance market or have had limited access to best practice knowledge. 

The AMEP project is carried out in close coordination with the World Bank / CGAP Microfinance Investment and Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA).  Broadly, ILO partners will be strengthened so that they are then able to access funding and other forms of support provided through the MISFA programme.

The AMEP project started in 2003 and is currently working with 7 NGOs : ACTED, IAM, MADERA, Parwaz, DACAAR, CFA and NPO/RAA.

For more information, please contact Swandip Sinha.