Introduction
Mahila Sahayogi SACCOS was established by 28 professional women promoters on December 20,1999 under the “Cooperative Act,1992”, Government of Nepal. The main objective of Mahila Sahayogi SACCOS is to provide financial supports to women entrepreneur and to empower rural as well as urban poor and middle class women through micro-finance program of its service areas of Kathmandu District.
Studies have shown that economic empowerment of women has a greater positive impact on reducing child poverty, because they are more likely to invest additional earnings in household health, nutrition and children's education.
The income earned by them through their business is utilized for the education, health care and nutrition of their children and families. They are generally poor but they demonstrate strong responsibilities in financial management. It can be easily visualized, how they can bring change in the atmosphere of households in terms of nutrition, education, health care and even the behavior they have to maintain in a family.
Since its inception period, Mahila Sahayogi SACCOS has been working for improving the economic as well as social status of poor and middle class women in its service area.
Mission
The Mission of Mahila Sahayogi SACCOS is to provide quality savings and credit services to its members. Besides this, its mission is to assist in poverty alleviation through microfinance services, improving the economic as well as social status of poor and deprived women in its service areas.
Vision
The main vision of Mahila Sahayogi SACCOS is to position itself as an efficient and outstanding cooperative providing high quality microfinance and savings and credit services to women.
Objectives
This SACCOS is dedicated to work for following specific objectives to achieve its vision and mission.
* To provide savings and credit facilities and technical support to its members.
* To provide microfinance services to its target group.
* To generate employment opportunities by mobilizing local resources, improving skills and entrepreneurship and supporting with possible external resources.
* To empower women through skill development training and awareness programs.
Strategy
In line with its objectives following three major strategies are activated :
a. Demand Based Approach
The programs are designed and implemented based on the requirements and capacities of the members.
b. Building Local Capacity
Mahila Sahayogi SACCOS's programs are designed on strengthening the capacity of local micro enterprises, institutions and organizations to promote the local entrepreneurships. Efforts are made to enhance women’s capacities in developing enterprises and generating employment opportunities that ultimately help to raise the status of poor women of the program areas.
c. Fund Mobilization and Capital Management
This Mahila Sahayogi SACCOS is geared towards designing savings and credit programs offering attractive interest rates to encourage women to mobilize their small and idle funds. It strives to provide efficient and economical credit facilities to the members.