Impact Outcomes – Dunes Foundation

Improved Access to Credit and Financial Resources

In many communities, women remain financially excluded because they

lack access to small loans or credit facilities,
do not have a secure place to save money,
have no means to receive cash and
do not have a safe and reliable way to make payments.

Over 50% of women registered in our Microcredit Program have never owned a bank account or have inactive accounts. Furthermore, over 60% have never accessed small or microcredit loans due to lack of awareness of existing credit schemes, high-interest rates, lengthy and vigorous procedures for loan applications, lack of collateral security, and short payback period.

So, we deliver financial services to these women in disadvantaged and low-income segments of our society. We provide them with financial literacy training, open bank accounts, provide basic security awareness training, and distribute their ATM cards while also giving them interest-free microcredit loans.

Our beneficiaries can now save their finances safely, save for the future, send and receive money securely and take control of their finances. We remain committed to ensuring women have access to all necessary information and facilities to improve their welfare and reduce poverty in their communities.

Earn an Income and Create Jobs

The discrimination women have faced over the years has limited their opportunities and with little or no formal education for women in rural communities, many have no source of income or have resorted to owning businesses. However, without the proper and necessary support, it affects their ability to own and run viable businesses. Hence women business owners continue to be concentrated in small businesses that are often unable to mature.

With our microcredit program, we provide financing for business activities of rural women. This has allowed women to start up businesses, improved business growth and also increased household income. With more income, families are now able to save, reduce children’s vulnerabilities to child labor, pay for their children’s school fees, have better living conditions, and access and pay for health services.

Furthermore, over 70% of our beneficiaries are now self-dependent and do not have to rely on their spouses, family members or friends for financial aid.

Our program also allows business owners to create jobs for themselves and with business growth, employment opportunities are created for others in the community, which ultimately reduces poverty.

We will continue to empower women to promote their wellbeing, participate in decisions that affect their lives and improve their status within their families and communities.

School Enrollment and Retention

Poverty is one critical factor that prevents children from going to school or completing their education, making them vulnerable to trafficking, teenage pregnancies, and child marriage. Previous studies have also shown that at least 43% of the children population in Nigeria are trapped in child labour. This ultimately deprives them of their childhood, affects school enrollment, attendance and performance, and their chances of growing healthily. This is coupled with the fact that girls still face discrimination which undermines their ability to enrol or complete their education.

One of our mission is ensuring we facilitate access to education for children in disadvantaged communities. And to do that, we have built a school which increased school enrolment and improved school attendance within the community. We also provided WASH facilities that have improved hygiene and sanitation among school students.

We also recognize the role education and women empowerment play in tackling child labour, trafficking, child marriage and other issues that affects children’s right to survival. That is why we facilitate access to quality and safe learning for children and empower women to generate more income for their families so that children can go to school, grow up with dignity and reach their full potential.

Improved Health and Wellbeing

Our goal is to help underserved communities create conditions for parents and caregivers to improve their family’s wellbeing.

Through our micro-credit program, women can earn an income creating better living conditions, which also improves their ability to access and pay for health services independently and improve proper nutrition for themselves and their children.

By providing WASH facilities, we improved hygiene and sanitation and by building a clinic we promoted access to quality health care services to create safer conditions for patients to receive treatment. To ensure a stronger, healthier and more informed community, we have carried out sensitization and awareness programs to improve health outcomes for families and strengthen community capacity.

Our In-house support program has also gone a long way to provide a financial cushion to families experiencing economic challenges. We invest in families’ wellbeing through this program by providing financial aid to our staff and their families in need, with a particular focus on education and healthcare.

Reshaping Communities

Our mission is to alleviate suffering and improve the quality of life for all Africans. Our needs assessments ensure that all our programs are tailored to, and target identified issues within the community.

We achieve this by empowering women, which we believe is a sustainable way to alleviate poverty in any community. When women have access to financial services, it is invested in their families, which goes a long way to improve the state of the community.

By facilitating access to education, children within those communities have better opportunities and skills to improve their lives, their families, and the community’s state. With access to better health care services and water, community members are stronger and healthier to participate in rural development.