MADISON, Wis. — The World Council of Credit Unions reported it is now waiting on the “go-ahead” from officials in Liberia, where Ebola continues to cause a crisis, before resuming its project in the country.
In July, the World Council scaled back its model credit union building project by restricting project staff activities and movement within the West African country. It reported that with outside project oversight, World Council's deputy team leader has continued to administer daily operations.
With funding from the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the World Council entered Liberia in 2013 as part of a project to “rapidly expand savings and improve the livelihoods of poor and low-income households throughout the country by developing four regional model credit unions and strengthening the national association.”
Brian Branch, CEO, WOCCU
WOCCU partnered with the Liberian Credit Union National Association, and has sponsored Ebola prevention training for staff and credit union members. “Members have continually received educational materials and information about the virus through dialogue, flyers, radio campaigns and community engagement activities,” WOCCU reported. “However, fear has caused many members to restrict their movements. Consequently, project activities have been postponed, including nationwide savings and member education campaigns, as well as credit union governance trainings.”
WOCCU CEO Brian Branch said the organization remains committed to long-term credit union development. The organization recently made a contribution to UNICEF, which is on the ground in Liberia working to prevent the situation from worsening.
"Recent reports show a reduction in the number of people infected with Ebola," said Peter Graves, World Council SVP for technical services. "Our expectation is to ramp up the project as soon as we receive the go-ahead from health officials. Although project activities have been hampered, Liberian credit unions have remained open and World Council staff members continue to remain actively involved in helping credit union members."
According to WOCCU, credit unions in Liberia were decimated by the nation's civil wars over the last 20 years. The UNCDF project, funded by the MasterCard Foundation through its MicroLead Program, has helped build regional credit unions to serve as models for other savings groups that desire to become formalized, regulated credit unions.