In Sudan, women make up 72% of those involved with the harvesting and selling of forest fruits but earn 80% less than men in the sector. It has surpassed goals for reach, knowledge building, and increased income. NEF UK’s Empowering Women Through Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFP) project has seen substantial progress with its gender-focused value chain approach to using the harvesting of non-wood forest products to alleviate poverty while improving agency and inclusion for women. ĭonate below to support NEF’s COVID-19 Adaptation and Recovery Program: We are actively seeking funding partners to support this initiative.įor more information NEF’s COVID-19 Adaptation and Recovery Program, contact Andrea Crowley, NEF Director of Partnerships and Philanthropy at. More than 7 00 entrepreneurs who have graduated from NEF’s enterprise program in the past five years have already been identified to be in need of these services. The program offers a suite of targeted interventions to help vulnerable entrepreneurs ensure business continuity, rapid adaptation, and enterprise resilience. NEF has established a COVID-19 Adaptation and Recovery Program, b ased on the needs identified in the assessment. We sought to better understand the impacts of COVID- 19 on vulnerable entrepreneurs in the communities where we work and to identify the best options for support ing their adaptation and recovery. Knowing the detrimental effects of the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, NEF conducted a rapid needs assessment in April 2 020. In Armenia, we provided ra pid assistance to past participants of our programs, who were facing immediate financial need.In Sudan, our team distributed critically needed food parcels, while taking the necessary precautionary measures.In Morocco, our team used digital technology to hold online training and coaching sessions and to convene hundreds of young entrepreneurs through virtual networking events and round tables.In Lebanon and Jordan, essential grant and loan distribution continues with new safety measures and protocols in place.In Syria and Mali, our teams worked with health committees, local governments, and partners to incorporate COVID-19 education and precautionary measures into existing initiatives.This approach to delivering training will allow us to continue expand in g our reach to people in need, even after the pandemic has ended. The platform accommodates technological differences among the populations we serve. In Iraq, we pilot ed a newly developed digital e-learning platform which has since been rolled out to other projects and countries that require remote learning.The challenges we’ve faced have offered us an opportunity to explore and test new ways to deliver our programs. In response to the global health crisis and assoc iated restrictions, our team d eveloped emergency adaptation strategies and took early, innovative measures to deliver our programs safely, to meet the needs of the people we serve. It led to immediate challenges for our organization and for those we serve: how would we continue to host trainings for aspiring entrepreneurs, how would we transfer money for grants and revolving loans when the banks were closed, and how could we help ensure that those businesses we’ve supported in the past are able to endure? The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all the communities where NEF operates. The NEF team proceeds with critically needed food distribution in Sudan while taking the necessary social distancing and mask wearing precautions.
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