Background

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) in the UK and Ireland, in addition to providing a spiritual home for Orthodox and Mainstream Anglicans, has founded Anglican International Development for Relief and Change (AID) fund in solidarity with Anglican Christians throughout the world.

Over the next few years, enabled by a supporter team, AID will be partnering with churches around the world in the fields of education, healthcare, job creation, agriculture, health care and church development,as well as support to economic development by offering training and finance to micro-enterprises and small businesses.  AID plans to bring help and hope, espeically to those in regions  where access to these basic, life-supporting needs have been restricted or denied to Christians due to deliberate discrimination and oppression.

The Sudanese Context

At the request of the GAFCON Primates Council, AID has begun to work in partnership with the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS).

Since the country’s independence in 1956, the Sudanese people have endured more than twenty years of civil war between the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the north and the non-Muslim, non-Arabic speaking Sudanese in the south. During two decades of war more than two million were killed and more than four million people were displaced - devastating the lives of men, women and children.

The fighting only briefly relented for a number of fragile peace accords to be signed. The latest of these, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 gave the southern Sudanese autonomy for six years, after which a referendum for independence was held in January 2011. Amid much celebration, the people of Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly for independence by July 2011.

The Challenge

However, now the real struggle begins:the battle to build the independent region into a new, prosperous country.

Anglican Christians account for about a third of the population of southern Sudan. They have thus far survived the brutal onslaught of the military regimes who have favoured the Islamic-oriented government’s attempts to impose Sharia law on the country as a whole.

So right now, while there is peace, there is a most urgent need to create long-term and sustainable economic development in the region so that beyond 2011 the southern Sudanese can retain autonomy in their day to day living.

The Opportunity

In answer to this urgent need, AID is setting up a micro-finance entity, working in partnership with the ECS and beginning in the Juba Diocese, but planned eventually to cover all the dioceses of the province. Those receiving finance will be typically very small retail and agricultural businesses and those offering manual skills, such as tailoring and hand embroidery. There is great scope for enabling people to make full use of the land that is available to them as well as benefitting from the developing economy that it is hope independence will bring.

Finance is provided to enterprising parishioners in the dioceses within the ECS, with typical investments being growing fruit and vegetables for sale, chicken farming, plough-making, bed and breakfast or brick making.

Project-fincance is in the form of a loan and at the end of the agreed term the sum of the loan with added interest will be re-invested in another micro business. For example an Anglican women’s group has set up a small roadside tea stall in Juba and is doing well, but they need capital to grow their business significantly. The profits made go to support a nursery school programme.

Manna Microfinance Institution

The aim is to set up and run a financial services and micro-enterprise development entity that is sponsored by and operates in partnership with ECS: the project will be owned by the church and its partners and will be professionally overseen run by the project manager, the Bridge Foundation, India with the support and funding of AID. The Bridge Foundation has over 25 years of experience in this area and has worked on creating and managing micro-finance schemes, using mechanisms which result in around 95% of loans being fully repaid.

After four exploratory visits by AID personnel between December 2008 and March 2010, AID and the Bridge Foundation joined together to locate a project consultant from the Bridge Foundation in Juba from July 2010 to do futher detailed research about the need for and viability of the programme and consult with ECS and the Government of Southern Sudan.  The field consultant has worked with church groups and individuals on specific projects that could be funded both at the micro-and small business level.

Following on from this, Manna Microfinance was successfully incorporated in September 2010 and aims to provide training, financial services and investors for micro-enterprise development in the Episcopal Church of Sudan, beginning with the Juba diocese.

Purpose

Manna Microfinance's purpose is to address the need for economic development among the largely low income families in South Sudan, particularly the families of the Episcopal Church of Sudan.

This will be done through

1. The development of micro, small and medium businesses, beginning in Juba, Southern Sudan
2. Creating and nurturing micro entrepreneurs through contextually appropriate mechanisms within the geographic area covered under the diocese of Juba

Main Activities

From the formal launch on 29th March, Manna Microfinance will be partnering with churches to train the church leadership and set up Self-Help Groups of potential micro-enterpreneurs within churches. Members of these groups, mainly those who already run small businesses, will receive intensive training in business management, as well as the basics of financial management. This will involve an introduction on both how to save and manage making loan repayments.

Once the training is finished, Self-Help Groups will continue to meet regularly, with those who would be best suited to receiving loans being identified jointly by Manna Microfinance officers and church leaders. Those nominated would go on to receive more dedicated mentoring, and ultimately, finance for their businesses would be provided. It is hoped that following the period of training, loans will begin to be made by June 2011.

Capital Required

The loan sizes will be between 100 GBP and 250 GBP for micro enterprise projects and between 1000 to 3000 pounds for small businesses which are expected to generate an employment for 10 people particularly youth for each business. It is estimated that 200 to 250 GBP is required to create a job either in a self employed unit or a small business.

To make an impact therefore, the project funds required are as follows:

• Pilot Phase GBP 100,000
• Year 1 GBP 100,000
• Year 2 GBP 100,000

Future Plans

Microfinance is just one of the areas of work that AID is involved in in Southern Sudan. Plans are also afoot to develop projects in agriculture, water, healthcare, education and church support.

With the huge scale of the task and the urgency of the situation very much apparent, all at AID are aware of how extreme the needs of the people of Southern Sudan are and are working to begin to meet these.

Anglican International Development is the working name for AID for Relief and Change, Ltd, a registered charity (Number 1138664) in England and Wales and a Company Limited by guarantee (Number 06732802).

Charitable gifts may be made through the donate button on this site, or to AID, 21 High Street, Eynsham, OX29 4HE

Trustees:  Sir Donald Curry, Rev David Holloway, Canon Dr Chris Sugden

Executive Officer: John Inglis-Jones

Panel of Reference: Lady Caroline Cox, Bishop John Ellison, Rev Paul Perkin, Sir Christopher Wates