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Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid have announced the launch of a four-year partnership that aims to improve access to affordable financial services.
‘Branching Out: Financial Inclusion at the Margins’ is an exciting four-year programme that aims to give individuals and small businesses access to affordable financial services – including bank accounts, savings, insurance and credit. It will provide low-income households with the means to plan for everything from long-term goals to unexpected emergencies.
Over the next four years, Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid will each contribute £1 million a year to the programme resulting in a project total of £8 million.
Two billion people lack access to formal financial services and approximately 90% of these live in developing countries. Working together, Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid will aim to bring about genuine financial inclusion for those at the margins of society in Rwanda, Zambia and Sierra Leone.
Ruth Davison, Executive Director of Impact & Investment at Comic Relief, said: “Financial inclusion is a pioneering area of development which can transform the lives of individuals, families and communities permanently. As a hub of financial services expertise, along with their 50 years of experience funding international development, Jersey Overseas Aid was a natural partner. Together, we have bold ambitions in Sierra Leone, Zambia and Rwanda.”
Deputy Carolyn Labey, Chairman of Jersey Overseas Aid, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with one of the UK’s most cherished charities, working together in a sector where Jersey has considerable expertise. Branching Out has real potential to make a significant impact and most importantly provide an effective means of bringing individuals out of poverty – and keeping them out of poverty.”
For more information on available funding please visit the initiative application page.
