Support for women’s solidarity groups

In 2005, Camide started to research and test models of solidarity groups. In 2010, a model was developed that aimed to create stronger groups by engaging women in solving socio-economic and environmental problems. This resulted in the creation of the Aliniha network, a network of women’s organisations around Kayes, Mali. However, weak leadership, limited management capacity, lack of internal capital and low trust of women in their group showed that much assistance and support was needed to make the model work.
In 2016, to help address these issues, a group of Aliniha women and Camide’s technical support staff went on an exchange trip to northwest India to learn best practices from a solidarity group. In Dholpur (Eastern Rajasthan), in a region facing environmental and socio-economic problems remarkably similar to their own Sahel region, they were inspired by the Manjari Foundation’s solidarity group network. Manjari’s methodology is particularly interesting as it addresses the main challenges of the Aliniha model mentioned above. At the beginning of 2018, 50 solidarity groups (“YƐRƐDƐMƐ”) had been set up using Manjari’s methodology and were being monitored by the Camide team.