by Lydia Baffour Awuah, Senior Programme Manager
“I’m leaving the beautiful Upper West Region of Ghana, inspired by the amazing stories of the women farmers and the brilliant staff I met; who have been working tirelessly to transform the lives of rural women and their local communities.” Lydia Baffour Awuah, one of our Senior Programme Managers, is recently home from Ghana where she's been hosting the learning and close event for Opportunity's 'Roots of Change' project - a three year project funded in partnership with the UK government's…
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by Opportunity International
Women in low and middle-income countries are 10% less likely than men to own a phone and 23% less likely to use mobile internet. We regularly host roundtable events about Digital Financial Services (DFS) - bringing together leaders in technology, development and business to discuss difficult questions. As financial services increasingly digitise, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, the question on the table at our latest event was – how can Opportunity International help tackle this gender…
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by Opportunity International
Who or what do you see when you first hear the word refugee? Do you see a mother? A businessman? A daughter? A teacher? An athlete? Or do you see empty rubber boats, overrun border posts, packed reception centres, tent cities, rows of people needing assistance? Maybe you see many things. It is unlikely, however, you see Albert Einstein, Freddy Mercury or Madeleine Albright to mention just a few famous refugees. Refugees suffer enormously from stereotyping and false narratives. They are ordinary…
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by Emily Wilson, Communications Officer
I recently spoke to Agnes, a colleague working for our partner in Uganda about how financial inclusion is increasing gender equality in the Nakivale refugee settlement. This is our conversation... Agnes, please tell us a bit about how you ended up working with Opportunity International. “I am a Senior Relationship Officer in charge of Refugee Financial Inclusion at Opportunity Bank Uganda Limited. I manage the bank’s business within the refugee settlement, local government and other NGO’s.…
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by Deborah Foy, Executive Director Opportunity International UK
Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world, with more than 75% below the age of 30. It also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Young people struggle to find decent work and opportunities – especially in rural areas. In early 2020, Opportunity International began working with a number of youth-focused partners providing services and support to rural youth in the Mityana District, near Kampala.[1] To date, we’ve trained more than 1,440 youth in entrepreneurship…
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by Opportunity International
Do you feel like life is moving forward? That maybe the UK can start thinking about things other than Coronavirus? It looks positive, right? You can go to a wedding with more than 30 people, stadiums are filling up, and lots of us are fortunate to have had our first vaccination against Covid-19. But the story is very different for the hundreds of thousands of the people we work with across Africa. Our clients in Uganda are in the middle of a strict six-week lockdown that was imposed so quickly people…
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by Opportunity International
The difficult life of a refugee living in Uganda just got harder. Covid-19 created a poverty crisis for refugees that will take longer to overcome than the health crisis threatened by the pandemic. It exacerbated all the challenges that refugees already face: fewer children will return to school, business instability will increase, and with the UK Government recently announcing cuts to their Aid Budget the challenge of social and economic inclusion for refugees is growing. Our innovative programme…
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by Opportunity International
Opportunity International recently hosted the first in a series of roundtable events. We brought together user experience experts from technology companies and business and venture capitalists, for different perspectives on digital financial inclusion. With an estimated 2 out of 3 Opportunity clients having challenges with literacy, this roundtable comes at a key moment. As our services and outreach become increasingly digital, we want to tap into attendees’ breadth and depth of experience to gain…
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by Opportunity International
What compels us to give our time and money away? Is it because we’re nice people, or we’re trying to be better people? Is it because we’re grateful for what we have and want to share it? Or is it faith or values that motivate our giving? There are a number of reasons why we give, and whatever your reason is for supporting us or even just reading this, we are grateful. Without the generous donations of Opportunity International UK’s supporters, we wouldn’t be able to achieve the impact we…
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by Opportunity International
This year we celebrate 50 years of Opportunity International Since 1971, Opportunity International has served more than 19 million hard-working families in over 20 countries around the world. This video will take you on a tour of Opportunity’s journey from 1971 to 2021. The historical highlights are a reminder of our resilient clients and their inspiring entrepreneurial innovation. As well as our generous supporters who have made these achievements possible. Watch and enjoy the celebration of…
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