WaterCredit models adapt to local environments and context.
Water.org provides grant support to its local partner organizations primarily for “smart subsidies”, credit enhancements, and research. Smart subsidies are provided to develop the capacity and skill-sets of partner organizations to develop, pilot, and scale water and sanitation financial products and/or improve the effectiveness of existing water and sanitation initiatives. Loan fund capital is then secured by the partner organization directly and disbursed to borrowers to construct water and sanitation projects.
The loan funds in the projects have been lent through a variety of channels including individuals, joint-lending groups, women’s self-help groups, and community-based organizations. Loans to individuals remain in the spirit of microfinance, and are small loans ($50-$1,500) that are repaid over a one-to two-year repayment period.
A microfinance-led model works specifically with financial institutions that are designed to borrower commercial capital, in bulk, and relend that capital to borrowers for a microfinance water or sanitation microloan.
The following models are examples of piloted and tested programs that follow a microfinance – led model.
- Hand in Hand, Tamil Nadu, India
- GUARDIAN, Tamil Nadu, India
To view WASH NGO models, please link here.
