Comparative Evaluation on Community-Managed Savings-Led Approaches in the Mekong

Since the 1990s, CARE International has been a key player in piloting, implementing and scaling up community-based and member-owned decentralised financial services models, with a strong focus on the Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) model in Africa. On a much smaller scale, CARE Australia has supported the VSLA approach in the Mekong region, with some 17 economic development projects implementing stand-alone models or integrating the VSLA model as a component over the last 10 years. VSLAs have become part of a cross-cutting strategy to foster economic development within rural communities, especially among women. However, the use of savings-led approaches such as VSLAs is yet to be fully integrated as an overall strategic approach in programs. In 2016, CARE Australia partnered with Coady International Institute (Coady) to undertake an evaluative study to gain a better understanding of the savings approaches being implemented in the Mekong region (Vietnam, Lao, Cambodia, and Myanmar) and to evaluate the VSLA model in terms of effectiveness, sustainability, and impacts. This involved a desk review of work across the four countries and field evaluation in Cambodia and Myanmar. This summary presents key findings.