Around the world, conflict and disaster turn people's lives upside-down and force them to flee their homes. These people are then separated from their jobs, businesses, and farms. They work hard to make ends meet, but they hardly get by.

ARC’s Economic Opportunities programs provide people with the resources to help them get back on their feet.

Through our micro-enterprise development (MED) programs, ARC provides small loans and grants to entrepreneurs - often all a person needs is a loan of $50 to start a business that will support their entire family. ARC also teaches entrepreneurs the skills and knowledge they’ll need to make their business survive and be successful.

The people ARC serves often live in unstable environments and may at any time return to their homes or be forced to flee yet again. ARC has tailored its programs to best serve these people and takes a regional approach to microenterprise development. Entrepreneurs can receive lending and business development services throughout a region - in their country of refuge or their home country. ARC also focuses on providing women with services - women are least likely to receive a loan from another source. The majority of ARC’s MED program clients are women.

ARC’s microenterprise development programs are critical to helping individuals ARC serves rebuild productive lives and families. However, ARC’s microenterprise development programs do more than increase income and build self-sufficiency for these individuals. They contribute to economic growth, alleviate poverty, and reduce unemployment for entire communities. Microenterprise development programs are one of the most powerful ways of creating lasting and widespread change.

ARC runs Economic Opportunities programs in: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan and Thailand.

Milestones:

In September 2006, Finance Sudan - ARC's microfinance insitution in Sudan - began operations. ARC's microfinance institutions provide small loans to active entrepreneurs to strengthen and grow their businesses. Business training and close follow-up mentoring are provided to clients.

Read a recent article (page 4) about ARC's PATHWAYS program in Guinea, providing youth economic opportunities to help them reject violence.  

Read ARC's new Sail Manual: A Stepped Approach for Improving Livelihoods

Current Needs:

ARC’s MED programs often provide displaced people with the final support they need to get back on their feet and be able to support their families, independently. Whether they receive a loan, grant, or skills training, there are thousands more displaced people around the world who would benefit from ARC’s microenterprise development programs.