he Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) is seeking applications to provide seed grants to small grassroots organizations to implement women-led, income-generating projects.

The grants are for micro-enterprise, self-employment projects. They help with seed money and training so that a group can begin a revolving loan fund for members to take loans to begin their own small businesses. It is important to them that the women work together in self-help groups and use the RSWR resources to help themselves grow into independent and strong groups.

RSWR is a Quaker organization supported primarily by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the United States. RSWR has two main goals:

• Provide grants for women in the developing world to begin small income-generating businesses so that they may help themselves and their families out of poverty.
• Help Quakers in the United States learn about the negative effects of poverty in the developing world and the negative effects of materialism in North America.

RSWR supports income-generating, self-employment projects for poor women who are members of a self help group. The project must include a revolving loan component. They believe that small scale income-generating projects offer a means of establishing self sufficiency to very poor people. By requiring that the project include a revolving loan program, they can multiple the impact of the grant as the funds are revolved many times to many different women within the community.

Funding Information

Up to US $5,500 for a one year project. Each group may receive only one grant.

Eligibility Criteria

• In Sierra Leone, all groups must be self-directed by the women beneficiaries themselves. The leadership and management must come from within the group. The group cannot be formed or managed by outside coordinators.
• Additionally, the group must be registered with the local authorities and have a bank account, and the signers on the bank account must be three women who are members of the group. Groups should be less than 20 years old and have an annual budget of less than $4,000.

For more information, visit RSWR.