The role of savings and savings organisations, how they can transform conventional finance into a catalyst for empowerment and development

Innovative strategies to enhance shelter finance based around the strengthening of savings and savings organizations can transform conventional finance into a catalyst for empowerment and development. Savings and loans increase local community development
options by building confidence, securing recognition from state
agencies and providing financial assets. In such programmes, money is no longer simply a means of exchange enabling the poor to participate in financial markets; money becomes a unifying force enabling people to enhance the resources that are immediately
available to them and develop their collective skills.