Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, CARE has invested in listening to the voices of women and girls from vulnerable groups to understand the challenges they face, what they need, and the ways in which they respond and lead throughout the pandemic. This data-driven listening exercise, called Women Respond, has shown the need to lift the voices of women and girls, by using real time data to support community needs. Women Respond contributed to the global understanding that the effects of the pandemic are compounded amid other shocks and stressors, such as climate change, and conflict (De Milliano et al., 2022). CARE partnered with the Evidence Consortium on Women’s Groups (ECWG) to expand Women Respond by focusing specifically on the voices of female and male members of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) as part of the Women (in VSLA) Respond sub-initiative. This study uses four rounds of quantitative panel data and two rounds of qualitative data on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on VSLA members. This brief specifically focuses on the results of the Women (in VSLA) Respond sub-initiative in Nigeria and Uganda. This study examines the enduring economic, social, and psychosocial challenges of VSLAs and their members during a period of prolonged and compounded shocks that started with the COVID-19 pandemic and the extent to which VSLAs may have mitigated these challenges.

Read the brief