You can give as little or as much as you want, but we challenge you to donate in increments of $75.

Your $75 contribution + Match by the Government of Canada = You make twice the impact

MEDA is working with Afghan entrepreneurs living in poverty to grow the Afghan economy from the ground up. With your support, women living in a war-torn country can apply for micro-loans to start and grow businesses as farmers, tailors, carpet weavers and bakers. By giving them a hand up rather than a hand out, MEDA creates change that lasts beyond the life of a project.

To create sustainable solutions, communities require strong institutions. MEDA partners with carefully chosen microfinance institutions to help contribute to a strong economy that will have lasting long-term effects.

MEDA impacts more than two million families every year around the world – families who are discovering the wonderful sense of hope, dignity and a more promising future that comes from earning a living.

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MEDA project description

By helping local Afghan microfinance institutions to grow and strengthen, MEDA provides financial support to Afghan women entrepreneurs and engages Canadian citizens in the rebuilding process in Afghanistan.

Given MEDA’s long history of working with micro-finance and micro-enterprise development, as well as its recent experience working with CIDA on developing small-scale farming for women in Afghanistan, the organization expects many positive results to be generated through the Afghanistan Challenge.

Through the Afghanistan Challenge campaign, MEDA is aiming to provide financing to 1,000 women farmers in its Through the Garden Gate project and an additional 9,000 Afghan micro-entrepreneurs, nearly all of whom are women. As 10,000 Afghan clients receive the direct benefits of a micro-loan, the indirect benefits of the increased access to capital resources has the potential to impact 50,000 Afghans who are either business partners, employees, customers or family members of the client who receives the loan.

Every $150 generated through the Afghanistan Challenge, the average loan size, will provide one female entrepreneur in Afghanistan with a loan to improve her business and the well-being of her family. MEDA will invest in partner micro-finance institutions in Afghanistan, such as Women for Women International (WWI).

The “unit of challenge” will be $75, to be raised by the Canadian public. This amount, plus a $75 match from CIDA, will enable WWI to provide the $150 loan to it clients. Canadians will be able to see the direct impact of their financial contributions through the MEDA Trust Website.

Listen to the interview with Julie Redfern, MEDA's director of microfinance

Just a small loan can mean a world of difference for an enterprising Afghan woman and her family living in poverty. Take the challenge! Through the AfghanistanChallenge.ca – a partnership of MEDA and CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) – your small donation can make a big difference, and put a whole family on the road to prosperity.

Your donation is matched by the Government of Canada, so it has twice the impact! Listen in as Julie Redfern, MEDA's director of microfinance, talks about how MEDA, with Women for Women Microfinance Institution, is helping another 10,000 women entrepreneurs start and grow a business and see new hope for their future.

Or go to www.medatrust.ca to donate now or start your own portfolio so you can watch as the loan is repaid and loan that money out to another deserving loan recipient!