FEASIBILITY OF INTEGRATING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN SAVINGS AND CREDIT PROGRAMMES IN BANGLADESH

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, different forms of non-formal personal financial systems have been in existence in South Asian countries, for over two centuries. These include the 'chit funds', the 'loteri samiti' system and so on. The utility of these financial systems for any section of the population depends on their power to transform small amounts of money that the members set aside from their savings, into fairly large and useful lump sums that can be used for a variety of purposes. Such lump sums are usually used for life cycle events such as marriages, funerals etc., for emergencies, and for investment to facilitate asset creation or to start a business. There are different ways of transforming small sums of money into large amounts. The first is to save until the savings accumulate into a large sum. The second is to borrow an advance against future savings. The third is a combination of both these options. A fourth dimension is the opportunity to store the savings and make them grow over a long period of time, as in a pension scheme. A good financial service offers a variety of these four types services, in ways that are customised to suit the particular needs of the clients.

A key factor in the management of financial services is ownership of the services. Financial services can be offered commercially for profit by non-users, or they can be owned and managed by the users of the services. In some cases, an external agency can set up a financial service for the users, or it can help the users to set up and mange their own funds. In the case of user owned financial services, people will not join unless they are convinced about some key conditions, namely, whether their savings are safe, whether they will have access to savings, and whether such a savings group will be a better alternative to other available options. In order to promote people to join user owned savings groups, it is necessary to have clear rules of operation of the schemes, to provide more frequent opportunities to save at convenient times and places, to allow members to save any amount at any time, to promote use of interest rates that cover inflation and offer good rewards for savers while at the same time increasing the growth of group funds, and to have clarity about when and how members can earn interest or dividends from their savings. User owned financial services also need to be responsive to everyday demands, by allowing members access to their savings quickly, either as withdrawals or as small loans, and by giving loans for different purposes that are perceived as important, such as marriages and so on..

However, the very poor and marginalised groups of people, which includes people with disabilities, tend to be excluded from these schemes because of their poverty and inability to save, which leads to the perception that they are not credit worthy. In the seventies, the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh popularised savings and credit schemes for poor people, particularly rural women, by increasing the coverage of the schemes and making them more accessible to the poor. Subsequently, most community development organisations in Bangladesh introduced savings and credit programmes for poor people in their target areas. At the same time, financial institutions in the country also started promoting micro-credit schemes for the poor. However, disabled people continue to remain excluded from these schemes because they are in a minority even amongst the poorer groups of people, and because the benefits of most programmes, including savings and credit schemes, tend to get cornered by a powerful section of the group of which disabled people are not a part.

NOVIB and CORDAID are Netherlands based donor agencies that support development and disability programmes of NGOs in Bangladesh. Over the last few years, these agencies have noted a growing demand of NGOs in Bangladesh for better understanding of disability issues, and for inclusion of people with disabilities in general development programmes. CORDAID has experience in the disability sector, and considers the equal participation of people with disabilities as one of its major development strategies. NOVIB and CORDAID have now decided to jointly promote the inclusion of people with disabilities into development programmes. For this purpose, they have supported this workshop on disability and development in in Bangladesh, to motivate NGOs in the country to include people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes..

During the NOVIB conference in Bangladesh in May 1998 on 'Redefining the NGO on Reaching the Hard-core Poor', people with disabilities were identified as 'hard-core poor' people who are rarely included in integrated development programmes. For people with disabilities, employment is an important tool for equal participation, and savings and credit activities can help to promote employment opportunities for them and their families. Bangladesh has developed extensive experience in the field of savings and credit, and NOVIB and CORDAID partners consider savings and credit programmes as an important part of their development strategy. This experience in savings and credit programmes can be put to use for economic rehabilitation of disabled people. As a first step towards the goal of motivating NGOs in Bangladesh to include disabled people in their savings and credit programmes, a situation analysis was carried out to study the level of inclusion of people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes of partner organisations of NOVIB and CORDAID in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVES

• To identify the level of inclusion of people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes of partner organisations of NOVIB and CORDAID in Bangladesh.
• To identify factors that prevent inclusion of people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes.
• To suggest strategies to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes.

METHODOLOGY

The methodology was designed to gather qualitative information about inclusion of people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes from a sample of 22 projects supported by NOVIB and CORDAID in Bangladesh.

In the first phase, a questionnaire was designed in consultation with a mixed group of 6 NGOs from Bangladesh, carrying out community development and disability rehabilitation activities. This questionnaire elicits qualitative information regarding factors affecting inclusion of people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes, and the projects' suggestions on how to overcome the problems. The questionnaire was then mailed to 22 projects, of which 16 returned the completed questionnaire. The responses were then analysed qualitatively.

In the second phase, the evaluator and a member from one of the 6 NGOs that developed the questionnaire, visited 5 randomly selected projects in Bangladesh, to confirm the findings of the postal survey. Four of these projects are carrying out community development activities, while one is an organisation of disabled people, carrying out rehabilitation programmes. During the visits, discussions were held with different groups such as people with disabilities and their family members who were part of savings and credit groups, field workers of the projects, members of the local community, and members of the project management, to confirm the results of the postal survey regarding factors influencing inclusion of people with disabilities in savings and credit programmes, and their suggestions on how to overcome the problems faced.

In the final phase, the results of the postal survey and of the group discussions were collated and reported in this paper, after excluding unreliable and invalid data..

RESULTS

Out of the 22 organisations to whom the questionnaires were mailed, 16 (72%) sent their responses. The major kinds of organisations that responded were community development organisations and organisations carrying out rehabilitation programmes. Out of the 16 organisations that responded, only four (25%) were disability rehabilitation programmes, the remaining 12 (75%) being community development programmes. Out of the 12 projects carrying out community development programmes, 10 reported that disabled persons were included in their different activities. However, only eight projects include disabled people in savings and credit programmes. Out of the 4 disability rehabilitation projects, 3 have savings and credit groups for disabled people and their family members.

In the community development projects, the percentage of disabled people as a proportion of the total membership in the savings and credit groups varies from 0.3% to 5%. In the disability projects, the percentage of disabled people as a proportion of the total membership in the savings and credit groups varies from 18% to 23.5%. People with all types of disabilities are included in these programmes.

Many of the community development and disability rehabilitation projects do not have formal selection criteria for the inclusion of people with disabilities into savings and credit groups. Some projects involved in community development activities use the same criteria for selection of disabled persons, as those used for non-disabled persons. Some others use criteria such as the ability of the person to carry out the work, previous skill of the person to carry out a job, regular attendance in the group meetings, permanency of residence to make it easy to locate the person, age between 18 to 50 years, good motivation and family support, for selection of disabled persons.

The common difficulties faced in including people with disabilities in the savings and credit groups are that the non-disabled persons do not accept disabled persons easily, disabled people expect charity funds rather than operating a savings scheme, the credit worthiness of disabled persons is low, their motivation is low, their source of earning is less than others, many of them are very poor and unable to save, their families are not very supportive, it takes longer to prepare disabled persons to include them in this programme, their mobility is restricted, their ability to market their products is limited, and their attendance in the group activity is lower than the others.

Attitudinal changes in the non-disabled people and the families of disabled persons has been cited as a major step to overcome these difficulties. Choice of appropriate income generation activities, training the disabled person in the activity, counselling the disabled person and the family to improve motivation, accessing other available resources from the government and others, providing a flexible repayment scheme, and in some instances providing interest free loans, are the other ways reported to overcome the difficulties. It is necessary to provide disability specific support such as mobility aids, physiotherapy and medical and educational rehabilitation. In community development programmes the staff may need to be specially trained to identify disabled persons and deal with the disability. There is also the need to orient policy makers and senior management in these organisations.

Most disabled persons and their families who are members of the savings and credit groups use the support to establish small businesses or trade to earn an income. When traditional family occupations are chosen as an income generating activity, disabled persons tend to perform better. Many families access credit in the names of their disabled members, to further their own business interests, rather than make the disabled persons become self reliant.

In some community development projects, once a savings and credit programme is initiated, it tends to take precedence over all other development initiatives, often to the detriment of the latter. Fully user owned savings and credit groups are also fewer in number in these projects.

All organisations who have included disabled people in their savings and credit groups reported that the social position and acceptance of people with disabilities in the community improved as a result of their membership in the groups. Their self esteem improved, they attended more functions in the community, they were more assertive, the family and community respected them more than earlier, they voted in the elections unlike earlier, some of them became decision making members of the community groups, their success changed the negative attitudes of the community, the community members treated them better, and some community members felt that it was their responsibility to look after disabled people.

DISCUSSION

The results of this study show that 8 out of 12 community development projects and 3 out of 4 disability rehabilitation projects include disabled people in their savings and credit groups. However, in community development projects, only 0.3% to 5% of the group members are disabled persons, while in disability rehabilitation organisations, 18% to 23% of the group members are disabled persons. This percentage is relatively low, if one considers that disabled persons are the poorest of the poor in most communities, and are thus likely to be present in larger numbers in this section of the population that is below the poverty line.

There are a number of factors that contribute to exclusion of disabled people from these programmes. Two commonly cited reasons for the exclusion of disabled persons from groups that are managed primarily by non-disabled people, are 'negative attitude' and 'prejudices' about disabled people, and 'lack of awareness about the abilities' of disabled people. However, this study does not show a great influence of these factors in excluding disabled people from savings and credit programmes. Instead, it has brought out other specific factors that prevent inclusion of disabled people in these programmes. Many of these factors are technical in nature, such as lack of knowledge about disability issues. For example, community development organisations do not have staff trained in identification of disabled persons, nor do they know how to address the special needs of people with disabilities. Secondly, people with disabilities have mobility problems that prevent attendance at meetings, and they face difficulties in marketing their products. Therefore strategies have to be developed to improve mobility in disabled people and marketing opportunities for their products. Thirdly, people with disabilities have little access to education and skills training, and hence their baseline level of education and skills is lower than their non-disabled counterparts. Because of this, more preparatory time is needed for disabled people to develop skills before they can join a group. Fourthly, because of the special needs of this group of people who are also the poorest of the poor, the existing savings and credit programmes may require to be modified in terms of savings rates, repayment schedules, methods of dealing with defaulters and so on in the initial stages, to accommodate this group. Finally, it is important to note that attitudes of disabled people themselves can be a barrier, unlike in a non-disabled group. Many disabled people and their families expect charity, and lack motivation to become self reliant. In some cases, the families may use disabled people as vehicles to generate sympathy and to access credit for their own purposes, with disabled persons getting no benefit out of it.

Thus, there are specific barriers that contribute to the exclusion of disabled people from savings and credit programmes, related to technical aspects at different levels such as the organisational policy, the training of personnel in disability issues, the special needs and attitudes of people with disabilities and their families, and so on. Since these are specific barriers, specific strategies are also needed to overcome them. A review of the results of this study points out that community development projects have fewer disabled people included in their savings and credit groups, while disability rehabilitation projects have more disabled people, because they are more knowledgeable about the special needs of disabled people. However, it is possible to train community development projects on how to effectively deal with these unique needs of disabled people, and thus increase the numbers of disabled persons in their savings and credit groups.

This study has identified certain barriers at the organisational level in community development projects such as the lack of a specific motivating policy regarding inclusion of disabled people into their savings and credit groups, because it is not perceived that disabled persons can also get tangible benefits from their inclusion in these groups. The results of the study show that the social status, self esteem and acceptance of disabled people improved as a result of their membership in the groups, they participated more in community functions, and they gained the respect of their families and community. They also voted in elections, and some of them could become decision makers in the community. Community development projects that are aware of these benefits tend to develop policies to actively promote inclusion of disabled persons in their savings and credit programmes.

The personnel in community development projects lack the skills to identify disabled people and to plan for their disability specific interventions. For disabled persons, special strategies may need to be planned to reduce the handicap faced by them, such as interventions to improve mobility, skills training, entrepreneurship development training and so on. These disability specific interventions, being strange to community development projects, will require additional training, and sometimes more funds and personnel.

The expectation of disabled people and their families to constantly receive charity, and their motivational problems require special strategies that include training in counselling skills. The attitudes of non-disabled group members also need to be changed and they need to be made aware of the abilities of disabled people and the benefits that the disabled people can get by being included in the groups. These interventions to change the attitudes of different groups are time consuming and extensive.

At the financial level, the operation of the savings and credit system may need flexibility for disabled people in some areas of operations such as the amount of savings, the repayment schedules, interest rates and so on, to facilitate inclusion of disabled people.

Because multiple factors influence effective inclusion of people with disabilities into savings and credit programmes, each organisation will need to develop context specific strategies to overcome the problems faced by them. People with disabilities are often the poorest of the poor in many communities and are thus the most needy group to consider assistance for. But it is also a difficult group to carry out interventions, because of their special needs and their attitudinal barriers. Therefore the tendency of most community development organisations is to exclude them initially. However, after many years of experience with other non-disabled groups, it is time for community development organisations in Bangladesh to start addressing the needs of the people who have been hitherto excluded in savings and credit programmes and to plan strategies to include them, in order to fulfil the objectives of improving the quality of lives of the poorest people in the country.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper was presented at the Workshop on 'Disability and Development', Dhaka, May '99. The author would like to acknowledge the co-operation of all the organisations that participated in the study, the support of Nova Consultancy Bangladesh in providing the logistical support, NOVIB and CORDAID for their financial support in carrying out the study and Dr. M.J. Thomas, Consultant Psychiatrist, Manipal Hospital, Bangalore, for his guidance in planning the design and analysis of the study.

Title:
ASIA PACIFIC DISABILITY REHABILITATION JOURNAL Vol. 11 @ No. 1 @ 2000

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