Inclusive Markets for Communities M4C 2-pager

This document presents promising practices on the integration of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in the Creating Off-farm Rwandan Enterprises (CORE) Project that was implemented in Rwanda from 2015 through 2021. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in partnership with World Vision, the Project was designed to respond to the challenges of limited access to market information and financial services for women and youth. The overall goal of the CORE Project was to significantly increase household off-farm income for women and youth in the districts of Rusizi and Nyamasheke. The project primarily targeted women and youth with interventions designed to address market failures and improve business competitiveness. Key interventions included capacity development targeting youths and women to equip them with vocational skills, strengthening of women and youth cooperatives. The CORE Project also improved access to finance by establishing, supporting, training, and empowering savings and loans groups and working with banks to provide loans to target groups.

Inclusive Markets for Communities Indicators Toolkit

In 2024, we reached 17.9 million people, including 9.5 million children, and responded to over 16 emergencies across the region. From food security and health to protection and education, our work has brought tangible relief and hope to families affected by crisis.

World Vision has been working in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) since 1994, first providing relief to a war-torn country and then working on community development. For three decades, we provided sustain able livelihoods to the disadvantaged and needy, improved quality of education, and empowered families and communities to seek access to their rights.

Anna, a mother of two in bustling Rusizi, felt lost amid the town's hustle. Fresh out of high school, she faced an uncertain future with no job or clear prospects.

“Our dream is simple: To have access to clean water, enough food and safe schools” said Ameer 16, from the West Bank. Along with several other Palestinian children, he reminded the participants of the 2025 European Humanitarian Forum (EHF) about how the current conflict has disrupted their education, mental health, and sense of normalcy. But they also spoke of how education programming, when combined with psychosocial support and protection, can turn schools in places of safety, hope, and healing.

In an era defined by the twin imperatives of environmental protection and economic resilience, one of the pertinent yet less explored questions is: Can we harness the power that is already around us? In East Asia, where both rural traditions and rapid modernisation coexist, the answer to this question is not only yes – it’s a solution waiting to get the needed acceleration.

Youth Participation, Community Advocacy