SIMBA is an innovative program designed to promote economic development in HIV/AIDS affected communities in Zimbabwe and to reduce the economic vulnerability of affected households and individuals. While most microfinance service programs are not structured to meet the needs of affected households, SIMBA targeted five specific vulnerable groups: widows, orphans and youth, commercial sex workers, care providers, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
SIMBA partners with local AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) that organize care-providing services through a community-based volunteer network. SIMBA’s approach is to build the capacities of these partners, enabling them to facilitate and implement economic development initiatives. SIMBA promotes community based, self-managed and savings-based microfinance services and provides basic business management training. Through these efforts, SIMBA and its partners provide economic development tools that improve the stability of HIV/AIDS-affected households.
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