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wings plus model
women's income-generating support
Background
In 2009, AVSI Foundation launched an innovative project to help improve the well-being of the most vulnerable women in Northern Uganda through private funding, with additional funds provided later by the World Bank. The project, Women’s Income Generating Support (WINGS), was an opportunity to critically assess the effectiveness of AVSI’s approach to economic strengthening for women and children within a post-conflict setting. WINGS had 1,800 participants in 120 villages over two districts, Gulu and Kitgum districts. The main goal of WINGS was to promote holistic empowerment of women and children, also contributing to the understanding of what works, why and for whom.
The core WINGS program had three components:
1. 4 days of business skills training (BST) delivered by AVSI
Community-Based Trainers (CBT);
2. An individual start-up grant of roughly $150 once a business plan
had been prepared and vetted by the CBT; and
3. Regular follow-up by CBT for a total of 12 months.
According to the cross-cutting design of the research, participants might have also participated in:
4. Group formation, training and self-support; and
5. Spousal inclusion, communications training and support.
EVOLUTION
The WINGS model has evolved over the past decade through evidence-based adaptive learning. Since 2009, the WINGS model has been implemented by AVSI in some version in four different projects across Uganda. The original model focused on economic strengthening, and the results from a randomized control trial (RCT) showed positive outcomes in increased cash earnings, savings and consumption. However, these economic gains did not translate into other measures of well-being, empowerment, and improved mental health. Thus, to address this gap, the WINGS model was modified to include social asset strengthening. Below is a summary of the evolution of the model and cost.
1. WINGS – Northern Uganda, early recovery period, 2009-2012 (private funding)
● Economic Strengthening package + other features tested
● Cost: $250 per participant for 1 year
2. SCORE – across 35 districts of Uganda, including Northern Uganda, development period, 2011-2018, USAID
● Economic Strengthening package embedded within OVC care and support and linkage to HIV services + DREAMS add-on activities
● Cost: average $281 per HH per year for least 3 years, up to 5 years ($76 per OVC per year)
3. SKY – across 30 districts of Uganda, including Northern Uganda, development period, December 2015- December 2020, Dutch Government Funded
● Youth-focused, private sector-led model, focused exclusively on apprenticeship and entrepreneurship, including piloting and refining the “Earn as you learn” model
● Cost: $175 – $810 per participant for the entire project period (3-year average participation by each household)
4. Graduating to Resilience, in one district of Uganda, Western region, including refugee settlement, USAID (Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance)
● Comprehensive resilience-building package, including Economic Strengthening as core, embedded with nutrition and food security
● Cost: average $400 per HH per year over a fixed period of 2.5 years
summary results of the wings plus model
The original WINGS model showed promising financial results: beneficiaries doubled their earnings, savings tripled on average, and household spending increased 33%. However, these economic gains did not affect non-economic measures such as health, empowerment, and child well-being. Consecutively, by adding a social assets intervention, the WINGS Plus Model has shown promising results reflected in the overall well-being of AGYW and children. The table below shows some key outcomes of the models.
description of the wings plus model
Goal: economically empowered adolescent girls and young women and their partners
Start-up phase (Month 1-3)
Pathway 1: Apprenticeship (Month 3-10)
Pathway 2: Business Skills (Month 3-10)
Core Support Services: Savings and Coaching (Month 3-12)
Final Step: Graduation (Month 12 or later)
Start-up phase (Month 1-3)
As described visually in Figure 1, the model begins with start-up activities. Great care must be taken to understand the local economy and identify private sector actors, including master artisans who are active in the proximity of the target population and offer market-oriented safe training and work experience in line with the principles of the model. Coaches and community-based trainers (CBT) are carefully selected and trained.
Participants are identified and assessed for eligibility and willingness to participate, with details of the process determined by the donor’s preferences and parameters of the program design. From the start, male spouses and partners are included.
A needs and resource mapping exercise is carried out with the invited participants, emphasizing the identification of resources, including those invisible resources, which can include interests, talents, and past experiences. The coach or CBT leads this exercise.
A critical juncture is a support given to a participant to choose which pathway to follow, either apprenticeship or business skills.
Pathway 1: Apprenticeship (Month 3-10)
Informed by the market assessment results, project staff arranges apprenticeship opportunities with private sector actors, from artisans to small or medium-sized businesses, paying great attention to safety considerations and the quality of the learning environment. All apprenticeship opportunities will meet standard criteria set by the project: length, quality of technical training, earn-as-you-learn arrangements, built-in mentorship, and safety. In addition, project staff remains in close contact with the business/artisan and the participant, including through regular site visits.
Nearing the end of the apprenticeship, the coaches or CBTs work with each participant to determine her way forward and, when appropriate, prepare a business plan. The project will then contribute to a start-up kit, either through in-kind materials or equipment or through a cash transfer (preferred method).
Business coaching (or job coaching for the participant incorporated as an employee after the apprenticeship) continues for as long as the project permits, ideally for 12 months. Either the coach or CBT, depending on the context, will continue to meet with the participant regularly and offer both formal training and personalized support to confront challenges and respond to opportunities as they arise.
Pathway 2: Business Skills (Month 3-10)
Participants are offered Business Skills Training through a 4-5 day workshop and guidance on Enterprise Selection and Management as a follow-up training in small groups. In addition, findings from the market assessment are shared with participants to orient their business planning to market realities and opportunities.
CBTs work with each participant to develop a business plan, assess the goals, and offer feedback using a checklist tool. Once given the green light, each participant will receive a start-up grant to invest in the planned business.
Business coaching continues for as long as the project permits, ideally for 12 months. In addition, the CBT will continue to meet with the participant regularly and offer formal training and personalized support to confront challenges and respond to opportunities as they arise.
Core Support Services: Savings and Coaching (Month 3-12)
Two elements are considered “core” and common for all participants regardless of the pathway chosen.
Savings: All participants will be organized into savings groups of about 20 people each. CBTs provide training and support for the start-up of the savings groups (using Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) methodology) and monitor the weekly meetings. Once established and running, CBTs organize moments to deliver Financial Literacy training to the participants in conjunction with the weekly VSLA meetings. VSLA groups naturally play an important role creating opportunities for peer-to-peer support and relationships.
Coaching: Each participant will be assigned a coach who will visit the participant regularly. Coaches receive training and tools to deliver psychosocial support and help participants set SMART goals and work steadily towards the accomplishment of those goals. Coaches ensure that participants follow their livelihoods pathway and participate actively in VSLA. In addition, coaches organize moments for Social Asset building workshops, informed by the needs assessment and bring in external resources as needed and available. These Social Asset building workshops can include: Life Skills, Sexual and Reproductive Health, GBV prevention, and Parenting Skills.
Final Step: Graduation (Month 12 or later)
Participants are monitored steadily throughout the project on a wide range of indicators. At the end of the intervention period a final assessment is carried out to assess the level of specific skills acquired, resilience capacities, behaviors and attitudes.
