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Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:
Karen Kartes, kkartes@worldvision.org 253.815.2163
Kimberly Tegarden, ktegarden@worldvision.org 310.478.8006

WORLD VISION WILFUND DISTRIBUTES FIRST $100,000 TO EMPOWER UGANDAN WOMEN IN HIV/AIDS-IMPACTED COMMUNITIES

15,000 Women, 40,000 Children to Benefit; 2,500 Jobs to Be Created

LOS ANGELES (August 3, 2004) – The World Vision WILFund (Women’s International Loan Fund), a capital fund designed to provide microloans to impoverished women around the world, has disbursed its first $100,000 to empower women in HIV/AIDS-impacted communities in Uganda.

The small business loans will channel through MED-Net, a top-performing microfinance institution, distributing loans in amounts ranging from $50 to $500 which are used to help struggling individuals start or expand businesses. This $100,000 will serve 15,000 women entrepreneurs in 12 World Vision communities by 2006, through microenterprise programs that integrate HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and advocacy. Nearly 40,000 children will be positively impacted, and nearly 2,500 jobs will be created in commerce, agriculture, services, and production.

MED-Net, a World Vision affiliate in delivering microfinance services in Uganda, operates in 11 Districts, including Masaka, Rakai, and the suburbs of Kampala District. Its staff identifies women with strong business potential and teaches them to not only how to run a small business but how to save money, manage cash flow, and reinvest capital. MED-Net's leadership training also insures that these women will be able to share their talents and skills with others. Most important, MED-Net integrates HIV/AIDS prevention, patient care and advocacy into all its services to help buffer the devastating financial impact from this pandemic on individuals and communities.

Despite a decade of solid economic growth between 1990 and 2001, Uganda's progress is now threatened by the war in Northern Ugandan and corruption. But by far the most devastating challenge affecting women is the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Five percent of Ugandan adults are infected with HIV and 900,000 children have been orphaned. Microenterprise development is essential to both the recovery from and preparation for the pandemic's financial consequences.

How WILFund Works:
The WILFund provides loans, the economic engine rarely available to impoverished women without established credit. WILFund pools individual, group, and corporate donations and distributes them as loans through World Vision's network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The MFIs issue loans to women starting or expanding cottage businesses ranging from handcrafts to raising small livestock. Women repay their loans with interest to the MFIs. The MFIs, in turn, repay the WILFund with interest, thereby increasing WILFund's lending capital. The WILFund then can continue to loan money to empower women in different parts of the world.

How to Contribute to the WILFund:
To help build a future of dignity and hope for a woman and her family, or to get your company involved in transforming a community, click here or call toll-free (800) 532-8922.

About World Vision:
Founded in 1950, World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization, serving the world’s poorest children and families in nearly 100 countries.