Village Savings and Loan Associations (VS&LAs) Programme Guide - Field Operations Manual

This manual provides guidelines for the operations of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VS&LAs). The manual contains:

• A foreword that explains:
  • The need for VS&LAs
  • The working relationships between VS&LAs and MFIs;
  • Changes made to the manual in the second edition in order to improve its applicability in areas where literacy rates are low and incomes are small and irregular.
• Acknowledgements made by the authors to various agencies that have contributed to the evolution of the manual.

The manual also contains:

• Notes to the user;
• Table of Acronyms and Terms.

The Guide is divided into the following three parts:

• Part 1, the introduction, contains:
  • An explanation of how the methodology of VL&SAs works;
  • A note to the field officers.
• Part 2, Field Operations Manual, explains:
  • The schedule of operations;
  • The preparatory phase that concentrates on awareness raising;
  • The intensive phase that develops, explains and implements various modules;
  • Supervision that includes two phases - development and maturity.