St Anthony’s and Claddagh Credit Union, in partnership with the Irish League of Credit Unions International Development Foundation (The Foundation ), which is the charitable arm of the Irish credit union movement, is to provide assistance to help develop the Ghanaian credit union movement.
Louise Shields, compliance manager at St Anthony’s and Claddagh Credit Union, is to partake in a two week volunteering programme which allows her to share her expertise, knowledge, and skills with her counterparts in Ghana. Louise will travel to Ghana, accompanied by three other Irish credit union personnel, and visit rural credit unions to provide much needed technical assistance.
“Louise has been given this opportunity due to the immense generosity and support of credit unions across the island of Ireland,” says Alan Moore, general manager of the Foundation. “This two week volunteering role allows Louise to observe how credit unions operate in West Africa and how her own competences can help develop credit unions.”
The technical assistance provided by Louise and her colleagues will aim to strengthen credit unions by providing support on day to day operations, loan management, and human resource management. The programme, administered by the Foundation in collaboration with the Canadian Co-operative Association, aims to alleviate poverty through the credit union model, by allowing some of the poorest communities in Ghana access to basic savings and loans facilities.
“I am overjoyed to be given this opportunity to travel to Ghana and provide our counterparts with my vast knowledge of credit union operations,” says Ms Shields. “I would like to thank St Anthony’s and Claddagh Credit Union for their support with this venture, and the Foundation for providing this once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The Irish credit union movement is one of the most popular credit union movements in the world and this visit by the Irish coaches is highly anticipated in Ghana. The group travels to Ghana this weekend and all participants are eager to assist in any way possible.
