English summary

Melania: supporting strong women

Melania was founded in 1921. Over time the focus has shifted from charity to empowerment. But its central principal has always been, and continues to be, about mutual connection: supporting strong women.

Melania is an organisation of volunteers dedicated to helping enterprising women in Asia, Africa and Latin America to improve their situation and increase their independence. It does this through start-up grants to women’s group to whom credit from within their own countries would be otherwise unavailable.

One hundred years young, Melania’s goal is as relevant as ever.

Project criteria

The projects we fund should originate from a local initiative, taken by several (organized) women and should aim to improve their economic and/or social position:

• The project is in the field of income-generating activities
• The project is directed towards low income women’s groups
• The financial contribution of Melania facilitates the start of the project: the project has the ability to become self-supportive in 2-3 years
• The women’s group is responsible for project planning and implementation and is prepared to keep a line of communication with Melania

Project applications

An application should clearly describe:

• the situation of the area/country and the aim of the project
• target group, their participation in initiating, executing and sustaining the project
• proposed activities
• available resources and local contribution
• nature, duration, and budget of the project