Eunice lives in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya and was one of 494 people who received ~$1,125 between November 2020 and June 2021 as part of a GiveDirectly COVID-19 relief program focused on entrepreneurs.
This program, funded by Google.org, provided women with cash transfers plus elective budgeting and entrepreneurial training from SHOFCO, a local NGO. This “cash plus” design aimed to enable women entrepreneurs to both withstand the worst impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and make meaningful investments in their businesses. This is one of dozens of programs we’ve run in the past year.
Eunice’s story is just one of many
Eunice’s story was featured in this video not because it is the most remarkable, but rather because it isn’t. A review of the voices of 144 others we surveyed as part of her program reveals that direct cash support gives many a leg up. Surveys were given to a random sampling of 30% of participants and their answers aren’t edited or cherrypicked: