Financial Resilience towards Economic Recovery (FREER) Program with Wells Fargo

The Covid 19 pandemic had a heavy economic impact on millions of Filipinos, with over 4.5 million Filipinos losing their jobs in 2020. To help address this challenge, Wells Fargo International Solutions LLC – Philippines (“Wells Fargo Philippines”) partnered with Save the Children Philippines to implement the Financial Resilience for Economic Recovery (FREER) Project, to help alleviate the hardships faced by families living in poverty and whose livelihoods were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and community quarantines.

“We are honored to partner with Save the Children to support the enhancement of financial literacy and employability skills of target beneficaries from low-income families, especially during this pandemic,” said Sandeep Mulajkar, Country Head of Wells Fargo Philippines. “Through this program, we believe we can empower people to become part of a strong workforce and help the Philippines become a more robust economy.”

“Through the FREER project and with Wells Fargo, we can definitely inspire others – including those in power – to put children and young people at the heart of our actions to reduce poverty; to strengthen the low and insecure incomes that prevent children from surviving, learning, and being protected, and thereby stop the transmission of poverty to future generations,” said Atty. Alberto Muyot, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Philippines.

Now on its second year, the FREER Program is committed to helping marginalized women and children build their financial resources through savings and providing access to capital assistance and sustainable financial services for their livelihood recovery. It recently held a successful Livelihood Proposal Making Workshop for the Community Savings Group (CSG) members in Navotas. A total of 79 individuals from barangays NBBS Proper, Tanza 1, Tanza 2, Bangkulasi, and NBBN participated in the activity where they learned to create a business plan and identify the resources needed to meet their target income. The workshop also served as a venue for knowledge-sharing among participants to learn different business management strategies and foster growth and innovation in their livelihood endeavors.

Through this initiative, Save the Children Philippines continues its dedication to financial literacy and poverty reduction. Join us in building a better future for and with children through this initiative.