10 May 2006

Lusaka, Zambia: American actor Matt Damon was in Zambia recently to visit a UNDP/UNV poverty reduction project as part of a listening and learning trip on efforts to fight extreme poverty in Africa.

Damon’s five-day trip in early May was sponsored by DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), the Africa advocacy group co-founded by U2 lead singer Bono. The joint UNDP/UNV project was the only UN initiative visited by Damon and his older brother Kyle.

Damon is best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay and lead role in Good Will Hunting and roles in such films as Ocean’s Eleven, Saving Private Ryan, The Bourne Identity, and most recently Syriana.

The purpose of the Damons’ visit to Chongwe, a rural district some 60 kilometres from the Zambian capital of Lusaka, was to witness efforts to curb extreme poverty.

The district is home to a UNDP/UNV poverty reduction initiative that uses the successful Grameen Bank of Bangladesh microfinance model to support poor women in establishing profitable small- to medium-sized businesses.

Through the bank, qualified women are provided small loans, without collateral, to open a business or expand an existing one. Once selected, they regularly meet in groups—based on proximity and interests—to discuss and pay on their loans. Here, they share and learn from each other as well as receive guidance from the project team.

The microfinance team is made up of two Bangladeshi and ten Zambian UN Volunteers who since 2004 have supported two NGOs implement the scheme. The involvement of the NGOs ensures the local context is reflected and the women are provided the required skills to be successful entrepreneurs.

During the Damons’ stop in Chongwe, they met project manager Rashidull Alam. Nicknamed ‘Rashid', the Bangladeshi UN Volunteer heads up the project, providing hands-on assistance to the implementing NGOs and directly to the women’s groups. Before joining UNV in January 2004, Rashid worked for 15 years with the Grameen Bank in his home country.

The Damons also sat with one women’s group to learn of the project’s impact. The women shared the reality of life before the project and the changes that have since come about. “Before we could afford to eat only one meal per day, and that was lunch,” said the group’s leader Catherine Miwanda. “Now we can feed our families whole – three times a day.” Another bank client expressed pride in having enough money to send her children and several orphans she looks after to school. “And it’s not just that we send the children to school, when they come home from school, they are teaching us how to read and write,” the woman added.

In addition to the microfinance project, nearly 100 Zambian UN Volunteers support the government and the UN in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The volunteers work at the community, district and national level to implement initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the epidemic as well as providing technical assistance in carrying out mitigation activities.

DATA has organized several trips to the continent with high-profile celebrities, politicians and media, as well as hosted African activists to accompany American celebrities throughout the United States.