A pioneering model:

Le VillageFXB

The method

By Albina du Boisrouvray

"To understand the revolution that was the FXB method, we need to go back to its origins. It all began in 1991, when I decided to export to Africa the program I had already built in the United States. "

His posterity

Over the years, our method has been adopted by major institutions such as the World Bank and important organizations like the Ford Foundation and Brac World. It's unfortunate that some people sometimes forget the origins of this revolution and try to take credit for it, but we're very proud and very happy for the beneficiaries. For this is the symbol that FXB has fulfilled its role as a small, innovative and pioneering NGO: inventing exemplary local programs that have subsequently been taken up by other organizations worldwide.

A global solution to extreme poverty

Families participating in a VillageFXB project receive sliding-scale support for three years: the time needed to move from extreme poverty to sustainable economic and social autonomy.

After receiving training in financial management and entrepreneurship, they are given the means to launch income-generating activities (micro-businesses) and become actively involved in Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSCAs).

In this way, families will gradually earn enough income to meet their daily needs, protect and raise their children, and continue to prosper after the program ends.

At the same time, families are supported in gaining access to their fundamental rights, includinga healthy home and environment, food security, education, training and adequate healthcare. This support also aims to strengthen their resilience in the face of climate change. In addition, they acquire essential skills in health, hygiene and social issues, thus contributing to their well-being and ensuring lasting impacts on their quality of life.

Because women play a key role in the development of their communities, FXB implements specific activities to strengthen their skills, promote their access to sustainable economic opportunities and enhance their role as agents of change within their families and communities.

Our current VillageFXB

We are currently running VillageFXB programs in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Namibia.

Burundi: lifting families out of extreme poverty and promoting access to health and housing

Since 2006, FXB Switzerland has been actively promoting sustainable development and improving living conditions in the most disadvantaged...

Burundi

Myanmar: Supporting marginalized populations in the face of social and health challenges

Since 1992, FXB Switzerland has been actively promoting sustainable development and improving the living conditions of the world's most disadvantaged...

Myanmar

Namibia: lifting families out of extreme poverty and curbing inequality and gender-based violence

Since 2018, FXB Switzerland, FXB France and their local partner HISA have been actively working for sustainable development and the improvement of...

Namibia

Uganda: lifting families out of extreme poverty and promoting inclusive education

Since 1991, FXB Switzerland has been actively promoting sustainable development and improving the living conditions of the world's most disadvantaged...

Uganda

Rwanda: lifting families out of extreme poverty, and promoting access to education, health and food security

Since 1995, FXB has been actively promoting sustainable development and improving living conditions for the most vulnerable communities...

Rwanda

Discover all our programs

Development principles :

Among the most powerless groups in society, children are highly vulnerable to the multifaceted effects of poverty on families and communities. Income insecurity, hunger, ill health, marginalization, illiteracy, lack of sanitation and housing are causes and consequences of poverty that combine to drag families into a downward spiral of deprivation.

The poverty experienced by children, even for short periods, can affect the rest of their lives. In the worst-case scenario, some children die. If they survive, malnutrition, insecurity and deprivation in early childhood can have lifelong consequences on health and cognition that compromise adult potential and jeopardize the well-being of future generations.

Recognizing the crucial importance of breaking this cycle of poverty, FXB focuses its energies on tackling the root causes of poverty as the most effective way to guarantee children's rights to survive, grow and develop.

Six fundamental principles underpin the VillageFXB development approach:

Realizing and protecting the rights of forgotten children

Realizing and protecting the rights of forgotten children: the most widely ratified international human rights treaty in history, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) establishes the civil, political, cultural, social and economic rights of children.

Recognizing the inherent vulnerability of children, it places particular emphasis on the family's primary responsibility for their care and protection.

FXB was created to implement the articles of the Convention, initially targeting children orphaned and infected by HIV/AIDS, then expanding to families and children affected by multiple causes of vulnerability, including conflict, poverty and disease.

As the Convention specifies, particular attention has been paid to the family, as it represents a fundamental unit of income generation, care, education and the principal means by which children can access their rights. By building its development programs around the family and the community, FXB strives to strengthen the capacity of families and communities to realize children's rights to protection.

Prioritizing and supporting families

Prioritizing and supporting families: FXB recognizes the crucial importance of families in promoting children's well-being.

Beyond physical needs, every child requires affection, protection and care from caregivers to foster social, cognitive and emotional development. A well-established body of research shows that supportive family environments are associated with higher rates of school enrolment and performance, greater self-confidence and self-esteem, and reduced violence and behavioural problems.

But children's basic material needs must be met if family care and affection are to bear fruit. The cumulative effects of endemic poverty, food insecurity and HIV/AIDS limit the material capacity of family and community networks to provide children with the care they need to develop, learn and flourish.

FXB tackles these material constraints by strengthening families' economic capacity and supporting family investment in children's development and education.

Leveraging local expertise

FXB recognizes the values, skills and networks that define the communities in which it works. From the earliest stages, FXB seeks to identify and leverage this local expertise, with the aim of strengthening community ownership and social ties.

By involving the community in the design and implementation of activities, and establishing links with other active local organizations, FXB ensures that its programs meet the real needs of families supporting children, and do not duplicate what is already being provided.

Programmatic activities take into account the particular cultural, political and economic context of people in need, and encourage the participation of those who have no voice or social status.

Reinforcing beneficiaries' capabilities and capacity to act

Promoted by Professor Amartya Sen, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1988, the capabilities approach to development values people's ability to be healthy and to participate in economic, social and political life.

According to this approach, poverty is equated with capability deprivation, and not just a lack of income. The goal of development is therefore not simply the achievement of a set of improved economic or social outcomes (income, social status, etc.), but rather the development of the capabilities that make them possible.

FXB's programs encourage families and communities to develop their capacities and uphold children's right to protection and care.

In addition to providing education and psychosocial support, specific efforts are devoted to building families' capacity for self-sufficiency, such as the ability to generate income, and to plan and manage resources to meet the health, nutritional and educational needs of household members.

At the community level, FXB strives to support inclusive community networks with the values, skills and tools to meet the needs of children and other vulnerable members of society.

By working simultaneously at family and community levels, and by integrating health, education, economic development and human rights concerns into all aspects of its work, FXB fosters synergies that strengthen and diversify families' capacities to ensure children's well-being.

Continuously learning and adapting our approach to diverse community issues

As a learning organization, FXB actively seeks to challenge and refine its programs based on evidence, and to critically examine its practices against the fundamental principles of rights, equity and social justice.

FXB also integrates resilience and adaptation to the impacts of climate change into its activities, ensuring that marginalized communities are prepared to face the environmental challenges that disproportionately affect them.

In particular, it seeks to encourage and implement effective local solutions.

Restoring human dignity

Restoring human dignity is a central objective of the development approach. FXB promotes the development of capabilities that are the basis for renewed dignity and well-being.

Moreover, promoting women's economic rights and justice, and reducing gender disparities, are essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. To meet these objectives, FXB has been working for 35 years to defend the rights of women and children, and to prevent all forms of violence and insecurity against them.

It also involves raising community awareness of domestic and sexual violence and gender equality. Raising awareness is essential to preventing such violence, supporting victims and promoting egalitarian relationships. It helps to deconstruct gender stereotypes and establish social norms that reject violence, thus fostering safer, more inclusive environments.