CIDA (now Global Affairs Canada) Donors Visit WDG Grassroots Communities to Review Project Progress

A donor delegation from CIDA (now Global Affairs Canada) recently travelled to the grassroots communities where the Women Development Group (WDG) works, spending time on the ground to see how the Sustaining Peace and Enhancing Livelihoods (SPELS) program is progressing. The visit gave the donors a first-hand look at the difference the program has made to daily life. Community members welcomed the delegation warmly and offered heartfelt words of appreciation for the funding, explaining how the support has lifted their livelihoods and helped strengthen peace across their communities. The women of the grassroots spoke openly during the visit. Alongside their thanks, they called for more economic empowerment initiatives to help them build lasting self-reliance. Their message was simple and direct: sustained investment in women's livelihoods is one of the surest paths to stronger households and steadier communities, and it carries the wider goal of gender equality forward. For WDG, this was an encouraging moment. It confirmed that the partnership with CIDA is reaching the very people it was meant to serve, and it pointed clearly to where the work still needs to grow. WDG remains committed to walking alongside these communities and to expanding programs that place women at the centre of development. We thank CIDA for their continued partnership, and the communities for their honesty, warmth, and hospitality.