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Originally developed for facilitators mentoring Self Help Groups in Ethiopia, the SHG App is an open source mobile curriculum and facilitator guide for Android devices that digitizes the SHG methodology with the objective of supporting outreach at scale. In its current version, the application has been adapted to the SG methodology and provides facilitators the tools and resources to support them through the savings and lending cycle.

The curriculum covers community mobilization and group training; and provides the facilitator a detailed script for community meetings and group mobilization, training and supervision. The application’s administrative back-end tracks each group’s progress through the training. Group members equipped with an Android phone can access the training modules and view group savings and lending activity.

Additionally, the application includes thematic modules on social entrepreneurship, group income-generating activities, and approaches to disaster risk reduction for food insecure areas, all based on participatory learning techniques. Through a current grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the curriculum will be expanded to include modules on maternal, newborn and infant health. The new version will also serve as a management information system for program managers.