Fundación Paraguaya

Fundación Paraguaya is a self-sufficient, non-profit social enterprise, which since its foundation in 1985 has spearheaded microfinance and entrepreneurship in Paraguay. 

Our goal is to eliminate multidimensional poverty and create decent living conditions for families through four inter-related strategies:

1) The Poverty Stoplight program

2) A microcredit program;

3) An entrepreneurial education program for children and youth;

4) A financially self-sustainable farming high-schools program;.

The goal of eliminating multidimensional poverty is woven into every activity we do, whether it’s microfinance to alleviate income poverty, entrepreneurship training to teach children and youth how to avoid poverty traps, or financially self-sustainable education that breaks down cost barriers for students to stay in school. 

To do this, we have developed a practical methodology that allows our clients, the poor families, to self-diagnose their situation and develop personalized poverty elimination plans based on their motivation and skills. We call it the Poverty Stoplight methodology, and as the name suggests, we use stoplight colors: Red (for Extremely Poor), Yellow (for Poor), and Green (for Not Poor).

This fast, practical visual survey was developed while working in rural villages and urban slums of Paraguay, but has been since adapted to 18 countries and is used in various settings, including governments, NGOs, and private businesses. What we want is that poverty stoplight is implemented all over the world to empower millions of families to overcome poverty.